Twenty years into its run on Sunny Isles Beach, Acqualina Resort & Residences still draws the most discerning crowd in Miami and makes every one of them feel like they are exactly where they are supposed to be.
On May 15, 2026, Sunny Isles Beach’s most celebrated beachfront address marked two decades of Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five Diamond distinction with a VIP anniversary celebration that was equal parts glamour, warmth, and genuine gratitude.
The guest list spanned luxury travel industry insiders, Miami-based VIPs, civic leaders, and the creative community that has long called Acqualina one of their own.
Among those in attendance were Jules & Stephanie Trump, along with his brother Eddie Trump (the visionaries behind Acqualina’s development), along with CEO and Partner Deborah Yager Fleming (all pictured above), who has stewarded the property through two decades of consistent five-star recognition. Mayor Larissa Svechin of Sunny Isles Beach was also present, a natural fit for a property so closely tied to the city’s identity.
Miami designer and STA Architectural Group owner Todd Tragash attended with his wife Isabel, as did Forbes Travel Guide CEO Hermann Elger, whose organization has awarded Acqualina its Five-Star distinction year after year.
The evening also drew former TV anchor Laurie Jennings, former Miami entertainment reporter Lisa Petrillo, and entrepreneur Alexia Nepola (pictured below, middle), known to many from her time on The Real Housewives of Miami. The mix of hospitality, design, media, and civic voices in one room is something Acqualina tends to make look effortless.
A Legacy Built on Something More Than Five Stars
To understand why a hotel’s 20th anniversary draws this caliber of guest, it helps to understand what Acqualina Resort & Residences actually is.
Since opening in 2006, the resort has earned its Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond designations with a consistency that few properties can claim.
In addition to this, in 2025, the property received two #1 awards in the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards by USA Today, as well as recognition from US News and World Report, naming it the #1 Best Resort and #1 Best Hotel in the Continental US in their annual Best Hotel Awards.
But what those ratings measure, and what Acqualina’s loyal guests will tell you, goes well beyond thread counts and ocean views. It is the feeling of being genuinely known. Of returning each summer to staff who remember your preferences, your children’s names, and the table you prefer at Il Mulino. Acqualina has become, for many families, not a hotel in the traditional sense but a place woven into the fabric of their lives.
Having visited the resort for a Miami trip last year, I can personally attest to its reputation for creating a guest experience that exceeds expectations.
Beyond the sweeping ocean views and pristinely manicured setting, one aspect that stood out immediately was the high level of service. Everyone from the bellman to the pool attendant greets guests by name, attends to their needs (before even being requested to), and goes out of their way to ensure guests feel cared for.
It felt relational, rather than transactional, which speaks volumes about the way they’ve intentionally cultivated a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
“What moves us most is knowing that Acqualina has become part of families’ traditions,” said Deborah Yager Fleming. “The place where special occasions are celebrated, where children grow up returning each summer, where memories are made across generations. That emotional connection is at the heart of everything we do.”
It is a rare thing for a luxury hotel to inspire that kind of attachment. Rarer still to sustain it for twenty years.
The anniversary weekend reflected both a celebration of the past and acted as a preview of where Acqualina is heading. Alongside the VIP party, the weekend introduced the Acqualina Wellness Club, an immersive activation featuring Pilates, boxing, meditation, massage therapies, and a series of curated wellness moments across the property.
The Art of Motoring by Acqualina x Prestige Imports brought a showcase of exceptional automobiles into the mix, while family programming by Miami Fitness rounded out a weekend designed to reflect the full breadth of what the resort offers.
The timing also coincided with the debut of several meaningful enhancements to the property. Il Mulino New York, Acqualina’s Italian dining anchor, has been reimagined with a redesign that layers classic Italian elegance against a contemporary coastal sensibility. Sculptural banquettes, curated artwork, and a dramatic new bar anchor the refreshed space, while a seasonally driven menu balances beloved signatures with new expressions of the kitchen’s ambitions.
At the Five-Star Acqualina Spa, a new partnership with Seed to Skin Tuscany brings an exclusive Miami debut of treatments developed within the Borgo Santo Pietro estate in Tuscany, where botanicals are grown on an organic farm and processed with a rigor that bridges regenerative farming and advanced biotechnology.
New signature experiences include a Jet Lag Recovery Ritual, an Age-Reversal Facial combining myofascial massage and Gua Sha techniques, and The Tuscan Candle Massage, built around warm botanical oils with Mediterranean essences. For guests who take wellness seriously, and Acqualina’s clientele invariably does, this is a meaningful addition.
Two decades of consistent five-star distinction is not an accident, and the anniversary celebration made clear that the people who have contributed to that record, the ownership, the team, the guests, and the community, understand exactly what they have built together. Acqualina continues to evolve without losing the warmth and precision that made it worth returning to in the first place.
For the luxury traveler who has not yet experienced it, the twentieth anniversary is as good a moment as any to understand what the conversation has been about all along.
