For residents at The Estates at Acqualina South, the stretch of Collins Avenue from roughly 167th Street up to the resort's own porte cochère has changed more in the last ten months than in the previous five years. A 1967 beachfront landmark reopened under a new name. The Argentine steakhouse block filled in. And the calendar quirk that most locals miss every year is running out again on August 31.
This is a walking guide for the people who live here. No moving-truck talk. Just what is genuinely new, what is genuinely worth the short drive, and what closes soon.
The Spa Months clock is ticking directly beneath your building
The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau runs Miami Spa Months from July 1 through August 31, with more than 30 participating spas offering tiered treatments at $109, $159 and $199 — savings of up to 40%. This is the program's 19th year, and Acqualina Spa by ESPA sits on the participant list right alongside The Ritz-Carlton, Fontainebleau's Lapis, and Carillon.
What that means in practice, for someone whose elevator opens onto the same address: the treatment you booked in February at rack rate is available at Spa Months pricing for four more weeks. The standout this summer is the Summer Romance for Two, a 90-minute customized couples massage with 30 minutes of relaxation and a glass of champagne; the solo alternative is the Summer Soothing Massage, a Swedish-forward treatment built for the season.
A few details from the spa itself that matter if you have not been in a while:
- Acqualina Spa by ESPA is a 20,000-square-foot oceanfront facility.
- The Ritual Flow is a self-guided thermal-contrast sequence pairing the new Cold Plunge with the Himalayan Salt Sauna, Crystal Steam Room, and Arctic Ice Fountain, available to all spa guests.
- Seed to Skin, the Tuscan skincare line built at the Borgo Santo Pietro estate, is available exclusively in the U.S. at Acqualina, with 99% natural ingredients.
Booking in the last two weeks of August is the friction point every year. Book now, not on the 27th.
One mile north, the old Newport is back as The Sunny
If you have driven Collins past 167th Street in the past year, you watched the scaffolding come off the property that generations of Sunny Isles families knew as the Newport Beachside. The reimagined resort, The Sunny, debuted in early 2026 as a full-scale transformation of the former Newport by HB Capital Group, opening its doors on February 4, 2026. The property itself has deeper roots: it originally opened in 1967 as The Newport and has welcomed guests to Sunny Isles Beach for generations.
The address, 16701 Collins, puts it roughly a mile north of Estates South. Walkable in the cooler evenings, a two-minute drive otherwise. The property carries 340 rooms and suites, six dining outlets, event space, a spa, and a kids' entertainment program.
The dining, not the rooms, is why residents should care. Six outlets is a lot for one block:
| Outlet | Concept | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| iVIVA! | Mexican-inspired cooking by Chef Ray Garcia | Modern Mexican-American, bold flavors, lively room |
| Sandbar / The Pier | Pier restaurant | The only pier restaurant in Miami, on the Newport Fishing Pier |
| Julene | Refined American kitchen | Neighborhood-leaning, walk-in friendly |
| The Newport Room | Adults-only bar and lounge with live entertainment | Cocktail-first, history-inspired |
| Lovebirds Café | Part bodega, part coffee shop with local finds and up-and-coming brands | Morning coffee walk |
| Citrus Shack | Poolside spot inspired by Florida's classic fruit stands | Casual pool lunch |
A note on The Pier specifically: eating directly above the Atlantic on the reopened Newport Fishing Pier is a Miami experience that did not exist twelve months ago. It is the closest thing this stretch of Collins has to a signature-view restaurant that is not inside a resort lobby.
The Sunny's lobby sets the tone with contemporary coastal design, plus two towering orange tree sculptures and a custom signature scent.
For anyone curating a design detail to send friends after a first visit, that is the one.
The Collins Avenue table map, refreshed
The bigger story locals have been watching is the Sunny Isles restaurant bench getting deeper. Yelp's June 2026 list of newer arrivals within a short radius reads more like Wynwood than the traditional Sunny Isles pattern of hotel-only fine dining. Recent openings include Zuru Ramen Bar, Common Room, Serious Sanji, Disco Donkey, Essenza Italian Eatery & Market, Fat Lou's, Cotoletta, Tacos Atarantados, Sumaq, and Sunshine Coffee.
Two arrivals stand out enough to name individually:
Keuh. A Japanese izakaya from a group of friends who grew up together in Venezuela, with fish selected by Chef Oscar Noborikawa, former executive sushi chef from Nobu, and Chef Edwin Delgado, also from Nobu, who opened a Michelin-starred restaurant. Full bar and ocean view. The Nobu pedigree matters here. Sunny Isles has never lacked expensive sushi, but chef provenance at this level is unusual outside the resort dining rooms.
L'Entrecôte Steak-Fries & Famous Sauce Bistro. A single-dish concept born from a couple's anniversary-dinner tradition and the sauce they perfected over years; the first location is now open in Sunny Isles Beach. The steak-frites-only format is genuinely new for the neighborhood.
And at 18090 Collins, Baires Grill's Sunny Isles location leans into Argentine cuisine with a heart-of-Argentina positioning. This gives the stretch three credible Argentine options within a short drive, which is finally enough to compare rather than default.
Two tasting menus worth reserving before September
If you would rather stay inside familiar walls, both of the tower's flagship dining rooms are running set menus that end soon.
Il Mulino New York, inside Acqualina Resort itself, has a lunch offer that is quietly one of the better weekday values on this stretch of coast. The Prix Fixe Lunch runs $49 per guest, Monday through Saturday from 11:30 AM until 3:30 PM, and includes three courses. Valet parking is available for $10 with validation. For a resident who can walk in, the parking line is moot; the value proposition against dinner pricing is not.
A short drive south, at Solé Miami, BALEENkitchen is running a menu at $60++ per person, available throughout August and September 2026, with an optional wine pairing at $45++. Same building family that runs the oceanfront patio locals use for quieter Sunday lunches.
A weekend loop for the out-of-town guests arriving this month
August is the month everyone's college friends and cousins call about a spare bedroom. Here is a sequence that only works because of what has opened this year:
- Morning. Coffee at Lovebirds Café inside The Sunny, then a walk out to the end of the Newport Fishing Pier. Miami's only public fishing pier stretches 776 feet over the Atlantic, with prime spots for snook and mackerel.
- Mid-morning. Back down Collins on foot. If the guest is a spa person, drop them at Acqualina Spa by ESPA for a Spa Months treatment before the pricing window closes on August 31.
- Lunch. Il Mulino's $49 prix fixe if you want the resort experience. Cotoletta or Essenza if you want the newer, less-Instagrammed room.
- Late afternoon. A quiet stop at Samson Oceanfront Park — a 2.1-acre oceanfront haven with shaded picnic areas, a playground, and community performances on a dedicated stage.
- Dinner. Sandbar on the pier if the weather is right and the reservation exists. Keuh if the weather is not.
- Nightcap. The Newport Room. Adults-only, history-forward, and unlike anything else within walking distance of the tower.
That itinerary would not have been possible in August 2025. Half of it did not exist yet.
The point
Estates South residents have been well served for years by what is inside the tower and inside the sister resort. The change this year is that the block around the tower finally holds up on its own. A Nobu-pedigree izakaya, a single-dish French bistro, a reborn pier restaurant, and a Spa Months window that expires in four weeks — all of it is walking distance or a short valet away. The reason to leave the residence is stronger than it has been in a long time. The reason to be a resident is stronger too.
For a private viewing of available residences at The Estates at Acqualina South or a confidential owner consultation, contact Acqualina Rentals. Adriana Vargas and the on-site team can arrange access, showings, and building introductions with the same attention to detail the neighborhood now expects at street level.
