Casa Cañita, a boutique hotel developed by designer Nicolette Bernstein in collaboration with chef Michelle Bernstein and partners Orestes Pajon, Davide Borgia and David Martinez, has opened on Miami Beach.
Rooted in the cultural legacy of sugarcane and inspired by Cuba’s Golden Age, the project reinterprets Caribbean heritage through a contemporary lens.
Interiors by Nicolette Bernstein are intentionally residential in character, designed to feel like a private home rather than a traditional hotel. Velvet beds on turned wooden legs in coral tones reference the nearby ocean, while handmade Nicaraguan chairs, botanical wallpapers and vintage artwork create a layered, collected aesthetic. Corridors with dark wainscoting and tropical prints add a more atmospheric contrast, reinforcing a “tropical maximalist” design language.
At the centre of the property is La Cañita, the restaurant that originated the concept. The menu draws inspiration from sugarcane-producing regions across the Caribbean and Latin America, offering a contemporary interpretation of regional cuisine. Dishes include croquetas, empanadas, ropa vieja, pulled oxtail pasta with truffle, conch fritters, jerk-spiced chicken wings and marinated shrimp, alongside reworked Caribbean staples.
The bar programme focuses on rum and sugarcane-based spirits, with mojitos in variations such as guava, passionfruit and mango, as well as signature cocktails rooted in Caribbean traditions.
“To me, Casa Cañita began as a vision of a home somewhere in the Caribbean, shaped by memory, culture and gathering,” says Nicolette Bernstein. “From sugarcane comes rum, from rum comes music and from music comes connection. This project is about bringing that story to life in a way that feels layered, personal and immersive.”
