Eco-Friendly Stays in Miami Beach: Private Condos at the LEED-Certified 1 Hotel & Homes

The 1 Hotel South Beach is one of the most sustainable, eco-friendly Miami Beach designed buildings in Florida, holding **LEED Silver certification**, cutting potable water consumption by more than 55%, and diverting over 75% of its construction waste from landfills. It was also named North America’s Leading Beach Resort 2025 at the World Travel Awards (1 Hotels, 2025). What most visitors don’t know is that the building has a residential component, 1 Hotel & Homes, where individually owned private suites are managed separately from the hotel. Luxe Miami Condos manages five of those private residences, available for direct booking. This guide covers what makes the building genuinely sustainable, what staying in a private residence there looks like, and why it’s a more eco-conscious choice than a standard hotel room.

Key Takeaways

  • 1 Hotel South Beach holds LEED Silver certification and reduced potable water use by 55%+ through efficient fixtures and drought-tolerant landscaping (Green Lodging News, 2016).
  • 84% of global travelers say sustainable travel is important to them, and 70% now actively prioritize it when choosing accommodation, up from 50% five years ago (CitySuites, 2024).
  • The 1 Hotel & Homes building has 163 privately owned residences on floors 9-16 with access to all hotel amenities: four pools, the Bamford Haybarn Spa, and farm-to-table dining.
  • Luxe Miami Condos manages five private suites in the building, available for direct booking with no OTA markup.
  • Private condos generate less daily waste than hotel rooms: no nightly mini-bottle replacements, optional housekeeping, and kitchen access to reduce single-use packaging.
Rooftop terrace at 1 Hotel South Beach with ocean and city skyline views from Collins Avenue
Relax on the stylish penthouse terrace overlooking the river and cityscape.

Why Sustainable Travel Is No Longer a Niche Choice

Eco-conscious travel has moved from a fringe preference into a mainstream expectation. The numbers now make that clear.

In 2024, 84% of global travelers said that traveling sustainably is important to them, and 70% now actively prioritize sustainability when choosing accommodation, up from 50% just five years ago, according to a World Travel & Tourism Council report (CitySuites, 2024). The U.S. sustainable tourism market is valued at $950 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $3.1 trillion by 2034 (Radical Storage, 2025). Miami Beach sits in an interesting position in this trend. The city is one of the most climate-vulnerable tourist destinations in the United States, with low-lying neighborhoods, rising sea levels, and heat intensification already measurable. Travelers who care about sustainable choices increasingly notice where they spend their money and what the building they’re sleeping in does about its environmental footprint. At the 1 Hotel & Homes, the answer is detailed and documented.

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What Makes the 1 Hotel South Beach One of the Most Sustainable Buildings in Florida

The 1 Hotel brand was built from the ground up around environmental responsibility, not retrofitted onto a legacy property. The South Beach location on Collins Avenue occupies an entire city block and holds LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, issued in 2016. Here’s what that certification actually means in practice.

Construction and Materials of an eco-friendly Miami Beach hotel

The building diverted more than 75% of its construction waste from landfills during construction. The materials chosen for the interior were selected for their reclaimed or low-impact origin:

  • Lobby ceilings are made from salvaged wood from Alaskan water towers
  • Headboards throughout the building are beetle-killed pine rescued from forests in Colorado
  • Regional coral stone, reclaimed teak, and locally sourced concrete were used throughout
  • Handblown glass pendant lights replace standard manufactured fixtures

The effect is a building that looks as if it were assembled from things the natural world already made, rather than from things manufactured for it.

The Living Wall and Biophilic Design

The building’s most visible sustainability feature is its 11,000-plant living wall on the exterior facade. This isn’t purely aesthetic. The wall manages rainwater runoff, reduces the urban heat island effect that makes Miami’s summers measurably hotter than the surrounding water, and provides habitat for local fauna in a densely built environment (Conde Naste, 2025).

Inside, the hotel’s partnership with Plant the Future extends green living walls into common areas and terrarium installations into guest rooms, creating what amounts to a living art exhibit across the entire building.

Energy, Water, and Operations

The 1 Hotel South Beach cut energy use by more than 16% compared to comparable South Florida buildings and reduced potable water consumption by over 55% through a combination of low-flow fixtures, efficient irrigation controlled by weather data, DEL Ozone systems in every pool, and LEED-certified water filter stations throughout the property (Green Lodging News, 2016). LED lighting and smart climate control systems manage energy use at the room level. Dining reinforces the sustainability model. The building’s farm-to-table approach sources local produce to reduce food miles. The newest restaurant, Aviv, opened in March 2025 under acclaimed Israeli-born chef Michael Solomonov, continuing the focus on ingredient provenance (Haute Living, 2026). The building’s “1 Less Thing” program extends these principles into guests’ daily choices during their stay.

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Long outdoor swimming pool with palm trees, white umbrellas, and lounge chairs on both sides under partly cloudy sky
Relax by the serene poolside surrounded by palm trees and comfortable loungers.

1 Hotel & Homes: The Residential Component

The building contains two distinct parts. The 1 Hotel is a 425-room hotel operated by SH Group. The 1 Hotel & Homes is the residential tower: 163 privately owned condominium suites on floors 9 through 16, ranging from one to four bedrooms and 830 to approximately 4,000 square feet (Miami Condo Investments, 2025).

Owners of the residential suites have access to all hotel amenities:

  • Four swimming pools, including the rooftop pool with unobstructed ocean and skyline views
  • The Bamford Haybarn Spa, a full-service 14,000-square-foot spa
  • The Anatomy fitness center, voted best gym in Miami in 2019
  • All hotel dining, including Aviv and the rooftop restaurant
  • 600+ feet of pristine beachfront directly in front of the building
  • Private building entrance, 24-hour concierge, valet parking, and bellman services

The key difference between staying in a private residence at 1 Hotel & Homes versus booking a standard hotel room is the nature of the space. A private residence has a full kitchen, a living area, separate bedrooms, and a setup that functions like a home rather than a sleeping room with a bathroom.

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Why a Private Condo at 1 Hotel & Homes Is a More Sustainable Choice

The sustainability conversation in travel usually focuses on the building, the brand, and the certifications. What gets less attention is how the type of accommodation you choose shapes your own environmental footprint during the stay, regardless of what the building is certified to do.

A private residence in the 1 Hotel & Homes building offers a different environmental profile from a standard hotel room in several concrete ways:

No nightly housekeeping by default. Hotel rooms are cleaned every day: sheets are washed, towels are replaced, and cleaning products are applied to every surface. A private condo operates more like your home. Housekeeping is available, but by default it runs on a scheduled basis rather than daily. That means fewer chemical cleaners, less hot-water laundry, and significantly less single-use packaging waste per stay.

Kitchen access reduces single-use waste. A hotel stay without a kitchen means every breakfast, every coffee, and every late-night snack generates packaging waste. A full kitchen means you can shop at the Sunset Harbour Whole Foods or the Lincoln Road farmers market, prepare food in the suite, and eliminate most of that packaging impact. For a five-day stay, this adds up to a meaningful difference.

Longer stays amortize the energy footprint. The environmental cost of getting to Miami (flights, transfers) is fixed regardless of how long you stay. A longer stay in a private condo amortizes that footprint over more nights than a two-night hotel visit. Most guests staying in a 1 Hotel & Homes suite stay for four nights or more.


We’ve managed these suites for over a decade, and the guests who stay longest are consistently the ones who settle into the building like residents rather than passing visitors. They use the farmers market, cook in the kitchen some nights, and take advantage of the spa over multiple days. That’s both a more sustainable way to experience Miami Beach and, in our experience, a more satisfying one.

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How to Book a Private 1 Hotel & Homes Suite Through Luxe Miami Condos

Luxe Miami Condos manages five private residential suites in the 1 Hotel & Homes building. All are available for direct booking with no Airbnb or VRBO platform fees.

Available Suites

All suites are on the residential floors (10-12) of the building with private entrance and full access to hotel amenities. Direct booking through Luxe Miami Condos eliminates the OTA service fee that Airbnb and VRBO add to the nightly rate.

View All Available Suites and Check Dates

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Balcony with wooden furniture overlooking a pool, modern building, and turquoise ocean under blue sky
Comfortable balcony seating with a stunning ocean view.

FAQ: Eco-Friendly Stays at 1 Hotel & Homes Miami Beach

Is 1 Hotel South Beach LEED certified?
Yes. 1 Hotel South Beach holds LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, issued in October 2016. The certification covers the building’s construction materials, energy systems, water efficiency, and waste management practices.

What is the difference between 1 Hotel and 1 Hotel & Homes?
1 Hotel South Beach is the hotel, with 425 rooms operated by SH Group. 1 Hotel & Homes is the residential component: 163 privately owned condominium suites on floors 9-16 of the same building. Residents and their guests have access to all hotel amenities, including four pools, the Bamford Haybarn Spa, and the beach.

Can I book a private suite at 1 Hotel & Homes without going through the hotel directly?
Yes. Individually owned suites in the building can be booked through private management companies. Luxe Miami Condos manages five suites in the 1 Hotel & Homes building and offers direct booking at booking.luxemiamicondos.com, which removes the OTA platform fees that Airbnb and VRBO add to the nightly rate.

What sustainable features does the 1 Hotel & Homes building have?
LEED Silver certification, an 11,000-plant living wall that manages rainwater and reduces the heat island effect, reclaimed and locally sourced materials throughout (including salvaged Alaskan water tower wood in the lobby ceilings), LED lighting, smart climate control, low-flow water fixtures, DEL Ozone pool systems, and farm-to-table dining. The building cut energy use by 16%+ and water use by 55%+ compared to comparable South Florida buildings.

Is a private condo more eco-friendly than a hotel room?
In several practical ways, yes. Private condos don’t have daily housekeeping by default, which reduces chemical cleaning loads and laundry. A kitchen eliminates most single-use packaging from takeout and delivery. And longer stays in a condo amortize the environmental cost of travel over more nights than short hotel visits.

 

Joe Semary is the owner of Luxe Miami Condos, a Miami Beach vacation rental management company established in 2012. He manages five private residential suites inside the 1 Hotel & Homes building at 102 24th Street, Miami Beach. Book direct at booking.luxemiamicondos.com/all-listings or contact info@luxemiamicondos.com.