Where to stay in Florida: best areas and hotels

The Victorian flagship

The Grand Floridian is Disney's most upscale hotel, built in Victorian style with white facades and red roofs on the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon. The monorail stops in the lobby, and from many rooms you can watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom at night.

It is made for families who want the best of Disney and a short hop to Magic Kingdom. It is expensive even by Disney standards, and the mood is more formal than relaxed. Small children will not notice the chandeliers, but the spa is a fine place to send the adult who needs a break.

Giraffes off the balcony

Animal Kingdom Lodge is built like an African safari lodge around a savanna where giraffes, zebras and antelope roam. From many rooms you see the animals from the balcony, and in the evening the hotel's guides lead night-vision viewings.

It takes our family pick: children remember the animals as vividly as the rides. The lodge is further from Magic Kingdom than the others, so expect bus journeys. Ask for a savanna-view room or you miss the point.

Books and a rooftop on Ocean Drive

The Betsy stands on Ocean Drive, across the road from the beach, in a 1940s building with a colonnaded front. It runs its own programme of writers and musicians, has a small library and a rooftop with a pool and ocean views.

It is our pick for a first visit: in the heart of the Art Deco district but with enough personality to be more than a bed. Rooms are not large and Ocean Drive is noisy at night, so ask for a courtyard room if you want to sleep early.

Gold, theatre and a mammoth

Faena in Mid-Beach is one of the most theatrical hotels in the United States, with red velvet, gilded columns and its own cabaret theatre. By the pool stands a gold-covered woolly mammoth skeleton by the artist Damien Hirst, and the beach is lined with red and white umbrellas.

It is our pick for romance and for anyone who loves excess done with conviction. Everything is expensive, poolside drinks included. If you prefer calm, Nordic minimalism, Faena will exhaust you.

Look up in the lobby at ceilings painted in the 1920s, then walk straight through to a beach club on the Atlantic.

We chose The Breakers because few hotels in America do history and service at this level and still work for a family. Everything is on site, the staff know how to run a big house, and the ocean is right there.

A broad, pale beach that faces due west, so the whole resort turns towards the Gulf each evening to watch the sun go down.

We chose it for a slow beach week on Florida’s quieter coast. The sand is excellent, the sunsets are reliable, and the Everglades give you a proper day out when lying by the pool starts to feel too easy.

Sunset from your own pier

Ocean Key stands where Duval Street ends and the harbour begins, right next to Mallory Square. It has its own pier over the water with a bar and live music, so you can watch the sunset without sharing the spot with the whole town.

This is our pick for a first visit: step outside and you are in the middle of it, with all of Old Town within reach. Evenings are long and loud right outside the door. If you want an early night, ask for a harbour-facing room.

Verandas and a boat into town

On Sunset Key you stay in your own cottage with a veranda, many looking over the water, and the launch to Key West runs around the clock. The island has a beach, a pool and a restaurant, and in the evening only guests remain.

This is our pick for honeymoons and couples who want comfort and quiet with town ten minutes away. Rates are among the highest in Key West, and spontaneous nights on Duval mean keeping an eye on the boat.

A wooden pier running out over water so clear and shallow that you can watch fish from the boards before breakfast.

We chose Cheeca for travelers who want the Keys without the crowds of Key West. It is a calm, well-run base for snorkeling and fishing, and the pier gives you a front-row seat on the water every evening.

Cycle under oaks trailing Spanish moss in the morning, then spend the afternoon on a beach that seems to run forever.

We chose it for families who want to spend a vacation outdoors rather than in lines. Bikes, a long beach and space to roam make it easy for children to burn energy, and parents get calm evenings.