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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Miami Area HOTELS and MOTELS Historical Photos Gallery - All Years - click on image to view > 1954 - the Sahara Motel on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles
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1954 From a postcard

1954 - the Sahara Motel on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles

Collins Avenue (A1A), Sunny Isles, Florida


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Guest 02-Nov-2023 02:32
My grandma ran a beauty parlor in this motel! I remember the camels burning my skin when I climbed them to sit as a little kid
Kim 14-Nov-2022 01:31
I stayed here in February 1962-1972 and always was in the
He teen club supervised by Ms Spur. What great memories.
judy c 08-Jul-2022 04:13
my Uncle, Ben Warner, was a Maitre ‘d at the Sahara
in the 1960s. the Sahara, Thunderbird, and original Castaways
hotels in Sunny Isles / miami beach were real icons!
Guest 05-Jan-2022 22:26
Yes. James Navone was my uncle. Spent many a weekend with him in
Brooklyn (early 1950’s) - on his boat, taking in new release movies in Times Square, or watching Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows on Saturday Nights. Last saw him when my wife and I visited circa 1958. Remember twin granddaughters.





Sherrie 30-Dec-2020 00:32
We stayed at this hotel in the 70's. I can't believe it's still there!! I remember the huge diving board...it was the first time I ever jumped off a high dive. Sad to see it's gone. We had such a great time!!
Hélène Bilodeau 05-Jul-2020 00:37
Hélène
J'y suis allée pour mon premier voyage en juin 1981, j'étais toute jeune et seule. J'avais adoré ma semaine la-bas. je suis surprise de voir qu'il existe encore.
Jeffrey Kasten 25-Apr-2019 01:41
It's still there! My wife and I just stayed at the Thunderbird next door (also still around) and we got photos of ourselves with the camels. They are the only motels in Sunny Isles still left from the 50s and both will probably be gone in a few more years. The Golden Nugget recently got demolished (no great loss IMO, considering how rundown it got) and a horrible 40 story nightmare is going up in its place. I was afraid the construction cranes would fall down and crush the Thunderbird!
Dee Cologero 15-Dec-2018 06:21
We went to Sahara on our honeymoon March 29 1969. Wish it was still there to celebrate the 50th next year.
Barry Tired 28-Jul-2018 12:08
Does anyone ever remember the motel Driftwood? So many motels from the 1950's-1980's that have been demolished in the past 15 years, it's crazy how the common middle class folk cannot afford to stay a week or two on the beach. Hotels everywhere now charging crazy prices for 2-3 night stays, so sad.
Guest 21-Sep-2017 04:14
I spent every summer there from 1956 thru 1962. Anyone remember James Navone, my grandfather?
Jasmine Brassard 16-Nov-2016 00:20
SVP J'aimerait encore reserve pour location le mois de Mars 2017 pres de la Mer Déja contacter Louise Boivin mais pas de retour d'appel . 418-542-2806
Don Boyd02-Aug-2016 02:17
Gail, thank you for posting your memories. That is amazing that you have maintained contact with the kids from 54 years ago. You and I must be close to the same age if you were 15 in 62. If you have any photos with the hotel in the background I would love to post scans of them on this site and give you credit on the photo, under the photo and in the comments under the photo. If you do that please e-mail them to OldMiamiMemories@gmail.com - thanks.

Don
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Gail 02-Aug-2016 00:52
Stayed at the Sahara in August 1962. Was a real swinging place. I was only 15 going on 16 but there was something for
Everyone. They had a teen center and I met some really great kids. Some who I am still in contact with. Have photos
Of those memorable camels though they have been renovated. Had a room poolside with an excellent view of the teenage
Boys. What a time!
Don Boyd23-Apr-2016 20:57
Nice story, Delores. I'm glad you ran into a couple of nice guys back then at the Sahara.

Pris, and Guest from 26-MAY-2015, thank you for your comments and memories also.

Don
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Delores 23-Apr-2016 20:43
In 1960 or 1961, a hurricane hit Miami Beach. What a mess -- crabs crawling all over the roads and trees down everywhere! My friend and I had graduated from high school in Ohio and saved our money so we could stay at the Sahara. We had seen an ad for it in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. We loved the camels out front and decided to stay there. We were only 19, so couldn't get into any bars, so we basically just stayed around the hotel. Of course, we met two guys that worked there -- Johnny, the life guard who also did exhibition diving, and Tony, who I think worked in maintenance. We had a ball with them even though they were not supposed to mix with the guests!! That was our last trip to Miami, but one we'll never forget!
Pris 20-Nov-2015 14:46
Amazing how we can find things on the Internet! My mom took us to the Sahara Hotel back in about 1955/56 for a vacation. My memories of the vacation are few but I remember our room which had a little kitchen which was for some reason very impressive ! But what I really remember was the swimming pool and learned to swim. The swimming teacher was handsome and fun and taught me to open my eyes underwater to look at his sunglasses. I was probably 5 years old. I had the very postcard shown on your site here for years. Funny how a fun vacation as a small child can stay in my memory for so many years.... Enough so I look up this hotel on the Internet at age 65. I am more than surprised to have found it! It is interesting that it was such a glamorous place back in the day.... As a girl from Ohio Florida in the 1950's was like a paradise to me and the modern architecture of the hotel was very sophisticated to me... Sure didn't look like our neighborhood in Ohio!!
Guest 26-May-2015 13:20

my father(Joe Yantz) had the gift shop at the Sahara in those years and moved to the Miami skyways when Jim McKenna went over. I think many Sahara people went there. I was about 7 when my dad rowned the gift shop and I too remember swimming at that pool, climbing up those camels, and hearing about the Everly Brothers visits , rocky graziano and somehow jimmy Hoffa? But what would a 7 yr old know? We also got numerous LP albums from Columbia records including first Beatle albums so there must have been a Columbia records exec passing thru there. My dad was very friendly with McKenna and believe it or not, mr Gaines who was very kind to our family. There was a kid named Skippy Gache whose name I also remember but don't remember the context. The Sahara/skyways was a big part of my childhood.
Don Boyd11-Aug-2014 06:47
Thank you everyone for your comments and memories which really add a lot of background information to the photo for others to read and possibly remember more about the hotel. Please keep on posting if you have a memory you would like to share with us.

Mike McKenna, thank you for posting Ben Gaines' name because I had totally forgotten his name. He had a home near my home in west Hialeah and I used to play with his son who was a year or two younger in the late 1950's. They were by far the richest family in the neighborhood and as I recall they weren't there for long and relocated elsewhere.

Don
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Mike McKenna 10-Aug-2014 22:20
My father (Jim) worked at the Sahara Motel and then moved to the Miami Skyways (where he was later a Manager for many years) when Ben Gaines built it. The name Sammy Abbott looks familiar, I remember playing with someone by that name when I would visit the Skyways. My wife and I are working on my father's ancestry and looked to add a picture of the Sahara.
Chris Filstrup 21-Nov-2013 15:05
I have many memories of the Sahara from the early 1950s. My family spent 2-3 Augusts at the Sahara. Low season and we pretty much had the motel to ourselves. Tony taught me to dive. My sister practiced her piano lessons in the bar, the piano on a high platform overlooking the room. Once a week my parents treated us to super-sundaes in the restaurant.
Guest 02-Jul-2013 16:56
Still standing today!!!!!
Jim 01-Jul-2013 00:36
I was 9 years old and my dad passed away in april 10 1969 . My mother Sister & Grandparents stayed their in July 1969 watch the first moon walk in our room. It was our first vacation with out my dad. Wonderful place Great memories
Diane 08-Apr-2013 22:30
I was 15yrs old when my parents and I went to the Sahara. Being from NJ and not seeing much of the world it was quiet a sight. And while we were there I
met Jerry also from NJ. We became instent friends and 6years later we were married. Jerry passed away in 1988. I am now living in Fl. and someday soon I want to take a trip over to Miami with my son and pay a visit to the Sahara.
Guest 12-Dec-2012 17:24
I stayed at the Sahara in circa 1980, as a 15yr old whilst on holiday from the UK. I spent the entire time taking photographs of the beautiful American cars. Great to see all your comments and learn more about the Sahara from before I was even born.

Best wishes to all our American cousins from the UK :-)
Bert Miskell 03-Nov-2012 12:46
In 1968 I was at the pool at a motel on the south side of the Marco Polo when a couple approched and asked if I could have a picture taken at another motel. I was 13, my mother was near by, they asked her and she allowed them to take to the the Sahara where I posed setting on the bed in a room for a photo for a brochure. I remember the man driving down Cliins Ave in the wrong direction against traffic! They paid me $5, they mailed me the finished brochure, I still have it.
Guest 17-Feb-2012 22:24
Does anyone remember a visiting J(I)u-jitsu instructor there in 57-60, poolside?
Guest 17-Feb-2012 22:10
I met Rocky Marciano there with my mother and father in 58.
Guest 10-Jun-2011 03:05
What a trip down memory lane! I too learned how to swim in that camel shaped pool. Manny was the swim teacher. He put his sunglasses underwater and we had to put our heads in the water, open our eyes and get his glasses.
We would caravan down with another car or two of family members every year until we switched to a new place, the Newport! So sad about the pier being closed. I can't think of anyplace that I can bring my children that wuld be anything like what I experienced going to the Sahara and the Newport in the 60's and 70's. Joan
chuck fazio 07-Mar-2011 18:35
The farthest back I can remember anything was a visit to the Sahara when I was 3 years old back in 1963. I remember getting burned on the camels which were white back then. I also remember how the upstairs rooms, to a 3yo, all looked the same. I was having trouble remembering my room so i placed a sand shovel on the little round redwood table outside the door. Worked great until the last day or so when the shovel disappeared and I ended up walking into a room full of strangers!
Betsy Peacock 12-Oct-2010 22:54
I'd like to hear from Danny Reigel. I recently learned that my biological father was a bookkeeper at a Miami Beach Hotel in the 50's. I don't know which one, nor do I know his name. Florida is a closed adoption state, but I know that one day I will solve this unsolved mystery!! I just want to know his name, see pictures, and learn his health history. No big "Oprah" meeting unless he wants to meet me!!

Contact me at Boodles1953@aol.com or look me up on Facebook.

Betsy Peacock
SAMMY ABBOTT07-Apr-2010 03:45
My uncle Benny built the Sahara and my first memory is being chased and hiding cause they wanted to get a photo of me with Jack Dempsey . I thought ihe was a monster . remember the calypso bands . samuelmabbot@gmail.com let's schmooze
Wally 28-Mar-2010 23:54
They named most of the motels after hotels in Las Vagas IE the Dunes, The Sahara, The Sands, The Desert Inn ect. Just north of this was Hallendale Beach where the water tower is was open beach Before they built the Diplomat (Where the Beatles stayed) with only a hot dog stand on the beach, Even ferther back 55 - 60 they used to walk the horses over from gulfstream park and swim them on hallendale beach. Before the Florida turnpike was built Seaboard and FEC Railroad would roll the trains into Hallendale and unload the race horses and walk them over to Gulfstream. The Loading ramps are still there along Dixie Hwy.
Janet 11-Oct-2009 02:50
I grew up in Hollywood and my Mom would bring my brother and I here on weekends. I learned to swim at this pool!
Barry Diamond 09-Jul-2009 02:39
This area also became known as "Motel Row" in the late 50's. Another outstanding design was the Aztec. The Castaways, on the West side of Collins, South of Sunny Isles Blvd, was a unique layout as well. Owned by the Teamster's Union Pension Plan, it provided me with a chance, in 1958, to meet Jimmy Hoffa at the Howard Johnson's nearby - he bought me an icecream cone - very nice.
Guest 17-Mar-2009 05:43
What a beautiful site!!!!! It's such a shame what Sunny isles has become.
Don Boyd14-Jan-2009 23:21
Frederick: thank you for posting your memories.

Danny: and thank you also for dropping by and posting your memories. Please feel free to make all the comments that you want on here because I am sure that others would love to read them. Don't let history disappear forever when you have the opportunity to preserve some of it here. That's why I'm posting all of these old photos so that folks in the future will have an idea of how great it was to grow up in Miami.

Don
Danny Reigel 14-Jan-2009 21:41
My father,Irving Joseph Reigel managed the Sahara.My brother and I spent alot of time there in the late '50s.Barney Cipriani had a high tower erected by the pool and put on high dive shows.Ben E.Gaines was the owner and when he sold the Sahara he built the Miami"Skyways"hotel across from Miami International Airport.The Sahara was top of the line in the '50s.Alot of entertainers stayed there including the "Everly Bros."They pulled up on motorcycles and a few of the guests didn't realize they were stars and were concerned.I could go on forever with the stories about the Sahara.Boy,was I blessed and didn't know it !
Frederick Joseph Jr. 04-Nov-2008 19:00
Don: Our family stayed at the Sahara every Easter vacation from 1958 to 1974...I'm the oldest of four ( I'm 51) and drove down in three days from western New York state,and usually stayed 2-4 weeks.By the way, the manager's name was Mr. Warren, who I recall was a friend of President Nixon's friend Bebe Rebozo! I even remember the name of the band who played at the"weenie roast" by the pool...Georgia Croyle and her Royal Miamians ! The youth director was Miss Spur, who ran great activities day and night...I have such great memories of this place; too bad its been whitewashed when I last saw it in the 90's. I have more !
Don Boyd03-Oct-2008 22:35
Hi Adam, thank you for posting and for your comments. For your info, the waters off Miami have always been green as long as I can recall, and not the pretty blue that you see further up the coast from Palm Beach northward.

Don
Adam 03-Oct-2008 21:57
Hello, Great picture, IM a 12 year old studying history and i went to the Sahara beach club condo and it is still an amazing place. Great to see amazing photos of the old hotel!!! Im so glad that they are still not destroying the building yet. I hope trump never will! The manager of the sahara now at the moment is a very nice man and i always play with his grandoughter almost every summer at the amazing condo. Being young and seeing everything at the old times i think polution has been making everything worse :[ I mean, THE BEACH WATER IS GREEN! (Somtimes)!
Don Boyd25-May-2008 04:47
Guest, I'm glad you found the photo via Google search. Why don't you provide us with your husband's name to see if any viewers remember him from the hotel?

Don
Guest 25-May-2008 01:32
In surfing the net to determine if the Sahara might still exist, I found your website. What a wonderful surprise to find your picture of it!!

My husbnd was the manager of the Sahara from about 1964. He helped the new owners convert it to condos and then retired.

What memories!!
Jim 17-Apr-2008 01:28
wow........this brought back memories................I stayed here for the AL Convention in Sept. '63 with my drum & bugle corps. It was a blast. I remember that the lady who ran the newsstand and her daughter were named Brown. Funny how things like that stay with you
Ray23-Oct-2007 03:34
Some history about this area I heard or read somewhere.... back in the 1950's, most people came down to Miami by car. No I-95 or Turnpike yet. It was AIA or US1. The hotels along the way wanted to attract attention at any cost. The more odd or tacky, the better the chance the kids in the car would beg to stop the car. A few pictures and a few minutes later and dad is paying for a room.

I think the Yiddish word that describes this style is 'Kitsch'. That became the general term for all of these odd looking hotels.

Like most things historic in Miami, they've been torn down to build yet another condo. They're every bit as historic as Art Deco, but don't have enough interest to save.

Ray
Don Boyd21-Aug-2007 00:21
Great memories! And congrats on your marriage lasting so long! Don
Guest 20-Aug-2007 23:59
I have been looking for a photo of the Sahara! Had no idea it was still there as a condo. We were married in 1970 in Coral Gables at First United Methodist Church. I was born (1951) & raised in Miami and my Dad knew the manager of the Sahara & arranged for us to stay the weekend and it was just wonderful. They had fruit and champagne in the room and a congratulations card. I was only 19 and I think that was my first taste of champagne! From the Sahara we were heading up to NC in our 1954 Ford! We had forgotten our alarm clock & called my Dad to bring it to us so on our honeymoon we had my Dad & my little sister visit for the afternoon! Crazy huh? Such wonderful memories, thank you for this site! BTW, we're still married 37 years later.
Guest 14-Aug-2007 18:28
It's still there , actually doesn't look a heck of a lot different now, but now it's a condo.