Beyond its bamboo-fenced entry, White Room opens into a motor lodge–esque courtyard with cabanas clad in white curtains and lounge furniture. Unfortunately, they open to a skyward view of caged AC units, telephone wires, and billboards. But the crowd of Latin American club scene devotees and fashion mavens don't seem to mind. Alterna-types sporting skinny jeans and designer sneakers gravitate to the back dance room, where electronic remixes and Euro pop bounce off convex mirrored walls and a stage beckons would-be pole dancers. A smaller cavelike lounge swathed in red light located off the courtyard lures a slightly older crowd with drum-and-bass beats that reverberate off the walls. Revelers circulate between the two dance rooms, catching their breath in the cabanas or ordering a cocktail at the alfresco bar before drifting reverie-like between the worlds of lounge and dance party. Saturday's PopLife parties (largely considered the party that shaped Miami's underground scene) have garnered a cult following. The Design District club also hosts several prime parties during Art Basel.

Open nightly from 10 pm.

Sister to megaclub Mansion, SET is located on a grimy, bus-choked block of Lincoln Road, but inside, it's fun and glitzy with refreshingly loud music—reviving a party-like-it's-1992 scene, when South Beach was first emerging. (The bank-breaking bottle service is the only difference.) The main floor, with its four enormous handmade Swarovski chandeliers, is usually pumping with house; upstairs at the front is another bar in a smaller room that plays to a hip-hop crowd. Of course, the best place to be is with owners Roman Jones, Francis Milon, and brother Eric Milon, a former GQ cover model, in the VIP room: The 20-person hideaway behind a two-way mirror above the bar is like a clubby lodge, with overstuffed leather chairs and hunting trophies.

Open Thursdays through Saturdays.