We get asked this on almost every intake call. Both houses run the same programme, the same testing, the same curfew and the same expectations. What differs is geography, and geography decides more about year one than most people expect — it sets your commute, your meetings, and how far away your old life is.
The Beachhouse — Hollywood, on the Intracoastal
701 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, FL 33019. Waterfront, with a rooftop terrace, a pool, kayaks and Hollywood Beach a short walk away. It sits in Broward County, which matters practically: Broward courts, Broward probation, Broward meetings, and an easy run up to Fort Lauderdale for work.
It suits men whose obligations are in Broward — a job in Fort Lauderdale or Hallandale, a probation officer in Broward, a treatment programme in the county — and men who do better with water and open space in front of them than with a city street.
The Lakehouse — North Miami Beach
871 NE 182nd Terrace, North Miami Beach, FL 33162. Quieter residential streets, a backyard on the water, and Miami-Dade on the doorstep: Aventura, North Miami, Sunny Isles and greater Miami all within a short drive, with a far larger job market than the immediate neighbourhood suggests.
It suits men working in Miami-Dade, men with family or a treatment programme in the county, and men who want to be near the city without living in it.
Which county your obligations live in
If you are on probation, in drug court, or in an outpatient programme, pick the house on the correct side of the county line. It sounds mundane. It is the single most common reason a placement goes wrong: a man ends up making a two-hour round trip for a weekly appointment and starts missing it in month two.
Meetings
Both areas are well served. Broward and Miami-Dade each carry dense AA and NA schedules, including early-morning and late-night meetings, and both houses are within reach of several without a car. What matters more than the count is whether you can get to the same meeting at the same time every week and be recognised there. We will help you find that one in either place.
Work and getting to it
Hollywood puts you close to Fort Lauderdale hospitality, trades and marine work. North Miami Beach puts you closer to Aventura retail, Miami trades, warehousing and restaurant work. Both are served by buses, and neither requires a car, though a car widens things considerably. Tell us where you are likely to be working and we will tell you honestly which house makes the mornings easier.
How far from your old life
This is the question underneath the question. If the neighbourhood you used in is ten minutes from one house and forty from the other, that is not a small detail — it is most of what early recovery is made of. Distance is not magic, but it buys you the twenty minutes in which a decision can change.
What is identical
Both houses are men-only and FARR-accredited. Randomized testing, the same panel, the same rules, the same curfew, the same requirement that you are working, in school or in a programme. Same phone, same team, same answer to what happens after a positive test. Moving between houses is possible when a job or an obligation moves.
If you are not sure
Call and say so. We will ask where your work, family, court obligations and treatment sit, and recommend one — sometimes the one with the bed available, often not. There is more on each in the Beachhouse in Hollywood and the Lakehouse in North Miami Beach, and on the move itself in moving here for recovery.
