Miami-Near airport or near cruise port??

Coming in 1 night before cruise. Flights land late afternoon/evening(5PM-8PM) so no sightseeing or shopping needed. We will just get dinner/drinks and go to bed. We collect Hilton pts so lots of choices in both areas.

Flight would be on a Friday and cruise on Saturday. Trying to decide if we should just stay by the airport after cross country flight or get closer into town that night to be closer to the cruise port in the morning.

I know it is a personal choice but just wondering what others think about it??

Our choice is close to the Port of Miami. With a bay view room at the a Intercontinental we can see the cruise ships in the morning. But probably for anyone most important is the availability of a decent dinner and breakfast. Bottom line is personal preference.

It makes no difference. The drive is so short that you don't need to get closer to town. I would just stay at the Hilton near the airport especially if it's cheaper. Hilton Blue Lagoon is a nice spot.

Hilton, Homewood Suites and Hampton near MIA in Blue Lagoon, as BNBR stated above, would work for you - local strip mall nearby with dining options. Uber to POM the next morning will run about $20+tip

Hilton, Doubletree, Homewood or Hampton Inn Mary Brickell would all also work, with nearby dining options within walking distance. Uber to any from MIA will be under $20 and another $10 Uber will get you to POM the morning of your cruise.

Shop around and good luck! :D

Thanks! I knew there were lots of choices in both areas so will shop around and see what I can get. Comfort and ease are more important to us than $$s unless there is a very big price difference!

If you are arriving closer to 5pm than 8pm go with Downtown/Brickell. Brickell will be busy until late at night. Plenty of places to eat even if you get dinner at 10:00pm. Then you are even closer to the port in the morning and can find a nice breakfast too.

You mentioned drinks too. It seems like you want to enjoy the evening. If so, then go to a place in Brickell and enjoy Miami for the evening. It is a great area on a Friday night.

We are staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Brickell. It gets great reviews here and on TripAdvisor. Keep checking prices, ours has dropped $100 since booking and we were able to cancel and rebook easily.

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I like staying downtown/Brickell. Lot's of restaurants/bars within walking distance and it's a reasonable distance from both MIA and the cruise port. I have stayed several times at the Hampton Inn in Brickell - it's so convenient and is a really nice hotel. If you are redeeming hhonors points, it's a reasonable # of points too - a little more than airport hotels but nothing crazy.

Thanks!! Agree that if we land on the earlier side we should be downtown/Brickell. I do like being near the port when I cruise.

In terms of driving time to POM the difference between downtown hotels and Blue Lagoon area will be about 10 min - not enough to be a big factor. If you arrive early enough there will obviously be more dining/nightlife options near the downtown hotels. Good luck with your planning! :)

If you like the idea of getting out and walking around, downtown for sure. If you just want to grab drinks and dinner at the hotel type of thing, Blue Lagoon. Maybe even a hotel near Bayside is a good option? That's a great place to go enjoy an evening and grab drinks/dinner. Of course, you can always Uber for a few bucks from wherever, so even that doesn't really matter.