Miami hotel woes.....please help .

[FunCruiser56]

:confused:

We are sailing on the Brilliance in January with 3 other couples. Since January can be very bad weather wise for flying we are comming down 2 days ahead, one late night and a full day.

We already have reservations at the Clarion downtown. I have seen mixed comments on this board and then read some downright awful stuff on a hotel review site. We will be cancelling the Clarion. I checked the Holiday Inn and it is booked for the nights we need. The group we are in is just not going to spend more than $175 or so per night and is complaining loudly about that! So the majority of the other downtown hotels are out. I looked on Hotels.com/travelocity and have found lots of well priced places near/in the South Beach area- Collins Ave.

We are not looking for a party hotel, understand that So. Beach is party central and have no problem with that. just want a clean, safe hotel with resturants/shopping/beach in walking distance

 

We are looking at the Fairfield Inn -4101 Collins Ave, it is right on the beach and has pretty good reviews.

Also the New Circa 39- 3900 Collins Ave. it is across the street from the beach.

Comfort Inn So. Beach 1238 Collins Ave-

We have stayed in Miami precruise many times and usually end up staying near the airport or over in the financial district off Bricknell but there is usually nothing within walking distance for resturants or shopping. So beach seems to have both of these.

 

Comments- help please

 

Bev

[JRGAPI]

Bev

 

Have you tried priceline? Earlier this year we cruised out of Miami,

6 of us, I was able to get rooms at the Hilton for $55.00 per night.

This is the downton area. You may want to give this a try.

You can also go to biddingfortravel.com to get an idea of for

what rooms are going for.

 

JR

[TrentS]

Well yes South Beach has everything within walking distance IF you're actually IN South Beach... The first 2 places you mentioned are way too far north and have nothing around them to walk to. If you don't want to eat and shop in the hotel you'll need taxis or rental cars for everything.

 

The Comfort Inn is in the right location, but I haven't been in that hotel. It's Trip Advisor reviews however are pretty horrible... http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34439-d120424-Reviews-Comfort_Inn_Suites_South_Beach-Miami_Beach_Florida.html

 

Many hotels that call themselves "South Beach" are not really IN what you think of when you think of South Beach... You do NOT want to be much above the 1700 block or it's far too far to walk to anything. You also need to be very careful with South Beach hotels as most are quite old and only the nice (expensive) ones have been properly gutted and brought up to modern standards.

 

In South Beach always remember, the nice places aren't cheap and the cheap places aren't nice! In January the prices for places that aren't "dumps" are through the roof! Under $175/night would scare the hell out of me!

 

The least expensive South Beach hotel I can recommend is the Marriott Courtyard on Washington Ave. It's 3 blocks from the beach and within easy walking distance to everything you could want... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/MIACB

 

Quite frankly if you only want to spend $175/night in January you would be better off staying in downtown Miami and taking a taxi over to South Beach, or renting a car.

 

Downtown Miami... closest to the Port of Miami and Bayside Marketplace... http://www.baysidemarketplace.com/

 

JW Marriott... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/miajw

 

Hyatt Regency... http://miamiregency.hyatt.com/property/index.jhtml

 

Intercontinental (nice port views)... http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ic/1/en/hd/miaha?irs=null

 

Biscayne Bay Marriott (best port views)... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/miabb

 

Conrad International... http://conradhotels.hilton.com/en/ch/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=MIACICI

 

Four Seasons... http://www.fourseasons.com/miami/index.html

 

Mandarin Oriental... http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/526000001.asp

 

Marriott Courtyard (budget priced)... http://www.miamicourtyard.com/

 

Holiday Inn Bayside/Port of Miami (only for the budget minded)... http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/miabb

 

South Beach...

 

South Beach Marriott... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/MIAMB

 

Loews... http://www.loewshotels.com/hotels/miamibeach/default.asp

 

Marriott Courtyard South Beach... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/MIACB

 

Hotel Victor... http://hotelvictorsouthbeach.com/

 

Ritz-Carlton South Beach... http://www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/south_beach/default.html

[TrentS]

Bev

 

Have you tried priceline? Earlier this year we cruised out of Miami,

6 of us, I was able to get rooms at the Hilton for $55.00 per night.

This is the downton area. You may want to give this a try.

You can also go to biddingfortravel.com to get an idea of for

what rooms are going for.

 

JR

There's no HILTON in downtown Miami, perhaps you mean HYATT? It's a frequent Priceline hotel, but in general prices are up this year over the past.

[JRGAPI]

You are right, it was the Hyatt. I stand corrected and appreciate you

bring this to my attention.

Thanks

 

JR

[TrentS]

You are right, it was the Hyatt. I stand corrected and appreciate you

bring this to my attention.

Thanks

 

JR

Oh after a while they all look and sound alike! ;)

[newbe dave]

We stayed at this Fairfield Inn before our cruise last Feb. I thought it was a very good Fairfield Inn (not the Ritz but ...). It is right on the beach and my wife and I enjoyed our walks up the beach. The hotel is north of South Beach and not within walking distance. Also, there is no parking so having a car was not an option for us. The cost for taxi's ended up being less that renting a car anyway. Since we only stayed the night before our cruise, the lack of a car was not a problem for us. The bell hop was able to call a limo to take us to and from South Beach to eat. One of the restaurants must have limo service.

 

Anyway, I would stay at this hotel again. I loved being on the beach to watch the sun rise while taking a stroll. Also, if you have Marriott points to redeem, this hotel is a bargin for the points that you need. But, if you want to be within walking distance of the action (dinner, bars, etc), this is not the place for you.

[FunCruiser56]

Thanks for the info. Trent we are looking at the Courtyard, but after reading Dave's comments on the Fairfield we are tempted to stay there. We would love to stay on the beach.

I guess I misspoke in my original post, I am not informed enough about where everything is in Miami, so just to be clear we are not looking to stay in So. Beach.

it seems there are alot of very nice hotels in the northern collins ave area so I am assuming there are plenty of resturants also. We are happy to have a beach day and just relax, we can cab to Bayside or shopping if the weather does not cooperate.

 

Dave- are there resturants within walking? We are not looking for fancy. Was the hotel/rooms clean, staff friendly?

 

I appreciate everyones help here, it's the only way to find out the information we need--

 

Bev

[TrentS]

No, there are NOT any restaurants in the area of the Fairfield except the few hotel restaurants... That's the problem with those hotels in that area, there's nothing at all within walking distance of them except a few other hotels and a LOT of condos!

 

If you want to stay in that area there's also a Courtyard on the beach a couple of blocks south of the Fairfield that's a bit nicer... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/MIABH

 

The only restaurants in that area though are the ones in the hotels, you'll need cabs for everything else.

[newbe dave]

Trent is right. I did not see any restaurants near the Fairfield. It would be a cab ride to/from to get to eat or do anything. If I were staying two nights with a full day in Miami, I am not sure that the Fairfield would be my choice. For just one night (fly in the day before, relax in the evening, wake up, relax in the morning and cab to the port), it was excellent.

 

Basically, if you want any services within walking distance, the fairfield is not the right hotel. But for a very nice economy hotel room on the beach, it works great.