Family of 4, ore-cruise Miami hotel for 3 days?

[CruisinMSN]

Hello!! My DH, DS 11, DD 9, and I are cruising from POM on a B2B on Carnival Horizon in January. We have lived in Orlando for all my kids’ lives- up until early this year, when work took us to the pacific NW. We are cold and miss the sunshine! We are looking forward to returning to our home state! 
 

We are looking for a hotel for 3 nights pre-cruise in Miami. We fly in on a red eye, landing Jan 2, 2020. We are used to Orlando area resorts and have no idea what to look for in Miami to keep my preteens occupied. We wouldn’t mind spending time on the beach, but are also perfectly happy to arrive at the hotel and not drive or Uber unless we have to. Any suggestions on safe, fun areas for both hotel and entertainment? Is there anything like Orlando area resorts/entertainment we should check out? 

Thank you for your suggestions!

[JohninDC]

Hampton Inn Mary Brickell is very popular, offers free breakfast, a nice pool, and has lots of nearby dining and shopping.   You can catch the hop-on/off bus tours from there and it's an easy trip to South Beach for sun/sand/ and people watching.  

 

There are many other downtown hotels that would also work. I would not "save" money by staying out near the MIA airport - you'll spend your savings and more in transportation

[Flymia]

Miami is not full of large resorts like Orlando is where there are massive pools and activities for kids etc.. There is just not enough land for that and its too expensive. There are a few fairly large hotels in Miami Beach like the Fontainebleau and a few other decent sized ones north on the barrier islands. If you want to just relax and go to the beach and not need to worry about ubers and transit stay in South Beach. The week you picked will be pretty expensive though. 

 

If you rent a car you will have more options and more options to do things with the kids easier like go to Miami's great zoo, which is fantastic in the winter or head to the Everglades and do an air boat tour etc.. 

 

There are also some resorts more similar the ones in Orlando in the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood area like Margaritaville. It won't be cheap, but they are nice. But you'll have a lot of driving to go down to Miami Beach and see sights of Miami. 

 

Or you can stay at a hotel that is well located like the Hampton Inn Brickell that gives you short rides to Miami Beach access to public transit and walkable to anything you need/want.