Miami Beach with teenagers

Myself and 2 daughters (18 %26amp; 16) are staying in Miami for 1 night post-cruise in March. I%26#39;ve currently got a room booked at the Courtyard Miami Beach Oceanfront ($220). Is this an area with anything fun going on or should we move farther south? We want to be on the beach, a pool and we want to see what South Beach/Miami Beach is all about.

I%26#39;ve got a car rental, but is this a good idea? It%26#39;s only $43 total. It sounds like it%26#39;d cost more to get a cab from the port to hotel and then hotel to airport the next day. And if we stay farther north, we%26#39;d need transportation down to South Beach area. I%26#39;ve read that there are public parking garages around if I can find one and not pay the hotel valet prices. How easy is this?

Can I get your thoughts from people who know the area? I can%26#39;t decide what would work best for us. Thanks!

Miami Beach with teenagers

Hello FreezeBug,

You ask great questions for in my humble opinion, you may want to reconsider the current plans.

Here%26#39;s my take on your situation...

1) Location: As you already figured out, the Courtyard Miami Beach Oceanfront is about two miles north of South Beach (SoBe). Sure, there are a few things to do around that hotel, but NOTHING like the hotels in SoBe.

To answer your question, the parking garages in SoBe are not that hard to find - but they%26#39;re not free. My guess is to add at least another $10 each visit.

2) Rental Car: Will take time picking up and dropping off - plus you%26#39;ll need to find wherever you%26#39;re going. Not that difficult, but hey, you%26#39;re on vacation and time to relax!

Here%26#39;s my take for what it%26#39;s worth...

Stay somewhere in South Beach. Hotels I%26#39;d check out include Loews, Royal Palm (be sure and get the new building), National, DoubleTree Surfcomber (that%26#39;s where we usually stay), and maybe South Seas. There are others. From any of these hotels, you can easily walk to Lincoln Road Mall, Ocean Drive and all of these hotels are directly on the beach.

The ability to walk to everywhere and not drive will completely change your Miami Beach experience.

You are going to be there but one night and only a few hours of sunlight to enjoy the beach. Time is not on your side as you have lots to see and do during your short visit.

Forget the rental car and all of its hassles. By the time you pay for parking in SoBe, gas, tolls, etc., your $43 will go up - plus consume a lot of valuable time. A taxi cab ride from MIA (assuming you are flying into MIA and not FLL) to anywhere in SoBe is fixed at $32 plus a tip - even with three ladies (assuming you are the mom) and LOTS of Cruise Wear luggage.

Here%26#39;s the drill: Once you pick up your luggage, right outside the doors a few feet away will be a very nice man who works for the city and will match you with a cab. You can even ask him to hail a minivan for extra space - all at the same price.

In less than 20 minutes, you%26#39;ll be pulling in to your hotel.

Getting from SoBe to the Port of Miami is again a quick taxi cab ride. I don%26#39;t know the exact price (it%26#39;s metered rather than fixed) but I%26#39;ve been told it%26#39;s less than the MIA trip as the Port of Miami is just off the south end of Miami Beach.

When in Sobe, be sure and check out Lincoln Road Mall. The girls will also want to visit the Quicksilver store on Collins at 8th. It%26#39;s a teenager%26#39;s candy store!

Last comment, as a father of two boys exactly the same ages as your daughters, know that SoBe is an adult playground. Although perfectly safe, there are certainly opportunities for someone to make bad decisions. Enough said on that.

Regardless where you stay, you and the girls will have a great time!

Cheers and hope that helps!

Oh, one last comment, you migh also see if anything special is going on when you are there. For example, during the annual Boat Show, the hotels are all full and rates really go up. The place is also very busy but not so much that you won%26#39;t have a good time.

Miami Beach with teenagers

Hi there

That was a great post with lots of great information.

My husband, myself and our son (who will be 2 years old) are going to go on a cruise from Miami and would like 2 nights before the cruise.

We would like to see the shops, restaurants, and the beach, we wont be partying as we have our son thoses days are gone!

We liked the Beacon Hotel but havn%26#39;t booked, it is next to a Johnny Rockets and the beach across the road.

Now I have priced my vacation including flights with a well known site begins with Ex. and for roughly the same price I can get the The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne or the Beacon. I seen on google where Key Biscayne is, but how to get to south beach from there is the issue it would need to be a cab? So im really best with the Beacon??

Any information you have would be great as we are at the planning stage of our holiday before booking.

Thanks

Kirsty

SoBe Fan,

Thanks so much for the reply and advice. That%26#39;s exactly what I was looking for! I%26#39;ve checked out the hotels you mentioned and the Doubletree Surfcomber is the least expensive at $369, National is $399 and South Seas is $425. Loews has no rooms and Royal Palm has no doubles. I don%26#39;t want to spend that much, but since this is our last ';girls trip'; before the older one goes off to college, I could pay a little more. Cancelling the car won%26#39;t get us far since we%26#39;ll have to pay for cabs. Oh well, we got the cruise for a great price, so it%26#39;s all relative. Obviously we%26#39;re going at an expensive time for hotels.

I%26#39;m going to call down to the Doubletree because their pool is closed on the day we check in. I want to find out what time it would open. Maybe we could drop our luggage off, go shopping and it%26#39;d be open when we got back.

Anybody else have pros or cons for the Doubletree, National or South Seas?

I must have had a moment where the connections in my brain shorted. $369 for 1 night? I can%26#39;t spend that. I think I%26#39;ll look on Betterbidding for tips to finding one of these and try hotwire or something. I do still like the location though and will try and switch to one of these. Thanks again.

SoBe Fan, can you tell me of any other hotels in that area that might less expensive? The Doubletree is having a World Music Conference event at their pool from 11-11, so even if I went with that one (the cheapest), we couldn%26#39;t use the pool, and it looks like it%26#39;d be crazy. I don%26#39;t want to deal with that.

Ouch... you have hit the one snag about SoBe - and that is there are about three or four times in the year that some event takes it over - I already mentioned the Boat Show as one such event and the Winter Music Conference (WMC) is certainly another (as is Memorial Day Weekend).

Forget the price, if you aren%26#39;t into loud music and a very active area, the Surfcomber during that small period of time is not for you. The hotel and it%26#39;s pool is a great venue for such events - but only if you are there for that event.

Pretty much all of SoBe will be filled with folks attending the WMC. It%26#39;s for that reason the hotels are either already booked or charging outrageous rates.

I%26#39;ve never been there during the WMC so don%26#39;t know what to expect as far as traffic, foot traffic along Lincoln and Ocean Drive. You might post a fresh question on this forum to folks who have been there as to what to expect during WMC. With this new information, my earlier post may not be the best suggestions - but as I haven%26#39;t been there during the WMC, I not the right person to ask.

Sorry!! Any chance you can visit SoBe upon your return from your cruise??!!?? There%26#39;s a good chance hotels will be half the price with lots of room!