ukemigrant

Can anyone recommend a nice hotel 3+ star hotel in the Miami South Beach area that you've been to recently? Or if you know any to really stay away from that would be nice. We're looking something in or very close to the Deco area and we won't be driving in the area.

Thanks.

ImHere

I havent used them since I only live about 40 mins north of there but theres a Days Inn and I believe a Holiday Express right on the beach. They are always fine for the money.

ScousePete

Go to www.tripadvisor.com search for south beach. I use this site all the time. Hundreds of thousands of reviews written by travellers.

anotherlimey

South Beach is quite expensive so be prepared to pay through the nose; if you can, try North Miami Beach and then get a scooter/car rental to look around South Beach for a day.

Also try out Priceline.com; I got the Trump Sonesta on North Miami beach for $100 a night, and that's a very nice place; they also do a taxi ride to South Beach every hour which helps when you don't have a car.

ukemigrant

Thanks for your replies folks. I have to say using the tripadvisor website, and being as cynical as I am, I see such wide opinions on the hotels, from 1 to 5 stars, that I have to wonder are the hotel staff/owners posting the good reviews and competitors posting the bad reviews?

Am I alone in thinking like this? It's like I don't have faith in people anymore, at least with these subnective reviews of hotels etc. We're going to the Avalon Hotel, so fingers crossed.

I hope it's not as bad as London, with all those pokey couldn't-swing-a-cat 'hotels'...

Jeez I got to cheer me up - we're going for a holiday for chrissakes! And really it's 600-odd quid for a long weekend in Miami - wouldn't have got it at that price from Belfast....

NC Penguin

I second the suggestion about looking at Tripadvisor. I've had success with accommodation booked on the basis of reviews on that site.

You may also wish to search the usenet group for travel in the US. See-
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forum...?s=&forumid=45




NC Penguin

ImHere

I suppose one of the advantages I have living here is im so close to Miami...then again one of the disadvantages of living here is im so close to Miami.

ScousePete

Well, according to their website they have 1,452,838+ travel reviews and opinions. If your theory is correct, those hotel workers must have blisters on their fingers.

ScousePete

And what I forgot to add is that an opinion is always very subjective. One man's palace is another man's dog kennel. If you read enough of the reviews you may find a constant, for example dirty rooms or rude staff.

At the end of the day the decision is yours

strim

I got a good deal on the South Beach Marriott through Priceline last year. The hotel was very good. It is fairly new, but has been done in an art deco style and a great location -- right on the beach and by all the art deco restaurants etc at Ocean Drive.

I find tripadvisor a useful resource as at least it gives me some info on the hotels. You will never find a hotel that everyone thinks is great, but you can generally get a feel for the kind of hotel if you reas enough comments.

Sarah

Hi
I went to Miami South Beach for my honeymoon last May and it was lovely. I know exactly where the Avalon is actually, as we were going to stay there, but eventually went with the Miami Marriott on South Beach which is, I think about a block down from the Avalon.
The Avalon is facing the beach and its in keeping with the rest of the buildings by being art deco. Because all the hotels were built in the 50's (I think) the rooms aren't that spacious but the charm of the hotel and the view you'll (hopefully) have of the ocean will more than make up for that. Plus the decor is fabulous, I still would love my bedroom to look like the room we stayed in, and theres not many hotels you can say that about.
It is dead expensive however, food was our biggest expense, we would easily spend $100 a day on food for the two of us. One day we decided to go to a sub shop for lunch, to save money but two subs and a drink set us back $20!! If I went again I'd definitely plan more especially when it comes to food and try to eat breakfast in our room, you'll probably have a fridge so cereal and milk isn't hard to take.
There are loads of restaurants, the one I would recommend is called Grillfish
www.grillfish.com which is, without doubt, one if the best restaurants I've ever been to, the food was superb. One to stay away from is The Big Pink - thats alright, cool interior but very average food, especially for the prices. Can't think of anything else right now, PM me if you have any questions.
Sarah

anotherlimey

Make sure you visit Mango's; it can get quite lively.

ukemigrant

All great advice thanks - and again thanks to everyone else who posted - I'll post again when we get back with all the details.

Could do with some heat.....PA winters are rough, though I know there's worse!

ukemigrant

Well as promised, for anyone who might be interested, here's what we found as far as South Beach hotels goes.

We stayed at the Avalon, which is where the chainsaw scene in Scarface was filmed, so that was worth something. The hotel was split in two - Majestic and the main one. Both were nice, well kept, and close to the end of the beaten track. They're at 7th St, and the beaten track starts at 5th St and works its way up to about 12th St on the beach side. We were able to people-watch on the veranda each day as we recovered from the day's activities before starting the night's activities .

There are a lot of strange people to watch, and the cars come in all shapes and sizes. For any of you used to the Mediterranean and lager louts, it'll be different in that there'll be no fighting or outrageous drunkenness. Lots of cops and other security around.

Of all the hotels we saw, I'd rate The National (bigger hotel at 17th St) then the Clinton (Collins Ave, not sure what numbered St) as the two best in the area. The former will be more expensive, but if you're into Art Deco, this has the best interior we saw. The Clinton looks awesome from the outside.

We'd definitely recommend the trip - if you're adventurous, get the bus from the airport for $2 pp approx, instead of $28 by taxi, if you only have carryon wheely luggage, though check with the information at the airport just for your own sake. The buses and metro were literally $1.25 anywhere, and $0.25 to transfer between - we paid $7 round trip for 2 from South Beach to The Falls mall, about 13 miles away.

PM me if you have any more specific questions.

Cheers.