Advice on South Beach hotels
 

I have searched this forum, as well as many other travel websites and I'm overwhelmed with all my choices. We have to decide this next week which hotel we will be at for July 10-12 (the tail end of our trip to Florida). We'll be flying in and leaving from Miami, but we're staying a couple hours north in Jensen Beach. We'll be staying in South Beach the last two nights so we can get a feel for Miami, and be closer to the airport for when we leave.

We just need to decide on a hotel. I have been looking everything up and have many options at this point. Never being there before, it's hard to decide when I have so many mixed reviews. We have decided to stay in South Beach though, and I'm looking at some of the art deco hotels on Ocean Drive. I've read a lot of mixed reviews on these...they are cheap, but that's what we want. I mean, we don't want a dive but we are not going to be at the hotel the whole time. We basically want a convenient place for nightlife- not too loud, but right near the action since we'll be walking everywhere. Ocean Drive is right across from the beach, so thats nice...and I am aware that it is a noisy area. There are a few of the neon lighted hotels that I've been checking out, but there's so many mixed reviews. My first choice was the Colony, but Im not sure now..there is also the Beacon, and Boulevard. The Blue Moon looks good too...and has better reviews. It is a little more than the others, and it's on Collins Ave...and I'm not sure if that would be better or worse than Ocean Drive. We are looking at spending less than $100 per night, (yes this is possible, I've found all of the above except Blue Moon for under $100) as this is the tail end of our trip and we have already been at a wonderful resort in Jensen beach before coming to South Beach for the last two days of our vacation. We'll be tight for money, so whatever I can save on a hotel is important.

We will have three people so we need two beds, don't have to have an ocean view, or a pool...we want something different, that's why I'd love to stay in one of the neon art deco hotels. They all seem to have awful reviews though, from tripadvisor.com especially. I'm hoping someone can recommend one that that they have stayed in, or one maybe that is in a great location still but maybe a little less grungy. Any more suggestions or info is very much appreciated! Thanks!

tikigoddess, South Beach hotels were mainly built in the 40s and 50s and the rooms are tiny. When the South Beach renaissance happened, these hotels were renovated but the room sizes stayed the same.

A room with two double beds can be a little tricky because of the price.

My suggestion would be to bid out 2 three star hotel rooms on priceline. I've gotten the Doubletree Surfcomber for $50 off season and the Holiday Inn for $38 off season.

The Holiday Inn may be able to accomodate you for under $100 per night and doesn't have parking or resort fees.

You also need to add $25-50 extra per night for resort fees and parking fees. Parking runs $18-$25 and resort fees are anywhere from $10-$18 per day.

Lastly, the South Seas is very nice and two doors down from the Delano. Great hotel and reasonably priced.

Good luck!

Again, excellent advice from Go. Bidding on Priceline might be your best option to keep it cheap.

A little detail: Most of those little hotels were actually built in the 1930s, which explains the tiny rooms. A few properties did gut and expand (my personal fave, the Cardozo, went from 100 eentsy rooms to 44 still-cozy rooms). Of the places you list, the Blue Moon and the Beacon seem to be the "class acts", but the Colony is supposed to be kinda nice too. Don't know about the Boulevard.

I read that someone got a booking in Doubletree surfcomber for $50, that is great, can you please give me the booking source.
I am planning to visit in July and would really appreciate a good cheap hotel.
Many thanks

Husband and I stayed at the Park Central in early Dec. 2005. Right on Ocean Blvd at the south end. We loved it. We paid a bit more for the Oceanfront room, but I think the rooms along the sides with ocean views would be fine. I gather some of the rooms booked through Expedia aren't that great but are really cheap. Ours was about $195 a night booked through the hotel. I wrote a review on tripadvisor with lots more details.
p.s. if you want to splurge for dinner check out "Wish" restaurant. Easy walking distance from Park Central and one of my best restaurant meals ever.

Just realized that the first message on this thread was from 2004! Don't know how it got moved up so high, but I expect there are others who will benefit from the info. These folks have been to So. Beach and gone!!