Hi,

Coming to Florida in early Nov for 11 night holiday from the UK. We (me - age 40, wife age 30 something, son - age 6 months) are flying into Miami.

From other posters, it looks like we can do the Everglades from Miami - we also want to go to the Keys so here come the questions...

- Hotel in Miami Beach - we are looking at the Wave or nassau suites - any views?

- Do we stay in Key West or visit for a day from a base further up the Keys?

- Where is the best place to base ourselves in the Keys (budget is around $100 per night)?

- How long in each? From other posters, it looks like the majority should be spent in the Keys, so recommendations on accomm in the Keys is...err..key!

Thanks in advance for all the help!

No one wanted to reply to you so i will give it a shot.

You may take an airboat ride for an hour or two but otherwise there is no reason to be near the everglades.

I have never heard of the Wave or Nassau and I would bet tht they are not that great. For $100.00 a night you may not end up in what you would hope. Prices for more than a few star hotel will be much higher.

I enjoy the keys, especially Key West where there is the most to do. There is water activities such as glass bottom boats, boat rentals, wave runners. There are many many bars and restaurants. There is nightly free outdoor festival like activities at dusk to celebrate sundown. There are many interesting shops such as Fast Buck Freddy's. A fort from the 1800's (if you go go off the walkway and go inside to see the rooms. Go to the 1/2 shell raw bar for fun and sea food. I would not bother staying in the other keys. Check Travalosity for hotels and rates.

Hi Sorry to disagree with mrt, I think that visiting the Everglades is a wonderful experience, Bromfij if you have a car, you can drive along Tamiani Road, that cuts Florida East-West. Depending of the time of year you are bound to see tons of birds and an occasional alligator, along the way .They offer air boats rides in different posts. There is an official entry to the Everglades where you can do several things like walk on top of a wooden path that penetrates into de Everglades. For us it is fun to drive further W towards Naples, and on the junction os Tamiani Rd. with road No.19, turn south towards Everglades City which is a tiny tiny place. There you can find one of the oldest hotels in the region called the Rod and Gun Club,where President Truman slept when in the 1940 s he signed the inclusion of the Everglades into the National Park Systeem.Good bar and there is also a good restaurant in the area that I believe it is called the Oyster House but not sure. In the crossing of 19 Road and Tamiani Rd there is an information booth, You can do different things. I love the canoe rides as well as the air boats.
The airboats rides are kind of windy so you have to take proper care of the baby. The canoe is not for the baby .
Personally I do not care that much for the keys, unless you love to dive and do snorkling or fish. There are not really nice beaches, or very few...in that area.
For a hotel in Miami if you are more precise in price and location, please
let us know so we can help.
There is a very reasonable hotel by the ocean in the quiet part of Miami Beach, that is near 87 street. This is a clean hotel, of some 12 floors I often see that it is full with Europeans. I know that there you can get a nice room for much less that 100 and some of them have a small fridge and some basic cooking facilities that could be handy with the baby.
The beach is beautiful and these rooms, the one with the kitchen facility , would be ocean front. You have to bargain a little with this hotel or get the resevation through the internet. The name is Dezerland, 8701 Collins nue , Miami Becha
Fl 331554, phone 305 865 6661
fax 305/866 2630
www.dezerhotels.com . Do not take for granted their published rates, call by phone and bargain because I have done this succesfully for friends or make the reservation through the internet in expedia.com or hotels.com or one of those.
They work a lot with Europeans so they must be in the British sites.
87 street and Collins that is in a very nice quiet area of Miami Beach, near the Ball Harbour Shops, up scale, the well known South Beach , lots of action there, is further south some
70 blocks SOuth, a short drive away.

Thanks for the info on the Everglades Graziella5b! and for the rest...I put the Wave & Nassau Suites as they are within (Miami) budget - I put $100 on the Keys as I reckoned (wrongly?) that SoBe would be more expensive, but hey! what do I know? - Please tell me otherwise!

The Wave is an old Deco hotel with a new renovation (it used to be called the Lord Balfour). I've heard some grumble about the smallish rooms, but most say it's a comfortable place, and it's in the SoFi section of South Beach, so you're basically right in the middle of everything (and across the street from the beach). I'd take it over the Nassau Suites (which aren't awful, but the location of the Wave is better). The Dezerland, as Graziella noted, is WAY out of South Beach. Since you're traveling with your baby son, the quiet might suit you better.

Hi Bromfij

If you like beautiful beaches you might possibly like to continue on across the state to the Gulf side of Florida. The beaches there are like white talcum powder and the distance is not as far as going to Key West. Naples is almost directly west of Miami and is a gorgeous place, prices in November should be pretty inexpensive. Actually prices in Florida should be lower in November. The everglades are quite unique but the east and west coasts of Florida are beautiful!

Hi (again!)

Excuse my ignorance, but how long does it take to drive from Miami to the Gulf Coast? I want to see a lot, but then I don't want to spend my holiday in a car (that's what I do Mon-Fri) - I also want to chill...

Well, I can understand your thoughts but to get to Key West from Miami you have to drive down a two lane highway and it takes approx 5 or 6 hours to get there.

To go across the state to the gulf side it takes 2 hours (120 miles)

I didn't think you'd want to spend a lot of time in a car and you would most definitely want to chill out on a beach somewhere enjoying your holiday. You can learn and map our destinations by going to www.mapquest.com.

You might even find a nice hotel that will bring you a cold drink out on the beach - how's that???

Hi, LM advice is very good, on the Gulf Side the beaches are very nice, it is easier to get to the West Coast than to the Keys. The road itself is nicer going to the Keys but the beaches are almost non existent, I honesty think that the Dazerland is not a bad choice for a family. They have a nice pool right on the beach,
but it is the beach that is great.
It is not difficult to drive as I said probably 30 minutes or less to South Beach, and SOuth Beach is of course full of life , ideal for people watching etc bars, night clubs and restaurants. At he same time very noisy and it can get crowded. Sorry, I cannot comment onthe hotel you metioned in South Beach.

As far as your hotel choices are concerned, I would say check tripavdisor.com for reviews. I have heard mixed things about the Wave and Nassau Suites. You might want to consider the Winterhaven, which should be in your range, and is popular with Europeans.

Keeping in mind you have a baby with you, I would say to consider a place a little away from South Beach, maybe further north. I don't consider South Beach a family type of destination, but that's just my opinion. As for hotels in general, November begins the high season in South Fl, therefore getting a hotel in the $100 range may be slim.

If you decide on Key West over Naples, it's a good 4 hour drive at best and I would check into the hotels on N. Roosevelt at the beginning of Key West which will be nice but cheaper than the ones closer to the action. I stayed at the Best Western Ambassador and found it to be fine.

As for Naples, I can't say as I;ve never been there, however I'm sure more people will have some great suggestions for you.
Either way happy planning!

Hi; Ilive in Ft. Myers and have been to Key West many times. It is fun to see but I wouldn't spend more than two days there(because of the baby). After you do the Miami thing; swing over to Naples. There is a lovely tea room there on 5th ave. It's called Brambles and a lovely English couple own and operate it. This tea room is not the one at the Ritz Carlton which is too swanky for me; Brambles has all home made foods and is just terrific.
Naples beaches are lovely and so is Ft. Myers Beach.
If you decide that Naples/Ft. Myers might be to your liking, I can give more detailed info. for you.

I am a huge fan of the Keys but since you are coming with the baby, I agree with the above posters that a Miami/ Naples trip may be more fun for you. Most of the Keys is water based (diving, snorkelling, kayaking) and you'll have to split up to do any of that. With Miami and the Gulf Coast, there will be lots of nice beach time. Two cautions - I would not take the baby on an airboat ride. They are extremely noisy and could damage his hearing. The Rod and Gun Club mentioned above has an historic building - but you don't get stay there. You stay in little cabins next door. Not necessarily bad but not the "old Florida" experience I expected.

I guess Keysmom is right probably the airboat ride is no good for a baby , in t Everglades City there are other options like a ride in a fairly large boats in the Thousand Island region, although only the parents could know what is right or not for their baby.
You are also right I thought of the Gun and Rod Club only for visiting , and having a drink in their amazing bar and then having lunch there or in the nearby Oyster House there are other possibilities near by to stay in.
On the way to Naples there is a fairly nice resort hotel. I hope you have a great time in Florida also please remember that the sun in Florida is strong any tme of the year.

Hi,

Thanks for all the information - how about this for an amended itinery?

- We fly into Miami (this is booked so that is that!) - a night or two there, then...

Everglades on route to Naples, then chill...

Do places in the Gulf (around Naples) have glass bottomed boat tours, or is that a Keys thing?

Cheers

Bromfij (AKA John)

what about Sanibel Island? Would that be suitable?

Hi,I believe your are on the right track, stay in Miami at least three/four days because if not if you rush things you will have not time to enjoy it, then great !to continue on the Tamiani Rd. to the Evergaldes ,Naples area you can for instance stay one night this place I forgot the name but is on Tamini Rd. South side ,after , but very close to Everglades City, it is some kind of resort, not expensive although it looks impresive from the outside, they I believe offer too some kind of a boat ride from there you continue West, and if you find a nice place in Sanibel Captiva I believe it is going to be perfect, I dare to say ten times better for your family than the Keys, ....!!! I am not familiar with Sanibel Captiva but I am sure you can get great advice from this forum. You are getting there.....

Hi

Sanibel is a gorgeous island just outside Fort Meyers and captiva is at the far end of Sanibel. Gorgeous, beautiful beaches with lots of chill out comfort!!

Another good area is Marco Island which is just outside Naples - and they're both fairly equal in what they offer.

There are places that offer boat rides through the everglades - it would probably be a bit more appropriate for you and a little rough for the infant.

You can find many places to stay by doing a search on Google.com for Sanibel Island, Captiva, or Marco Island.

Hope you have a great trip.

oh, this getting good now!

Pros and Cons of:

Sanibel Island
Fort Myers
Naples
Marco Island

Or are they similar/close to each other that it doesn't really matter?

Thanks for all your help! I (and the family) REALLY appreciate it!

p.s. anyone heard good/bad things about Diamondhead suites in Fort Myers?

Hi, I might be wrong, a few years ago we simply went by Marco Island I didn't like what I saw , one tall building hotel or condo next to each other by the beach. Instead also several years back I liked much more the beachy feeling of Sanibel Captiva.
Can the expert give us more information please>?

Hi again

I just looked at Diamonhead Resort on Sunstream.com and it looked very nice. I don't think I would have a problem with it. Fort Myers Beach is a pretty area and it's just before you go over the bridge to Sanibel. Sanibel is also a lovely gorgeous area but to my recollection it's a bit higher priced. So it would depend on what you want to spend. There's many nice restaurants on Estero Blvd - only reason I know is that we stayed there twice (once at Pink Shell and the other time at a friend's condo). There's plenty to do around there.