Miami Beach Hotels
 

Me again! My husband and I are still working out details for hotels during his conference at the Fountainebleau. We don't want to stay at the FB. Eden Roc is completely booked during two of the nights of our stay (and we don't want to change hotels). Can anyone recommend any of the following hotels? I've checked tripadvisor but I'd like personal recs from any of you.

Crescent Resort on South Beach

Courtyard Oceanfront

Riu Miami Beach

New Circa39 Hotel

Any tips or advice you can give me about any of these hotels would be much appreciated. Thanks!

ttt

bamakelly, I just got back from S. Beach. There were articles in the paper about the Crowne Plaza and how they were having problems competing with the glitzier Delano and National nextdoors. The Crowne Plaza did not glitz up its front and so seems to lack curb appeal but this is a great hotel that puts you at the base of Lincoln Road where you'll want to be for fun walking and shopping. I did a walk through and it is very nice. There is a 25 cents people-mover trolley that might go as far north as the Fountainbleau, call the Crowne Plaza to find out. I've heard some folks saying they got great rates there. I don't know about the other hotels you mention. If your husband has a parking spot at the Fountainbleau it is not very far to drive and the traffic a week ago was negligible. Good luck.

Thanks for your help! I checked out the Crowne Plaza, and it does look very nice. However, it's more expensive than any of the other choices, and it's the farthest away from the conference. We'll put it on the list, but I am still interested in any comments on the hotels I listed above, if anyone knows anything.

Thanks again!

Have you tried Priceline? I believe people were getting $95/nite for the Crowne Plaza on Priceline. What rates are you looking at? Also, if you're OK now w/S. Beach, check out the Blue Moon. But not sure about pool there.

Looking at rates using hotels.com, travelocity, expedia, and orbitz. Using tripadvisor to find hotel suggestions. Priceline is a good idea but this trip we are not that flexible, as we need to be close to the FB if possible, and if on South Beach (only one of the hotels in my list is on South Beach) it needs to be one with a pool and parking and a reasonable price. Thank you, though--I'll keep checking rates.

Any words of advice on the hotels listed in the OP?

topping...

I'll try to put this as nicely as I know. I think you need to start over with your search. You have posted and there have been many, many responses to your post, with lots of suggestions. Most of us thought you were looking for something as nice or even nicer that the FB but one that might not cost that much. You now mention hotels that aren't even on South Beach, so it no longer seems being close is even an issue. Now you say Priceline isn't possible because you aren't that flexible. Huh? Only one of the hotels you mention is even on South Beach -- sounds pretty flexible to me.

I'll be honest. I know nothing about these hotels, but if you are looking for someone to tell you that any of these are wonderful places that just happen to charge a whole lot less than the nice places, I think you're in for a big surprise. South Beach in season is expensive. Don't expect a lot for bargain prices. It is just that simple. Now if you want to repost and say you aren't looking for much, just a clean bed, then that opens a lot more possibilities.

Have you looked on TripAdvisor for comments on these hotels?

Patrick,
I'll try to put this as nicely as I know.

Please try to get the facts on my situation before lecturing me.

We want to stay on MIAMI beach, not SOUTH Beach, which, as you pointed out previously, are several 20 blocks apart.

Perhaps you are confused, as there have been many threads on South Beach hotels in the past couple of days. I have had 2 threads. The first was about hotels near the Fountainbleau. The only rec that came out of that was Eden Roc, which is not available. Soooo...I did my own homework and found specific hotels to inquire about on this second thread. So far, no one has said anything about these specific hotels. I have had a recommendation for a South Beach hotel, but again, staying in South Beach is clearly a SECOND option. It was your idea, actually (or maybe it was GoTravel's) to stay in South Beach and drive into the conference. We're trying to keep an open mind to your suggestions and that is why I included a South Beach hotel.

As I stated to you in my previous thread, I understand that you get what you pay for. However, as you pointed out, sometimes what you pay for is a dump. This would be preceisely why we do not want to stay in the overpriced Fountainebleau. Frankly, we are not flexible. We CERTAINLY do NOT want "a bed". We are picky about where we stay. We do not have to be in the most plush resort on the beach, but it does need to be nicer than average. Frankly, I think we will be dissatisfied with the FB, which is why I am looking for options.

I just moved from Southwest Florida and I understand the season prices. I also am somewhat familiar with South Beach but not at all familiar with Miami Beach. Therefore I have done my homework, checking tripadvisor, but as a prudent traveler, I'd like second opinions from another travel borad also. That would be why I am also posting on Fodor's...where I keep getting referred to tripadvisor.

Surely there is a better-than-decent, nice hotel (2 1/2 to 3 stars) in Miami Beach that has comparable prices to the Fountainbleau (at $270 per night), or maybe even a little less? Why would it be such a bad idea to post here to ask about those hotels? I have even included a list of hotels for suggestions. I think my posts have been clear. So why do I get a lecture?

Sorry--posted too soon.

If I need to "start my seach over" as you suggested, then what should I say to be more clear? Just about everything I have said in my original posts has been ignored anyway. (I've said I checked TripAdvisor, I've said Miami Beach, as-nice-as or just a step down from Fountainebleau, even listed specific hotels...)

Someone recently posted and asked for suggestions near a hotel in South Beach and got a whole list of nice, mid-level, and not-so-nice options. They didn't get the lecture...

My question is simlar but in MIAMI BEACH. And if "most of you" thought that I was looking for somewhere as nice as or a little less than the FB, you were right. You said that "if I am looking for someone to tell me these hotels are wonderful places that just happen to charge a whole lot less than the nice places"...Are you telling me that the hotels that I listed above are not nice hotels? (Some are charging some awfully high rates to be just a "clean bed".) Now THAT would be some advice that I need to know.

I really, really need some good advice about a place to stay.

Got the Eden Roc after all! So excited about our trip!

That's great. I think that's the best solution to the whole problem.

Sorry for some of the comments before, it's just that it's always so tricky when someone is looking for something "better" for "less money". It's usually true that you get what you pay for, and if a place is a financial "bargain" there's usually a good reason. But I suppose that doesn't prevent any of us from always looking for that undiscovered "gem".

bamakelly I am with you. There is NO NEED for lectures. Patrick MAY have a lot of information........and an ATTITUDE!

It is so much better when he can control the attitiude!

Thank you for your valuable comments, WhyNot.

My "lecture" started with "I'll try to put this as nicely as I know" and then I did. You may call it attitude, but in retrospect I have yet to see where a single poster came up with a single idea or comment to prove my comments wrong. My "attitude" was not merely based on this post but on some others as well.

At one point in another thread at the same time bamakelly specifically said they would prefer South Beach, so with this list of hotels and one in South Beach, it was somewhat logical to assume that is still what she was looking for. Then she pointed out it wasn't, fine, but that was AFTER my comments here. And I didn't hear any protests about NOT wanting South Beach with Tandoori Girl's suggestion and the follow up comments. If a bunch of people had come forward with ideas of the listed hotels or even any others saying "yes, these places are BETTER than the Fountainbleau for less money" then I'd certainly apologize. But you will notice they didn't. Not one! I think my comments (with or without "attitude") still stand. You won't find a place BETTER than the Fountainbleau for less money that met the requirements (other than hopefully the Eden Roc which we had already discussed, but wasn't available).

It is nice that the Eden Roc worked out which several of us hoped it would on one of the other threads.

Meanwhile I wonder how your comments about the situation were more helpful than mine? And yes, you can call that question showing my "attitude" if you want.

Patrick--you are still not getting the facts straight. I only had one other thread. In that thread I never said I wanted a hotel nicer than FB but not as much money. In fact, TWICE I stated that we would have liked a step DOWN from FB for a little less money.

Secondly, I said many times that South Beach would have been nice--we like South Beach a lot. But for this trip our main objective is to be CLOSE TO THE CONFERENCE (which is NOT in South Beach) but not at the FB.

On the original thread you all convinced me to look into staying in South Beach and taking a cab to the conference. We looked into it. We still didn't like that idea. So we started from scratch, including this list of hotels (in OP above) which are all in Miami Beach, save for one, which I included only to keep an open mind per your suggestions.


We ended up spending MORE money for a place BETTER than FB. We had wanted to find a place LESS than the FB and expected to therefore stay somewhere a little less high-end. But this was the only hotel we could find favorable, so we opted for Eden Roc. Glad we got it.
Especially since the FB has such low ratings anyway.

All of that being said, your post did not have to begin with "I'll put this as nicely as I know". That's a catty phrase to use, plain and simple. You could have just put it as nicely as you knew, and not included the phrase to indicate your waning level of patience. If it irritated you for me to post this thread, you could have easily ignored it. It was a legitimate question, not intended to get on your nerves at all.

I support you 100% on this board. I think you are helpful and informative. But I do think you can be a little intolerant sometimes. I don't think it's necessarily unjustified in most instances, but in this one, I don't think I deserve at all what you gave me.

I would love to see the "other thread" you are referring to. Here is the only other one I started on the topic previous to this one: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...elly&fid=1

There were many other threads that week about SOUTH Beach. Maybe you confused mine with someone else?

By the way--I do NOT want to come off as seeming like "whynot" here. I don't want to associate my opinion about this particular thread with whynot's opinion or with my opinion of Patrick on this forum as a whole. As I said before, I support Patrick. I just wanted to clear up teh facts about this particular thread.

AND I am very excited about our trip. In one month we will be in Miami. It will be my husbands first time out of town in a year. It is a trip well overdue, even if it is a business trip.
:)

bamakelly, I think Patrick may have some weird poster stalking him or something. It seems on many of his recents posts, someone has dropped out of the sky to criticize his posts to others.

I know he has a lot on his shoulders right now.

Yes I agree GT! I did not mean to come off so harshly. When I re-read my post I realized that, which is why I reposted to explain and support him.

ON another note, I am THRILLED about the Eden Roc! Thank you for the recommendation!!! It was originally booked, but when I checked again, with crossed fingers, I got a room! The rate is higher, but we are fine with that. We don't want to stay at FB because of mixed review and also because we are trying to make the best out of a lousy conference! :)

I looked for the tours you suggested at the historical museum (or whatever the name is)...they only have a walking tour scheduled during the time we are there. Oh well! I did notice that they will do special group tours, though, and I am trying to round up enough interested parties to join us for a possible tour of Stiltsville (assuming I can book that with enough people). That boat tour looks fun!

Oh--and I hate that we are away from thw action at Eden Roc, but I figure that if we are at Eden Roc I will have plenty to do at the spa! :) And we will be close to the conference for my husband. Wish we'd found something less pricey, but at least we don't have to take a gamble on it being somewhere nice.

Either the Eden Roc or the FB has a weird back entrance policy.

Most hotels, during the day you can walk off the beach to their pool/pool bar/outdoor restaurants/hotel facilites. I imagine most get a lot of walk in revenue that way. One of the two, if you are not staying on property you must walk in through the front doors. When you see how massive the two hotels are (and the are next door neighbors), you'll cuss. It is a LOOONNNNNGGGGG walk to the front door.

The boardwalk, right out of your back door, is a wonderful place for a morning run. I think the elevated wood part ends at the Holiday Inn but the concrete version starts around there and winds its way all the way down to the SoFi (I hate those stupid acronyms but it is the South of Fifth Street area).

If you can find one, check out a Design area walking tour. Tandoori Girl just took one either organized or on her own but the downtown area is very up and coming.

Yes, I read that back door entrance policy somewhere--can't remember which it was. We are hoping my husband will have somewhat of an easier time since he'll be wearing a badge for his conference. (mayyybeeee....) Even if not, he can hoof it over to the front door. He runs and walks daily so he will like the exercise. It will be worth it not to stay there among the conference goers. There's a lot of political mess in his organization that we want to stay far-removed from. I know the FB is big, but we think it will make more of a statement to the others that we really want to "keep out of the fray" when we can tell them we are not staying there. We don't mean to be snobby, but we do want to make a point not to get involved in the strange things that go on at this conference every year. Besides I am unimpressed with the FB reviews anyway.

The boardwalk sounds nice. Can't wait to take advantage of the view during a jog or two.

Will look into the tour you mentioned. I also have a list of good restaurants from other threads. Especially looking forward to trying Wish.

Will it be easy or hard to get a cab in Miami Beach for the times we do want to venture down to SoBe? Will we need to tell the concierge ahead of time, or will we be able to just hail a cab from the front door?

I plan on spending one day at the spa and at the beach, one day attending the conference myself, and the other two days halved between the beach and shopping. That still leaves an extra day for playing. Also, the conference ends each day around 3:00, leaving some of the afternoon for my husband to join into something fun.

If you think of any other things we can do to make our trip enjoyable, please do let me know!

It is usually very easy to get a cab but aren't y'all going to a large convention? That may make it a little harder to hail a cab.

You are literally right around the corner from my very favorite restaurant The Forge. Oh. My. God.

On any given night you can see anyone in there. Food is fabulous and it houses the largest and best wine cellar in the southeast.

The adjoining nightclub JimmyZs, is a lot of fun. Either Sunday night or Wednesday night is the hopping night for this spot.

One night we were in The Forge eating and Don King was throwing his 70th birthday party. The crowd boogied its way over to JimmyZs after dinner and you've never seen so much brillo hair a flyin'.

JimmyZs used to be a cigar bar/nightclub when smoking was still allowed and Harrison Ford, Madonna, Arnold, and tons of other celebs all had humidors.

Well, now I can't WAIT to go to THE FORGE! And JimmyZ's sounds like fun too! It's been too long since my husband has had the chance to go out to a fun club--he will love the chance to unwind there.

Just talking about all of this makes me look so forward to the trip...counting down the days!

My favorite evening.

A long leisurely dinner with lots of good red wine at The Forge, then boogie down at JimmyZs until I drop.

I'm envious.

I will say if you have to do any wining and dining with clients or need to be wined and dined, suggest this restaurant.

www.TheForge.com

Sounds perfect~! Maybe I'll report back with some good stories! Thanks for the tips.