Mini refers to the trip and the report . My husband and I went for a long weekend to escape the cold (HA!) of Connecticut last Thursday.

First, the lines are definitely longer than last year. This was our first flight og the new year and there is a definite difference, althought I can't figure out why the lines are so much longer. We had an early am flight on american, arrived at Laguardia one hour prior to the departure and started boarding as soon as we got to the gate - so it's definitely taking londer and we even used the kiosks for e-tickets.

Weather in South Beach was great, we stayed at Loews first night, then the Royal Plam the last 2 nights. I reviewed Loews in another thread, liked it fine, and Royal Crown was right next door and very nice as well. Housekeeping at Royal Palm could be improved. we found pieces of broken glass on the carpet every day we were there, even after we told housekeeping. The room was nice, great oceanview, the hotel was brand new, nice pools, liked the fact that you could see the ocean from the upper level pool. Pool and beach service was on par with Loews, very good and friendly, comfy chaises, cold washclothes and complimentary fruit as opposed to complimentary italian ice at Loews.

We ate at Lario's (OK), An Italian restaurant on jEspanola way (name was Something Roma, can't remember!) It was v. good and then at Wish at The Hotel, which was excellent. We also went to Crobar, which was mildly entertaining. Drinks were lousy and expensive, and music was LOUD, we must be getting old 'cause we only stayed an hour. All the music started sounding the same, I sound like my mother. We also had drinks and shot pool at the Delano. Very nice.

Saturday was frigid so we shopped.

Flight home Sunday night was horrible. Sat at the gate for an hour (first mech, problem, then Air traffic control went off for a few minutes, then they had to disconnect a toll bar?). Also we were about to touch down at LaQuardia when the flight pulled up and circled around for another 20 minutes. Ended up being over an hour late.

It was fun, but I probably wouldn't go back for more than 2 nights. Not enough to do and started to look a little seedy after a bit.

How many old guys with hair transplants, lipo suction and gold chains did you see walking around?
I fear SoBe is just becoming another hangout for wannabe old geezers with cash.

Actually Drew, there were a good number of beautiful people lingering about. We even saw 2 photo shoots and a try-out for a modeling gig. Lots of toned lookers in low rise jeans and a fair amount of, well shall we say "enhanced" bustlines poolside.
Didn't see a lot of what you're describing.

Nina, we took a stroll around Loews over Thanksgiving. Nice hotel! I can see why you wouldn't want much more than a couple of days in SoBe. It gets old pretty fast--or we have, you're right. gt; We did have to show our son, though, visiting from Dallas, and he was duly impressed. Maybe we were just too early, but it seemed as if everyone there was there to people watch the people who were "supposed to be there"...but we just ended up people watching each other.

You could hardly have chosen a worse few days to visit. It has been a miserable winter, the coldest I can recall since moving here. We took a busman's holiday at the Don CeSar in St Pete Beach for our anniversary this weekend while you were in MB. You could definitely tell who the tourists were...the ones insisting on shorts! There were a few hardy souls around the pool and in swimming Sunday, but it was only marginally tolerable I'd think. We had on long pants, sweaters, and jackets.

I know, it was way too cold. At least I watched the forecast and packed accordingly. There were some poor people who only packed shorts and t-shirts. I was talking to one guy who stayed in the whirlpool ALL DAY on saturday because it was too cold to get out. He was wondering whether he could damage his skin from too much immersion!

We were recently at SoBe. Loved the scene at night. During the day, I spotted a blue Ferrari pull up right next to us at the front of a cafe, and look who's driving...Puff my Diddy, P Doodle, whatever. He was sitting there in the car, so I asked him if I could snap a pic. Not that I give a damn about the dude, I just thought my nephew would think it was cool. He tersly replied no. I walked a few steps and decided...what the hell, he's in public, and snapped the pic anyway. Glad to see there's still "Cal Ripkens" in the world, always available to sign autographs for the kids and fans. What a jerk. No talent, no class.