My husband and I are planning to go to Miami for a long weekend in Jan. and are interested in finding a Miami Beach hotel that is close to the action, but not too close to hear the night-long noise. The Kent and Park Central hotels in South Beach seemed to be good deals (less than $150/night on expedia.com). I've read the reviews on these hotels on this board and on tripadvisor.com, and both seem like good choices, so I'm looking for feedback on the noise factor, as well as other hotel recommendations that are under $150. Thanks in advance!

Neither The Kent or The Park Central will get you out of earshot of the late night action. The Kent is right around the corner from the Clevelander and a zillion other places to party. The Park Central is right in the middle of Ocean Drive around 6th Avenue. Very busy place.

I like the Lincoln Road area because all of the hotels are oceanfront and you can walk into the middle of the action within 10 minutes. They also have pools something the Ocean Drive hotels don't usually have.

My favorite mid range choices are the Doubletree Surfcomber (very nice, upscale), The South Seas, The Marsielles, and The Holiday Inn. The thing I like best about the Holiday Inn is that they offer free parking (only hotel in South Beach with free parking) and have free use of beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach.

GoTravel (Hi, Go!! ) is spot-on right on all of her recommendations, although I'd place the Park Central's location a block or two south of the worst of the South Beach madness. And those couple of blocks make a big difference. It's a nice hotel (I've stayed there) in any case.

My favorite hotel is the Cardozo, with a combination of subtle luxury, comfort and good old sex appeal that you can't find in a lot of the other old Deco-era hotels. However, Saturday nights they turn the lobby into a nightclub, complete with huge, stylish crowds and DJ spinning LOUD well into the night. That might knock it out of the running for you. Of Go's choices, the Surfcomber and the South Seas tend to get the best reviews. The Loews is huge and rather un-South Beach in feel to me, but it should be relatively quiet.

Go, have you seen the Raleigh since the last renovation? It's supposed to be quite nice.

No, I haven't been in the Raleigh in some time. Did they finish it recently?

They are/were still working on the Hyatt when we were in Miami a couple of weeks ago. It looks very impressive. Unless I missed something, I was underwhelmed by the Ritz-Carlton.

I seem to get pickier and pickier when it comes to South Beach hotels.

Did I tell you hubby and I had a cocktail at the Cardozo in your 40th birthday honor?

He's like okay, I'm toasting someone I don't know that my wife knows in cyberspace....maybe it's time for the shrink

Go, aren't you too sweet? I think a shrink would appreciate your generosity of spirit, and up the Prozac for your DH....

Just kidding.

The Cardozo Bar was our first stop for a celebratory mojito or two orr shevenn orrrr all right maybe we should crawl back to the room....

I had heard that they had done some remodeling at the Raleigh-- maybe I heard wrong. That fleur-de-lis pool is such a treasure, it would be tragic if they let the hotel crumble away.

I can't wait for them to finish the Victor. They're getting closer to finishing the Carlyle as well. The R-C? I just didn't get up there. Shame on me. Next trip. After Hawai'i....

We stayed at the Raleigh in January and they were just finishing renovating, the pool area is still great with a whole enclosed sandy area in back (not the beach) with hammocks and a bar. We brought our child and it was very pleasant