Where to stay in Miami?

[kirkaliciasmom]

Hi! We are a mother daughter pair doing a B2B on the Wonder in March 2015. I've never sailed out of Miami and I'm wondering where the best place to stay is? We will most likely be flying into FLL since we usually fly SW. My thought is to rent a car for a day, or shuttle to drive from the airport to our hotel in Miami. We are coming from CA, so most likely we will be getting in late afternoon, early evening. I'd just like to be close to the port and have a view of the bay. That can be optional, but it would be cool to see the ship in the morning. . Any advice is appreciated. TIA!

 

[blondietink]

We have always stayed in the FLL/Plantation area before our Miami cruises and then drive to Miami Beach in the am, and have breakfast on the sidewalk somewhere on Ocean Drive. Then we head to the port in the early pm. South Beach is very cool and retro. We are not people who want to get to the port by 10 and sit around waiting to get on a ship.

 

[SeattleSuz]

We are staying in FLL the night before our cruise. We found a great rate at a place right along the beach.

 

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

The Doubletree Biscayne Bay has a rental car return at the hotel. I think it is Enterprise. We have stayed here returned our car here and took a taxi to the port the next morning. The other option is to return your rental car the day you get to port. The rental car terminal has a free shuttle to the port.

 

[darwinsrule]

Have the Holiday Inn POM booked for this August and will book it again for our cruise on the Wonder next March. Right across from POM and best of all you can get a room with two double/queen (can't remember which) AND a sofabed. Means separate beds for each of our girls.

 

[su_A_ve]

I like the Hampton Inn - the downtown/brickwell is usually ranked top two at trip advisor (number one right now). For a little less, the one in the Blue Lagoon airport area is also pretty good, and a better deal if you drive.

 

[jrabbit]

We've stayed at the Beachcomber Resort in Pompano Beach (few miles north of FLL). Easy to get to. Right on the ocean. So far every meal we have had in the area has been very good and reasonably priced. We have driven to the Miami airport and dropped off our car there and picked up the DCL shuttle. Works for us!

 

[sbridgeman]

The below is something I posted to another question, but it may help you too!

*************************************************
We did this cruise last February (2013) and had a great time.

We flew into MIA and the cabs from there were easy/very affordable (around $25 from the airport to our hotel in the bayside area.)

As far as hotels go, we went with the InterContinental Miami on Chopin Plaza. It's a great location with lots to do and if you luck out, your might get a room with a view of POM. Next time we cruise out of Miami we will stay here again. The only thing we would probably do different is explore the area on foot a little more for restaurants. We ate dinner the night before the cruise at Bayside and it was good, don't get me wrong, it just seemed like there were some more local/less touristy spots across from Bayfront Park.

I would personally recommend flying in the day before if possible. It was really nice just getting up the next morning at our leisure, grabbing some breakfast and hanging out some before going over to the ship (which was around a $15 cab ride) -- definitely beats the stress of having to worry about flights/delays/traffic/baggage/etc on the day of embarkation.

As a side, the cab ride form the port back to the airport is a flat fee so that fare will not be metered.

 

[Goofydisneyfan]

We stayed at the Lago Mar Resort in FLL - very nice, beautiful beach and pool.

 

[su_A_ve]

Well, last December we stayed at the Conrad. I had some HHonors points and was able to get an incredible points + dollars rewards night.

Too fancy for my taste to be honest and I would say not 'kids friendly'. Perfect for a romantic gateway with DW. I'd say that if you do go, keep the kids away from the snacks section in the room. There's "adult romantic" stuff available for purchase.

Lucky for us, our kids never go for any of that so they didn't explore what was available.

 

[pouncingpluto]

We stayed at the Lago Mar Resort in FLL - very nice, beautiful beach and pool.

This is what we're trying out-- thought it would be nice to have that first night feel like part of the real vacation, rather than just a place to spend the night. Looks like a great place!

 

[triplefigs]

Interested in this as well.

 

[ILovePixieDust]

We really loved the Leows Miami South Beach Hotel. Absolutely beautiful with a huge pool, incredibly comfortable loungers, fruit flavored ice water available at all times, relaxing live music at the pool, easy access to the beach and close to Lincoln Rd for shopping. Across the street is also a liquor store for getting your beverages stocked for the cruise!

I think the cab to the port was $20 or so. Quite a close drive. We stayed at the Leows for 4 nights and then cruised B2B for 9 nights. Next time we plan to spend even more time at the Leows- it was so relaxing! We had one night post cruise that we stayed at Fort Lauderdale beach Sheraton because we used Starwood Points. Very disappointing. Wished we had stayed at the leows instead.

 

[kirkaliciasmom]

I like the Hampton Inn - the downtown/brickwell is usually ranked top two at trip advisor (number one right now). For a little less, the one in the Blue Lagoon airport area is also pretty good, and a better deal if you drive.

We won't have a car..... I think. Most likely we will fly into Miami/FLL in the evening. Is the Hampton close to the port?

 

[SeattleSuz]

We stayed at the Lago Mar Resort in FLL - very nice, beautiful beach and pool.

We booked this for our post cruise stay. Looks like a lovely place!

 

[tweis]

Anyone familiar with this hotel as found on www.mousesavers.com? We may cruise out of Miami in 2015 and while this hotel isn't fancy, it seems as though it would take care of any transportation issues.

Miami Hotel Options

Comfort Suites Miami Airport North

The best deal going in Miami seems to be Comfort Suites Miami Airport North. While it’s not fancy, this well-reviewed hotel offers reasonable rates along with some great benefits:

FREE transfers between Miami airport and the hotel and FREE transfers between the hotel and the Port of Miami! As far as we know, this is the only hotel in Miami offering both transfers for free, which can save you a substantial amount in taxi or shuttle fares.

 

[kirkaliciasmom]

Anyone familiar with this hotel as found on www.mousesavers.com? We may cruise out of Miami in 2015 and while this hotel isn't fancy, it seems as though it would take care of any transportation issues. Miami Hotel Options Comfort Suites Miami Airport North The best deal going in Miami seems to be Comfort Suites Miami Airport North. While it’s not fancy, this well-reviewed hotel offers reasonable rates along with some great benefits: FREE transfers between Miami airport and the hotel and FREE transfers between the hotel and the Port of Miami! As far as we know, this is the only hotel in Miami offering both transfers for free, which can save you a substantial amount in taxi or shuttle fares.

Thanks for posting. Something to definitely to look into. I just need a place to rest my head after a full day of travel. Also, Comfort Inn/Suites usually have the best full breakfasts.

 

[ImDMous]

We just did this two weeks ago. We flew into FLL from San Diego and then took SAS transport to Miami and stayed at the Doubletree Hilton Biscayne Bay. We ended up being the only ones on the van to Miami and our driver was great pointing out all kinds of stuff along the way. The hotel was great, several restaurants on site and the pool was beautiful at night. We got an upgrade when we got there and our room was huge with a view of the ship in the morning.

 

[czmom]

We just did this two weeks ago. We flew into FLL from San Diego and then took SAS transport to Miami and stayed at the Doubletree Hilton Biscayne Bay. We ended up being the only ones on the van to Miami and our driver was great pointing out all kinds of stuff along the way. The hotel was great, several restaurants on site and the pool was beautiful at night. We got an upgrade when we got there and our room was huge with a view of the ship in the morning.

How did you get from the hotel to the port? Did the Hilton provide a free shuttle?