Miami/Florida twin centre

[princess jackson]

Thinking about next years holiday as my job front is moving along.

Anyway, we can not bear not being at Disney (i know i am sad), but it makes DD happy and when she is happy we are happy.

We are playing around with ides at the mo, weather to do a criuse.

Or twin centre with miami and WDW.

My question would be which leg to do first miami or wdw

Has anyone been to miami before, any recommendations on hotels

 

[jns]

we have done WDW and then St petes beach worked out good for us
nice relazing week after the parks

this time we are doing WDW last , we have New york first then the 3 day cruise
so we will see how it goes

maybe if you can find some 2 centre trip reports will help to make up your mind
Good luck with the planning

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Have been to Miami a number of times, but not for several years so cannot really recommend any specific hotels - can by pricey if you stay in the more upmarket areas such as South Beach etc but being based on the beach is a definite plus.
I would try Expedia or Tripadvisor perhaps. It really all depends on how much you want to pay, we were actually looking at going back there this August but changed our minds.
There are some nice 2 bedroom apartment style villas 'Marriott at Doral' I think they were called, and in addition there is a nice hotel on the beach near Collins Avenue (where we stayed on Honeymoon), called the 'Bentley'.

If you are flying back from Orlando I would definitely stay there for the second week, I guess it all depends on your flight arrangements.
It's at least a 3 hour drive between the two.

Great idea for a 2 centre as you also have Fort Lauderdale just a short drive away, if you like shopping then Miami has an abundance.

 

[princess jackson]

Just pricing up on VH website.

They have a multicentre, staying Riu Florida Miami and staying at Carribean Beach (with the dining plan)

Priced up on ecomony seats and B&B in miami.

I think it is a good price £3800 for 2 adults and 1 child and this is for August 07

 

[Boo Boo Too]

We are playing around with ides at the mo, weather to do a criuse.

Or twin centre with miami and WDW.

My question would be which leg to do first miami or wdw

Has anyone been to miami before, any recommendations on hotels

Depends what you are after really... am not a HUGE Miami fan... if you want to do a two centre with a beach, would go for West Coast (Naples, Sarasota, Clearwater or St Petes first), then maybe Fort Lauderdale, then maybe Miami. The Florida Keys are lovely, but a LONG way from Orlando...

Cruise is good - you could do that from Port Canaveral. We are going for a week's Caribbean cruise on Mariner-of-the-Seas (HUGE Royal Caribbean ship with ice skating, rock climbing, in-line skating etc.) from Port Canaveral this October. You could always do a 3/4/7 day Disney cruise if you are real Disney fans. You get to see some lovely sites/beaches and it is a great experience.

Personally, I would always do the cruise BEFORE the land vacation: hate coming straight off of a cruise ship then going home. BUT I would generally go Disney before a beach (so can relax and wind down afterwards...). However, if you are real Disney fans and don't know how much you would like Miami/Beach, then save Disney until last - that way you always have that to look forward too...

Best Wishes,
Boo

 

[JohnnySharp2]

The west coast definitely has the beaches, I agree Naples is lovely but is very quiet, a week is too long and to be honest whilst Sarasota is an okay place and has a nice beach, a week would be 5 days too long in my opinion - we found it a bit boring there.
Not so bad if you want to sit and relax but otherwise Miami and Ft.Lauderdale would be much more suitable for a week's stay.

We have done 2 or 3 centres combining Orlando, Naples, Sarasota, Miami etc but must admit it's a lot of driving, to combine all would mean a lot of travelling so personally I would stick with Orlando/Miami.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

The west coast definitely has the beaches, I agree Naples is lovely but is very quiet, a week is too long and to be honest whilst Sarasota is an okay place and has a nice beach, a week would be 5 days too long in my opinion - we found it a bit boring there.
Not so bad if you want to sit and relax but otherwise Miami and Ft.Lauderdale would be much more suitable for a week's stay.

We have done 2 or 3 centres combining Orlando, Naples, Sarasota, Miami etc but must admit it's a lot of driving, to combine all would mean a lot of travelling so personally I would stick with Orlando/Miami.

Yes, depends what you are looking for... we love just chilling out. Naples was great for:
- trips to the everglades (did a croc reserve, airboat, coastal cruise combo tour)
- bike rides (hiring bikes from the hotel and just nosing around - got some funny looks though, it was about 90'...)
- trolley tour (finding out some of the history of the area)
- some nice restaurants and lazy lunches by the marinas
- a game or two of mini-golf
- spending time by the pool and on the beach.

If you are "all action" it probably isn't the place for you... if you like laid back sophistication and a more traditional beach/pool holiday then it might be

Boo

 

[scojos]

hi, 2 years ago we did split hols, orlando at ft lauderdale. fl was nice, spent alot of time in or around pool as so exausted after 8 days spinning round parks. However spent 1 day in miami and never again!
i have never felt so frightened, in the centre of town it was like a drug dealers haven, lots of huge afro carribean blokes covered in gold, it was very frightening with three small kids, could get back to car quick enough. from a distance the harbour and bay was beautiful, but i would never ever go again. This is just my experience and opinion but just something to be aware of.
take care
tracy

 

[Boo Boo Too]

hi, 2 years ago we did split hols, orlando at ft lauderdale. fl was nice, spent alot of time in or around pool as so exausted after 8 days spinning round parks. However spent 1 day in miami and never again!
i have never felt so frightened, in the centre of town it was like a drug dealers haven, lots of huge afro carribean blokes covered in gold, it was very frightening with three small kids, could get back to car quick enough. from a distance the harbour and bay was beautiful, but i would never ever go again. This is just my experience and opinion but just something to be aware of.
take care
tracy

Think that it depends where you go - if you stick to the very touristy areas, you will be ok... So, if you stay in Miami, pick a BIG hotel in the middle of a big touristy area.

But Miami can be quite scarey - the area around the airport is not the best, "downtown" after dark is not good, some other areas can be dodgy too. Has been like that for years (I first went to that area when I was a child about 25 years ago...).

Fort Lauderdale is generally a lot more relaxed, laid back and less scarey than Miami (although you might get mown down by the blue rinse brigade on their little scooters ).

Hope no large afro-Caribbean blokes (with a thing for gold jewellery) take offence at scojos comment above

Personally I am not a Miami fan. Would stay there a couple of nights pre-cruise (at a posh hotel), but that is about it. But it is very much "horses for course" (and the world would be boring if we all liked the same things and the same places ).

Boo

 

[JohnnySharp2]

hi, 2 years ago we did split hols, orlando at ft lauderdale. fl was nice, spent alot of time in or around pool as so exausted after 8 days spinning round parks. However spent 1 day in miami and never again!
i have never felt so frightened, in the centre of town it was like a drug dealers haven, lots of huge afro carribean blokes covered in gold, it was very frightening with three small kids, could get back to car quick enough. from a distance the harbour and bay was beautiful, but i would never ever go again. This is just my experience and opinion but just something to be aware of.
take care
tracy

Are you sure it wasn't just a 'Mr T convention'?

Sorry seriously....Miami is safe if you stick to the beach and shopping locations, which is what most visitors go there for, not forgetting that 'Miami Beach' is an actual city in itself....there are certain areas near the Airport to be avoided, but to a degree that can be said of many major cities.
The bay as you say is very nice. Personally I wouldn't be worried if I was going back to Miami and we would apart from the fact it would be taking Josh away from the fun in Orlando.
Millions of $ have been spent on making it more appealing and safe for visitors.
I could comment on people I have seen in Orlando that I have avoided - would detract from the original question though.

 

[UKDEB]

Personally, I would always do the cruise BEFORE the land vacation: hate coming straight off of a cruise ship then going home

Completely agree with this - I can't think of anything worse. We did a Caribbean cruise (not Disney) this April, followed by a night in Miami (Hotel Victor on South Beach) and then two at Disney's Vero Beach (no WDW this trip ).

I didn't love Miami (although I did love seeing it as we sailed out of port). If we go there again, I don't think we'll bother with South Beach. Coral Gables or Biscayne Bay would suit us better, I reckon.

Oh, and Miami is very expensive.

 

[UKDEB]

if you like laid back sophistication

I do, I do!

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Completely agree with this - I can't think of anything worse. We did a Caribbean cruise (not Disney) this April, followed by a night in Miami (Hotel Victor on South Beach) and then two at Disney's Vero Beach (no WDW this trip ).

Hi Deb, as seems to be my trick of taking things OT..., may I ask which cruise you did and whether you enjoyed it?

A few years ago (2003) we did a back-to-back (Western then Eastern) Caribbean cruise with Holland America out of Fort Lauderdale. It was FAB, but when we got off we went straight to the airport: didn't like that at all! Like to have a few days "stay" booked, after the cruise, before coming home...

I didn't love Miami (although I did love seeing it as we sailed out of port). If we go there again, I don't think we'll bother with South Beach. Coral Gables or Biscayne Bay would suit us better, I reckon.

We stayed at the Ritz in Key Biscayne a few years ago. It was a very nice hotel in a quiet, very safe location (although maybe TOO quiet!). Although saying "safe", we did keep bumping into OJ Simpson (he was staying at the hotel the same time as us)! And the tipping culture at the Ritz was frightening - very "hands out" and non-subtle

We were looking at doing a cruise out of Miami in October (changed our minds to Port Canaveral in the end... prefered to combine with Orlando than Miami) and I was eyeing up either the Mandarin Oriental or the "W Hotel", at the time, for a pre-cruise stay...

Deb is right about the cost of Miami...

Boo

 

[Clare D]

We did a split stay last year with 4 nights at the AKL before driving down to Naples.
This year we have 3 nights at the GF, followed by a 4 night cruise on the Wonder and then 7 days down in Boca Raton.
It was a good 4 hours drive to Naples and it will be the same to BR this year but we don't mind as we get to see different parts of Florida. But I do like to do WDW first andthen chill after.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We did a split stay last year with 4 nights at the AKL before driving down to Naples.
This year we have 3 nights at the GF, followed by a 4 night cruise on the Wonder and then 7 days down in Boca Raton.
It was a good 4 hours drive to Naples and it will be the same to BR this year but we don't mind as we get to see different parts of Florida. But I do like to do WDW first andthen chill after.

We stayed at the Bridge Hotel for a week in Boca Raton several years ago, BR is a very nice place but quiet, ok if you want to relax though.
Similar to Naples.

One advantage at Boca is Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale are closeby, so you can see different places.

 

[UKDEB]

Hi Deb, as seems to be my trick of taking things OT..., may I ask which cruise you did and whether you enjoyed it?

We did NCL's Jewel (brand new ship) in a Romance Penthouse Suite and, yes, we thoroughly enjoyed it. The itinerary was, perhaps, not the most exciting (Puerta Rico, Antigua, St Thomas), although I loved them all. The sea was too choppy to allow us to go ashore at NCL's private island (Great Stirrup Cay), which was a shame, but from what I can gather, we maybe didn't miss too much. NCL was the first cruise line to have a private island and it seems that it isn't the best. We cruised with friends who are absolutely the best company so, to be honest, nothing much could have gone wrong. The ship has about 10 restaurants, a few of which were exactly what we expected if you know what I mean (but luckily, those are the ones most passengers seem to be drawn to), and some surprisingly good ones. We went with low expectations (always a good starting point, in my experience) and ended up having more than a few stand-out moments.

The whole holiday was a riot from start to finish and I just wish I was back there now...

We stayed at the Ritz in Key Biscayne a few years ago.

We love R-Cs!

I was eyeing up either the Mandarin Oriental

I really want to stay at a Mandarin Oriental. We considered one for both our recent Miami stay and Washington DC last April, but the location wasn't quite right for either trip at the time.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

We went with low expectations (always a good starting point, in my experience) and ended up having more than a few stand-out moments.

The whole holiday was a riot from start to finish and I just wish I was back there now...

Well that is good . Have seen quite a few reviews/comments regarding NCL and they are not "attractive"... Would imagine that your choice of cabin and your companions made a huge difference to your perception .

We love R-Cs!

The R-C at Key Biscayne was nice. Am sure that the one at Coconut Grove is nice too. We went and had a look around the one at Naples, but didn't stay there - stayed at the Registry (which we greatly enjoyed - very nice resort). The R-C at Naples looked very nice (would not hesitate staying there)! There is a Shulas at Naples which we also enjoyed very much. Naples is only a couple of hours drive from Miami - worth considering...

Boca Raton also sounds nice. Although haven't stayed there myself.

I really want to stay at a Mandarin Oriental. We considered one for both our recent Miami stay and Washington DC last April, but the location wasn't quite right for either trip at the time.

Yes, know what you mean - the Mandarin at Miami is not "best located" (more of a "business" location). BUT it is supposed to be a very good hotel, has a nice pool and sometimes has some great rates... we always have a car, so wouldn't have problem driving around. Wouldn't go there for a week, but a night or two pre-cruise would be about right...

Boo

 

[UKDEB]

Well that is good The R-C at Naples looked very nice (would not hesitate staying there)!

My brother and s-i-l have stayed there (as well as the one at Sarasota) and they loved it.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

My brother and s-i-l have stayed there (as well as the one at Sarasota) and they loved it.

I bet - the one at Naples did seem nice.... with very nice pool area and good access to nice stretch of beach.... Very nice!

I love those bits of the Gulf Coast... I know it is a bit quiet, but it is just so laid back... a different world from Orlando and Miami...

Boo

 

[yo-ho-yo-ho]

If staying in Miami try the The National Hotel great location + a great service.