So if it’s your first time visiting Miami, knowing where to stay is not so easy. Miami Beach covers a large area and Miami itself, an even larger area. My opinion is that if it’s your first time to the city, you need to stay in South Beach. This is where the famous Ocean Drive is located, where Art Deco buildings line the street, and where you will have the true Miami experience.
South Beach includes the 23 southernmost blocks of Miami Beach. When looking at hotels, it is fairly easy to tell if the hotel is in South Beach just by paying attention to their address. For example, Delano Hotel is located on 1685 Collins Avenue. The street number indicated that the hotel is located between 16th and 17th street. Anything below 23rd street is considered South Beach. Another example is Days Inn Miami Beach located at 4299 Collins Avenue. By looking at the street number you can see that this hotel is located between 42nd St. and 43rd St. I would not recommend staying here even if it is cheaper.
If you stay in South Beach you will have plenty of restaurants, bars, and shops within walking distance. During WMC and Ultra, you will hear music coming from pretty much every building, as well. The cost will be a bit higher as far as hotel rooms but you will definitely save money on cab fares. And trust me, cab fares add up quickly, so any chance you get to save money on cab fares, you’ll want to take advantage of it.
Another option is staying in downtown Miami. If it is your first time in Miami, I would not recommend staying in the part of town. There isn’t the same energy, there isn’t as much going on and there aren’t as many benefits to this area. For those reasons, you won’t get the full Miami experience staying here. For seasoned Miami party people, however, this could be a good option since each year sees an increase of parties in the downtown area. Keep in mind, the downtown area has a lot of homeless people and I would not feel as comfortable walking around this area as in South Beach.
If you want to stay in the middle of the action in South Beach, a good option is to stay in one of the hotels arranging parties. Shelborne Hotel, National Hotel, Fontainebleau, Gansevoort and Surfcomber have some of the bigger pool parties every year.
This year I am staying in Townhouse Hotel. Where are you staying?
P.S. Book your hotel as early as you can to get a good rate and make sure it is from a trusted source and that it has a fully refundable cancellation policy.
Related posts:
