Chelsea, South Beach

[insidecabin]

Had been looking for post cruise(pearl Trans Dec) for a while and spotted a 3for2 deal with the http://www.southbeachgroup.com. So went with the Chelsea, which comes out at around $185 inc. for the 3nights. Reviews on Tripadvisor and elsewhere seem OK

 

Comments welcome.

 

Last time our post cruise one night was the north end of South beach and this looks a better location for the 3 days, Ocean, Espanola and Lincoln walking, the public transport links(bus) close for trips further a field.

 

We did fancy Coral gables/coconut grove area, but the hotels would have cost a lot more($380 for Wyndham? hotwire). we could change but how easy would it be to get down there on public for afternoon(walkaouts) evening(eats+drinks) and cost of Taxi back. The $200 difference pay for a lot of taxis and we don't need the facilities of the larger hotels if we plan to be out.

 

Anyone got a good link for the public transport details/routes.

[lmondrop]

Had been looking for post cruise(pearl Trans Dec) for a while and spotted a 3for2 deal with the http://www.southbeachgroup.com. So went with the Chelsea, which comes out at around $185 inc. for the 3nights. Reviews on Tripadvisor and elsewhere seem OK

 

Comments welcome.

 

Last time our post cruise one night was the north end of South beach and this looks a better location for the 3 days, Ocean, Espanola and Lincoln walking, the public transport links(bus) close for trips further a field.

 

We did fancy Coral gables/coconut grove area, but the hotels would have cost a lot more($380 for Wyndham? hotwire). we could change but how easy would it be to get down there on public for afternoon(walkaouts) evening(eats+drinks) and cost of Taxi back. The $200 difference pay for a lot of taxis and we don't need the facilities of the larger hotels if we plan to be out.

 

Anyone got a good link for the public transport details/routes.

 

Here is a website for the Electrobus that takes you around the beach, the fare is only .25 and its a great way to get up and down South Beach:

 

http://www.commuterservices.com/mbtma/

 

The public transportation is really not the best here in Miami but here is a link to the bus route information on the Miami Dade website:

 

http://go.miamidade.gov/

 

The metrorail unfortunately does not reach all the way to Miami BEach, but there is a huge project going on right now to expand it and it will be ready by the time I'm retired and I'm 29 years old :)

[insidecabin]

Thanks for the links,

 

The electobus will meet most of our local needs and convenient it runs late but being from the UK we do walk places :-)

 

We were happy with the buses last time we were there just the day, so down to bayside, I think we ended up at the Goverment centre metromover station on a Sunday last time and it was quiet, I nice homeless chap sorted us out and got us where we wanted to be that day,

 

With three days we can do a lot more and having the maps in advance will help we have 10 days at sea to plan. Knowing the routes and how to recognise the stops that is the trick to any public system.

[BlueHerons]

Had been looking for post cruise(pearl Trans Dec) for a while and spotted a 3for2 deal with the http://www.southbeachgroup.com. So went with the Chelsea, which comes out at around $185 inc. for the 3nights. Reviews on Tripadvisor and elsewhere seem OK

 

Comments welcome.

 

Last time our post cruise one night was the north end of South beach and this looks a better location for the 3 days, Ocean, Espanola and Lincoln walking, the public transport links(bus) close for trips further a field.

 

We did fancy Coral gables/coconut grove area, but the hotels would have cost a lot more($380 for Wyndham? hotwire). we could change but how easy would it be to get down there on public for afternoon(walkaouts) evening(eats+drinks) and cost of Taxi back. The $200 difference pay for a lot of taxis and we don't need the facilities of the larger hotels if we plan to be out.

 

Anyone got a good link for the public transport details/routes.

 

The Chelsea Hotel is a very pretty gem of a deco hotel in South Beach. Interestingly enough, my inlaws spent part of their honeymoon there in 1955!

 

Not sure why you'd want to leave South Beach to head over to Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love both areas but South Beach will have enough to entertain you for three nights.

[insidecabin]

Thanks for the positive on the Chelsea, the main negative comments seem to be late night music which we can live with.

 

We have done a one night stay SOBE before and would like to get a feel for another area for future cruises, Coral/Coco comes up as a lot as Ok as do a few places further north so I would like to get a look from the ground for future reference. I can also focus on a short list of places to eat/drink/see now we have a place to stay.