Miami Hotels -Recommendations?

[Alexis]

Are there any liquor stores in walking distance to the Holiday Inn Port of Miami?

 

Hi, Walgreen's and a Liquor store near it

Bayside across from the Holiday Inn is great, but they have no stores like that to shop in.;)

On E. Flagler St off of Biscayne Blvd. There is a Walgreen's(sells lots of snacks and things) and there is a Big liquor store on the same street.

 

Go out the hotel and make a right. Go about 3 - 4 blocks and make a right on E. Flagler street. You will see the Walgreen's on the left and liquor store is down the same street on the right.

That is where the ships workers all shop.

Walgreen's prices are very high.

The liquor store prices were good when I shopped there in September.

Liquor Downtown

207 E Flagler Street

Miami, FL 33131-1301

We walked there every day and felt very safe. There is a lot of construction going on around there so there are many visible people around. I would recommend you go there in the day time.

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[James&Rob]

Hello

 

we have stayed at the holiday inn bayfront very nice motel good location across from bayfront market, as for the taxie from the airport to holiday inn it was like 30.00 with tip. we have also stayed at the Hyatt downtown very nice place also got it on priceline for 70.00 we stayed there 2 times and liked it . not much to do around it but it is walking distance to shops, walgreens etc and also there is a people mover that goes right through there garage. have a great cruise Jame

[Kurbanfan]

There are too many better deals out there for me to spend what the Holiday Inn wants for a room these days. They continue to raise prices because people will continue to pay ridiculous rates for a 2 star (being generous) dump.

 

You can book the Intercontinental nearly anytime for less than the Holiday Inn, be just as close to the famed Bayside Markets, pay the same for cabs, AND have a nice hotel room. Try Easyclick Travel dot com, and look for the "best buy" designation. It averages around 125.00/night not including the 13% hotel tax.

 

I totally agree. We stayed at the Intercontinental 2 weeks ago. Priceline $97.00/nite. Beautiful hotel. Exceptional service. Waterfront walkway to Bayside village & port view. Much better then Holiday Inn, my opinion.

[RN7997]

Kurbanfan

Is it possible to book 10 rooms on priceline for this hotel. How do I bid so that I know I am getting that hotel.

[Alexis]

I left an above post for you about the stores you asked about near the Holiday Inn. ;)

They are also right near the Intercontinental Hotel.

[pmshirl]

The Holiday Inn Port does offer reduced rates, if you quailfy under the categories. I booked for Oct. 2007 and the rate was $145. a nite, since I get a Gov. discount (must show proof of Gov. ID when you arrive) the rate is $107 a nite. Check to see if you qualify, military, government, there are several categories that get you a discount. Good Luck!

[Catperson]

Just my input on the Holiday Inn - We stayed there at the beginning of December for one night prior to our cruise. I thought the common areas of the hotel were quite nice, but I did not like our room. We were on an upper floor facing the pier but the room was so small! In fact, our room on the ship (NOS, JS) was bigger than our HI room. And the window was pretty dirty so taking pictures of the ships in port did not come out too well. Bayside is right across the street and very, very nice for walking about. We ate dinner at an Argentenian restaurant towards the end of Bayside, which was a buffet, $25.00 per person which included a bottle of wine each, plus every meat you can think of, all grilled in front of you, salads, appetizers, desserts, coffee. Very good. Sorry, I just can't remember the name of the restaurant, but you do walk up some stairs to get to it and it is at the end of the Bayside Marketplace.

 

The area around the Holiday Inn, other than Bayside is very seedy. Lots of construction, and very run down looking. We spent a lot of time trying to buy some club soda to bring on the ship, but never did find any. Is this a Canadian thing to drink club soda? Hey Americans, where do you keep your club soda? Unfortunately, there was no grocery store within walking distance.

 

I would probably stay at the HI again only for the location, but would like to check out the Intercontinental which was close by, but definitely at least twice the distance from the Bayside Marketplace than the HI.

[negc]

Kurbanfan

Is it possible to book 10 rooms on priceline for this hotel. How do I bid so that I know I am getting that hotel.

 

There is a limit to the number of rooms you can bid for at one time on Priceline and I believe that it is far fewer than 10. The most we have ever gotten under one bid was three rooms. You cannot bid on a specific hotel so you will not know what hotel you are getting until your bid is accepted. However, if you bid for a 4 or 5 star hotel in a particular area, there are usually a limited number of properties that will meet that specification. Check out biddingfortravel.com and you may be able to determine which hotel other bidders are getting, but there are still no guarantees that you will get the same one. You might also check the hotel's website to see if there are any discounted rates (seniors, AAA etc) available. Sometimes those rates can come close to what you are able to get through Priceline.

[jdmaillet]

Easyclicktravel was the website I was referring to but didn't know I could mention.

 

We got the Intercontinental for $249 a night as it is Presidents weekend. Everything else was about double that, including the Intercontinental on their own website. It is indeed a best buy hotel, 4*.

 

The difference from Priceline is that you can request 2 beds and cancel anytime before 3 days of you res. You do have to pay up front, but they will credit your card back. I've had to do this once and they credited my card right away.

 

The two hotels that seem to come up reg on Priceline for 4* downtown is the Hyatt & the Intercontinental (not to be confused with the Continental which I've heard is a dump) so if you want a certain one, there is no guarantee.

 

Jenn

[jdmaillet]

Regarding the Intercontinental with easyclick. Correction: it will say easyclick exclusive and Best Value (not Best Buy) and it reads as a 5*. Good luck.

[PeterPan]

Regarding the Intercontinental with easyclick. Correction: it will say easyclick exclusive and Best Value (not Best Buy) and it reads as a 5*. Good luck.

 

Thanks for correcting that jd! The star ratings on easyclick don't necessarily match triple A ratings or anything. We weren't impressed with the HI, but many folks on here seem to love it. I didn't expect alot, but did expect more than one working ice machine and one working elevator in the entire place :eek: . Found the staff to be extremely rude, and the room was filthy on our post cruise stay. It appears that if you get checked in before 4:30 you should enter the lottery:D

 

Maybe it was just a bad weekend, but I won't return unless it is a last resort. I would stay at the airport area before returning to the Holiday Inn, and I am a priority club member.

[jdmaillet]

Your welcome! I actually thought and gave the same advice that you did- thinking it was best buy:)

[stevesinps]

Hello and thanks for the lead to easy click travel dot com. The Intercontinental was at $185 (April 20)...however when we had both 4 and 5 star hotels selected there was one that came up at $142. We did a little more research and based on the hotel review (didn't show a name) we determined it was the Marriott Biscayne Bay.

 

Sure enough, we booked it and it is the Marriott Biscayne Bay...after returning to the hotel's own web site it doesn't show any availability, but the cheapest room for other nights was $299.

 

And on someone's earlier comment regarding the Days Inn Airport...we made that mistake once! What a scary hotel! Nothing more I can say about it...SCARY!

 

Thanks!

Steve 2

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Thanks for the great advice. :)

[SAS21]

I have a question on Easyclicktravel. On the bottom where it references cancellation policy it says "cancellations or changes made 3 days prior are subject to 1 night fee". Would you take this to mean that if I book now for a October reservation I can't cancel until3 days prior or that I have until 3 days prior. Thanks for any help.

[jdmaillet]

It means you must cancel BEFORE 3 days prior. I had to reread that myself, it's just worded weird.

 

Not to hijack, but while we are talking about hotels, locations etc. I have a ?.

 

We are flying in at midnight and staying at the Holiday Inn airport (miami springs). We'll then shuttle to the port. I'm wondering where I can get my pop and water. Is there somewhere walking distance close to the port?

 

Thanks

Jenn

[jdmaillet]

It means you have to cancel BEFORE 3 days prior. If you cancel within that 3 days, you'll be charged one nights fee. Also, keep an eye on the site. Our hotel went down in rate by about $40 a night. While they couldn't do a price adjustment, they were happy to cancel my orginal res and credit my CC. Then I just re-booked at the lower rate.

 

Jenn

[bellybutton]

Can you leave your car parked at the Hotels listed in the all the above posts for the week?

[negc]

I'm not sure that any of the hotels in downtown Miami will allow you to leave your car parked in their lot or garage while you are on your cruise. If they do, the parking fee is likely to be more than you will pay if you drive to the pier and park there. Check with your hotel before you book.:)

[ms.sunburn]

I have to agree with some of the other posters on this board. I have stayed at both the Holiday Inn across from Bayside and at the Intercontinental. The Intercontinental was far superior to the HI.