Intercontinental Miami or Best Western on the Bay

[rlkubi]

Ok. Need your comments. I got a great price on the IC on Chopin ($129/night). I also had booked BW on the Bay. The benefit of BW on the Bay is the free shuttle from the airport. The benefit of the IC is that it is downtown. For those of you who have stayed at the hotels, please give me your input. We are a group of 10 (have 5 rooms booked)

 

Thank you!

[Keith1010]

I can only speak to the Intercontinental. It's a very nice hotel located right across the bridge from the Miami Cruise Terminal. It is located by the Bayside Market and also by a nice little park. I highly recommend it.

 

Keith

[cruisinez]

Ok. Need your comments. I got a great price on the IC on Chopin ($129/night). I also had booked BW on the Bay. The benefit of BW on the Bay is the free shuttle from the airport. The benefit of the IC is that it is downtown. For those of you who have stayed at the hotels, please give me your input. We are a group of 10 (have 5 rooms booked)

 

Thank you!

 

We stayed at the BW last year, the rooms were ok. The biggest perk was the free shuttle from the airport and also the port. If you plan to use the shuttle make sure you sign up for it when you check in, it fills up fast and you may end up spending some time waiting for the shuttle otherwise. They only had a couple large vans that they used and they were also trying to accomodate those needing to get to the airport as well. We were lucky and got on one of the first shuttles. As far the area around the hotel, we found that there was not a whole lot to do and see in the area. So it depends on what you want to do. There was a nice seafood restaurant within walking distance "Joe's crabhouse" I believe. Food was very good. Dinner menu was a bit pricey but the lunch menu was reasonable. There was also a pizza shop across the street, a pizza joint that was getting ready to open, a small grocery store and a few other shops but that was about it. The hotel does have a restaurant and bar on site and seemed to be a fairly popular place with the locals. We had some young children in our group so we opted to go someplace different to eat.

[snausman]

Ok. Need your comments. I got a great price on the IC on Chopin ($129/night). I also had booked BW on the Bay. The benefit of BW on the Bay is the free shuttle from the airport. The benefit of the IC is that it is downtown. For those of you who have stayed at the hotels, please give me your input. We are a group of 10 (have 5 rooms booked)

 

Thank you!

 

I have only stayed at the IC. This is a first class hotel with wonderful views of the ships and port. Also you got a WONDERFUL price for this hotel. So my vote would be to stay here. Taxi is only around 10.00 dollars to the port and they can get you a couple of vans.

 

Laura

[Nanatravel]

I too have only stayed at the Intercontinental, which I can highly recommend. That price is good, too. You are also comparing a 2 star to a 4.5 star hotel. I enjoy the complete Miami experience and factor in the additional taxi rates. For 10 people, of course the transfers will be additional. There are vans out there which might accommodate all of you from the airport and to the cruiseport, but fees will vary.

 

IC is right next to the bay, a lovely park and a 5 minute walk to the Bayside Marketplace. This area has shops, restaurants including Bubba Gumps and Hard Rock Cafe, lively entertainment and the Island Queen for boat tour cruises, etc. It really depends on what travel experience you want.

 

Bon Voyage

[floridacruiser63]

Intercontinental Chopin Plaza all the way, no comparison.:)

[eandj]

The free shuttle from the airport or to the pier is not worth it, in terms of hotel choices. You'll be splitting the cab fares between lots of people. No way weould I go with a Best W over the Intercontinental. Jump on it for that rate!!!

 

Using cabs to the pier will be so quick and efficient. Don't mess with any shuttle schedules free or not.