MIA - SoBe - South Beach

MIA - Miami Beach is a wonderful place to visit, and it has lots of eye candy. There's the Lincoln Road Mall, New World Symphony at Lincoln Theatre for music to your ears, and dining at El Viajanté Segundo to salivate your taste buds.

Quick Tips:

Miami is a resource link.

Best Way To Get Around:

Miami-Dade County Transit provides usuable and useful public transportation at a low cost. Royal Rent-A-Car provides the lowest car rental rates. Taxi is another way to get around town.

Best Western South Beach (The Kenmore) has a nice expansive Art Deco lobby, a swimming pool, and dining.

The rooms are still fairly basic, as you are just paying a premium to be in the area. Parking is very difficult in this part of town.

San Juan Hotel is a great location at a great price. There was an Art Deco lobby, swimming pool, and a coin laundry with a tight clearance to work around. Two double beds can accommodate up to four.

My mattress sank in the middle, but the room was clean and had no bugs. Bath towels were small, rough-like dishcloths and not very comfortable to use. Our room was near some motor running, so there was a constant "gray" noise, but after awhile, I hardly noticed it was there. There was also a mini-fridge, TV, microwave, and hair dryer. The provided bath soap dissolves quickly due to the shower spray and position of the soap holder. All calls, including 1-800 numbers, incur a charge.

You may only stay for your booked nights since they are booked solid. Check-out is 11am, with a half-day charge if you’re late leaving and a full-day charge if you leave by 5pm.

This is an old place and maintenance is a low priority. The electrical light switch plate cover is broken lengthwise and overlaps another electrical plate cover. There's no electrical power supply for your laptop, so you cannot plug into the phone's data port unless you unplug a lamp power cord.

There's an electronic safe available for use, which will add $2 to your bill each day. You use it by entering a four-digit security code. We didn't bother with the security safe because, if someone broke in, there were other valuable items too large to secure in the small shoebox safe.

It looks like security is lax. Anyone may come and ask for your room key, as they don't seem to care. Our stuff didn't get stolen. The receptionist during the daytime is definitely overworked, dealing with inquiries, people not checking out by 11am or not paying their bill, and people wanting to come back for another stay, which is beyond me. I'm glad I'm not the one working behind that counter.

Despite all this minor stuff, I'd still recommend this place highly because it has a great location and a good price.

Fairfield Inn By Marriott Miami West is located near the Miami International Airport, where there's a complementary shuttle service. They also provide one complimentary shuttle to the cruise ship port at 10:30am, which we booked a seat the night before and was a full load. A couple of people who showed up without reserving a seat were turned away.

The place is located in an industrial area, so very few things are available within walking distance.

There's a swimming pool available for use and a complimentary breakfast from 7am to 9am consisting of cereal, bagels, toast, fruit juice, coffee, tea, and fruit.

You have to book ahead with this place, as they were booked full. You couldn't casually just get a ride from the airport without a reservation. You call on the white courtesy telephone for pick-up, go to level two, and inform them of the area where you're located. This is somewhat disorganized compared to having a designated pick-up point clearly marked.

The facility is clearly nicer, but the location isn't very desirable compared to South Beach.

Miami Beach Resort and Spa. Here was another opportunity to travel and stay at a fancy hotel in Miami Beach, or so I thought. The entrance is impressive looking, the lobby is grand but overdone. Checking in was relatively quick and painless. Arriving on our floor and going to our room, looking at the overdone decor and starting to already form an opinion of this place before opening the door to our room. The room is relatively spacious, light, and again overdone with decorations.

There is a huge swimming pool for guests to use, bar, private access to the adjacent beach. There's a fitness room, restaurants, bars on the premises.

The hotel staff encourages guests to leave positive feedback on travel sites like this one. Unfortunately, this place doesn't warrant high praise. It does an acceptable service, but have no real desire to come back nor would I recommend this place to anyone. Internet in room is extra daily charge. One thing they will allow without extra charge is online check-in from a list of approved airlines and printing your boarding pass in their business center. Valet parking is around $22/day extra, make sure the car you get into is yours. We made the mistake of getting into a similar car but it wasn't ours.

The location is farther away from South Beach than I would like, but thankfully the public transit has buses going by the hotel to and from South Beach and to the airport 24 hours.

I'd rather stay in South Beach where there's more going on as this location is still rather isolated with not much of anything going on in the immediate area.

Checking out around 4am was super quick, hassle free, no lines. And the transit bus for the airport came on schedule.

El Viajanté Segundo serves Cuban cuisine and is open 24/7. They have daily specials advertised at the door for breakfast and dinner, with low prices to lure you in. But once we're in, we decided to splurge, so I ordered the fillet grouper special, which was excellent (lightly breaded and fried), very tasty, and highly recommended.

The marinated chicken was also ordered, which didn't appeal to my tastes because of the lemon or lime taste. The flan was too rich and sweet for my taste.

Ordering the specials doesn't allow for any substitutions, but we swapped among ourselves.

We returned for breakfast and ordered the breakfast set, which included Cuban coffee with milk-quite tasty, and I really enjoyed it. The bulk of the staff, during the day, has been around for over 30 years.

What's really nice is that this 24-hour restaurant is just two doors down from the San Juan Hotel, where we stayed. They make sandwiches or food to go also.

Jerry's Famous Deli is a large 24-hour deli that was established in 1978. There is outdoor seating and a huge area of indoor seating, which is beautifully done, and it offers catering, a deli, and a restaurant. The menu is also quite large in selection. There is a restroom on the second floor in the rear of the restaurant. There is an advertisement banner flying around South Beach.

Our waiter, Michael, took our order after being seated in a booth. I ordered a sandwich consisting of half-lean pastrami and half-lean corned beef. Our waiter asked if everything is alright within a few minutes of our food being served. Our water glasses were empty and weren't replenished until I was just about done with my meal. Our waiter was nowhere in sight. I finally went to the cashier to ask for the bill. She couldn't find our waiter, and then the night manager got involved looking for him. A bit of time passed by before my waiter appeared.

The bill was presented, and I was charged for two half sandwiches. I told him that he could have informed me that he would charge me for two half sandwiches instead of for one whole sandwich. He said he offered to make the sandwich mixed, and that changing it would be like stealing from the company. I ask for the night manager. The waiter then presented the corrected bill with a $4 discount. I, again, asked for the manager.

I disputed being charged for two half sandwiches instead of one whole sandwich and refused to pay the mandatory 15% gratuity. He agreed that I didn't have to pay and recalculated the bill, but the recalculation the manager performed was only about $1 less than the original bill amount. Something wasn't right. He didn't apply the discount. The manager performed another calculation using his mobile phone. He finalized the bill at $31.60. I gave him $32. He didn’t give me back change, and I was disgusted enough with this experience to insist on my change. I just wanted to leave. The food was okay, but be warned to inquire about the price.

I did the same thing in a Ben's in Carle Place, New York, and didn't encounter gouging like this place. There's no need for this type of a price-gouging practice. This place charges more for their food and does this on top of it.

There are plenty of customers that go there. I thought it would be a nice place to go to since the place looks very nice, but the staff and management just made it an unpleasant experience. This place has a minimum purchase amount of $5 per person in addition to a mandatory 15% gratuity charge. Gratuity is an option of the customer based on satisfaction and performance of their waiter’s duties. It is neither a tax nor automatic in my opinion, and I would call it Jerry's Infamous Deli, for its management.

David's Café is another 24/7 restaurant with counter seating and a takeout window. It has another location just off the Lincoln Road Mall. I ordered the fillet grouper, but it wasn't nearly as good as the one at El Viajante.

Ask for a token to use the restroom. Credit cards are accepted.

Taste Bakery Café is a decent, relaxing corner bakery with indoor and outdoor seating and includes high-speed, wireless Internet access for customers. We split a large sugarless muffin, and I ordered an iced cappuccino. I had trouble getting Internet access, so I asked another customer a couple of tables down, also using the wireless Internet, for help. Within a couple of minutes, he had me connected. There's a 24-hour coin laundry a few doors down the block.

I highly recommend this place over the D'vine Cyber Lounge, but here you provide your own laptop.

Email: info@tastebakerycafe.com

Boston Market was one of the few restaurants still open till 9pm when we went searching around for a restaurant of decent quality.

You queue up, see what looks good, and then tell the cashier your food and drink choices. I suggest you queue up again for dessert if you still have any room left. Their chocolate cake was way too sweet. Their chicken is very popular, and the portion is larger when compared with the turkey. There is plenty of table seating and a self-serve soda fountain.

Lincoln Road Café just somehow called to us after looking around at several different places in the area.

There was outside seating available, and the prices weren't cheap but weren't outrageous either. We wanted to have one nice meal sitting outside on Lincoln Road Mall during our visit. It was getting a bit chilly though.

An older gentleman came by -- a guitar singer -- and offered his service of singing a song for five dollars, so we took advantage of it. I didn't understand a word of it, but it was beautiful.

We tried a couple of their appetizer meat pies: Empanada de Carne, small but tasty; boiled yuca/Yuca Hervida, mild taste; oxtail, flavorful; grilled beef with garlic and onions/Picadillo a la Criolla; sweet plantains; and Moros Rice, which they were out of, but I managed to get some black beans and mixed it in with some white rice. The food here was good and the portions very filling -- we couldn't finish it all.

Our server was from the Dominican Republic, and he was intelligent, professional, courteous and all business.

Hours 8am-midnight; breakfast 8am-1pm (one dollar extra for omelettes after 1pm); outside chairs were gathered up at about 11:15pm. Gratuity of 15% added to parties greater than four. Credit cards accepted.

Score is a gay bar located in the chic and trendy Lincoln Road Mall. There's outside seating, a huge two floors of space, and a friendly staff. There have different themes for entertainment depending on the night of the week. There's Cabaret Monday, Latin Tuesday, and Strip Tease Wednesday, plus karaoke and a video bar.

People come here as the business name implies, to score.

Phone: (305) 535-1111

Laundry Bar is a gay bar with a pool table, coin-operated laundry machine, and Internet access for $0.25/minute with a $2 minimum. It was fun and energetic. This place was easy to miss; it is next door to Idol's gym.

Phone: (305) 531-7700

Divine Cyber Lounge offers conditional Internet usage with drink purchase.

A soft drink purchase for $2 allows 15 minutes of free Internet usage, a red wine for about $5 allows 45 minutes of Internet usage, and usage times are not allowed to be combined. It costs $1.25 for 15 minutes. You pay when you're ready to leave, and then she adds tax plus 15% gratuity to your total. Her business was pretty busy and popular. Dell laptops are provided for use.

I felt very uncomfortable, and I was unable to relax/unwind with their usage policy, as I had had to watch the clock, so I disconnected myself. I couldn't relax/unwind with that policy. I wouldn't recommend anyone going there for the purpose of using the Internet there. I recommend Taste Bakery Café for Internet use, which has only the time limit of your laptop battery.

dlounge@divinelounge.com

Phone: (305) 534-1414, fax: (305) 534-1015

Palace Food Bar consists of a hotel, restaurant, and bar for gay clienteles. The staff and customers are friendly enough. Outdoor seating is available. I talked with someone visiting from New York City.

Phone: (305) 531-7234

Foot Locker is an international shoe chain. We were greeted by a very pleasant, helpful, knowledgeable and overworked manager, Leonard. Leonard spent time with us talking about shoe size, comfort, the shoe’s life cycle, padding, why white is preferred over other colors, and socks. We were so impressed with him that we came back to do some business with him.

It closes at 9pm. Phone: (305) 672-5433

Royal Rent-A-Car isn't a big chain and has only two locations, one in Miami and one in Ft. Lauderdale. They mainly operate a limousine service, but they also have car rentals. They do a brisk business despite being a small operator. They have the best rates in town, with a booth next to Hertz at the Miami International Airport.

For prices at about half those of the competition, you can't beat it. A Hyundai Elantra cost us $30/day. Just stay away from the underpowered Daewoo.

Hours: 5am to 1am.

Phone: (800) 871-3000, (305) 871-3000, fax: (305) 870-0706

Email: miami@royalrac.com

Lincoln Road Mall is a very successful chic, trendy pedestrian outdoor mall. There are about 400 businesses in this area, including shops, a theater, and restaurants taking up the space in the middle of the "road," as they set up tables outside for people to enjoy the sunshine and people-watch. There's so much eye candy here.

Regal South Beach Cinema 18 is located in the busy, chic, and trendy Lincoln Road Mall. It is an eighteen-screen movie theatre complex, with nine screens each on the second and third floors, a small area with outdoor seating for enjoying refreshments on the third floor, and stadium seating.

The New World Symphony at Lincoln Theatre, performed with students, did a flawless performance on Mozart concerto in A major for Clarinet and Orchestra, K 622 with guest conductor Sir Neville Marriner and son Andrew Marriner on a clarinet.

We came across this by chance, with performances the two nights we were in town. Standby seats were available about an hour before the day of the performance for $20. Standby seats become available for any unfilled seats when the first performance starts. We were allowed to take any vacant seats one minute before the 8pm start of the performance.

The intermission convenience bar was staffed by a beautiful woman in sexy attire.

The whole program ended before 10pm.

Phone: (305) 673-3331

The Art Deco Welcome Center has a small gift shop selling official Art Deco Weekend posters, T-shirts, books, cards, vintage items, jewelry, and memorabilia.

Guided walking tours, $20:

Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:30am
Thursdays at 6:30pm
Sundays at 10:30am by advanced reservations only

Self guided tours, $15 daily 10am to 4pm, are available.

Guided bicycle, rollerblade, and private tours are available by request. Ask for Sheldon Brown.

There's the Art Deco Museum next to this, but it was closed.
Hours: 10am to 7:30pm
Phone: (305) 531-3484

Miami-Dade County Transit provides usable and useful public transportation at a low cost. After debarking the cruise ship, we asked where the bus stopped prior to boarding the ship. A guard informed us where to go. There's no bus stop sign, but there's a bench. Fare is $1.25 while transfers are an additional $0.25.

The driver told us where to get off and to transfer to a C or S to get to South Beach. The waiting period wasn't real long, but we had just missed one.

The bus service takes you to the airport also. There was a direct night owl service from where we were staying for night service.

The online trip planner service isn't real time interactive. Instead, you make your request and submit it for an email reply. It wasn’t really helpful.

Once you get the schedule, it's pretty easy to the airport, especially with the night owl service, which lasts till around 6am.

Make sure you signal the driver to stop for you, as they will pass you by if you don't indicate clearly you want that bus, and signal to stop a block before your stop.

Phones: (305) 770-3131 and, for south of SW 216 St., (305) 891-3131

Art Deco is a style of architecture that was first introduced in the 1925 Paris Exposition. It was like neoclassical with floral, fauna, and fountains.

Most of the best examples of the style may be seen from three streets: Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue between 6th and 23rd Sts.

There are walking guide tours or self-guided tours available from the Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Dr. at 10th St., (305) 531-3484.

MIA - Miami International Airport, found nine miles west of Miami, has the concept of an octopus, with one head, or terminal, and eight legs, or concourses, labeled A to H and serving over 33 million customers yearly.

The choices of budget food include Burger King on concourses D and E, while fine dining choices include Top of the Port at the Airport Hotel on the seventh floor. Ice cream is sold on concourses E and H. Duty-free shops can be found near every concourse.

Ground transportation includes taxi, shuttle van, train and bus, connecting you to Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, and Key West. We were able to reach MIA International Airport from South Beach directly on one Miami-Dade County Transit night bus.

Voice-activated, 24-hour MIA Info Line: (305) 876-7000.

Business hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding holidays

Allow 72 hours for a response from the Contact Us resource link.