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3 Hotels in Downtown Miami - help!

ilovetotravel1977

By ilovetotravel1977,
in Florida Departures

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ilovetotravel1977

ilovetotravel1977

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I am looking at three hotels for our April cruise out of Miami. Noted are their prices on LMT Club website.

 

Holiday Inn POM $160 US

JW Marriott Brickell $155 US

Homewood Suites Downtown/Brickell (new) $118 US - includes hot breakfast

 

I'm obviously leaning towards the cheaper option, Homewood Suites (Canadian here, bad exchange rate!), but I'm wondering how close it is to all of the options in the Brickell Village? It is located on Southwest 1st Avenue.

 

All are around a 10-20 minute drive to the port, so that isn't a huge issue.

 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn POM last year. Yes, it was convenient to Bayside and port areas, but the hotel room we got was small (too small for 4 people!) and we paid almost $50 for breakfast for two people!

 

Thoughts??

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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You're about a mile from the Shops at Brickell Village. But it's not a straight shot because SW 1st Ave gets broken up by the M Path tracks. Your hotel can give you driving directions but if you're walking, you need to head north to SW 15th then right to S Miami Ave(pass SW1st Ave on that side of the tracks) then left up S Miami. Lots of places along that stretch to the Village shopping area.

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Keith1010 "Live from...." Rare

Keith1010

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In general Homewood Suites will be the size that you will be happy with in terms of the room. I know absolutely nothing about the one in Miami. If you haven't done so already I would read reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

I am familiar with the other two and like the JW Marriott. It is within a five minute walk of Mary Brickell Village with lots of great restaurants, some shopping and a grocery store. A CVS is also located adjacent to the Marriott.

 

Keith

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eandj

eandj

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That discount site often has the Hampton Inn in Brickell too. So if you book one mentioned, still keep looking every week. With their liberal cancelation policy, if you find a price drop or another hotel choice you can change your mind. We found Hampton Inn for about the same rate as the JW. And altho JW is nicer and has more amenities, for a one day stay when we won't be sitting in the hotel and get the included breakfast, we decided to go that route. Plus we haven't stayed there yet. But I'll be checking out lmt every now and then for pricing and options.

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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You're about a mile from the Shops at Brickell Village. But it's not a straight shot because SW 1st Ave gets broken up by the M Path tracks. Your hotel can give you driving directions but if you're walking, you need to head north to SW 15th then right to S Miami Ave(pass SW1st Ave on that side of the tracks) then left up S Miami. Lots of places along that stretch to the Village shopping area.

 

You can also easily cut through the publix parking lot and come out onto 13th/Coral way if you are walking!

 

You would make a left out of the hotel's front door to go north!

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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In general Homewood Suites will be the size that you will be happy with in terms of the room. I know absolutely nothing about the one in Miami. If you haven't done so already I would read reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

I am familiar with the other two and like the JW Marriott. It is within a five minute walk of Mary Brickell Village with lots of great restaurants, some shopping and a grocery store. A CVS is also located adjacent to the Marriott.

 

Keith

 

 

No reviews yet because this is still under construction! It's due to open in January 2016.

 

I drive by it all the time and it looks like it will be nice. The other side of the street is actually the train tracks.

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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The JW Marriott is about six blocks to Mary Brickell Village.

 

That would be my first choice.

 

This would be my first choice as well! Holiday Inn would be my last probably but with the other location not being open, it's hard to tell.

 

To the OP, the Homewood Suites is still under construction. On one side of the street is the grass and the train tracks. The area has streets with homes, some condo buildings and some new condos being built. It's a bit of walk to Mary Brickell and other areas where the other 2 hotels are right in the middle of things.

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ilovetotravel1977

ilovetotravel1977

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Ok, that's what I was wondering, which location is better for walking during the day/night.

 

Since we will be going "splits" on the room with my MIL, I might just bite the bullet and go with the JW Marriott.

 

If the Homewood Suites is quite a bit away (walking wise) from Brickell Village, we might end up spending the difference in cabs anyways!

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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Ok, that's what I was wondering, which location is better for walking during the day/night.

 

Since we will be going "splits" on the room with my MIL, I might just bite the bullet and go with the JW Marriott.

 

If the Homewood Suites is quite a bit away (walking wise) from Brickell Village, we might end up spending the difference in cabs anyways!

 

You can walk to the new Homewood Suites, it's just a much longer walk.

 

The JW Marriott on Brickell is 2-3 blocks away, it's seriously a really short distance to Mary Brickell Village. I just walked back from Publix at Mary Brickell and I'm seriously close to the JW Marriott.

 

Both locations are fine for walking during the day. Being from out of town, you will prefer to be walking to the JW Marriott at night. It's right on Brickell ave and right in the middle of things.

 

You won't get breakfast free with your room however you can get a cheap breakfast all around here.

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ilovetotravel1977

ilovetotravel1977

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You can walk to the new Homewood Suites, it's just a much longer walk.

 

The JW Marriott on Brickell is 2-3 blocks away, it's seriously a really short distance to Mary Brickell Village. I just walked back from Publix at Mary Brickell and I'm seriously close to the JW Marriott.

 

Both locations are fine for walking during the day. Being from out of town, you will prefer to be walking to the JW Marriott at night. It's right on Brickell ave and right in the middle of things.

 

You won't get breakfast free with your room however you can get a cheap breakfast all around here.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

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ilovetotravel1977

ilovetotravel1977

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You can also easily cut through the publix parking lot and come out onto 13th/Coral way if you are walking!

 

You would make a left out of the hotel's front door to go north!

 

On Google Maps, it has the M-Path noted, is that the same as the Metro Mover? Does that go along the route to Brickell Village from the Suites?

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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On Google Maps, it has the M-Path noted, is that the same as the Metro Mover? Does that go along the route to Brickell Village from the Suites?

 

No, the M-path is the Metrorail train.

 

Unfortunately the suites isn't near a metro mover stop. The closest would probably be the brickell station but at that point you are only two blocks away from Mary Brickell Village. Plus from there you would only go 1 stop and get off at the 10th street stop and walk a block.

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ilovetotravel1977

ilovetotravel1977

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Start with this thread on NCL board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2215730

 

Essentially, if you are Canadian, call and book directly with NCL (or with a Cdn Travel Agent) and NCL coverts the US cost to Canadian at much better exchange than the banks.

 

My April 2016 Escape cruise is locked in at 1.19, which also includes buying on-board credits, ship excursions, and gratuities, but you have to purchase these items prior to your sail date. Can't get the rate on board.

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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oh darn!

 

I really want to get a hotel booked as the Canadian Dollar just went down again today! ugh!!! Why can't I just get the NCL exchange rate of 1.19 for my whole trip? lol

 

How much would a taxi cost from the Suites to the Village? I want to try to the Burger & Beer Joint eatery.

 

You can walk to Burger & Beer, it's not that far of a walk! I walk to the Walgreens and Publix that is right there all the time. Traffic has gotten so bad that I gladly walk most places!! It's only 0.7 miles.

 

If you wanted to take Uber back, it would be $4.

Edited by cjskids
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