Miami/Doral Hotel help

[sbc234]

I have 2 reservations for December 25 - 27th at both the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center & Hampton Inn Miami-Airport West (Doral). We are flying in on Christmas and then planning on spending the day exploring Lincoln Road on the 26th before cruising on the 27th. I was wondering if anyone had stayed at either hotels? My concerns are safety (single mom with 2 kids) and finding food on Christmas evening (dinner). My plan is to use the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and catch the 150bus down to Lincoln Road.

 

Thank you for your help!

[Keith1010]

I'm not big on the location of the hotels.

 

I would highly recommend the Hampton Inn in downtown Miami.

 

You can take a taxi over to Lincoln Road and on Christmas Evening there is Mary Brickell Village right there with several restaurants.

 

Keith

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'm not big on the location of the hotels.

 

I would highly recommend the Hampton Inn in downtown Miami.

 

You can take a taxi over to Lincoln Road and on Christmas Evening there is Mary Brickell Village right there with several restaurants.

 

Keith

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

The restaurants in the Mary Brickell area that I know are open christmas day are Toscana divino, Taverna Opa, Baires Grill, and Batch Gastropub. PM Steakhouse is also open.

 

Toscana is nicely decorated for the holidays from a tree on down.and will have live music. They also will have a special menu as well as their full menu. I'm actually having Christmas Eve dinner here.

[fishywood]

Doral is well away from any tourist trappings; for Christmas dinner you may end up taking a cab to the nearest IHOP or Denny's. Though some Cuban restaurants in the area may follow their tradition of closing for Nochebuena but opening on Christmas Day.

 

And I hope you understand what taking public transportation to South Beach actually involves. The shuttle from the hotel to the airport may only run on a fixed schedule; or if the hotel uses an outside shuttle provider their agreement may only be to provide the service when guests are checking in or checking out--"free" is not synonymous with "unlimited" in every case. Yes shuttle drivers have been known to make a quick trip to a local store or restaurant (in exchange for a nice tip) between scheduled runs, but an extra airport run when no one else is waiting is unlikely.

 

Once back at MIA after a 20 minute or so shuttle ride, unless you can persuade the driver to drop you at the MIC (transportation hub) you will have to make you way up to the third level of the central terminal to ride the monorail to the MIC. Then purchase three Easy Cards from the info booth (unless you are carrying $2.65 pp each way in coins). Then wait for the 150 bus, which runs every 20 minutes; the time to Lincoln Road is given as 30 minutes on Saturdays but traffic on I-195 will be at a crawl on a holiday weekend--I would budget closer to an hour for the ride.

 

So, a roughly 90 minute venture on public transportation (that passes thru not the best neighborhoods) in an unfamiliar city on a holiday weekend: a safe undertaking for a single mom with two kids? I too suggest pondering alternatives if it is not too late.

Edited December 19, 2015 by fishywood

[BlueHerons]

I have 2 reservations for December 25 - 27th at both the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center & Hampton Inn Miami-Airport West (Doral). We are flying in on Christmas and then planning on spending the day exploring Lincoln Road on the 26th before cruising on the 27th. I was wondering if anyone had stayed at either hotels? My concerns are safety (single mom with 2 kids) and finding food on Christmas evening (dinner). My plan is to use the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and catch the 150bus down to Lincoln Road.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

I agree with the others that this isn't a great plan.

 

Ditch your hotel in Doral and I agree the Hampton Inn downtown is a much better option.

 

I would not want to be shuttling around the airport because it is a pretty dismal area.

 

Doral isn't convenient to anything but Doral.

Edited December 19, 2015 by BlueHerons

[sbc234]

Thank you!

[BlueHerons]

Doral is well away from any tourist trappings; for Christmas dinner you may end up taking a cab to the nearest IHOP or Denny's. Though some Cuban restaurants in the area may follow their tradition of closing for Nochebuena but opening on Christmas Day.

 

And I hope you understand what taking public transportation to South Beach actually involves. The shuttle from the hotel to the airport may only run on a fixed schedule; or if the hotel uses an outside shuttle provider their agreement may only be to provide the service when guests are checking in or checking out--"free" is not synonymous with "unlimited" in every case. Yes shuttle drivers have been known to make a quick trip to a local store or restaurant (in exchange for a nice tip) between scheduled runs, but an extra airport run when no one else is waiting is unlikely.

 

Once back at MIA after a 20 minute or so shuttle ride, unless you can persuade the driver to drop you at the MIC (transportation hub) you will have to make you way up to the third level of the central terminal to ride the monorail to the MIC. Then purchase three Easy Cards from the info booth (unless you are carrying $2.65 pp each way in coins). Then wait for the 150 bus, which runs every 20 minutes; the time to Lincoln Road is given as 30 minutes on Saturdays but traffic on I-195 will be at a crawl on a holiday weekend--I would budget closer to an hour for the ride.

 

So, a roughly 90 minute venture on public transportation (that passes thru not the best neighborhoods) in an unfamiliar city on a holiday weekend: a safe undertaking for a single mom with two kids? I too suggest pondering alternatives if it is not too late.

 

Fantastic advice fishywood!