Where to stay after......Fort Lauderdale or Miami?

[BaileyandBella]

Hi… We are flying into and taking a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. Flights home were very expensive so we are staying an extra day, we are flying out of Miami early in the morning. Looking for a reasonable hotel for myself, husband and 18 yr old son......but somewhere that is still decent to be able to walk around to find a casual place for dinner and people watch etc....

 

How is the Coral Gables area? Any other suggestions are appreciated.....thanks ❤

[JohninDC]

Easy solution is to stay in the FLL area and then taxi/Uber to MIA for your flight home - the ride takes about an hour. http://www.sunny.org has lots of FLL area tourist and hotel info.

 

When is your cruise? Budget? Interested in the beach? :confused:

 

Coral Gables and Coconut Grove are two nicer areas of Miami - both would be about an hour+ ride from PE; both offer lots of hotels and local dining options. Miami Beach is another option, and there are many popular hotels in downtown Miami.

 

Pull up the area on Google Maps to get a feel for the geography and come back with some more info - that way the suggestions will be closer to your target. ;)

[BaileyandBella]

Thanks..... cruise is next month. Don't care about the beach, mostly just safe and places close by to eat. Don't want to spend more than about $150. Might need do Hotwire.

 

Miami airport is an hour away? I thought it was closer than that?

[JohninDC]

Pull up Google maps and plug in Port Everglades (where you are cruising from) and the MIA airport - you'll see the distance is about 30 miles and the expected drive time, depending upon traffic, is about an hour. The FLL airport is about 10 minutes from PE, but your post indicated you were flying home from Miami.

 

If you do not care about the beach I would stay in the FLL area - find a hotel close to the water taxi (a fun way to tour and spend a few hours) or rent a car and head out for an airboat tour. IMHO http://www.sunny.org is the best place to start your search.

[Flymia]

The drive time to the Miami airport depends on traffic and time of day. Without any traffic it takes at least 35mins from Downtown Ft. Lauderdale to MIA airport. But in the morning there will be traffic, and the drive will be about an hour to an hour and 20mins depending when in the morning you go.

 

What time does your flight leave Miami?

 

Coral Gables area is good, but for being able to walk to places it depends on the address and area. Downtown Miami and Brickell are also good options. Check the YVE hotel and Holiday Inn Port Miami, they usually have pretty good prices sometimes.

[BaileyandBella]

Our flight is at 7:00 AM, so hopefully there wont be too much traffic at 4:30 AM :)

[Flymia]

Our flight is at 7:00 AM, so hopefully there wont be too much traffic at 4:30 AM :)

 

No there won't. That will be a quick drive down. Given the early flight I would say a shorter drive to the airport would be nice.

[BaileyandBella]

We were originally just going to stay near the Miami airport, but then I read that the area was not so great. Is there any other areas that are a little ways away from the airport that are better?

[JohninDC]

Downtown Miami, especially the Mary Brickell area is nice with several newish hotels (Hampton Inn is most popular with cruisers; Homewood Suites is another option a little farther walk from most of the dining/nightlife) and a taxi/Uber to MIA will only take 10-15 min.

 

Coconut Grove is another nicer area with lots of hotels and dining - also about 10-15 min from MIA as early as you are going.