Holiday Inn Bayside Miami

[jstluvcrzn]

Just wondering if anyone has stayed at the Holiday Inn Bayside, Miami? I was also wondering if you can see the ships in port from any or all the rooms. I have just booked three rooms for our April pre-cruise. I would love to wake up and see the ships in port. :)

[caribbean dreams]

Your in luck, i just returned from the Holiday Inn, i loved the hotel and bayside market.

You have a direct view from all of the rooms facing the front of the hotel to see all the ships, the sunrises in the morning behind them is beautiful.

I'm from the west cost so we only get to see the sunsets over the ocean.

If i can shrink down one of my pictures of our view i will post it.

Bayside market is great! They have bands that play at night and lots of shopping & restaurants. let me know if you need anymore information.

 

 

 

[cruznlobo]

I'm happy to hear good things about this hotel.

We're booked there pre and post in January.

[jstluvcrzn]

Your in luck, i just returned from the Holiday Inn, i loved the hotel and bayside market.

You have a direct view from all of the rooms facing the front of the hotel to see all the ships, the sunrises in the morning behind them is beautiful.

I'm from the west cost so we only get to see the sunsets over the ocean.

If i can shrink down one of my pictures of our view i will post it.

Bayside market is great! They have bands that play at night and lots of shopping & restaurants. let me know if you need anymore information.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you. I was wondering if I should request certain rooms or not. There are 12 of us going, do you think it will be hard to get a taxi or taxi van to take us to the pier?

[jstluvcrzn]

Thank you. I was wondering if I should request certain rooms or not. There are 12 of us going, do you think it will be hard to get a taxi or taxi van to take us to the pier?

 

I would also love to see the pictures

Thank you again so much...Tyra

[logbook]

I've read reviews how this hotel is pretty beat up.... were the rooms nice and clean?

[cruisingrightalong]

We have enjoyed this hotel. It is an older hotel.....but close by and super convenient to Bayside. If you are a Holiday Inn Priority member, ask for a bay side room. According to the clerk they try and save those for Priority members....however it may just be what time you check in.

 

Think though next time we are going to try for the Hyatt for something different.

 

If you eat at Bayside try Lombardos for Italian....

 

Lou

[LDR]

jstluvcrzn-You will be getting on your cruise as we are getting off ours!

We also booked the Holiday Inn for a pre-cruise stay. It is conveniently

located! We were in Miami in August and went over to Bayside a couple

of times. South Beach is just a short cab ride away too:)

[FionaMG]

You have a direct view from all of the rooms facing the front of the hotel to see all the ships[/indent]

 

You need to ask for rooms on the upper floors. Our front-facing room was on the first floor and we couldn't see the ships from there because we weren't high enough.

[jstluvcrzn]

You need to ask for rooms on the upper floors. Our front-facing room was on the first floor and we couldn't see the ships from there because we weren't high enough.

Thanks, I will call them tomorrow and ask for those rooms. I am so excited, but still a while to go. But I can say that these boards really help. Thank you all so much.

Tyra

[BTSEN5]

Hi,

We will be sailing on June 17 of next year on the FOS. I am wondering about cabs etc to port from nearby hotels. Are they readily available? I think I would need a van with 4 of us and abundant luggage. Are there free shuttles as an option.

 

WE have not set up our flight reservations as of yet, and we would like to do Southwest. Would we fly into Miami, or Ft. Lauderdale. I thought my TA said Ft. Lauderdale, but then we would have to find a way to Miami. I am totally confused right now.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Brentonsmom]

Hey BTSEN5,

 

We are also on The Freedom next June 17th. Have you decided on a hotel yet? I am thinking of the Holiday Inn Bayside but not sure yet. May go with something cheaper and keep my money for the ports!!

 

Tina

[BTSEN5]

Oh, it is good to hear from someone else who is going to be on the Freedom on the 17th of June.

 

I was thinking of the Holiday Inn Bayside also. I am just researching at this point, but it sounds convenient. I am afraid to go with something cheaper, because so far the cheaper ones have bad reviews. I know nothing about Miami, so I worry about where I am going to be too.

 

We are flying in the day before...into Ft. Lauderdale. Of course we do not have our flights yet, but when we can, that is what we will be doing. Will you be flying into Miami? I am worried about how to get to Miami from Fr. Lauderdale and back after the cruise. We went on Disney this past summer ( our first ever cruise ), and it turned out to go so smoothly, so I am sure this will be the same. It is fun to plan though, isn't it?

 

I think since there are 2 of us, we should start a roll call. Do groups have meets on the ship? From the DIS boards we had a DIS meet, and it was so nice to meet some people that planned thier trips together basically. I still email one person quite often. Very neat.

[familycruzer]

Hi,

We will be sailing on June 17 of next year on the FOS. I am wondering about cabs etc to port from nearby hotels. Are they readily available? I think I would need a van with 4 of us and abundant luggage. Are there free shuttles as an option.

 

WE have not set up our flight reservations as of yet, and we would like to do Southwest. Would we fly into Miami, or Ft. Lauderdale. I thought my TA said Ft. Lauderdale, but then we would have to find a way to Miami. I am totally confused right now.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

I am in the same boat so to speak as you. I will be on the Freedom one month later and will also be flying with SW into FLL. I believe a taxi from FLL will run you about $60 plus tip. You can also use a private sedan for about $65 by following this link....http://www.hudsonltd2.com/cgi-bin/fla1/res. I think we are going to opt to rent a car for a day and then we will have the freedom to go where we want and do a bit of sightseeing. That will also run you about $60 and you can return the car at a different location in FL without and extra expense. I know that as of now, Avis gives a free shuttle to the port of Miami from their downtown location.

If you are concerned about price for your hotel, use betterbidding and bidfortravel and read up on priceline and hotwire. You can get the HI for about $80 and the Intercontinental for about $99. Way better than what they offer on their own websites.

[cruising grandma]

I used priceline a week or so ago, put in downtown Miami 4 *, and won the first bid at $65 in the Hyatt. Has anyone stayed here?? How close to or far away from Bayside is Hyatt??? Thanks.

Kay

[Nanatravel]

Grandma Kay, the Hyatt is linked to Bayside by the Peoplemover (free). Good means of transfer during the day. Take a taxi back at night (per many reveiws) for safety reasons. Also some nice views of the port.

 

The Holiday Inn usually comes up as the most reasonable pre-cruise one night stay hotel near Bayside. Next is the 4* Intercontinental and the Hyatt. As mentioned there may be more "reasonable hotels but they aren't in the best areas for dining, touring, etc.

 

Bon Voyage

[BTSEN5]

I used priceline a week or so ago, put in downtown Miami 4 *, and won the first bid at $65 in the Hyatt. Has anyone stayed here?? How close to or far away from Bayside is Hyatt??? Thanks.

Kay

 

I have never used Priceline. I just visited their website and I am not really sure I am comfortable with it. Is it correct that I put in downtown Miami, and give them my credit card number, but I will not know anything about the hotel or area etc until they accept my bid? I just worry that I will get some nasty hotel in a dangerous part of town, or next to a toxic dump or something....okay, I am exaggerating here. I was hoping that I could choose the hotel I would like, make a bid, and see if they can give that to me.

 

Novice that I am, I would like to know what your experiences were, and how you felt the first time you did it, and the results of the bid you made....were you happy with the outcome?

 

Thank you again for your help.

[cruisin4kicks]

I felt leery about Priceline the first time as well. We've used it twice... once in Chicago and once in Miami. Both times we asked for 4 star hotels near the airport and both times we were completely satisfied with both the hotels and the price. In Chicago we got the Airport Hilton right on the airport property and in Miami, we got the Sofitel, about a 5 minute shuttle ride from the airport. We would have no problem using Priceline again.

 

Tim

[lmondrop]

Grandma Kay, the Hyatt is linked to Bayside by the Peoplemover (free). Good means of transfer during the day. Take a taxi back at night (per many reveiws) for safety reasons. Also some nice views of the port.

 

The Holiday Inn usually comes up as the most reasonable pre-cruise one night stay hotel near Bayside. Next is the 4* Intercontinental and the Hyatt. As mentioned there may be more "reasonable hotels but they aren't in the best areas for dining, touring, etc.

 

Bon Voyage

 

Bayside is not linked to the metro mover in any way. At best you have to walk about two walks over to Biscayne Blvd and cross the very busy intersection.

[gomagic]

My mom and I stayed here pre and post cruise this past March based on recommendations from some of her friends. Would we stay here again - probably not. The room we had the first night was in decent shape but for some unknown reason the air conditioning in the room would not work right. Maintenance couldn't even get it to function correctly and it just kept getting colder in the room. By morning it was pretty cold in there and we checked out as soon as possible. The post cruise night was better considering the air worked fine in the room. However there was a night and day difference in the conditions of the rooms we had. This room was in pretty poor shape. It definately showed sign of being used and abused. On a positive note, the staff was quite friendly and helpful though.

[logan1_2000]

We stayed there this past January the night before a Radiance cruise. There is no drive way for arrival or baggage unloading, and so people off the street, presumably fresh from Bayside, just started climbing in to the cab before we were out our had our luggage--and no porters, so we had to bring a family's worth of cruise luggage and our small child through a packed sidewalk to get into the hotel. DW has respiratory problems, and I had specified N/S room and called to follow up and make sure that we would receive a N/S room, and called again the day before to make sure it was still shown in their system. "guaranteed" I was told. then we were sent to a smoking room upon check-in, facing the front, very loud off the street. did not get re-situated into a suitable N/S room until about an hour later.

 

the next morning the lobby was an absolute zoo filled with groups and individuals/families of cruise passengers, and the groups filled the entire sidewalk to load onto reserved shuttles, such that you could not get to the curb to hail a cab--there was absolutely no cab line in existence, but it is true that you are on a very busy street so if you can get to a curb you can hail one--we just had to drag our luggage a block up the street to get to the curb to be able to have a passing cab see us hailing it.

 

breakfast was an expensive and unappealing buffet--with no other choices nearby for early risers, as bayside marketplace does not open until 10 am.

 

considering the cost of the cab ride to the hotela nd then the cost of the cab through traffic to the terminal to try to get dropped off for embarkation (no coordination of ground operations to be seen, poor signage to boot), next time if we ever cruise out of Miami, would rather stay at a better airport property and then take the cab directly to the seaport on a flat rate basis. But given the hassle that MIA airport is--our south FLA embarkations will be from Port Everglades for the foreseeable.

[tom e boy]

Just wondering if anyone has stayed at the Holiday Inn Bayside, Miami? I was also wondering if you can see the ships in port from any or all the rooms. I have just booked three rooms for our April pre-cruise. I would love to wake up and see the ships in port. :)

 

I got the HI (3 star) at $175.00 in April 07, I canceled that because I got the Intercontinental (4 star) for $203.00 ... I think I made the right choice. I have read they are both nice

[PeterPan]

Holiday Inn Port of Miami should NEVER be called a 3 star. I'd rate it as 2 stars at best. It's a place to sleep, with spotty service and recurring maintenance issues (elevator, ice machines, etc.). There are definately better places to stay.

[Sandyrella]

We stayed there last March and were very happy with out choice. The location can't be beat. Literally right across the street from the Bayside entrance. We asked for a bayside room on a high floor and ended up with just that...I think we were on the 7th. We are priority rewards members so I don't know if that made a difference.

 

We arrived the day before the cruise and had been up since 4:00 a.m. so we were all asleep by 8:00 p.m. that night. Over course that meant waking early again. I woke up around 5:00 to check the time and took a peek out the window. The sun was just starting to rise and slowly the rest of my family were waking up to see what I was doing. Five of us stood in front of the window, watching the sunrise over 4 beautiful cruise ships in port. What a wonderful memory! Actually, just having the teenagers up that early would have been a gift in itself but the beauty of watching the sun rise as a family was awesome.

 

This hotel is not the Ritz but I found it to be clean and safe. I would stay there again just based on the location.

 

Sandy

[cruisin4kicks]

Just came back from a 4 night RCI Majesty of the Seas cruise this afternoon. We got into MIA at around 3:30pm Sunday and stayed at the Holiday Inn Bayside. The hotel is 10 stories high and we were on the 10th floor facing the bay/port. Fantastic view. The front desk people were super helpful/super friendly. There are only two elevators and they are slow but how often does that come into play?

 

I'm sure there is a difference between a Sunday Freedom crowd and a Monday Majesty crowd but we had NO problem with crowds or with getting a cab to the ship. There were about 7 or 8 cabs waiting in front of the hotel. There were about 10 more across the street at the Bayside Market waiting over there as well. The convenience to the market is super... right across the street as an earlier poster mentioned.

 

I had mixed emotions about staying there based on mixed reviews on this board but based on my experience, I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

 

Tim