This will be a shorter honeymoon blog than normal as we only spent a few nights in Miami during a two week holiday in Orlando.
We stayed in the Grand Beach Hotel, a beautifully modern hotel (hard to find in the art deco obsessed area of South Beach) which was very reasonably priced compared to other hotels that came up on all of the normal comparison sites. The only thing I would say that this price probably reflected was the location of the hotel. Not bad by any means, but enough blocks north from South Beach to make the walk down to the main South Beach area not possible (in the sweltering heat of March anyway!). That aside, the location was still beautiful, with incredible views from our suit (it’s a suit-only hotel, again making it incredible value for the size room -and bed - you get) as well as the rooftop pool. We spent quite a bit of our time around this pool which was bliss(teringly hot).
Prices for pretty much everything was quite steep in Miami. We were only 21 and 22 when we went so maybe we wouldn’t buck at the prices so much now (I’d just left University at this point, with it’s £1 vodka red Red Bulls) but given that you have to add sales tax and service charge to all menu or tag prices, it quickly adds up. The other thing we noticed was on the expensive side were the taxis. This was in the days before Uber so this has probably changed now but if you’re thinking of doing a lot of travelling which would require a car I would definitely advise looking at hiring a car for your time out there.
My Miami highlight was definitely the Miami Heat game we went to see at their impressive home stadium, AmericanAirlines Arena. The most basketball I had seen before the game was on One Tree Hill so I could hardly say that I was going in as a hardcore fan, however this didn’t stop me loving every second. Americans really know how to put on a show and it starts from the second you walk in. With a live DJ, mascots, cheerleaders, competitions, kiss-cam, a blimp (yeah, seriously), dog shows, trick shows, and about a hundred other things, you don’t even know where to look! The game moves so quickly that you barely realise they’ve taken a break before the entertainment starts up again and the entire arena is transformed from a sports area to a nightclub. We went when LeBron James was still with the Heat which was an added bonus to see him effortlessly score basket after basket. Despite that, the game was ridiculously close and the intensity was electric within the entire arena as they went to TWO extra times! Considering I went in not really caring what happened in the game, I was all but biting my nails by the end. Needless to say, I would absolutely recommend anyone visiting Miami to get yourself tickets to a game!
Another must is a stroll along the boardwalk in South Beach. It gave me that feeling like I’d just walked on to a film set as the sun started to set, the air cooled to that beautiful cosy early evening holiday temperature, walking hand in hand with Tom while super fit Americans effortlessly glide past on roller skates. You won’t need to walk far in this area to find somewhere for a drink stop. Look out for the 2-4-1 cocktails. To be honest it’ll be hard to miss them as these aren’t just normal cocktails, they’re bigger-than-your-head cocktails! Annoyingly Tom refuses to drink anything other than beer so I was on my own taking of two of these beasts. My advice: drink responsibly…especially when you have a flight to catch the next day (eughhh I learnt this the hard way).
So there you have it. Sorry it was a shorter one this time, like I say, Miami was just a flying visit for us. If you’re looking to stay for longer, you can find out more about this city at: