Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Visiting South Beach in October...Recs?
I have a work trip very soon to South Beach area. -October - I am thinking about going two days early to explore a bit. I think my friend will tag along on this trip too. We are staying at the Loews hotel in South Beach for the conference during the week but will look for a cheaper hotel for the weekend. (loews is already sold out anyway)
So...any suggestions for a reasonably priced (safe) hotel? It would be okay with me if is not in South Beach. But we are flying into Miami so the closer the better. Any good restaurant recs? Any must sees/dos or recs on how to spend our day? I'd really like to go fishing so any suggestions on a charter are appreciated also. We were thinking about The Reward Fleet. She will have quite a bit of free time once the conference starts, but I am sure she will be just fine on that beautiful beach. I hear the weather will be much like Houston that time of year, around 80ish.
I posted on the travel board but heard you guys would have great suggestions!
Thanks!
Re: Visiting South Beach in October...Recs?
Not sure about the charter or hotel. The weather should be (hopefully for us) in the high 70s, low 80s. For the native Miamians, that isn't beach weather, but it does become popular for those from north.
As for things to do, I highly recommend visiting Lincoln Road Mall (less than 2 mi from Loews), a pedestrian street with tons of shops, restaurants, clubs, activites, etc. For great Mexican, on Lincoln, try Rancho Grande.
Ocean Drive, closer to Loews, has a lot of bars and restaurants as well. News Cafe is very popular for any meal. Larios is great for Cuban food.
Opa Taverna (in So Beach) is a great Mediterrenean (sp) restaurant that has an awesome night life. Go for dinner, stay late and dance on tables w/ belly dancers, and have some drinks.
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett
How awesome that you will be staying in the Loews for the conference! If I were you, I would get another hotel on South Beach, that way you can get around with taxis, a bike, bus, moped, etc. If you don't stay in the area you will need to rent a car and I don't think it will be as nice.
There is plenty to do there! Go to Ocean Drive and people watch/shop, go to the beach (either private with your hotel or public), go to the Lincoln Road Mall, go clubbing, and just walk around and shop and see the architecture and restaurants. I'm not sure about a charter, I always go out on my brother's boat if we ever go fishing...
As far as restaurants, there is Joe Stone Crabs which is expensive but very famous for their amazing stone crabs. If you barely visit here, I would definitely splurge and eat there - have a slice of their key lime pie too! They are less crowded at lunch time, at dinner time you may have to wait a while and they do not take reservations.
You can also go to the Pelican on Ocean Drive for a tasty brunch and view of the ocean. I believe Giada De Laurentis visited SoBe on one of her travel shows, so maybe look up where she ate as well. The thing about the beach is there is a lot of great restaurants, but they are mostly pretty pricey. For regular "fast" food, I really like Rice House of Kabob which is fast Persian food. You should also definitely have some Cuban food while you are there too. There is a Las Vegas down there that is good...
There are plenty of great hotels there, I would check out Trip Advisor and just search for hotels in your price range. As long as you aren't too far from Ocean Drive, Lincoln Road, and are in the actual "South Beach" area, you will be safe. I stayed at The National once and it was lovely, but its a little pricey. If you are outside of the main area, it probably won't be unsafe, but it will mostly be locals and not touristy at all (which you probably wouldn't love). Another hotel to look into is the Indian Creek Hotel which is a few minutes outside of South Beach, but the hotel is really cute, only one block away from a public beach, and also has a bus stop right across the street (I believe a cab from there to the main area is only $5). The restaurant in the hotel is good too.
Okay, I wrote a novel. I hope this helps
You caught me at a good time, I'm really bored!