The best place to stay in Miami is South Beach. The words hip, Thomas and Flannigan normally do not appear in the same sentence, but I am told that this is one of the hottest nightlife areas in the United States. When I visited South Beach it was a run down area with little to offer. Since then, the art deco buildings have been refurbished and converted into trendy bars and restaurants. Some places stay open until 5 A.M., in case you want to experience the dawn’s early light outside of the national anthem. A lovely old hotel has been refurbished and turned into a youth hostel. The Clay Hotel is in the heart of the action, only 2 blocks from the beach. Private rooms with shared bath are 46 dollars. Doubles with private bath will run you $63. Rooms are very nice and facilities tend to be new, something you don’t always find at a hostel. I have called twice and there is room for the weekend of the Argentina game. The first time I spoke with a cold lady from Dnieperpetrovsk. The other time I got a friendly Argentine from Buenos Aires who will be at the game. http://www.clayhotel.com/hotel.html I know I am always promoting youth hostels. If I make it to 2028 and the US is playing a qualifier on Mars I will probably be crowing about a great youth hostel on Mars, close to an authentic Martian restaurant. However, the Clay Hotel is the real thing. Lonely Planet rated it the best hostel in the U.S. I met a Nigerian guy in the Tokyo hostel a few years ago, and he said the same thing. This guy had been all over the U.S. so he was probably speaking with authority on the subject. I can’t come up with a really cheap hotel in South Beach. The usual chains have Miami hotels but they are all more expensive than the Clay Hotel. I have called the Orange Bowl (305 693 7100) a couple of times. The stadium is about four miles east of the Airport, and eight miles North West of South Beach. The closest mass transit rail station is Culmer Center. A shuttle bus will take you from there to the Orange Bowl. http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/PublicFacilities/Stadiums/Orange_bowl/ The NW 7th Street bus is an East-West bus route that runs right by the Orange Bowl. The lady who answered the phone at the Orange Bowl told me it would be better “if someone dropped me off”. I asked her about the neighborhood. She told me: “The neighborhood used to be bad but not anymore. This is not the eighties.” Still, some caution should be exercised. Out of town visitors should always be a little cautious until they get their sea legs in a new place. A cab from the airport to South Beach costs about 24 dollars. The Everglades National Park, the only subtropical rainforest in North America, is a 2 hour drive from Miami. The Flamingo Lodge is operated by the National Park Service. It offers doubles at 90 dollars per night and is located deep in the park. There are boat excursions at 8, 10 and 12 that last 2 hours, and take visitors to see exotic birds and crocodiles. The excursions are cheap, costing around 12 dollars. There is an excellent youth hostel with private rooms in Homestead, just outside the park entrance. The hostel has a tropical garden where hostellers can relax in the sunshine. This hostel is run by the same organization which runs the famous Brunswick Hostel on the beach in Georgia, but it has much better facilities. The hostel also offers boat excursions into the swamp. http://www.evergladeshostel.com/hostelinfo.htm Hopefully, people who are more familiar with Miami can provide additional travel advice.
i asked a friend that lives in miami for suggestions of things to do in Miami....here is the email: "...as far as miami tourist information, im no chamber of commerce but i guess i can give away a few tips and not-so-secret secrets if you want to post the following. getting in around in miami REQUIRES a car (your own, rented, taxi, etc.). the rail system is too limited to be useful and the bus system is too infrequent/unpredictable to be useful. navigation is easy enough with a map, as miami is a nice grid sandwiched between the atlantic and the everglades (but beware of the less friendly idiosyncratic civic planning of areas such as coral gables and coconut grove). of course you can visit any number of websites full of the usual yammer regarding miami's hotspots, from nights you'll never remember in south beach to more family friendly affairs; but, here a few of my recommendations... bars to visit: tobacco road (first liquor license ever in miami; old blues/jazz/rock joint)...scotty's (a very florida outdoors boat-dock place on biscayne bay in coconut grove)...the playwright (a pub offering sanctuary from the greasy nightclubs on south beach)...the tavern (small, indie bar in coconut grove; very miami hurricanes)...the gables pub & the bar (two smaller locals-type bars in coral gables) for all you indie rockers, you might be able to catch a decent late show on the weekends at revolver (a mod lounge w/ a variety of music -- depends on what color room youre in), churchill's (punk bar where every single world cup game was shown on a large screen), or poplife (a saturday night hangout for the revolver people) lastly, if you do outdoors things, you might want to check out the everglades, big cypress, key biscayne, or the beaches (north, south, or middle...depending on your flava) have fun and leave your attitude at home b/c you'll find plenty of it here!
There is another excellent hostel in Miami called the Banana Bungalow. It is also in South Beach and has very nice private rooms.
Mass Transit to the Game The K Downtown bus leaves from near the yoooth hostel at 9:14 A.M. It goes by the Henry Hotel 5 minutes before that. You transfer at the MDCC (NE 2nd Ave/4th st) at 9:48 A.M. to bus #7, which leaves at 10:00 A.M., arriving at the Orange Bowl at 10:15 A.M. The bus runs on the hours, more or less, so you could do this route earlier if you like.
All I want to know is will there be a tailgate and are 11 mos. old babies capable of sitting through the pre and in game festivities. I'm going with my wife, daughter and my parents. We're driving from Naples. Should be an interesting day to say the least.
Footy Mundo, I don't think I will get a chance to meet you as I will be standing in General Admission with Sam's Army, US Supporters and Decreaming Eagles. I have enjoyed your posts over the years. They are some of the best on Big Soccer, especially about foreign countries. I think your 11 month old daughter will be fine at the game. My daughter is 9 months old (she woill not be at the this game) but she has been to a slew of Chicago Fire games and all the US games in the World Cup. She was only 4-7 weeks old at the Cup,but she did just fine, either sleeping or looking around. We covered her ears so her ears would not be shocked too much. I don't know about a tailgate. One of the problems with this game is it has 12 PM start and the stadium opens at 10. I think we will be trying to get in early to block out a US section. Please stop by even if you don't want to stand during the whole game. Hope your family enjoys it. Argentine fans are amazing. No one can sing better than them!
Tom, I'll be there with you at the tailgater (Sam's Army?) when the gates open at 10 am. My 9-year-old son will be getting his second cap. See you there. Will your wife be home with your daughter? Kevin Etzel
Great news that you are coming, Kevin. I hope we can meet up. Your son must as excited as we are! You are correct. My wife and daughter will be at home for this one!