Sharing a recap of our recent trip to Miami, Florida! This was our first time to Miami. We bought our flights only two weeks before going because we found the flights really cheap & it was my birthday weekend so the timing was perfect… or so we thought. Then came along the Coronavirus….. making us question our trip and if we should still be going. The weekend we were going away was the first weekend things starting getting serious around where we live, but ultimately we decided to still go. We were super careful and made sure to sanitize & wash our hands as much as possible. While the virus did effect our trip a tad, we were lucky to spend what would be the last normal weekend in awhile on the beach!
Where We Stayed – Loews Hotel
We went back and forth with where to stay but ultimately decided on the Loews Hotel! It’s located right on the beach at 17th street. We booked a city view room and it was your typical hotel room with king bed. We were very happy we decided to stay where we did and even overheard some people on the beach saying this was one of the nicest hotels they had stayed at in Miami!
One major thing we liked about this hotel was the chairs provided on the beach. You didn’t have to worry about finding a chair on the beach as you could get chairs & towels included with your stay. Umbrellas were an extra costs. They also have servers on the beach taking food & drink orders and you can charge everything directly to your room so no need to worry about keeping money on the beach. The Coco Loco was delicious and my personal favorite drink! I will say be sure to double check your bill when checking out as we had been charged for someone else’s food items and it was a little bit a process to get it removed, but ultimately everything was fine.
The hotel also has a really nice pool! We only spent a few hours here one afternoon after the beach but it was always very crowded and definitely fills up fast every morning.
Another thing we really liked was the level of security here. You couldn’t access the hotel from the beach without using your hotel key. They also had security at the main hotel entrance checking room keys at different times to ensure only hotel guests were on the property.
Where We Ate/Drank
Miami Joe Coffee Company – Located inside the Loews Hotel, this coffee/snack/ice cream shop had THE BEST iced coffee and we made sure to grab one each morning before going on our walks. They also serve breakfast sandwiches, various snacks and ice cream!
Taco Taco – We ate here for lunch our first day in Miami. The vibe here was really cool but definitely in a more “spring break” setting. I had the nachos which were massive and Walt had the tacos. The food was good here and they also stay open till 5am on the weekends for late night food!
La Folie Cafe – We stopped here on one of our morning walks for a quick breakfast bite. It’s located on the famous Espanola Way, which features food from various parts of the world. This French cafe definitely brought me back to Paris. I ordered a chocolate croissant and Walt had a baguette with butter and jam. We sat outside on the cobblestone streets and it was so nice!
Rosetta Bakery – Another super cute breakfast spot that’s an Italian bakery. Walt and I split a creme filled Bombolone, which is an Italian doughnut. It was AMAZING! I would highly recommended stopping here to try one! They also have one filled with Nutella!
Broken Shaker – We went here for pre-dinner drinks one night and thought this place was so cool! You have to go through the main hotel area and into the back courtyard. There are mini tables set up all around the courtyard with string lights & music. I ordered the daily punch & Walt had the Abuelitas Old Fashioned. This place definitely got busier as the night went on so to get a table be sure to get there early.
Watr at the 1 Rooftop – This was a recommendation so we decided to check it out one night. I will say this hotel is very fancy and figuring out how to get to the rooftop was very confusing as you have to use only certain elevators. We had wanted to grab a drink at the bar but the bar was packed so we asked about getting a table. We didn’t have reservations but luckily they had several people who hadn’t shown so they told us to wait 15 more mins and if they still weren’t there we could have their table. We went back to the bar and managed to get a seat. I ordered a pina colada and Walt got a beer – come to find out there was a man at the bar who wanted to remain anonymous but was paying for everyone’s first round of drinks!! (That’s how you know this place was fancy!) We were able to get a table for dinner and ordered sushi. It was good but not good enough for the price. I’d recommended coming here for a drink and then getting food somewhere else.
Oh Mexico – We knew we wanted to eat dinner on Espanola Way one night so we made reservations at the famous Havana 1957 but we were seating right next to the kitchen and after 10-15 mins of no one coming up to us, we decided to leave and go across the street to Oh Mexico. This was more our type of food anyway so it worked out! I had the biggest frozen margarita there! It took me forever to drink (and I typically don’t like margaritas but this one was good). Walt and I both had various tacos which we thought were tasty!
Naked Taco – Our last meal in Miami was at the taco place. We went for a late lunch. We both had tacos and they were really good!
What We Did:
We really wanted this trip to be all about relaxing so honestly we didn’t do much! lol We definitely explored a lot of Miami Beach but didn’t venture into the city to see things like the Wynwood Walls so we definitely want to check that out next time!
Beach – We headed to the beach every morning around 10am and most days didn’t leave until 4pm or 5pm. I could literally sit on the beach every day for hours and not get bored! Like I mentioned earlier, the hotel has lounge chairs already set up on the beach so you don’t have to worry about finding a spot. The beach area closer to the water is public so this is where people would lay out towels if they weren’t staying at the hotel & didn’t want to pay for chairs. The water was much clearer and much more blue than I had expected it to be! Miami also has the coolest lifeguard stands! Each one is different and they are all painted bright colors.
Explore – One of my favorite things to do on vacation in a new place is wake up early and walk around. We would grab a coffee and head out to explore each morning. I love seeing the town when everything is quiet and people are still sleeping, especially in Miami!
Ocean Drive – This is the main strip in South Beach where all the partying happens. Honestly, it was my least favorite part of Miami. During the day it was fine, but we walked down this way one night and it was just too much for me. It was like spring break central and I’m too old for spring break activities… I was so happy we didn’t pick a hotel down here because I honestly think it would’ve ruined my trip.
Overall, I liked Miami and would return. There are some other areas of Florida that I would like to check out first though that maybe are more our speed! More relaxing – less partying! lol Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!
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