Where to stay in Miami

Miami is a coastal city in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the second-most populous city proper in Florida, with a population of 442,241 at the 2020 census.

Flagler’s railroad sparked a wave of expansion in areas such as Miami Beach, Homestead and Cutler. Soon after the railroad was built, the Overseas Highway was created. This highway connected the Florida Keys to the mainland. Growth and progress in Miami continued through World War I and into the mid-1920s. A devastating hurricane in 1926 halted Miami’s growth and temporarily put the city and Miami Beach in a recession. It was the city’s support of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal that helped the city rebuild.

Miami is known for its boutique hotels (especially those in South Beach). Designers such as Ian Schrager (the Delano, Shore Club), André Balazs (Raleigh, Standard on Belle Isle) and Todd Oldham (the Hotel) helped put South Beach on the map with their creative hotel designs. The downside of many of the boutique hotels is that rooms can be small, particularly if the building was built during the height of the Art Deco period in Miami. If you value space, a boutique hotel may not be the type of hotel for you. If you don't need to stay in a boutique hotel (and value space), Miami has several upscale high-rise hotels north and south of South Beach, as well as near the downtown area.

Getting in

OPF and TMB offer 24 hour operations, private terminals, and customs & immigration services. Amtrak runs two daily services from New York City, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, via Washington, D.C., Savannah, Orlando, Tampa and other cities along the eastern coast. The two trains take slightly different routes; the Silver Meteor calls in Charleston while the Silver Star takes an inland route, calling in Raleigh and Columbia.

Getting around

Miami's public transit system is the most diverse and extensive of any locality in Florida. If travel time is not a priority, it is possible to travel to all commercial areas and major attractions within Miami without a car. That being said, this approach will involve a lot of walking, which can be unpleasant at many times of year. A map of transit run by Miami-Dade is available at this website. Miami's bus system covers the entire county and connects to bus lines serving Broward County and the Greater Fort Lauderdale area. Sometimes buses still have a hard time remaining on schedule.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.