Mandarin Oriental Hotel??????????

Me and the wife are holidaying in Miami in November 2005 for our 1st anniversary, I have been looking at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel can you recommend this or should I be looking at other hotels.

We want to be central and not too far from south beach your views will be much appreciated.

rgds,

Dav1..............................

Mandarin Oriental Hotel??????????

The Mandarin is a great hotel, they have a wonderful Martini bar and a very expensive restaurant called Azul. It%26#39;s not too far from South Beach, but there%26#39;s very little to do withing walking distance in the area. It%26#39;s on a section of downtown Miami called ';Brickell Key';, which is kind of seperate from the rest of the downtown area. Besides, our downtown is pretty much dead at night. What else do you want to do while you are in Miami? If you%26#39;re primary interest is in South Beach, I%26#39;d stay on the beach - depending on the number of days you%26#39;ll be there.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel??????????

A good hotel in Miami Beach (South Beach area) is the Loews. An excellent small, luxury boutique hotel right on South Beach is the Victor.

Personally I did not care for the Lowes. Way too many children for a relaxing vacation %26amp; a busy atmoshphere. I would suggest Setai, Shore Club or Tides. Mandarin is awesome spa environmet, pefect getaway but will need to rent a car to enjoy south beach also.

Unless there is some reason why you want to stay in the city of Miami, you might seriously consider staying in the South Beach area of Miami Beach. South Beach (or SoBe) is an area that is the southern couple of miles of Miami Beach. Miami Beach is a separate city from Miami.

Know that ';Miami Beach'; has it%26#39;s own forum on this web site that differs from ';Miami';. You might find the information in this forum more useful as it deals only with Miami Beach (both South Beach as well as North Miami Beach).

There are TONS of hotels in the South Beach area. Some directly on the beach, some a couple blocks away. Some very large and some very small. If you need help selecting a hotel, I might suggest you read some of past posts under Miami Beach and if you still need help, post another question under Miami Beach with some guidelines (big or small hotel, $$$$$, $, in the middle of the party zone or in a more quiet area, etc.)

Cheers,

P.S. The Loews is a very nice hotel but way too big for my taste and yes, it is more family oriented (for example, topless sunbathing is not allowed in the pool area) so there are often lots of children. It is also a popular convention hotel with lots of ';business'; people staying there rather than folks on vacation. These aren%26#39;t bad things, just not things I%26#39;m looking for when it%26#39;s just me and my wife :). The Loews has a high quality product but isn%26#39;t that much different than any other 4-star hotel in any other city.

The Mandarin is an amazing hotel and experience, but, as others pointed out, it is in downtown Miami (Brickell Key), which is a 5 - 10 min. cab ride from South Beach. Brickell Key is located just on the other side of the 395 causeway (the bridge that connects Miami proper to the island of Miami Beach) and is also on the water.

Staying at the Mandarin you can easily enjoy South Beach, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables since it%26#39;s in a far more central location that SoBe. However, staying on SoBe is whole other experience in itself.

If you want to be in the heart of South Beach, the following hotels have been causing quite a stir recently:

Setai (www.setai.com), Sanctuary (www.sanctuarysobe.com), Hotel Victor (www.hotelvictorsouthbeach.com) the Ritz Carlton or the ultra-luxe Casa Tua (www.casatualifestyle.com).

There%26#39;s also Key Biscayne which is a 10 min drive from South Beach, but much more secluded and tranquil with private beaches. They also have a Ritz on KB.

Enjoy!