We are wanting to get away for the holidays with DH’s side of the family. Parents, grandparents a college aged kids, half over 21.
Grandparent lives in Ft. Myers and I want to go somewhere different, that would be fun for the kids. I’ve thought about a cruise, but I think with airfare and the time we want to go, the cruise lines we would want are more than what BIL would want to spend. I’ve looked at all inclusives in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Cancun and they all run around $1,500 or higher per person, including air. He will be paying for 3, and I still am sure he will balk at that.
So, I’m thinking as far south as we can go in Florida. I’ve never been there before. What do you all think? Fun pkace for kids, things to do? Or more over 21 fun. Maybe I’m just not looking at the right places. Mid love to go yo the Caribbean.
South Beach is all about clubbing, food and people watching. I personally do not think it is that pretty, but I love people watching down there. We are going down there in Sep for a long weekend. We’ll be sitting by a pool, go to dinner and go to few clubs down there. The younger crowd will be staying at the Delano (great pool, bar), but my mother and I will be at the Ritz, which is 2 doors down. Many hotels on the beach are 300+/night, and the rooms are tiny. I am going for a birthday party, otherwise I would pick a different place.
What holiday? I go to Mexico two or three times a year, have stayed at 5* AI, and have yet to pay $1500, usually around the $1000 mark for a week, sometimes less depending on time of year, and usually in a 4*. How about Key West? You can rent a nice villa/cottage there with kitchen and several bedrooms.
Delano’s and Lowes are very pricey. There are smaller hotels along the strip that are more interesting. I’d have to look up the names, but the French house and the 60’s place are two. I’ve also stayed at the Marriott, which is more reasonable. If this is truly your destination, I will go back thru records to find some great places.
For short vacations, I’ve gone to key largo, the first city as you drive towards the Keys. For 2 or more nights, I’ve stayed at B&Bs in Key West and hotels there.
Let me know if you Want more info, and I can assist.
My cousin owned the Delano when it was a kosher hotel for old Jewish people. I always has to go visit my great Aunts who stayed there for the season when we went to my grandparents. It’s amazing how it’s been transformed. I’ve stayed at The Palm, which is lovely but not cheap either. H and I went down for an afternoon in February to Lincoln Rd. It was nice walking around and eating lunch outdoors. Very different vibe then Mizner in Boca. Then we walked to the Holocaust Memorial. It was very moving.
It was nice and not that expensive, but we were there in early December. Water on Atlantic side was too cold for me. We did a day trip to Key West (stopped in Marathon for lunch on the way.) When we got to KW we did a trolley tour, walked around and stopped at southern most point on our way out.
Wow, Emilybee, that is really something! The Delano is now all white, gorgeous, everything costs so much. You can run into,celebrities of all sorts there.
Yay, I know. It’s changed so much - the whole area has since I was a kid. H and I drove up Collins Ave after our afternoon in MB. Every once in awhile something was still the same. Then we detoured over to Bay Harbor Island where my grandparent’s house was. On their lots (they had two duplexes) it’s now a low rise condo building but some of the old houses are still scattered here and there. Still brought back so many memories.
S and his gf stayed for a night at The Standard (their friend’s father owns them so they stayed for free!) Amazing place from the pictures I saw.
My grandparents had a small one bedroom condo in what is now South Beach (lenox around 10th street, about 4 blocks off the beach). It went through several waves of issues, first with the Mariel boatlift, and then later on with Haitian refugees, and a lot of the hotels and apartments were being used to house both those people and also from what I understand, the homeless. By the late 80’s my wife and I stopped in to visit with a great aunt who lived in the area, and it was in pretty rough shape, and a lot of those old grand hotels were abandoned, some of them were being used as welfare hotels. The beach itself was still beautiful, but Lincoln road was all but shut down, what was left were some cheap stores and dollar stores.
In the early 90’s I was there and what happened was they started attracting foreign tourists with junkets to existing hotels and such (they were really cheap I remember), and that kind of started the trend. My cousin was posted to Miami by Newsweek in the early 90’s (he was their bureau chief, and was covering the drug wars in South America), but he said his hardest assignment was having to do an article on the burgeoning night life. When I look at what it looks like today it is amazing what it has turned into:)
Christmas time is going to be expensive anywhere, but I agree with what someone else wrote, check into the Keys. Key West is fun, if touristy, even if it has changed a lot (it has become a lot more touristy and a lot less to me of the charming, offbeat place it once was, I suspect the artists and the eccentrics may have been squeezed out, and the cruise boats stopping there changed things as well) but it may be expensive, too, holiday time is peak season in a lot of Florida.
There’s lots to do in Key West. There’s live music on the streets, bicycle and surrey rentals, nature preserves for hiking, boating and fishing, eco tours, paddle boarding, parasailing, drives up to the other keys for a few hours, lots of restaurants. I don’t think its great for very small children but I like it for young teens and older, especially if you let them explore on their own. Its a great walking town
Key west has a lot of things kids can enjoy, there is the acquarium, there are some neat boat rides with glass bottom boats kids may enjoy, there is swimming there (the water is shallow way, way out). There are tours of the city, especially the old town, that are fun, where they tell tales of the past of the city and explain about the town’s unique architecture and though it is touristy, it is fun. One of the most famous features of the town is sunset on Mallory Square in Old Town, the sunsets are spectacular, and all kinds of street perfomers are there, it is quite an experience.
Key West is lots of fun for all ages. When my kids were teens, we concentrated on water sports, Truman’s little White House, maritime museum, Duval street, lots of small museums, the southern most point in US, cemetery, Hemingway house, boat tours, snorkeling tours, Dry Tortugas, shark tours, a parrot garden, etc.
How about a 5 day cruise from Tampa to the Western Caribbean or 6 days from Miami to Eastern Caribbean?
The only cruise that my BIL might agree to is on Carnival because it’s a decent price. The ship is older and not a lot of bells and whistles for that age group, I’m worried they would be bored during the day. No basketball court, and other things. But there are 2 all day ports on a 5 dsy cruise, so maybe that’s good enough.
