Another Night in South Beach

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A few weeks ago, I learned that my friend Ashley would be in Miami for a day or so before leaving on her week long cruise. Since she still lives in Ohio, we were excited to be only an hour or so a part for a day! The original plan was just to come down for lunch and walking around Ocean Drive. As Matt and I hopped in our car ready to leave, we suddenly decided that it would be more fun to stay the night. So we did just that. 😊

Lodging:
Sanctuary Hotel in South Beach
Since we booked shortly before check in, there weren't too many options in our price range. I was pleased and a bit surprised to see the Sanctuary Hotel in South Beach for under $150. A year or so ago, I actually stayed there briefly for a work convention and really liked the experience so we decided to give it another whirl. After taxes, our total came to $153 which really isn't bad at all. Typical of South Beach hotels, parking can be an expensive issue. We didn't see any parking garages immediately around the hotel so decided to park valet across from the hotel for $30 a night. The location of the Sanctuary Hotel was ideal for us this trip as it was just a block or so away from the shops on Lincoln which is where we spent most of our time.

The best part about this hotel are the spacious suites. Every room has a lounge area with a big flat screen TV, kitchen appliances, a sofa and fully stocked mini fridge and bar. The decor is very modern and appropriate for the art deco theme of South Beach. The bathroom offers a nice blue tile shower which I believe is also a sauna (although we did not utilize that). Several mirrors, including a full size one are in the room. The bed was very comfortable with soft pillows and a white down comforter. Suites on the second floor also offer a spacious balcony which is a nice touch. The space offered at the Sanctuary is incredibly rare in most South Beach hotels so was much appreciated.

Although overall I would give this hotel a positive rating, it did have several notable short comings. Most notable is simply that this hotel could be so much nicer if they just put a little more effort into cleaning. Our room was not filthy by any means, but little things like the doors and sink looked like they hadn't been cleaned very well. Also, only two towels were in the bathroom as opposed to 4 like other hotels have. Typical of most Miami hotels, the A/C unit was pretty loud when turned on but not too bad compared to other hotels we've stayed at. A complementary breakfast was offered in the morning but was nothing to brag about, just bagels, fruit, etc. Also, there was an incredibly rude woman working during breakfast which really turned us off. All that being said, for the right price, we'd stay here again.

Dining:
Van Dyke Cafe
We arrived to South Beach around 5 PM. After some walking around Lincoln, we decided to grab a bite to eat on Lincoln. Lincoln is littered in various shops and eateries ranging from German to Italian to Middle Eastern food. I don't know exactly what drew us to the Van Dyke Cafe other than it happening to be where we were tired of walking. Typical of high tourist cities, 15%!g(MISSING)ratuity is already included in the bill. As a result, I feel like the service often lacks at a lot of places. This was definitely true of our experience at the Van Dyke, our service was horrible. The food was also pretty bad. Ashley's son ordered corn flakes and the waitress was surprised when he requested milk to pour on top. Matt's Chicken Parmesan was terrible. My Babaganush was decent. We will most certainly never eat here again.

Finnegan's Way
After saying goodbye to Ashley, Matt and I found ourselves in Fennegan's enjoying a few drinks and watching the Heat game. This is a pretty decent and chill Irish pub off Lincoln. We ordered Vodka/Red Bull in which the bartender only poured the vodka on ice and allowed us to add as much/little Red Bull as we liked. We'd probably come here again for drinks.

Shopping
At this point, I feel that Matt and I are seasoned shoppers in South Beach. We hit our usual stops including the Alchemist 1&2 , All Saints Sitalfields , The Webster Miami , Teno and Zara url=www.zara.com. As we were leaving, we noticed Atrium url=http://atriumnyc.com/] located on Collins a little past Lincoln. We definitely need to add that to our list for next visit.

Overall, we had a really fun night in South Beach!

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