Final Observations on a Just-Completed 8-Day Stay in Miami Beach
As I end my mid-January vacation in Miami Beach, certain observations should be made.
From every indication, Miami is back to its normal popularity. Yesterday's Miami Herald exulted over the fact that condominium sales in that sunshine city were up by an amazing 46% in 2011, reflecting a greatly improved real estate picture in general and a probable economic recovery. Though many of those condo purchases were by foreigners seeking a safe haven for their funds, there's no doubt that rentals and visits by U.S. residents are up as well. As you walk along the brightly-lit, pedestrian-only Lincoln Road in south Miami Beach, thronged with tourists shopping madly and filling every one of almost continuous sidewalk restaurant tables, the feeling is inescapable that Miami is back as a top vacation destination.
[image error] Photo Caption: Lifeguard station at Miami Beach, FL. theniwaslike/Frommers.com Community
But despite the heightened tourism, the city is so packed with large hotels and condominiums available for rental and needing to fill tens of thousands of rooms and apartments -- including brand new residential skyscrapers spotted up and down all the main touristic boulevards and beach roads (the product of a real estate boom of several years ago) -- that the chance to negotiate a bargain for your own stay remains almost as strong as during the recession of 2008-09. When you call a condominium owner or a hotel reservations office, you should bargain -- tell them the price you're looking for, and stick to it (as I recently did for my own stay). In my experience, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Not only has beach-and-seaside tourism returned to the Miami area, but it appears that its cruise industry has not suffered in any meaningful way from the recent tragedy of the Costa Concordia off the shores of Tuscany. On a Saturday in the course of my stay, I drove to the port of Miami and there saw no fewer than eight giant cruiseships filling up with thousands of excited passengers who flocked to the rails of the upper decks to look out onto the Miami scene as their stately, 4,000-passenger behemoths sailed slowly out of Miami waters on their way to the Caribbean. Those laughing, smiling, confident passengers seemed to have not a care in the world, and appeared just as exuberant as in the days prior to news of the recent tragedy in the Mediterranean.
Back on shore, the dining quality of the city's restaurants has soared, mainly because of the emergence of dozens of new Brazilian, Argentinian and Peruvian restaurants. When I recently had dinner at a new Peruvian stand-out called Mixtura (in North Beach at 7118 Collins Avenue), and asked the waiter to suggest that establishment's best entree, he responded with aji de gallina, a classic dish of chicken sliced razor thin and topped with a sauce of yellow peppers mixed with heavy cream and combined with garlic and other tangy sauces. It was the highlight of one of the best meals I've had in years. The night before, we went to a nearby seafood restaurant called Fi Fi's (6934 Collins Avenue, two blocks down from Mixtura), started with stone crab (as good as in Miami Beach's legendary Joe's Original Stone Crab), and followed up with a freshly-caught fish superbly prepared.
From the sublime to the ridiculous: at the many exercise classes and sessions in hotels and condos here, a new aerobic work-out is a wildly-popular series of steps known as Zumba. Instead of simply undergoing aerobic exercise for 40 minutes to the standard beat-beat-beat of various rock songs, Zumba achieves aerobics to the insistent and just-as-rapid beat of Latin dance rhythms. In short spurts of 10 minutes apiece, separated from the next session by a one-minute pause for rest, you attempt to imitate your skilled instructor while he or she does lightning-fast renditions of samba, rumba, tango. You end up drenched in sweat, completely exhausted, but wonderfully entertained by stepping, running and prancing to the sound of Latin American bands, played on records and discs supplied by the instructor. Your next visit to Miami Beach, ask your hotel front desk clerk where you can engage in Zumba.
From every indication, Miami is back to its normal popularity. Yesterday's Miami Herald exulted over the fact that condominium sales in that sunshine city were up by an amazing 46% in 2011, reflecting a greatly improved real estate picture in general and a probable economic recovery. Though many of those condo purchases were by foreigners seeking a safe haven for their funds, there's no doubt that rentals and visits by U.S. residents are up as well. As you walk along the brightly-lit, pedestrian-only Lincoln Road in south Miami Beach, thronged with tourists shopping madly and filling every one of almost continuous sidewalk restaurant tables, the feeling is inescapable that Miami is back as a top vacation destination.
[image error] Photo Caption: Lifeguard station at Miami Beach, FL. theniwaslike/Frommers.com Community
But despite the heightened tourism, the city is so packed with large hotels and condominiums available for rental and needing to fill tens of thousands of rooms and apartments -- including brand new residential skyscrapers spotted up and down all the main touristic boulevards and beach roads (the product of a real estate boom of several years ago) -- that the chance to negotiate a bargain for your own stay remains almost as strong as during the recession of 2008-09. When you call a condominium owner or a hotel reservations office, you should bargain -- tell them the price you're looking for, and stick to it (as I recently did for my own stay). In my experience, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Not only has beach-and-seaside tourism returned to the Miami area, but it appears that its cruise industry has not suffered in any meaningful way from the recent tragedy of the Costa Concordia off the shores of Tuscany. On a Saturday in the course of my stay, I drove to the port of Miami and there saw no fewer than eight giant cruiseships filling up with thousands of excited passengers who flocked to the rails of the upper decks to look out onto the Miami scene as their stately, 4,000-passenger behemoths sailed slowly out of Miami waters on their way to the Caribbean. Those laughing, smiling, confident passengers seemed to have not a care in the world, and appeared just as exuberant as in the days prior to news of the recent tragedy in the Mediterranean.
Back on shore, the dining quality of the city's restaurants has soared, mainly because of the emergence of dozens of new Brazilian, Argentinian and Peruvian restaurants. When I recently had dinner at a new Peruvian stand-out called Mixtura (in North Beach at 7118 Collins Avenue), and asked the waiter to suggest that establishment's best entree, he responded with aji de gallina, a classic dish of chicken sliced razor thin and topped with a sauce of yellow peppers mixed with heavy cream and combined with garlic and other tangy sauces. It was the highlight of one of the best meals I've had in years. The night before, we went to a nearby seafood restaurant called Fi Fi's (6934 Collins Avenue, two blocks down from Mixtura), started with stone crab (as good as in Miami Beach's legendary Joe's Original Stone Crab), and followed up with a freshly-caught fish superbly prepared.
From the sublime to the ridiculous: at the many exercise classes and sessions in hotels and condos here, a new aerobic work-out is a wildly-popular series of steps known as Zumba. Instead of simply undergoing aerobic exercise for 40 minutes to the standard beat-beat-beat of various rock songs, Zumba achieves aerobics to the insistent and just-as-rapid beat of Latin dance rhythms. In short spurts of 10 minutes apiece, separated from the next session by a one-minute pause for rest, you attempt to imitate your skilled instructor while he or she does lightning-fast renditions of samba, rumba, tango. You end up drenched in sweat, completely exhausted, but wonderfully entertained by stepping, running and prancing to the sound of Latin American bands, played on records and discs supplied by the instructor. Your next visit to Miami Beach, ask your hotel front desk clerk where you can engage in Zumba.
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