Miami = Luxury

What do you do if the forecast says there might be a hurricane? You leave anyway, that is at least what we did. The day before we were supposed to travel to Miami, I heard about hurricane Dorian on the news. Honestly, my go-to-thought is “oh well, it’ll all be alright” so we decided to travel anyways. I guess you’re already realizing by now that we did survive, since you are reading this piece : ) Let me start by telling you about the first couple of days. On the flight from Oslo, we got to fly business class which is something I can definitely get used to, with the three course fancy meal and fold down seats. Although when your next flight is standard economy the disappointment is just even bigger when you have gotten used to luxury.

The first pit stop in Miami was Brickell which is an urban neighborhood of Greater Downtown Miami. Brickell is actually known as Miami and South Florida’s major financial district. The hotel we stayed at in Brickell was EAST, Miami. This is a 4 star hotel, but in my opinion it has all the amenities to be considered a 5 star hotel. The first thing few things that came to my mind as soon as I entered the hotel was cool, classy, stylish and luxurious. The hotel is actually connected to the Brickell City Centre with a lot of high-end shopping opportunities and fine dining. The hotel has 255 rooms and has a signature restaurant, the Uruguayan Quinto La Huella.

My favorite was the rooftop destination bar Sugar where we started out with some drinks and appetizers before we continued inside the Tea Room which is a very enjoyable place to eat dinner with a view to die for. The food is mainly Asian fusion, and I can definitely recommend one of their five course meals. My favorite was the Korean short rib. Falling asleep that night was rather difficult after a lot of delicious food, and also the view. I was simply lying in bed watching the view (and some tennis) for a good hour before attempting to fall asleep.

Who wouldn´t want to go swimming here?

Is this what you call a room with a view?

Our second pit stop was South Beach where we stayed at Dream South Beach. I have said this before, but out of all the beaches I have been to in my life, South Beach is my favorite. There is just something about the soft sand underneath your feet, the shallow water where you can also walk barefoot without being scared of sharp rocks or jellyfish. All in all, the beach is just very vibrant, and not much can beat a hot, sunny day at South Beach. The stay here was not as good at it could have been though because of the weather. Already the second day, the wind would pick up and it was raining sporadically. Most of the time we had to stay at the hotel room and watch the news regarding the hurricane. We ultimately decided to travel back home a day early because if we decided to leave on the day we were supposed to departure, we could potentially be stuck there for another week.

So, what did I actually think about Miami? There’s been a few years since I visited Miami. I seemed to remember Miami to be absolutely amazing. I think still it is an awesome city, but after being fortunate enough to travel the world quite a bit since last time I was there, I have definitely been to places that are better. My least favorite thing about the city is the fact that it is almost as expensive as Norway. When you go out to eat at a restaurant they will automatically charge you an 18% service fee on your check. So basically if the service was horrible, you are still required to tip them quite a bit. Not cool. I was also not a huge fan of the pot smell pretty much everywhere. One thing that fascinated me was the contrast between luxury and ghetto. One minute you are walking through a fancy neighborhood with luxury stores and everyone is living large. The next minute you walk through a slum, homeless people, and everything is pretty much depressive. This gives you a lot of perspective on life, when you get to see these huge contrasts in only a matter of minutes.

All in all, would I visit Miami again? Definitely. I just need to bring a bigger wallet. All jokes aside, Miami is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer. Amazing beaches, trendy nightclubs, beautiful sunsets and a warm climate. If you are European like myself, and struggling with cold winters, I would recommend to go sometime between January-March when Miami is still enjoyable enough that you could hit the beach every day.