I'm in Miami Bitch! That is truly how you feel when you travel down to South Beach, Miami. There are many tricks to not spend a fortune in Miami, but have a great time.
Lodging in South Beach: If the hotel or boutique is a 2 star it will defiantly be very low scale. With that said, when pricing out your options always check for a resort fee. A lot of places charge a fee to stay on top of your booking costs. Also, if you have a car check on the parking. Most resorts charge a large fee to park your car. For example, our hotel charged $40 a day. After searching for the best options we chose Hotel Riu Plaza Miami Beach. There was no resort fee and it was located on Collins and 31st. This is a great location but a little north from the action; $6 Uber to Lincoln and Collins. The Riu had an amazing secured pool area, lunch spots and bar by the pool and fabulous accommodations. Beautiful spot and reasonably priced for Miami!
Going Out: This is my fifth time in South Beach, so I learned many of their tricks down there. If you dine or drink on Ocean Drive you will be well over budget. The restaurants pull you in and offer "deals" like 2-4-1, however your first drink is $30. We dined at Big Pink,157 Collins Ave. for breakfast and received large portions at a good price. We had a fabulous dinner at Fung Ku, 1720 Collins Ave. With outdoor and indoor dining this place has wonderful service and food. This time in South Beach, we did a night on Ocean Drive, like I said is very touristy and you have to be careful. Mango's, 900 Ocean Dr., has fun entertainment, however their drinks are $20 a pop at least. A staple on Ocean Drive is Wet Willies 760 Ocean Dr., as Ludacris says, "especially Wet Willies on Miami Beach!" They have an array of smoothie type cocktails that are reasonably priced, that will sneak up on you! The location has a nice upper balcony with a small food menu. Another place we hit was an old school style sports bar called Ted's Hideaway 124 2nd St. (you can find them on facebook). The owner and staff were welcoming and the spot had reasonable prices with a food menu. Lastly, if you have money to spend and would like to hit a high end strip club E11even Miami is a must!
References:
www.riu.com
www.Bigpinktakeout.com
www.catakubahotel.com/fungku
www.mangos.com
www.wetwillies.com
www.11miami.com
