Bienvenidos a Miami!

view of the Bay

"Party in the city where the heat is on
All night, on the beach till the break of dawn
Welcome to Miami
Bienvenidos a Miami
Bouncin' in the club where the heat is on
All night, on the beach till the break of dawn
I'm goin to Miami
Welcome to Miami!"




Back in freezing Milan (-11°C!) after 10 days in the Caribbean is really depressing. And right now this Will Smith song is bouncing in my head!
We spent two great days pre-cruise in Miami doing one of my favorite things: shopping! We stayed at the great Four Seasons in Brickell, the Financial District, so no beach or people in rollerblades but tall buildings, banks, suits and luxury. This hotel is beautiful. It's located in Miami's tallest building which hosts a fitness center and HSBC offices.

The lobby is at the 7th floor and in both the ground floor and the lobby you'll find beautiful, huge Botero sculptures.

a Botero in the Lobby

 From the lobby you can access the pools, the restaurant and the elevators to the rooms. Ours was in the 27th floor and had a partial view of the bay and the city. Big room with comfortable bed, big bathroom with separate shower and tub, l'Occitane toiletries and good -perhaps a bit cold- service (this is meant to be a positive comment, I dislike intrusiveness and fake friendliness so the staff 's cold professionalism is great for me!).

the room and the comfortable king bed

view of the city & bay from room

 The pool area is great, I wish we had more time there! There are two pools (a third is for use of the condos' owners) one with comfortable cabanas surrounding it and one with palm trees and hammocks, best pool I've ever seen!

Relaxing hammocks at the pool

We rented a car through the Hotel's Concierge and went to Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in Sunrise, Fl., a 40 min. drive from Downtown Miami. Having been there last year we knew it was going to be a full-day shopping marathon (it's one of the biggest outlet malls in the US), that's why we didn't take the shuttle from Miami. Among the shops in Sawgrass we visited: Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Victoria's Secret, Brooks Brothers, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, etc. And having had breakfast at the Cheesecake Factory and lunch at the Grand Lux Café we reached the maximum amount of sugar our bodies could take!

Accommodation Info:

Four Seasons Hotel Miami (http://www.fourseasons.com/miami/)
1435 Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida 33131
Rooms from $450 / night

Food in the area:
- Taqueria La Lupita (http://lalupita.mx/): good Mexican street food.
- Deli Lane Cafe (http://delilane.com/): great breakfasts on Brickell.