Where should I stay in Miami and Key West?

[kirsty_07]

Myself and my boyfriend are off to Florida for our holiday April. We have a hotel booked in Orlando as were going to do all the theme parks and Orlando beaches etc but weve also hired a car and are planning on driving down to Miami staying there for two nights and then driving down to Key West and staying there one night (before the marathon 7 hour drive back to Orlando!)

Were a young couple and do want to have one night out clubbing in Miami! But we'd prefer to stay in a nice quiet hotel (that doesn't attract too many clubbers!) but still only be a short cab ride or walk to all the action on South Beach! Any suggestions?

Also any suggestions on where to stay in Key West would be helpful.

Were not planning on pre-booking our hotels for Miami and the Keys we were just going to do that when were in Orlando, but it'd be good to have an idea of some decent places to stay.

[auntiebertie]

In SoBe we stayed at a great place called the Townhouse - funky and modern http://www.townhousehotel.com/ and not right on top of the noise of Ocean Drive. In Key West we stayed in a charming B&B called The ArtistsHouse http://www.artisthousekeywest.com/ - highly recommended. One of the best meals I have had in my life was at Louies Back Yard in Key West - http://www.louiesbackyard.com/ It is a great drive down to the keys over all the bridges. Try and go and see the dolphins at the Dolpin Research Centre. They are free to go back to the ocean and not trapped like in someplaces. Hope this helps.

[kirsty_07]

Sounds great! Thanks for the info I'll check out those websites now! :0) Can you have any interaction with the Dolphins at the Dolphin Research centre? I'm not a confident swimmer and have a fear of deep water (bad childhood experience!) so I can't get in deep water with them or if I have to swim, is there anywhere that does Dolphin interaction out of the water or in shallow water?

[handygran]

We went to Discovery Cove in Orlando to interact with the dolphins. We were with my son and daughter in law and 7 year old grandaughter. You put wet suits and life jackets on but you go in waist deep water and interact with them then if you want to you can go in deeper and the dolphin brings you back to shore. I am scared of deep water but the trainer took me out . What a fantastic experience. It is expensive though. for the whole day per person it is �150 . Lunch and drinks in and go in with stingrays and loads of things. Well worth the money. They even took my grandaughter out to swim with them again.