A Review of Our Accommodation in Miami - Life House, Little Havana

 

Our first visit to Miami, we spent our our entire stay at a boutique hotel called Life House, Little Havana.

Had it not for our son, we would probably never booked and stayed in this little hotel, about 6/8 blocks from the action scene of Little Havana.

Initially, we booked for two nights. Because we cancelled our cruise the last minute, we extended our stay to another five days. 

Though small, our room was comfortable and functional.  

Located on the main floor, right beside the lobby, our room was not sound proof well, a little noisy. We could hear people talking in the lobby from our room.

However, it does has a spacious and welcoming lobby with comfortable furniture where guests could relax, have a coffee or glass of cold water while while waiting. 

I like the small library on the far end of the lobby. I spent a few hours there catching up with my blogs when it was raining non stop a few days ago.

Another feature I liked about the hotel was the outdoor patio on the ground floor where guests could sit outside, read a book or something.

However, the few days we were staying at the hotel, it was either too hot or raining most of the time for the first couple days.

The Terrace, located on the top floor of the hotel was one place where  other guests could use.

Our son did check it out one evening and enjoyed hanging out with other guests.

I was surprised at how spacious it was and the number of people it could accommodate there.

Though most of the House Mangers were always pleasant, not all of them was helpful when needed.

On the last day when we were supposed to check out, we got an email from our airline informing us that our flight was cancelled and the we were rebooked on another flight for the next day. I spoke with the House Manager trying to extend our stay to one more night, he just told me that the hotel was fully booked and that I could try their other hotel in the city. There was no house phone we could use to call and he didn't offer us any assistance to help us find another place. Very disappointed with the service when we needed it.

RT

Guest of a Life House, Little Havana, Miami

Visiting the Bayside Marketplace and Enjoying the Bayfront Park Sculptures in Miami

After our nice lunch at San Poche, a restaurant serving Columbian dishes, we walked to Little Havana and took the free trolley bus going to Brickell City Centre. From there, we changed to another trolley for the Biscayne area.

The trolley took about twenty minutes and we just missed the stop in front of the Bayside Marketplace.

It was a good mistake we made as we came across by chance Port Miami and the Bayfront Park - a park that spans 32 acres in the heart of downtown Miami that sits right on Biscayne Bay.

This is a manificent park with a spectcular waterfront view with a palm and oak lined bayfront and many grassy areas for visitors to relax.

What was more, we couldn;t get over the impressive sculptures placed all over the park. What a wonderful oasis in the middle of downtown Miami!

We were lucky enough to be at the park where currently, there is a fantastic sculpture exhibition by a sculptor named Jimenez Deredia in this beautiful open space!

The admission is free! How about that?

After our visit to the Bayfront Park, we strolled along the baywalk to the Bayside Marketplace adjacent to the park - the Bayside Marketplace is an open air shopping area by the water.

It has numerous shops n carts with vendors selling everything from cold drinks, handmade bracelets, Soveniors t shirts, beachwear to party clothes.There was not a shortage of restaurants n bars.

The most interesting thing we saw was a creative enterprenure standing with three or four colourful parrots. The parrorts were well trained and well behaved. They didn't fly around the shopping area but simply stayed around and would perched at wherever their owner put them.

For an undisclosed fee, a visitor could have his/ her pictures taken with the parrots placed on his head, should, hands or fingers. It was incredible how tame and compliant these birds were.

Listening to the sounds of the waves clashing against the rocks on the shore, we took the time to enjoy the ambience of the Bayside Marketplace.

We checked out some of the menus and prices of the many restaurants offering visitors warm food and a resting place for their tired feet. We were able to sit for a refreshing drink watching people go by, enjoying the lovely surrounding and did a little bit of shopping. We each bought a piece of clothing as souvenirs from this lovely place. We enjoyed visiting the Bayfront Park and the Bayside Marketplace and stayed there until around 5 p.m. We walked to NE 4th street across from the Bayside Marketplace and waited for about 10 minutes for the Biscayne trolley which took us back to Brickell district at around 530pm which was during the peak ruh hour. It look a little longer for the bus to arrive. We simply walked back to the hotel, had dinner at our favourite restaurant. It was an enjoyable day! RT Bayfront Park & Bayside Marketplace Miami

Trying Columbian Dishes at San Pocho Restaurant in Miami

We started another day of our vacation in Miami with a brunch at our favourite restaurant in Miami - San Pocho. Normally, when we travel, we like to try different food and dine at different restaurants.

However, we liked this place so much that we went back there for at least a couple of times as it was close to our hotel.

The time before this we had chicken cutlet and beef soup for dinner and they were delicious and the servings were generous!

That day we ordered something different -a popular Columbian dish - a grilled steak, fried pork rind with grillrd sweet plaintains served with a good size salad and rice. I ordered beans n a soft cooked egg and we shared the dishes with each other.

Since it was raining continuously, we took our time to enjoy the lunch, stay indoors and tried to outwait the rain. Our server was friendly and we struck up a conversation with him and stayed at this Columbian restaurant for sometime. It was an excuse to try one of their nice desserts! One of the joy of travelling is trying new food, learning about new cultures and meeting people. We did all three on a raining afternoon in Miami, what a nice experience!

R.T. San Pocho Restaurant Little Havana, Miami Day 6 / 7

A Free Trolley Bus Ride from Little Havana to Downtown Miami

After our breakfast at the Party Cake Bakery in Little Havana, we took the public bus to downtown Miami, passing the Brickell City Centre.

The Brickell City Centre is a huge shopping mall with many brandname retail stores.

We walked by this mall on the second day of our visit here. The City Centre is modern, beautiful and spacious but with few public seats for visitors to rest their feet. From Little Havana, it was about a two miles (3.2 kilometers) walk for us. Following Southwest 8th Street eastward, the bus led us through both the neighborhoods of Brickell and downtown Miami.

Just after a few short stops, we were in downtown Miami. Since we wanted to explore Miami using the public transit system, we made some interesting discovery regarding the trolley service in this vibrant city.

The trolley rides in Miami are free for all people in Miami! It offers various routes covering quite a large area downtown and some of them pass through the Brickell neighborhood. The trolley system can be a convenient way to get around and explore different areas of the city.

On the afternoon we took the trolley bus ride, the outside temperature was at 92 degree C.

But we were sitting comfortably on the wooden seat in the air conditioned trolley taking us through the Brickell neighborhood.

Brickell is known for its upscale residential towers and luxurious homes and we came across some impressive mansions along the way.

The trolley bus stopped at the Miami City Hall located by the water. We jumped off and strolled along the waterfront.

Taking a free ride on the Miami's trolley bus, we were able to take in the sights and enjoyed the architectural diversity that the area has to offer. We had a great time exploring the various areas in the downtown area Miami. R.T. Miami, Florida

Delicious Cuban Sandwiches at Party Cake Bakery in Little Havana, Miami

After E. said goodbye to us early in the morning in the hotel, he left for the airport and flew back to the west coast. We were on our own from Wedneday on to continue our vacation in Miami. Since our hotel was located within walking distance to Little Havana, we walked to a few restaurants in the area during our stay in town. One of the places we visited - the Party Cake Bakery, located on Calle Ocho and SW 13 Ave., was one of our favourites. We started off our vacation with just the two of us at this authenic Cuban cafe. The Party Cake Bakery is a good size eatery with a nice ambience. It serves its customers with a variety of mouth watering Cuban sandwiches, pastries and drinks.

For Less than US $10.00, customers could enjoy a tasty and satisfying breakfast or lunch. We heard so much about Cuban sandwiches that what better time to have one in an authenic Cuban restaurant than in Little Havana?

Having learned in our travel that the food serving sizes in America were quite generous most of the time, we ordered a Cuban sandwich and coffee. The Cuban sandwich was prepared with fresh sliced ham, shredded prok, top with Swiss cheese, and shredded cabbage served between two slices of freshly baked toasted bread. Yes, the serving was generous!

My husband and I shared it for lunch. It was delicious! It beats eating at McDonalds anytime. The Party Cake Bakery is one of the stops on the Little Havana food tour. Hardly twenty minutes had passed by while we were in the cafe, two tour buses full of tourists unloaded their tour groups here.

The tour groups came into the cafe, were given a bit of history about the restaurant. Each participants of the tour group was served a guava pastry and a cup of cold water.

The Party Cake Bakery is an American dream came true examplifing the many dreams and hopes of the immigrants landing in the United States.

A happy ending true story that with determination and hard work, one's dream can be achieved in the U.S. RT Party Cake Bakery Little Havana Miami

Dinner at a Beautiful Biscayne Bay Restaurant with a Spectacular Oceanfront View in Miami

After visiting to the Linclon Road open air mall in the Miami Beach area, we kept walking with the assistance of our son's GPS. This was a restaurant recommended by our son's friend in Miami and it was supposed to be a very nice place.

We walked along the ocean front and did a quick tour of the area. I was surprised to learn that the population of Miami is only about 450,000.00 people, much smaller than our home town of Toronto's 3.00 million people.

Arriving at the restaurant located within a nice hotel, we walked through a long narrow path surrounded by tall trees on both sides with some openings leading to rooms each with its own small patio separated by a curtain.

This gave the hotel room occupants some privacy while restaurant guests walking past their rooms. We did a quick tour of the beautiful garden retreats each with its own comfortable cosy outdoor furniture.

Situated right by the Biscayne Bay, the restaurant allowed diners a spectacular view of the ocean.

With the light breezes blowing on our faces and surrounded by water on three sides, we were transported to a completely different place. We escaped the scorching Miami sun and the 92 degree heat for a little while.

As the sun started to go down, we could see the bright lights of the downtown skyscrapers from across the bay. It was breathtaking! Though secluded in its location and away from the busy downtown area with a pricy menu, the restaurant had a nice ambience and was quite busy on a Tuesday evening. We ordered our drinks, followed by a light dinner. The service staff was friendly; the dishes were nicely presented and delicious, but the portions were surprisingly small.

We enjoyed our dinner at a upscale restaurant by the Biscayne Bay area and it was a pleasant and memorable experience! Since it was E.'s night in Miami, he wanted to go to another venu but we were too tired to go with him. So we ordered our own UBER taking us back to our hotel while he headed up to another place recommended by his Miami friend. RT Biscayne Bay, Miami