During your Miami vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Herencia Hispana Tour
For those looking to immerse themselves in Miami's rich Latin-American culture, the Herencia Hispana Tour is the ideal way to explore it all. Hop on a bus and zoom past such hotbeds of Latin activity as downtown's Flagler Street, the unavoidable Elián González house, the Latin American Art Museum, and Little Havana's Domino Park and Tower Theater, among others. Not just a sightseeing tour, this one includes two very knowledgeable, albeit corny, guides who know just when to infuse a necessary dose of humor into a segment of history that some people may not consider so amusing.
Latin American Art Museum
In addition to the permanent collection of contemporary artists from Spain and Latin America, this 3,500-square-foot museum hosts monthly exhibitions of works from Latin America and the Caribbean Basin. Usually, the exhibitions focus on a theme, such as international women or surrealism. It's not a major attraction, but it's worth a stop if you're interested in Latin American art. On the same block, you'll find great design stores and a few other galleries.
United in Elián House
It was only a matter of time. After Elián González was rescued from a raft off the coast of Fort Lauderdale in November 1999, he lived in this modest, now famous, Little Havana house with relatives for 5 months before being reunited with his father and returned to Cuba in a storm of controversy. For Cuban nationals, the house became a shrine and the boy became a symbol for their struggle. There are collages of Elián all over the house; there's also trash in the yard as if someone still actually lives there. Apparently there was no time to clean up before the throngs of curiosity seekers came and the place was turned into a museum. Visitors receive a sticker with "the picture" of when the boy was seized by Federal marshals and returned to his father -- a day of infamy in Cuban-American history. See where Elián lived, played, breathed, and ate. See Elián's toys. See where the international media camped out for 5 months. See where relatives cried for the cameras. You get the picture.
Abbey Hotel
This charming, off-the-beaten-path, '40s-revival boutique hotel is possibly the best deal on the entire beach. A haven for artists looking for quiet inspiration, the Abbey has recently undergone a $2.5 million renovation that restored its original Deco glory. Soft, white-covered chairs and candles grace the lobby, which doubles as a chic Mediterranean-style restaurant (earning an "exceptional" from the Miami Herald), the Abbey Dining Room. Rooms are furnished with oversized earth-toned chairs and chrome beds that are surprisingly comfortable. It's extremely quiet at this hotel, as it is located in the midst of a sleepy residential neighborhood, but it's only 1 block from the beach and within walking distance of the Jackie Gleason Theater, the Convention Center, the Bass Museum of Art, and the Miami City Ballet.
Pelican Hotel
Owned by the same creative folks behind the Diesel Jeans company, the Pelican (whose brazen, albeit appropriate, motto is "A myth in its own limelight") is South Beach's only self-professed "toy-hotel," in which each of its 30 rooms and suites is decorated as outrageously as some of the area's more colorful drag queens. Each room has been designed daringly and rather wittily by Swedish interior decorator Magnus Ehrland, whose countless trips to antiques markets, combined with his wild imagination, have turned room no. 309, for instance, into the "Psychedelic(ate) Girl," room no. 201 into the "Executive Fifties" suite, and room no. 313 into the "Jesus Christ Megastar" room. But the most popular room is the tough-to-score room no. 215, or the "Best Whorehouse," which is said to have made even former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss red with envy. As South Beach is known for poseurs of all types, this hotel fits right in.
Nassau Suite Hotel
Stylish and reasonably priced, this 1937 hotel feels more like a modern apartment building with its 22 suites (studios or one-bedrooms), featuring wood floors, rattan furniture, and fully equipped open kitchens. Beds are all king-size and rather plush, but the bed isn't the room's only place to rest: Each room also has a sitting area that's quite comfortable. Registered as a National Historic Landmark, the Nassau Suite Hotel may exist in an old building, but both rooms and lobby are fully modernized. The Nassau Suite caters to a young, hip crowd of both gay and straight guests. Continental breakfast is available for $5 per person.
