Hi everyone! I live in Chicago and am planning a bachelorette party in Miami for early May. My questions are... where are the best places to stay? I keep hearing South Beach but we just want to be close to restaurants, bars, the beach, etc. It doesn't have to be the very center of the party. We're in our mid to late 20's so not so heavily into the club/party scene. Where should we stay and please be specific! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Budget?

I would recommend South Beach, However South Beach has it's price. Depending upon where you want to stay the higher the dollar prices go. Megan is right, what's your budget?

Another good idea is Hard Rock in Hollywood ... you can dance and club all night long and then just stumble over to the hotel worry free.

Hard Rock has really great restaurants and you can book VIP at the comedy club if you aren't interested in night clubs.  Check out the hotel website.

In south beach there is always the Fountain Blu or the Eden Roc

Riverside Hotel on Las Olas, ft. Lauderdale. This area offers shopping, variety of restaurants, beach, and a plethora of activities. And everything is all within walking distance. Or you could rent a bike or flag down a taxi. Even if you don't choose Riverside Hotel there are other hotels nearby. The W Hotel is right on the strip. Its a great hotel as it boast a lot of amenities. Hope this helps you in your decision making process. Have fun and be safe.

KT is correct, the W Hotel in Ft. Laud is amazing.

I would not recommend staying on South Beach at all, especially based on your posting.  You can always go to South Beach and party, but if you are not into that scene (as you stated), I would not recommend staying anywhere near there.  Depending on many variables (budget, car/no car) and what types of activities you want to do, I can make many recommendations.  In terms of good location, I would choose Sunny Isles (on the beach) or Aventura (just over the causeway).  There are several big name hotel brands and several boutique hotels in both areas, Sunny Isles Beach, has everything from multi-million dollar condos and hotels to older hotels that were once stellar in the 70s, and doesn't have all the noise and craziness of South Beach. :)  Aventura/North Miami Beach is pretty much 15-20 minutes away from everything (south beach, downtown fort Lauderdale/las olas, 10 mins to hard rock casio/shops, 5 mins from gulfstream casino/shops, 5-10 mins to downtown Hollywood...maybe 30 to sawgrass).  The northern parts of Miami Beach (between South Beach and Sunny Isles) also have many options, but again depending on budget and more info, I can make more suggestions...hope this helps..

W in Fort Lauderdale beach, you can chill at the beach, plenty of bars and restaurants but without all the Miami crazy traffic, plus you also have the Las Olas close by, the Hard Rock is not too far of a drive away, and you can also drive down to Miami if you want to check it out, there are also other nice hotels by the W if you are on a tighter budget.

Thanks to everyone for their responses so far! My budget would be $300 - $400 a night. There are six girls though so hotel wise we'd need two rooms unless we got a suite of some sort. It sounds like South Beach is the best area? Honestly I'm surprised to hear Fort Lauderdale. I didn't realize this was a cool place to visit! Again I'm from Chicago....

South Beach is a great area, but can get crazy :)  What time frame are you coming down?   150-200 a night for a room may not go that far.  It all depends.

Any hotel on south beach! I recommend the boutique/art deco hotels over corporate options. But You must stay on south beach bc you will get the true feeling of Miami. Sobe has so much more to offer than bars/clubs. Theres amazing restaurants, the beach!, pool parties, endless spa options, rent bicycles, vball, South point park. And best of all, you wont have to drive much. Everything is pretty much a 5-10 minute walk. Traffic is pretty bad with construction, so thats why its important to have ur hotel on south beach. All other places like brickell, midtown, wynwood, ft. Lauderdale are a cab ride away. Just please dont rent any lazy lame ass segways when youre down here lol :):):)

The W in Fort Lauderdale

Fountain blue hotek . restaurants and clubs on site. Great pool!

W South Beach; The Betsy; The Raleigh

Do not go to Ft lauderdale. South beach is the obvious choice for a bachelorette. If so, you must stay at the SLS. Three reasons: it's relatively new, location and it has the best pool party (hyde beach). Although if your not trying to party you should probably avoid Miami altogether.

Do not stay in South Beach at all costs unless you're renting a condo or something.  All of those so-called more reasonable hotels are horrible check TripAdvisor. Unless you go to anglers, w , or setai. I  would stay north of 20th Street or South 5th Street.  Most of the food in South Beach is totally horrible outside of some places on Ocean Drive there's many tourist traps especially Columbus hotel. You could stay at the W in Fort Lauderdale and there's a lot of places in street we can go with this nightlife and restaurants. Most of these so called affordable hotels in South Beach will charge you a resort fee, don't ask me what the hell that is because even I don't know its just some kind of pimping fee. But no matter what you do check TripAdvisor for every place you plan on staying

I mean avoid Ocean Drive

I'd do Hard Rock. You can always do a night partying on south beach and split a cab to head down there or arrange for a car for the night. Hard Rock has the hotel, comedy club, restaurants, casino, bars, shops, and plenty of clubs to choose from. They're all there in the same convenient complex.

South Beach.....everything you can dream of is within walking distance

Check out the Standard hotel and spa.....or the Raleigh.....that's where Bourdain stays

South Beach!!! You can always find great deals if you book ahead of time.