Bed And Breakfasts: Economy And Elegance
Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 11:29 amI visited Miami last year in order to attend their annual electronic music festival. In order to go, the first thing I did was look up the cost for plane tickets and decide if I could afford to fly down from New York City. I never dreamed that I would be able to stay at a place even nicer that some of the really high-dollar locations.
The next step, besides putting off buying the weekend pass to the event (which then, the price goes up $30 and you’re kicking yourself you didn’t catch the presale) is finding a place to stay. The year before, which was the first time I went to Miami, I put off finding a place until about 2 weeks before the event. Everything was booked solid.
So I investigated finding a place outside the downtown area, the agent booked me in Hialeah, which I thought I could walk to, but when I came to the cross streets where I thought it would be, I was literally in some ghetto, I had to call a cab - it turned out the hotel was 30 minutes drive from downtown!
Even though last year I had a little more jump on the organization (except I missed the presale discount on the event passes, woe is me!) I looked for a hotel about 2 months in advance, since this year I was bringing my girlfriend who would have no business walking for hours in the night through those streets that seem to resemble Cuba - outside of downtown, Miami is not like those pictures of beach resorts!
But my search for a hotel boasted no affordable options. Searching online, \”Hotel Miami\” came up with everything on the priceline of $250/night and up, but I did actually consider the hotel suite for $500, the \”if you’re going to do it, do it right\” mentality hinting in…
Even with different search terms, such as aMotel Miamia or aMotor Inn Miami,a I was still not finding anything that was either reasonably priced or still available. It was then I decided to check out bed and breakfast places in the area. I found several places with another online search, and I called the B and B number listed on the website. They explained how things worked, I reserved a room, and that was that. I found a place that was not only reasonably priced, but also close enough to downtown to walk to and convenient to the metro train we would need to get to the airport when it was time to leave for home.
The best thing I found about going with a nice bed and breakfast place is the flexibility the owners have. Just two weeks shy of my trip, I decided to invite my brother to join us. Knowing we would need more sleeping space, I emailed the B and B to let them know what was going on and that we would have an additional person staying with us.
Although it is hard to believe, the owner of the bed and breakfast emailed me in return and offered to upgrade us to an apartment suite that would give us the additional room we needed. We were expecting a substantial additional charge, but it turned out to be only $10 more a night, and it was a full apartment with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room! That is the kind of service that really sets Bed and Breakfast owners apart from those corporate hotel chains.
We spent a long day traveling and a longer night partying, and then we were able to sleep well in a fantastic room. When we got up the next morning, we were treated to a great breakfast of cereal, fruit and banana bread, and then we took off for another fun-filled day and night. If you ask me, Bed and Breakfast places are more top of the line than most of those high-priced resorts, and they come with superior customer service at a truly affordable rate.
