Our family of 6 will be going from Philly to Miami in August for a cruise, then going to Deerfield beach.
Is the Miami station very busy and large like 30th street or New York Penn Station? I assume taxi service is readily available? If anyone knows if there is a hotel within walking distance of the station it would be helpful.
Also, I read that the Deerfiled Station is also a railroad museum..I was wondering if it was worth taking time to visit? Thanks for your comments.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Don't even THINK of venturing outside the "compound" at Miami unless you are in a licensed taxicab (I would not put it past some jitney trying to sneak in there).
Considering there are only "two a day", Miami is hardly as busy as 30th Street.
Now at Deerfield, where you plan to visit anyway and "last time I checked (I go down every year)", there is a railroad museum on the station's premises. There is also a hotel adjacent to the station. I'm not sure what amenity level you expect at a hotel, but this one is independent and became such after being a Ramada. From there, either just take a taxicab to Dodge Island next day OR you could take Tri-Rail to Miami Airport where you could get a taxicab to Dodge or maybe find a shuttle bus.
We came into Miami train station about 9:30-10PM one night (train was much later than advertised--first time that happened to me on my southbound trip to FL, though I once had a real doozie northbound), 2 women, felt perfectly safe within the brief time we were in the station, and had no trouble getting a taxi. (You may want to get a phone number for a taxi from your hotel or Amtrak to phone up just in case of a super late arrival or something--an Amtrak agent will give you a phone number.) However, we stayed at a hotel near the airport (from where a shuttle was taking us to Key West next day); cab fare at the time was over $20 (and would be more now). Perhaps you could find a hotel with a free shuttle; I know some in Fort Lauderdale have them. It might not pick you up at the train in the vening, but it would drop you off for free (except for tip) top the cruise in the morning. I know nothing about hotels near the train station and suspect that might not be the best place to stay. You could find out out where the cruise puts passengers who opt to get a hotel (very overpriced always) through the cruise line and try to book there on your own. Or stay somewhere else convenient and safe and nice. . . as it's August, which is off season in Miami (except for cruises), maybe you could get a good buy.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
There are a number of hotels around Miami Airport, which is perhaps 30 blocks south of Amtrak's Hialeah station. You will need to take a cab. There's a hotel literally across the street from the Tri-Rail Miami Airport station (don't recall what chain it is, but Mr. Norman and I had lunch there a couple of years back). One option might be to get off Amtrak and onto Tri-Rail at, say, Hollywood (but I doubt you'd want to do that with a group).
The Deerfield station is a classic 1920s Seaboard Spanish-style building, with a small museum and with an Amtrak agent on duty. WPB, Ft. Lauderdale, and Hollywood are also staffed.
Miami/Hialeah is clean and well lighted, but it's a long way from 30th Street in terms of amenities.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
That was a Wyndham when we were there, Mr. Resor, but considering the "perils of Pauline' existence of that chain (last I heard Cendant had spun them off), who knows what it is today?
But I guess to give them credit where due, the "goodie bag" Wyndham hands out to those in their Rewards plan is quite liberal. I "was signed up' (the reservationist would not let me off the phone until I did) when a Marriott near the Pittsburgh Airport (Aten Rd; Coraopolis) and at which "I always stay" on my auto trips out East suddenly did a "disappearing act" and surfaced as a Wyndham. However, not two years later, that property was back again as a Marriott (it has also been a Hilton along the way). Ask me just as well; as Marriott has done it over top to bottom - and nobody smokes in a Marriott property.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
There is a picture of the Deerfield museum entrance from 2003 that shows hours of 6-9pm Wed only: