Miami news, Miami local news

Winter looks better for tourism this year.
As Art Basel Miami Beach heralds the unofficial launch of the “high” tourism season this week, demand has finally begun to rise for South Beach hotels and Miami Beach vacation properties. That could signal a turning point for a hotel market besieged by discounted rates and weak demand, trends that have pushed some of the region’s flashiest hotels to the brink of foreclosure.
Severe cutbacks in travel spending haven’t stopped art buyers from driving up hotel rates in Miami Beach this week. The cheapest rooms at the Delano are $825 a night this weekend and $345 next weekend.
After the country’s largest contemporary art show turns off the lights at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Sunday the real test begins.
Peter Sahora, general manager of the Z Ocean Hotel in South Beach says, “It looks like the slide is either slowing down or reversing. We’ll see what happens in January and February.”

South Beach’s new Mondrian condo-hotel made its debut during 2008 Art Basel after its $200 million renovation.

The 17-story building offers 335 hotel residences including studios, one and two-bedroom condos and tower suites.

British singer, Craig David, is the proud owner of one of the Mondrian’s tower suites. Dutch designer, Marcel Wanders was the visionary behind the magical, white and black palace property. He built upon the designs of Philippe Starck, a design pioneer who Wanders believes to be the “best designer on the planet.”

The South Beach Mondrian sits directly beside the beautiful Miami Biscayne Bay and exudes designs inspired by pure fantasy and furnished with pieces from Wanders’ design studio. There is an outdoor living area that extends to the bay; cabanas of 16-foot curtains; canopied day beds and an adult sandbox.

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The interior features massive white spindle columns and crystal chandelier shower heads.

The most recognized piece, centered in the 4,000 square foot lobby, is the black metal spiral staircase that depicts an intricate lace pattern consistently found throughout the entire hotel.

The hotel-residence is meant to provide an experience, not just an accommodation. It was designed so that people feel as if they just landed in a wonderland of fantasy, magic and beauty.

Wanders’ intention with the South Beach Mondrian is to complement the Delano Hotel South Beach with a shared daring attitude, instead of competing against it. During its opening week in Art Basel, the Mondrian hosted several parties, dinners and happy hours.

Celebrities  in Miami including Mary-Kate Olsen, Russell Simmons, Marilyn Manson, Ivana Trump and Alex Rodriguez quickly graced the  South Beach Mondrian with their presence in its very first opening week. Despite all its wonderous allure, Wanders assures us that the Mondrian is actually still months away from perfection.

The internet is a very convenient invention but it also comes with nuisances such as fraud. A large number of fraud attempts take place on the internet and have made their way into travel news.

Vacationers, beware! It should be easy to identify and avoid fraud if you carefully abide by travel tips.

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Miami Beach vacation rentals ads are posted on free classified vacation rental websites such as craigslist, backpage or kijiji. Travel news has taught us that owners post ads on a daily basis to rent their vacation rentals or sometimes their alleged vacation rental.

The drawback to these free sites is that the ads are not checked or verified by anybody. This does not mean that renters should not browse those websites but that they should just be extra careful and follow travel tips when booking. Caution should be exercised and following are a few travel tips to help you do that.

Renters should:

• Look at the quality of the ad.
• Research and search travel news to find out whether the vacation rental is offered by an individual or a company. A company is less risky because it can easily be checked.
• Make sure that a local phone number is posted on the ad
• Call the owner or agent and ask a ton of questions. Try to assess how accurately he/she responds.
• Send emails
• Be cautious if you cannot speak with the owner because he “lost” his voice
• Make sure that you sign a real contract indicating what is it that you have reserved
• You may request proof of ownership
• Do not send cash! You may transfer money by wire transfer to a company if it can be checked out and if it has a track record of a reputable Miami Beach vacation rental agency.
• Always check with the Better Business Bureau and travel news.

The City of Miami Beach ordinance has been fighting the allowance of vacation rentals of single family homes for the past 8 years.

The city finally decided to discontinue the renting of “party homes”, villas rented by operators for 1 or 2 nights for an organized commercial event.

The events were disturbing neighbors so the City of Miami Beach took drastic measures to put a stop to the nuisance. Unfortunately, by the same token they have affected the entire industry of home vacation rentals in Miami Beach.

Owners and managers of a vacation rental house in Miami Beach have been severely limited in their ability to rent their homes. They can rent their properties a mere 3 times a year, no matter the term of the rentals.

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City of Miami Beach inspectors have been on the lookout for violators of this legal interpretation that will soon be added to the city codes.

Home owners in Miami Beach have received fines and have watched their homes get raided by police to enforce a misfit regulation for one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Nonetheless, vacationers should follow tips for travel and be careful when staying at a vacation rental. Maintain the serenity to your vacation in order to avoid such consequences.

Some vacation rental property owners advertise on websites or magazines under the false indication that their vacation homes are located in Miami Beach when, in fact, they are in other neighborhoods of Miami.

Make sure to get travel information such as the address of the house when you reserve it. If it is located in Miami Beach, you should be prepared to risk expulsion. Otherwise, follow tips for travel and avoid this vacation rental house entirely.

If the vacation villa is located in other areas of Miami such as North Miami Beach, Miami or North Miami, you can peacefully enjoy your stay. Always make sure to follow tips for travel and ask the Miami vacation rental agency if there are any restrictions or other travel information you should know.

The cities of Miami, North Miami and North Miami Beach are not targeted by this ordinance.

Miami Carnival in its 24th annual edition brings live bands and calypsonians from the Caribbean Islands to Miami. This upcoming Miami event will be in Downtown Miami’s Bicentennial Park on October 12th.

The 2008 Miami Carnival grew from a small neighborhood festival to an international event within the first two years after its first edition in 1984. Nowadays, the 2008 Miami Carnival is North America’s most popular Carnival and the highest profit-generating festival in South Florida.

Guests book airfare and hotel accommodations as early as the November the year before each event. If you do not have your reservations yet, check out this selection of Miami Beach vacation rentals. Tickets run at $20 per person and anyone under the age of 12 gets in free.

To get more information, please call 305-653-1877 or e-mail info@miamicarnival.net.

Most people are always looking for new and interesting ways to spend their vacations when saving money. With the advance of the Internet, there have appear new and interesting ways for travelers to enjoy a very deserve vacation. A new trend that is going strong all around the globe is vacation rentals, and Miami is not the exception! Nevertheless, in the most popular area of Miami, Miami Beach, short-term rentals have some restrictions. Therefore, it is hard to find good Miami Beach vacation rentals.

When looking for a Miami Beach vacation rental, you must be cautious. There are several ways through which one can rent Miami Beach vacation rentals. The Internet has it all, but before you go to the every changing online world you must know in detail the three, almost four, ways vacation rentals are available to travelers.

To start with, there are really big websites that make easy the mission to book a vacation rental. Examples of those are: vacationrentals.com, vacationhomerentals.com, vacationhomes.com, goin2travel.com. However, you must know how they work before going ahead. Everyone can list a property on those websites. I could be for free or by paying a fee. Either way it can be a little risky. Just suppose one want to make easy money and put an online ad of a property that really does not exist. What will happen is that you will get scam. Most of these kinds of websites have incorporated some ways to prevent anything like this to happen, yet it might not been enough because “face to face” contact is not require in order to put the ad.

Other way to rent a Miami Beach vacation rental is through an owner. There are many people with vacation properties or investment properties that have decided to open them to travelers in order to make some money or pay their mortgages. Renting through an owner also has its issues. For instance, the owner might not live on Miami, Florida, so if you have any kind of problem with the Miami vacation condo or Miami vacation home, it might be hard to get a quick response.

There are some real estate agents doing Miami Beach vacation rentals, but they are a few. Miami realtors make more money by selling or doing long-term rentals, so they usually not take the time to do short-term rentals in Miami.

At this instant, we have come with local Miami vacation rentals agencies. As it already was mentioned, there are certain restrictions over Miami Beach vacation rentals, so there are not many around. However, Miami Beach vacation rental agencies might be the most secure way to rent a vacation apartment or vacation home in Miami, Florida. A local agency is usually managed by local people who will guide you, as it should be, through all the rental process. Besides, if you get to have any problem with the property they can take care of you immediately. In most cases, you can almost be sure that the property is going to be well-maintained. Owners might not be that meticulous, otherwise. MiamiHabitat.com is a local agency operating in the hearth of Miami Beach where you will probably find a property that suits you.

Afterwards, Miami Beach vacation rentals represent a good solution to tourists looking forward to a more private and . They just have to be smart at the time to choose a property, and rental canal, in order to avoid any further inconvenient.

Other interesting posts this week:

2008 Father’s Day in Miami

Calendar of Miami Events 2008

May / June / July / August / September / October /