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I would not want to be at McAlpin-Ocean Plaza this week

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Is anyone at the HGVC Miami Beach now?

I would not want to be there now as it seems to be anarchy in the streets and they are saying this is a spring break crowd, but this does not appear to be traditional college kids on spring break

Check out the video just a few streets south of the McAlpin location


 
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1Kflyerguy

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I have always wanted to visit Miami Beach, but think i will wait awhile...
 

Magus

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I doubt there is any availability anyway...our occupancy in Miami and FLL the last week has been through the roof at our area hotels and we don't have nearly as good of locations for leisure travelers like right on miami beach.
 

Zenichiro

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I always see Miami open
 

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brp

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I have always wanted to visit Miami Beach, but think i will wait awhile...
We have family about 40 minutes North (Pompano Beach) and don't really go to Miami. He used to live right on Ocean Drive so I got my fill of SoBe visiting them during those years. Interesting, but it gets old quickly - much like Bourbon Street.

cheers.
 

JIMinNC

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Interestingly, my wife and I were in South Beach about 10 days ago on the night of Saturday, March 13 after spending a week at Marriott's Ocean Pointe up in Palm Beach Shores. I hadn't been to South Beach's famous Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in 25-30 years or so and wanted to go while we were in the area. Not thinking about spring break, I was able to book that one night at Marriott Vacation Club Pulse South Beach with our MVC Points. That property is just a couple of doors down from HGVC McAlpin Ocean Plaza. It didn't even occur to me when I booked it back in early February that the place would be a madhouse of spring breakers.

The first warning sign came in the days leading up to our reservation when we got emails from MVC Pulse advising us of "Spring Break capacity rules" at the property. Ocean Drive in front of MVC Pulse and McAlpin has been closed for months to allow for expanded outdoor dining and a pedestrian plaza, so there is no vehicle access to those properties on Ocean Drive. We were directed to either use a city garage a couple blocks away or use the valet services at the parking deck for the Z Ocean Hotel about a block and a half away. That is what we did.

We arrived about 5pm and the streets were crawling with spring breakers, but we managed to get through the traffic and to the valet, unload the bags we were taking with us, and walk to the Marriott. The biggest challenge wound up being getting the Uber to Joe's a couple of hours later. Police were blocking various areas along Collins Avenue due to the crowds, and the Uber driver wasn't able to get through the traffic and roadblocks to us. Fortunately, we were able to get him on the phone and we were able to walk to him. It was a stressful few minutes for two 60+ travelers trying to dodge partying spring breakers while trying to find our Uber. We made it to Joe's just in time for our reservation. (They now take reservations, having long been noted for their first-come-first-served policy and long waits.) The stone crabs and key lime pie were great! Not surprisingly, Joe's was peaceful, as not many spring breakers were there except for maybe a few we saw who were wearing shirts from Wharton, Yale, and Harvard. The return Uber ride was much less stressful and we were dropped off about a block from our accommodations. The next morning we were up and out and on the road by 10am, so the streets were quiet as the kiddies were likely still sleeping it all off from the night before.

Things were hectic enough that weekend, sounds like things got even worse this past weekend.
 

1Kflyerguy

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South Beach isn't all it's cracked up to be, unless you like to drink expensive drinks by the beach.

We have family about 40 minutes North (Pompano Beach) and don't really go to Miami. He used to live right on Ocean Drive so I got my fill of SoBe visiting them during those years. Interesting, but it gets old quickly - much like Bourbon Street.

cheers.

I don't mind a nice beachside drink from time to time..

Bourbon street is fun, but i don't go very often.. Both Bourbon Street and South Beach are a long way from Ca.. I have a couple for friends that go to South Beach a few times a year party and soak up the sun..
 

brp

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I don't mind a nice beachside drink from time to time..

Bourbon street is fun, but i don't go very often.. Both Bourbon Street and South Beach are a long way from Ca.. I have a couple for friends that go to South Beach a few times a year party and soak up the sun..

We go New Orleans annually for Jazz Fest (well, we did in the Before Times and will again). I don't believe we've set foot ob Bourbon street, except to cross it, in like 5 years of visits. In FL, I would just go elsewhere than SoBe for sun.

And you and I can always go to Santa Cruz. Well, there's sun anyway...even with a sweatshirt :)

Cheers.
 

MrockStar

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I guess there just letting their hair down and celebrating after a Year of lockdown/depression and it got a little out of hand. :banana: :cheer::wave::p
 

silentg

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Our son used to live in Miami, we went to visit Miami Beach and South Beach. Never on spring Break though.
It’s always busy but I thought Ocean Drive was pretty nice. He lives in Ft. Lauderdale area now, we haven’t visited there since Covid but usually we go to VV in Weston, really like that resort.
 

alexadeparis

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i am supposed to be there right now and had to cancel due to a death in the family - thank god I am not there right now
 

pghbett

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Is anyone at the HGVC Miami Beach now?

I would not want to be there now as it seems to be anarchy in the streets and they are saying this is a spring break crowd, but this does not appear to be traditional college kids on spring break

Check out the video just a few streets south of the McAlpin location


We were at HGVC Miami Beach from March 16 - 25. Yes, there were thousands of young people on Ocean Blvd. Since we do not go out after 7:00 p.m. the early closure of restaurants did not affect us. We enjoyed sitting on the front porch watching the crowd parade back and forth. The beach was peaceful during the day and not overly crowded.
 

Arimaas

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I have reservations for first week of august. Anyone have any experience around that time of year ? Me, my wife and five year daughter. I spent many years of my youth going to visit my grandfather much further up the coast on Collins and 95th. I was never much of a south beach guy, but figured with the Hilton timeshare, would try south beach
 

alexadeparis

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I have reservations for first week of august. Anyone have any experience around that time of year ? Me, my wife and five year daughter. I spent many years of my youth going to visit my grandfather much further up the coast on Collins and 95th. I was never much of a south beach guy, but figured with the Hilton timeshare, would try south beach
That time of year should be relatively busy as it is usually the last full week before school starts.
 

Tamaradarann

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We were at HGVC Miami Beach from March 16 - 25. Yes, there were thousands of young people on Ocean Blvd. Since we do not go out after 7:00 p.m. the early closure of restaurants did not affect us. We enjoyed sitting on the front porch watching the crowd parade back and forth. The beach was peaceful during the day and not overly crowded.

SPRING BREAKERS are not always there during this time frame. For many years from about 2001 to 2014 when we were somewhat younger we would go to Miami South Beach and stay at HGVC timeshare on Ocean Drive for about 2 weeks at the end of March. It was for the Winter Music Conference (WMC) which is an international Disk Jockey Convention. All the famous DJ's in the world would come for the conference and perform at parties; most of which were in walking distance of the resort mostly on Ocean Drive, Collins, Washington, or Lincoln Road. Many of the parties were free and others had some costs but the music and ambiance of outdoor pool parties on the beach was fantastic. There was music outside everyday from 11 AM to 10 PM, and inside clubs and hotels until 5 AM. Then 11 AM the next morning it would start again. We loved to dance and sometimes we would for hours. The Spring Breaker would not be there then since rooms would start at $400/night and be mostly booked many months to a year ahead of time. The people that were in South Beach during that time were DJ's, Music Industry Professionals, Lovers of DJ music, and People who loved to Dance. The Beach and Streets were peaceful although quite busy during this time frame.

Of course during the Pandemic in 2020 and 2021 such an event could not be held, perhaps that is why South Beach went crazy with Spring Breakers. There were loads of Cheap Hotel Rooms Available during that time frame when they were never available before.

As we aged and found Honolulu we started to move away from the DJ Convention and Miami South Beach and stay in Honolulu in March. But those are good memories and quite different from what we saw on TV and has been reported in the news.
 

rjp123

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It was for the Winter Music Conference (WMC) which is an international Disk Jockey Convention.

WMC is exactly why I bought at South Beach. When I found out that there was a Hilton timeshare on Ocean drive that I could stay at for one quarter of the cost of a hotel that week - I bought resale right away. We've been using it for over a decade and it's been fantastic.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk
 

Tamaradarann

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WMC is exactly why I bought at South Beach. When I found out that there was a Hilton timeshare on Ocean drive that I could stay at for one quarter of the cost of a hotel that week - I bought resale right away. We've been using it for over a decade and it's been fantastic.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

We followed Mark Farina and became friends. We actually saw him when he was performing in Honolulu and were his guests sitting at his table at Next Door on Hotel Street. Twisted Dee and Spyder are other DJ Friends that actually stayed in an Ocean Plaza Timeshare we booked for them for one of the WMC's. King Britt, Hector Romero, Miss Nine, and Oscar P were others that we loved to dance to.
 
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