Review: Z Ocean Hotel, South Beach

Last week, I enjoyed a young professional version of spring break on South Beach in Miami, Florida. My travel companion and I stayed at the Z Ocean Hotel (Crowne Plaza South Beach), located on the main strip of Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue. After extensive travel site reviews, comparisons, and map plotting of South Beach’s various top hotels, we selected Z Ocean Hotel as it offered the best amenities and characteristics for all of our points of interest: location, room design, location, pool, price (including evaluation of additional fees such as valet parking and resort fees), beachside services, luxurious feel, and overall ratings.

Our stay met all of our expectations and was very enjoyable. Here are some noteworthy aspects, written and photographed, about the Z Ocean experience: Continue reading “Review: Z Ocean Hotel, South Beach”

Calling All Snowbirds: Tips for Planning a Florida Vacation

Before I came a fully-fledged Washingtonian, I was a Floridian. So for all you snowbirds (which I am now, though the Florida license plate of my parents’ cars would never betray that in peak-season traffic), I’ve got a few tips for a Florida vacation. Given that my travel companion for my upcoming tropical trip can’t leave the country (visa renewals are an unfortunate process), we decided on Florida, and I’ve been doing a bit of thinking and research with the lens of a visitor and the expertise of a resident.

Here are some ideas for planning a trip to sunny Florida: Continue reading “Calling All Snowbirds: Tips for Planning a Florida Vacation”

Holiday Travel Preview: Florida, Stockholm, London

It’s my opinion, fostered through an international family and a wonderfully travel-filled upbringing, that no year is complete without leaving my country of residence. This Washingtonian did go on a Caribbean cruise in March, which was a great trip, but that’s not something a former Floridian would classify as international travel. Anyway, to close out the year, I have three destinations planned or in progress: Southwest Florida, Stockholm, and London. Continue reading “Holiday Travel Preview: Florida, Stockholm, London”

Weekend Getaways: A Young Professional Retires to Southwest Florida

The holiday season officially kicked off with my family’s annual pre-Thanksgiving holiday season decor extravaganza.

After flying in from Dulles, which had an incredibly unfortunate and rather inhospitable Terminal Z, with Frontier Airlines, which charges you for carry-ons as well as checked bags, it was time to retire for the weekend. What’s a young professional to do during a weekend of early retirement?

A Frontier flight at dusk.
A Frontier flight at dusk.
Fine homecooked dining, driving around snowbirds, enjoying the sunshine, going to the opera, and Christmas decorating was perfect for two nights and two days.

Continue reading “Weekend Getaways: A Young Professional Retires to Southwest Florida”