Help me find a relaxing and luxurious option within 3 hours of MIA
 

Existing plans fell through and we want to be warm, so we just booked flights from BOS-MIA for mid February. We never ever book anything without months of planning but here we are. We will rent a car and we are fine driving most anywhere, as long as it is warm and there is a great beach and it isn't crowded like the coast from West Palm to Miami. That leaves the Keys in play as well as Marco Island, Naples, etc.

We know you can get frozen orange juice season in South Florida (we saw the iguanas falling out of trees on the news), we are counting on it not being that cold for an entire week but understand there are no guarantees. But further south should be warmer than further north, right? So although we like north of Jupiter, I think we prefer being further south than that.

Must haves:

Beach we can walk a long way on
Good Platinum recognition -- at least a decent breakfast
Opportunities to find quiet places

Dates are nights of 2/16-22. We are happy (prefer) to use points, we have just over 500K to spend.

Appreciate the suggestions!

It’s lovely here on Marco currently. I don’t know if the zoo of kids at the JWM might put you off…

It might. Lack of point opportunity there (and most other places) is my real off put right now, though. I wonder if we'll have to rethink the entire thing? Just booked the flights (saw some cheap fares) so I still have 24 hours to reconsider.

That being said, as long as I can walk down a beach and be away from the "zoo" we can make it work

Edit: Tradeoff of less luxury for more quiet/better beach is something we would accept.

This would be a nearly intractable problem in a normal year - South Florida on short notice over a holiday weekend. This year? I hate to say "forget about it", but it's hard to think otherwise. You're looking for a set of things - President's day availability, South Florida, high end, points redemption availability, in-chain for MR, quiet beach. You might be able to get some, but probably not all.

My first thought was maybe a middle Key (e.g. Largo, Islamorada, etc.). But the few properties there (CYs/FFs) are selling for $600+/night and no points availability. So not that.

Looking at points availability across the board, there are a few things in the Miami metro area, mostly inland a bit, and not the nicest places. Same w/ SW FL e.g. RSW area.

If you are open to changing plans, the only other thing that comes to mind would be Puerto Rico. Looks like you can get nonstop Jetblue flights on your days, and do La Concha for 280k points for the dates you mentioned. I know PR has been popular, but based on the market test (point availability) it looks less so than S. Florida. And if you are willing to rent a car there are plenty of beaches you can drive to. Heck, you could drive out west and stay at the Courtyard Aguadilla for 88k for the whole trip and hang out with the surfers...

Thanks. I am seeing that convergence as being a huge issue.

PR was our first choice, to return to the St. Regis we went to on the advice of this forum just a couple weeks before the lockdown, but the property reviews, although getting better, aren't quite where they were back then.

Considering things up towards WPB and Jupiter now. We are definitely prepared to sacrifice quality for beach location, and if we have to leave the Bonvoy family we might have to do that, too. I think we'd like the Ren Fort Lauderdale Marina, if it was near a beach, but it isn't.

Our alternatives for getting away from work this winter beyond that week are slim. And international options are not possible for us. Which is why PR would be great, but just not quite yet.

I appreciate the recommendations.

So it sounds like you're indexing pretty highly on the luxury part then - let us know how it turns out. FWIW I'd take any beach and any property in PR over WPB / Jupiter (I say this as a FL native), but different folks like different things. If you can find a luxury property outside of Bonvoy that checks all the boxes, do report back.

Oh no. Our first choice was luxury and BURN THE POINTS. But now I'm looking at Marriott Singer Island, Hutchinson Beach, and the Fairfield Inn in Palm Beach as options with points on the beach or across the street for the last one.

Ritz Carlton Naples?

Those looks like good properties for that purpose then.


Sold out for OP's nights; seems to be averaging well over $1k/night for others.

You could do 2 nights at the residence inn Naples (actually very nice) and then the rest of the nights at the ritz there. Based on what I see for availability and the residence inn there really isn’t like the normal residence inns… if you don’t mind relocating!

Or can do Airbnb for a couple nights somewhere if you can find the hotel you want for only part of the stay.

Switching hotels (2 fancy, 5 at the WPB location) is my project for today. Maybe I can find points at a nice place for the first two nights, prior to the holiday weekend, and then do 5 nights on points in WPB

I will look at the Naples options today, thanks!

We ended up at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Lake Worth Beach/Palm Beach (I think the border runs thru the property). Used points for 6 nights (buy 4 get 5 +1) and a certificate. No upgrade available, I don't think they really have any suite rooms, just extended rooms with a sitting area/sofabed.

It certainly wasn't fancy, but it was less than a 10 minute walk to a nice beach, which was exactly what we needed.

No resort fee and free parking which is key because you pay for parking everywhere in that area. They give you a slip of paper to put on the dashboard. $3/hour at the beach lot next door which was usually packed. Nice to leave a hotel after 7 days having paid exactly $0.

Considering we had no alternative anywhere if we wanted to use points, it worked out quite well for us. Place was not quite full on Wednesday/Friday, but packed beginning on Saturday. Lack of real suites and maybe no adjoining rooms meant many fewer kids running around than anticipated