A short trip to the beach and one of the famous colorful houses of lifeguards.

Next, we walked a few feet across Lincoln Mall. Quite nice, it has flair.

The next stop was unplanned. On the way to the Bass Museum, I saw on Google Maps that we were passing the Holocaust Memorial. I wanted to see that anyway. But before that was the Botanical Garden, which I didn't have on my list. The best thing was that there was no entrance fee, a rarity in Miami.
The garden is not very big, but pretty.














The farewell was given by the boss (cat 1).

Right next to the Botanical Garden is the Holocaust Memorial. It is located at the symbolic address 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue.
The Memorial is very impressively done from my point of view with "The Sculpture of Love and Anguish" in the center. The figures are very realistic and poignant, the place is very touching. In other parts there are information panels, next to them are names of murdered people and the names of concentration camps.

















Certainly not an easy or even nice place. But of course a very important place of remembrance.

A small green strip with beautiful sculptures at the Convention Center.

The Bass Museum was advertised in a big way. Interesting is the combination of old works with contemporary, otherwise the museum is not huge now. Somehow I was always looking for more rooms. Later I learned that parts of the exhibition are probably in the Lowe Art Museum. Well, with 15 $ per person you have to pay a lot, but not too much is offered.

When we booked our stay in Miami, I was particularly interested in Villa Casuarini. I always found the hotel very interesting and wanted to stay here. The Venus Suite, which I preferred, was still available at first, but not exactly cheap at $2000 a night. In the end, reading reviews kept me from booking because the hotel didn't come off too well here. So I only booked a table at Gianni's Restaurant.
Instead of Lyft, this time I relied on Uber and had a good driver. Despite terrible traffic, we arrived reasonably on time. There was a hustle and bustle, in front of the entrance we stood in line first.

As we stood in the entrance hall I was glad that I had not booked a room here. The purest zoo. Loads of people, noisy and at least for me no hotel atmosphere.



No idea why everything is so blue, the lighting was weird. We were then led to our table on the terrace by the pool, probably the most popular part of the restaurant. Honestly, I've never seen a room so cluttered. I can well understand complaints from hotel guests that it is not very pleasant to swim in the pool. Anyway, this is possible only outside the opening hours of the restaurant.



When we sat down we experienced a shock. The fans had been turned up to such an extent that we were sitting in a total draft. A nice cold is guaranteed. We asked to turn the things down, which also happened.
The centerpiece of the terrace is the famous pool, in front of which, in fact, guests are constantly taking pictures.



The menu had somehow seen better times.

For my appetizer, I went with fried shrimp, calamari and zucchini.

The dish tasted good, but was probably just too greasy for me. Anyway, I was sick that night and I had to think about it all the time.
Artichoke a la Romana

Tasty and certainly the better choice.
For the main course, I went with pan seared scallops with black truffle sauce. Served with truffled mashed potatoes.

Delicious, but now not a huge portion. Considering that both together cost $ 44, this is not a bargain.
Truffle Gnocchi.


The dish tasted very good and was the best of the evening.
For dessert we had a filled chocolate ball. Very tasty.


Invoice:

What do we say about food? The quality was really good, you can't complain. The service was also very friendly, so I was also very satisfied. Otherwise, the restaurant is very special. I think Zoo describes it quite well. For example, a woman just started dancing around in the restaurant, already a very special atmosphere. In addition, the pool is a photo hotspot.
When we left the restaurant I was hit by flashes combined with "Yes! Beautiful" shouts. There are some guys with cameras running across Ocean Drive and photographing people (better: harassing people!). The photos are then of course to buy.....

Very much enjoying your trip report. It inspires my own trip reports. I quite liked Miami when I was there in 2016, although the place does have its less positive aspects!

Thanks! I'm definitely glad I finally visited Miami.

Total long shot, you haven't been to the St Regis Abu Dhabi last year in late September/ early October? I've overheard a Gentleman who was there with his wife and he mentioned that they'll go to the StR in Miami (and they left with an Etihad flight to DUS). I envisaged him to be on FT

The Riedel advert in the sky is indeed hilarious

Great TR - thank you.

No, I wasn't. I've honestly never been to Abu Dhabi.

The next day did not go as planned. We were both sick and therefore we stayed in the hotel. For breakfast we had something brought over the room service.




The quality was good again.

Good as the wife complained every morning that we've taken her favourite spot on the breakfast terrace

It's an interesting description of the place. I don't think this would be for me, even before the fact that the price level is higher than I am confortable with, but it's nevertheless interesting to see. I'm a bit surprised to see service charge included because on my last few visits to the country it feels like even the fast food joints are trying to get tips from travellers now.

Well it's not like there isn't an "Additional Tip" line at the bottom.