Key Biscayne Florida
Sonesta Beach Resort
My husband and I and our 13 month old daughter stayed at the Sonesta Beach Resort in Key Biscayne Florida for one week in September 2002. At the time, my husband was taking continuing education classes in the area and my daughter and I tagged along to hang out for the week. My daughter and I spent a great deal of time in the hotel, while daddy. The hotel is 20 minutes from the Miami airport, downtown, and Miami beach. The hotel is beach front with plenty of room to run around and play. There is one large Olympic sized swimming pool. There is also a jacuzzi and a playground area that was a little worn down. When we were there in early September, the hotel was quite empty. I guess it is considered the slow time of the year. There was one restaurant. We ate breakfast there on two occasions. It was just ok. The restaurant was a little too fancy for me to take my baby to by myself. I ordered room service most of the time for my daughter and I and we ordered food poolside once. The food kind of got old after a while and there was not a huge selection to accommodate a young child or even me, actually. There was a strip mall across the street that we went to a few times. There was a convenience store that sold some food items that we were able to grab some things at and stock in our room and small fridge. In the strip mall there were also various shops. I bought a few children's clothing items that ended up being kind of expensive. In the strip mall there was a great New York style pizza place that was awesome. The best pizza ever. It is a small take out pizza place that is in the corner of the mall. There were a couple outdoor tables to eat at, otherwise you had to take the pizza back to the hotel. There are some restaurants along the causeway of Key Biscayne, several of which are Cuban. The rooms in the Sonesta hotel were nice. We had a standard basic room. It was a little small, but we managed. It was clean and decorated nice. There were pay perview movies on the TV, which helped entertain us. The hotel also had a spa, fitness center, 2 small and limited stores, tennis courts, and supervised kids activities that I never saw functioning while we were there. The Sonesta was a nice hotel, but we did get a little bored because there was not a lot of activity at it. The beach and pool was our only things we had to do. It was extremely hot when we were there. We sweated the entire time. When my husband was not in his classes, we did a few things as a family. We went to the Miami Sea Aquarium that was not far down the road. We had a good time at it. Some of the exhibits were old, but we had a good time. There were fish, dolphins, a killer whale show, and a good crocodile exhibit. We also went to the Miami zoo. It was a nice zoo. It was practically empty when we went there and it was extremely hot and sticky. On our last day we went to Bill Baggs State Recreation Area and spent the day at the beach. The state park was at the end of the causeway. I really liked this beach and had a good time. We rented an umbrella on the beach and just chilled, swam, and played in the sand. Upon checking the internet, I recently learned that it sounds like the Sonesta is currently closed. It appears that they are under a remodeling project of some sorts. I don't know if the hotel is changing names or how much is going to be different. There are not a lot of hotels in the Key Biscayne area, so it seems that the closing of the Sonesta is currently causing a hotel room shortage. Research this hotel before booking!
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