I stayed at the HI on a Saturday night prior to boarding a ship sailing out of the port of Miami, along with 22 other people. Although there were mixed reviews from my group on quality of accommodations, we all pretty much agreed that you couldn't beat the location for the purpose of our trip.

We were all able to check into our rooms fairly quickly, there were 8 rooms in all. The rooms were adequate; our bathroom seemed to be recently retiled and was clean. We were on the bayside, so it was a pretty sight at 4:30am when we were able to see our ship positioning itself in port.

Getting breakfast in the hotel on Sunday morning was a bit difficult. They had quite a line waiting to be seated. Also, "kids eat free" didn't apply to the breakfast buffet (FYI). The service in the restaurant was definitely not efficient and quick, and the food quality was mediocre. There really wasn't any place else to have breakfast either.

Check-out time was the biggest headache. Mostly everyone in the hotel seemed to be staying there for the same reason....leaving for a cruise. At about 10:00am the lobby was "jam-packed", the elevators were full, and would go up and down without getting down to the first floor to let people off. My husband and my son finally took most of the bags down by the stairs, but they could only get down to the 2nd floor through the staircase, so they had to wait until they could get on an empty elevator for the last floor. It was crazy!! The bell captain was busy taking people's suitcases after they'd checked out so he couldn't help that much with questions for transportation. We were supposed to have vans take us to the pier, but we ended up just walking out and taking cabs because we got tired of waiting for him. The cab fare was $10, and it took just about 5 minutes. If you choose to take van shuttles, it's $5 per person.

Would I stay here again? Absolutely, but I would make sure that I'd beat the rush in the morning, or I'd wait it out until 1 or 2p.m. and have my bags held after check-out at 11:00am.

Bayside is a great place to visit for the evening. We ate at Bubba Gump's, which was a great experience. You can't make reservations, but when our group arrived they were able to seat us in about 15-20 minutes. The service was quick, prices were reasonable, and the waitors were lively. We were out of there in about 1 1/2 hours. There was a band playing near the water, and various other "entertainers" around. It was a pretty festive atmosphere.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

We just returned from a one night pre-cruise stay at the Holiday Inn - Port of Miami. I found the hotel to be clean and accomodating of my requests. After reading several reviews, I requested a room facing the bay on the 6th floor or higher...I got it. The view was wonderful and made us all the more excited about our cruise. The convenience of being able to walk to the Bayside marketplace across the street was absolutely wonderfull. We were not interested in going to South Beach because we were only going to be staying in Miami one night, but having shopping and entertainment so close gave us something to do that evening.
I have nothing negative to say about this hotel and would recommend it to anyone. I will be staying here again for my next pre-cruise stay.

My family and I spent a night at this Holiday Inn and had a very good experience. We booked the room through Travelocity and got, what I thought was a very reasonable rate ($87). We were cruising out the next morning on the Explorer of the Seas, so when I arrived, I asked for a room with a view of the ships. They granted my request without hesitation.
I was also pleased to find out the "Bayside" was right across the street. This is an area right on the water of shops, restaurants, bands that play outside! Restaurants included Hard Rock Cafe', Hooters, Chile's, Bubba Gump's. We spent the whole day there with a group of friends who were cruising with us. We even spent another day there when we returned from the cruise while waiting for our flight out! Also the Miami Heat's arena is right in that area also.
Considering all of the above, I'd recommend this hotel highly.

We stayed at this hotel beginning of March 2005. Taking the advise of previous reviews we asked for a view of the port.
We were lucky enough to have our request granted and the view was worth the accomodation price alone.
The hotel staff were very friendly, efficient and helped with any questions asked.
The location was also ideal, close to Bayside Market and only a short taxi ride to South Beach.
When we return to Miami we will definitely stay here again.