*I saved as much as I could remember to from this trip to our “Travel” highlight on Instagram, so you can check there if you want to see details from most of the places mentioned in this post!

STAY: We stayed at 1 Hotel South Beach and absolutely loved it! It was our first time to this hotel and we had a great experience. The lobby/grounds are stunning, there are four pools (1 adult-only!), a kid’s club (ages 4-12), 3 restaurants (plus poolside/beach food as well), and everyone was so friendly + the customer service was great! There were tons of kids and it is a super kid-friendly hotel, but they also have a beautiful rooftop where no kids are allowed! So it’s a win for everyone. I would highly recommend this hotel and would love to go back! There are tons of hotels along the beach, but this is the only one I’ve stayed at. I’ve heard The Edition (a few doors down) is very nice as well, but I’ve never been.

EAT/DRINK: We didn’t have enough time to visit all the restaurants I wanted to, but here’s where we went and what we loved…
Upland – one of our favorite NYC restaurants recently, so wanted to try the Miami location. It was great, and just like NY! The bucatini cacio e pepe is our favorite.
Casa Tua – we love this place! One of my all-time favorites, and we come every time we’re in Miami because it’s where we had dinner at after we got engaged. It’s the most charming place (inside and outside!), but try to snag a table on the patio if you can and then have a drink at the indoor bar/library after dinner.
Nobu – amazing seafood and sushi, another one of my all-time favorites. The only downside of Nobu is that most of (if not all, not positive) the restaurant is interior which is a bummer when you’re somewhere like Miami. I love eating outside in warm weather, but that’s just me!
Watr – This is the rooftop restaurant at the 1 Hotel. I love this spot, it’s so beautiful and the food was really great! It hit everything: outdoor seating, beautiful decor, great food, and views! We also stayed for drinks after dinner which was great because it wasn’t super crowded and you get to be outside.
Habitat – Another restaurant at the hotel – we brought the girls here for dinner and we all enjoyed our meals, but I wouldn’t say this was the highlight of the restaurants (but the short rib bao buns were sooo good).
Plnthouse – This health-focused restaurant at the 1 Hotel is where we had breakfast every day. Loved everything we had here from the smoothies to the avocado toast. Bonus – they have collagen you can add to your coffee!
Jaya at The Setai – We randomly stopped in here for a drink and ended up ordering a few dishes after a while. The atmosphere is pretty stunning with huge palm trees and water in the center of the courtyard restaurant, but it wasn’t my favorite spot. It felt kind of touristy to me, and the food didn’t live up to the hype IMO…but I would recommend stopping by for an early drink in the courtyard because it is very pretty and the drinks were great!
I really wanted to try Swan (in the Design District, Pharrell & David Grutman’s new restaurant) because everyone was recommending it, but now I’ve heard mixed reviews. My friend went there and said the food was terrible, so ??? not sure about that one. Other restaurants I’ve heard are must-try’s: La Sirenuse, Byblos, and Mandolin.

CHILDCARE: I had a lot of questions about what we did for childcare. Luckily, we have a babysitter we love in Miami – we found her through a friend who lives there. We had her come a few nights we were there, so my husband and I could go out to dinner/drinks after we put the girls to bed. Side note – a lot of you asked about about hotel babysitting services for night time. We didn’t do that since we have the babysitter we know, but we have used hotel sitting services in the past, and had a great experience. I’ll be honest, I was super nervous the first time (because you never know), but the couple times we’ve done it, I felt like the sitters were the most professional/prepared of any sitter we’ve ever had. They are typically through an agency, so they are fully screened, background checked, etc. But, at the end of the day you have to be comfortable with it, just sharing my experience as it was better than I expected and had a lot of questions about it! During the day, the kid’s club is a great option if it works for you/is something you’re interested in. We weren’t planning on using the kid’s club, because we like to hang out as a family during the day at the beach and pool (also, we knew we would have the babysitter at night). Avery was too young, but Sophia really wanted to try it, so she did a 1/2-day there and absolutely loved it! Love that they offer 1/2 days so you don’t have to commit to a full day if you don’t want to! It’s basically like camp – they have tons of activities, crafts, and games for the kids. Also a nice way for kids to meet other kids on vacation – she ended up meeting several girls and then they all played together in the pool for the next few days which was fun!

TO-DO: When we are on vacation, we’re not really the site-seeing type, so I’m not going to have the best recommendations in this category. We prefer to hang at the pool and the beach until the sun goes down, basically ;). We’ve taken the kids to Jungle Island and they loved it! I know there is also a Seaquarium. The Design District is amazing, Bal Harbour Shops is a gorgeous outdoor mall with amazing shopping and great restaurants, and it’s fun to explore Collins Ave and the boardwalk.

Hope this was helpful! xx