Orlando & Miami Hotels

I am heading to Orlando for 1 night in June and Miami for 2 nights in July.  I am looking for advice on reasonably-priced hotels in both places.  The Orlando trip is the end of a work trip, I am looking for accommodations in an area where I can walk around safely at night.  A friend of mine lives in the Maitland area so being somewhere not too far from there and also a reasonable distance from the airport would be best.

I will spend 2 separate nights in Miami before a cruise.  I believe South Beach would be best? Never been there before.

As far as budget goes....  Orlando - CAD$150 range would be best.  Miami / South Beach - I know it can get really expensive.  I'm looking for about the same price per night, give or take a few bucks.

If you can share any hotels or even specific areas / streets I should consider I'd appreciate it...  most interested in areas of excitement where I can check out the nightlife on foot.

I would strongly recommend that you click on the "Menu" on this site followed by "Accommodation" which will take you to Booking.com. Once on that site you can search for the highest rated accommodations within any specific price range. I've used that site all over the world and find that the collective intelligence of those reviews is far, far better than individual recommendations from random people who may not even have stayed in the place they are recommending. Following a recommendation like that for a hotel, restaurant, or activity is a recipe for disaster.

If you want to keep things simple in Miami then stay in South Beach. Accommodations vary from moderately expensive to extremely expensive and they also vary from horrific to luxurious. Booking.com will go a long way to helping you find a place that is only moderately expensive and safe and comfortable instead of a place that is extremely expensive and horrific.

Unless you are a 25 year old techno enthusiast, I recommend that you experience the nightlife around the pools at the hotels on Collins Ave such as the Delano and the Setai rather than at nightclubs. If you have enough time and get bored with South Beach the most interesting area in the city is Wynwood, especially if you like art.

I agree with post # 2: try booking.com. We booked our hotels all around the world via that website.

The Orlando area is very diverse. The only place I have stayed in Orlando where there was walkability was the Hampton Inn in the International area and it was 25 years ago so I don't know what the area is like now. I stayed there for a work conference and I had to stay where I had transportation to the conference site. It wasn't for Disney or any of the parks. If you are not interested in the parks, it would be better to stay in one of the surrounding communities such as Winter Park