Floridian Hotel of Homestead

Homestead Boulevard has long served as one of the main north-south corridors through this South Miami-Dade city, and the Floridian Hotel of Homestead has held its spot on that strip for more than two decades, according to Florida corporate filings and business directory records that trace the property back to the early 2000s. This is not a hotel chain with a corporate logo and a national reservations line behind it. It is an independently owned property that has stuck to a straightforward formula for its guests: clean rooms, a hot breakfast buffet, and a location that puts visitors within a short drive of nearly everything that brings people to this part of Florida.

The setting is a big part of the appeal. Homestead sits at the southern edge of mainland Miami-Dade County, close enough to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park that both make for an easy day trip, and close enough to the Florida Keys that Key Largo is roughly a half hour drive south on US 1. Travelers heading toward the Keys, or coming back up from them and looking for a place to break the drive before tackling Miami traffic, make up a good share of the guest list. So do agricultural workers and seasonal visitors tied to the Redland farming district just west of town, along with families in town for youth sports tournaments or events at Homestead-Miami Speedway a few miles away.

Rooms come with the basics a road-weary traveler actually uses: a coffee maker, a mini-fridge and microwave, an iron and ironing board, a hair dryer, and high-speed internet. The complimentary continental breakfast buffet runs into the morning hours, which works well for guests who want an early start on a sunrise Everglades airboat tour or a fishing charter out of the Keys. There is a pool on site for cooling off after a day spent outdoors, which describes most days in this corner of Florida.

Check-in starts at 3pm and check-out is at 11am, giving housekeeping a reasonable turnaround between guests. The location on North Homestead Boulevard puts the hotel a few minutes from the shops, restaurants, and older storefronts of historic downtown Homestead, as well as the outlet retail that has grown up along the US 1 corridor over the years.

What separates a property like this from the branded hotels clustered near the turnpike exit is not luxury. It is the fact that a local owner, rather than a franchise system based somewhere else in the country, decides how the rooms get maintained and how guests get treated at the front desk. For travelers who would rather put their lodging dollars into a business rooted in the community than into a national chain’s balance sheet, that is worth knowing before booking. The Floridian Hotel of Homestead works well as a no-frills, reasonably priced base for exploring the Redland’s farm stands and u-pick groves, the Everglades entrance at the end of Palm Drive, or the run down to the Keys, without paying for resort amenities most travelers passing through will never use.