Felt like home...

The Mission felt comfortable immediately and reflected a unique talent for design. The attentive owner's, Paul and Alan have packed the immaculate house with every amenity and want to ensure your stay is pleasurable. The backyard gardens are a magical place to read, have breakfast or dream. The sights are nearby and we enjoyed the Art Deco Tour in Miami beach, the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables and a festival in Little Havana. This is a special house...you will be captivated with every detail!

We loved staying in this charming house! Everything we needed or wanted and more from a fast computer to laundry soap and even fun books on historic Miamis was thoughtfully provided. The absolutely de"light"ful courtyard ( terrific job Alan!) was especially appreciated, it was so nice to sit and dine outdoors in the beautiful garden. Thank you Paul and Alan for your warm hospitality and for making my first visit to Miami so enjoyable and memorable!

Me ke aloha,
Linette

The home was comfortable; it had all the amenities one would need. The location was perfect; it is minutes from downtown Miami, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, South Beach and I-95. In addition, there is a local bakery at the end of the block from which we bought fresh baked bread and cuban pastries every morning.

The owners live next door so it was easy to contact them if we had questions.

The only part of our stay that could be improved and can be easily remedied is the quality of the bedding (both mattress and sheet selection). One room has futons and the second bedroom has a very firm mattress. It took a few more stretches in the morning to shake off any stiffness from the night's sleep regardless of which bed was used.

Other than that, enjoy your stay!

We've been coming to Miami for four years as our daughter attended U.M., and we've always stayed at local hotels. This year, we decided to make a vacation of it and spent a week in Miami prior to graduation. The house was in close proximity to U.M. and an easy drive to the campus. Lovely, quiet home - relaxing and peaceful. The backyard is phenomenal. Paul and Allan were excellent hosts- suggesting places to visit that we hadn't seen. Highly recommended.

Trips to the Miami area can be dreadful and/or expensive. I have been to the Miami area 5 times within the last year for medical reasons. The Mission is comparable to a suite at a 5 star hotel at 1 star prices. Hosts, Paul and Alan, are extremely helpful and want to make your stay a memorable one.

The Mission is a short walk from Ocho Street (8th Street), the heart of Little Havana. Merchants are friendly and walking around and making new friends can be an adventure. Some merchants only speak Spanish, but will find a person who does speak English if they can't. There is a wonderful bakery and a grocery store at the end of the block. Before making purchases at the grocery store, check expiration dates on items. I had to throw some items away because I neglected to check expiration dates when I was at the store. I recommend a trip to a larger grocery store (there are some good ones in near-by Coconut Grove) to stock up on food items if you plan to do a lot of cooking.

The property is well-maintained, appliances are new, and you will find anything you can possibly need in the kitchen and elsewhere in the house. There is a computer and printer in the master bedroom. You can bring your laptop, should you want Internet access in other areas of the house or in the lovely backyard. There is a gas grill in the backyard. There are wonderful surprises everywhere-- books, magazines, videos, and artwork.

If there is anything you need or can't find, your hosts live next door and are very responsive to your needs.

Unless you plan to stay in the neighborhood, I recommend having a car. Public transportation can be tricky and buses do not always arrive when scheduled. Taxis are another option if your travels are to nearby places. Another option is to go to the airport and take the SuperShuttle to a hotel near the location you want to visit if a long distance away (like the Everglades).

The house may be okay for families with small children. The house is not child-proofed for wandering toddlers and there are breakable items within easy reach which would be difficult if not impossible to replace.

We feel so lucky to have found the Mission AND the Lost Reef Cottage. We rented them both to accomodate our family for our son's Senior Recital at the University of Miami. The properties were even nicer than the web site descriptions and photos indicted and the owners were extremely helpfuland friendly.It was a treat getting to know them and they went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and well taken care of! The location was so convenient to the airport (where we picked up some family members), to the university, and to local restaurants, grocery stores, and even the Venetian Pools where we spent a wonderful afternoon. Although the Mission alone would have accomodated the six of us it was nice to have the added space of both houses. (Our two sons loved having the Lost Reef Cottage all the themselves!) The two homes and adjoining gardens outside were a perfect place for us to gather with our entire group. The kitchen was well equiped and Alan and Paul were kind enough to loan us their gas grill for a cookout one evening. It was nice to have a "home away from home" rather than a hotel room where we could spread out and relax and enjoy meals together. We will definitly stay here again when we visit our sons in Miami.

The Mission, a great stay...Old as it sounds but all NEW! Totally remodeled. It was a pleasant brake from my long days working The Miami Boat Show, with room to kick back and relax. The Mission was complete with every thing you would need and much more. I plan on staying there again next year.

The Mission is a great place to stay. We enjoyed very much the ambience you have created in the house, and its garden. We were all so busy with the Conference. But we LOVED coming "home". Next time we'll have to schedule extra days to enjoy the different "lights" and sounds of the place… Great artistic pieces are a wonderful bonus! We look forward to getting back to sunny Miami soon!