We are back from our trip and ended up spending 2 nights in Miami, one planned and one not. I wanted to thank everyone for their input as it was very helpful.

On our way down, we stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites - Miami Airport South. It was fine for our overnight stay - a typical Fairfield Inn. We didn't spend much time there as we arrived in the evening and left early the next morning. The neighborhood next to the Fairfield didn't look too bad to us, but we didn't go walking around. Perhaps it was worse when you left the immediate area around the Marriott complex. We used the shuttle to/from the airport and the ride was short.

On our way home from the islands, our flight landed 5 minutes late, then sat on the tarmac for 25 minutes. We got through Customs and Immigration quickly, then waited 45 minutes for our luggage. (This was a first for us. We have never waited that long at any airport.) By the time we picked up our checked bag and re-checked it for the Miami to DC flight, then raced for the gate, we had missed our connecting flight. Walked another 10 miles through the airport to a AA Service desk. (ok, a bit of an exaggeration, but at that time of night, it felt like 10 miles!). AA put us up at the nearby EB Hotel and gave us vouchers for food. Its a chain with hotels in Venezuela and Argentina. The rooms and lobby area were high-end and very nice. We enjoyed their breakfast buffet with our vouchers before going back to the airport. We would stay here again, although I hope to never have to stay overnight in-transit as it adds too much overhead to the trip!