Miami's soon-to-be-opened Hotel Urbano is pushing a Grand Opening gimmick that ranks low in creativity but high on the savings-o-meter.

Originally slated to open in October, as we reported, its unveiling will now take place in late December, just in time to receive an onslaught of travelers in the new year.

The themed deal offers guests who book two or more nights in January 2010 a rate of $20.10 for their first night. That's good enough for those who want to kick off 2010 in a snow-free climate, but just remember--the hotel is located in Brickell which is downtown Miami as opposed to Miami Beach and its party scene. But with regular room rates

We are continuing to geek out over in-room coffee makers. Yesterday, we showed you how the folks Down Under do it and today we're including an in-room coffee maker that we forgot to include in our original round-up--The Illy Espresso machine at Viceroy Miami.

The Francis Francis X8 espresso machines from Illy are found in all rooms at the hotel and there is no grinding of beans or scooping of ground espresso to deal with here. Just plop in a pod into "Frank" (we can call it that, right?) and steaming hot espresso is yours in a matter of seconds. There is milk and as you can see, oranges to accompany your drink as

Drugs and airplanes hanging out together is nothing new, after all we’ve seen a lot of smuggling rings busted over the last year. Just recently officials caught up with a group that thought cocaine should get a first class seat aboard American Airlines. Well US Customs and Border Protection made another discovery, but this time the drug was a little more uplifting than the usual white powder or wacky tobacky.

Last week officials at the Miami International Airport seized over 20,000 counterfeit Viagra pills. That’s like fifty pounds of bootleg medication. It was a shipment from India that looked a little sketchy, and once they cracked it open they knew the pills were not on their way to your local Walgreens.

What is up with Miami and bad rap videos? First, there was Pitbull's "Hotel Room Service" at the EPIC Hotel. Then John Legend, Kanye and Consequence filmed an unexciting video at The Fontainebleau. And now we have Rick Ross and Robin Thicke b-boying it all over the Viceroy Miami and the Icon Brickell complex with their new video, "Lay Back."

Everywhere they go in the video, there are skimpy girls in bikinis and high heels--chilling at the Viceroy's super long pool, doing a sexy strut in the spa, getting cozy in a (faux) guestroom and making out in the

In most parts of the country, all the signs of fall are here: cooler temps, turning leaves, football on TV all weekend, and skimpy Halloween costumes on display at the mall. But not in Miami! (Skimpy costumes are the uniform year-round in South Beach.) The 80-degree days down in South Florida make it hard to remember that we’re meant to be focusing on our Thanksgiving travel plans.

And in fact, if you’d rather spend Thanksgiving in a bikini than in a holiday sweater, the Four Seasons Miami is happy to tempt you away from your familial duties. The fancy hotel in downtown Miami (ie: not at the beach) is offering a "Stay Longer" package this fall,

Hollywood club impresario and frequent "Hills" guest star Brent Bolthouse may have parted ways with Sam Nazarian and his SBE nightlife company--which also oversees the SLS Hotels. But plans for the hotel's expansion are still on. Sorta.

A year ago, we questioned what was happening with this hotel and there really wasn't much going on. But in the release we received about the departure of Bolthouse we noticed a very interesting tidbit at the end:

Also in the SBE Hotel collection are Miami’s Ritz Plaza hotel, to debut in early 2011, and Las Vegas’ Sahara Hotel & Casino, which will undergo a complete redevelopment for completion in early 2012.

2011?

To be perfectly honest, the phrase "airport hotel" doesn't conjure up the most pleasant associations. While they boast close proximity to the Arrivals and Departures gates, the overall experience usually pales in comparison to those hotels located in city centers. We're pretty sure the constant stream of planes flying overhead has something to do with this.

But Marriott be damned if they won't try to reform the image of airport hotels, namely by feeding $15 million into a renovation of their Miami Airport location. Our first peek at the Marriott Miami Airport reveals space age light fixtures, vaulted ceilings with bright paneling for openness, and row upon row of cushy chairs for businessmen to

As more and more airlines start charging more and more money to check passenger bags, the chances that you forgot to pack some very-necessary toiletries into that quart-sized plastic bag to stuff into your carry-on suitcase, so you can avoid the ridiculous $20 fees, are probably going to increase as well.

That's why we're loving the EPIC Hotel's "Forgot It? We Got It!" list of complimentary and for sale toiletry items. What's free? Toothbrush, toothpaste, fashion tape, straightening irons, humidifiers, some other female products and a new quart-sized plastic bag for the flight home.

What's for sale? $2 tweezers, $2 nail polish remover wipes, $4 contact lens solution and $3 deodorant. For anyone

With the football season getting underway, hopeful fans are already starting to think about Super Bowl XLIV. The big game will be played in Miami's Dolphins Stadium on February 7, 2010, and sports nuts are already maneuvering to grab tickets and accommodations for the weekend.

Pittsburgh-based travel company Sports Vacations specializes in taking the headache out of creating Super Bowl packages, offering a variety of options that range from the mildly exorbitant to the mind-blowingly decadent.

During the season, Sports Vacations focuses on what the company was originally founded for: arranging packages for Steelers fans as they follow the black and gold around the country. Those packages start with tickets and hotel rooms which the company provides more or less at cost. Then other perks get thrown in depending on the package and the specific game: tailgate parties, fan rallies with local ex-Steelers, autograph and photo sessions, and a bevy of other extras.

Football season hasn’t officially kicked off yet, but already NFL execs are scaling back the Super Bowl splurge. The Miami Herald reports that the league recently dropped 17 hotels in Miami and Miami Beach for the February 7 event. The Mandarin Oriental on Brickell is the only property being sacked actually named in the article, while the Doubletree Grand downtown was named as one of the hotels whose reservation numbers were cut significantly.