Miami Beach Convention Center

Came here for an event for Florida Supercon. So this review is mainly ON THE CONVENTION CENTER itself not the event.
So Supercon hosted a big event geared to pop culture. A lot of people dress up in costume. I appreciate that the place has very good AC. I was practically cool the whole I was there with tons of people around me.
Bathrooms are pretty bad. Half of the time I did not have any toilet paper in the stall I was in.
Definitely needs to be updated, possibly have hotels CONNECTED to the convention would be an added plus as well. Walking to the convention in the sweltering heat is not pretty, even it is just a few blocks away.

I visit this behemoth of a facility for the annual Art Basel each December. Parking is across the street, but get there early to snag a spot. ($ 15. No in & out privileges.) Ticketing at the event’s opening hour was efficient with 8 well versed cashiers quickly selling entry to a long queue. Inside, large scale sculpture had both height and light to shine. Bathrooms are strategically placed on each of the four walls. This year, additional rest areas were added to accommodate the throngs who were predictably staying hours inside to view art. Several luncheon cafes were set up in planned areas. Security was seemingly well placed, affable, and vigilant of people both entering and exiting.

The 45^th annual international car show! They have concept cars, hybrids, Havana style cars every type of car ever! :-)

Grande, espacioso organizado, ya no vienen como antes grandes eventos pero es el unico sitio con la capacidad de albergar grandes eventos.
Bien ubicado en el mero centro de miami beach.

I’ve visited a few times, each time, I’ve noticed that there are not many employees around for guidance. During my last visit, I couldn’t find the restroom (located what feels was a mile a away from booths) and I had no one to ask.
Prior to entering the event, I had to make a huge line, to ask a simple question (i was picking cup tix I earned through Unilocal giveaway).
Not very organized, quite large, staff unavailable, food not all that great, parking is a pain.

Ive been coming to this Convention Center ever since I was a kid. From the Auto Shows, Home shows, and now even XXX shows, there is something for everyone. My last visit was for a Health fair EXPO during the Miami Marathon BIB pickup. It was packed with all kinds of vendors giving away free schwag.
The convention center is pretty easy to get to, and there is plenty of parking. You can pay for the overpriced lot right across the street, or just go for the valet which is the same price. Sometimes you can get lucky with street parking, or there is a municipal parking lot across the street, and you can save some bucks and its very close to walk to.
If you have to come to an event here, remember there is plenty of good EATS all around, so you can plan for that.

A bit chaotic in the area, but then again it is Miami. It’s a good convention center. I came for the American Food and Beverage Show, which was an enjoyable affair, as usual.
Careful when you cross the street to get inside. People aren’t always the most attentive while driving their cars.

*This review is more focused on Centerplate, the official caterers at the Miami Beach Convention Centre.
I have never worked with a more unprofessional organisation, nor paid as much money. I recently worked with a delegation of companies to host a post-​event networking reception for around 130 guests.
Unfortunately, when using the Convention Centre, you MUST use Centerplate. Thereby, Centerplate is a monopoly and can charge what they please. We had bottles of liquor graciously donated by a sponsor; well Centerplate slapped a $ 35 corkage fee per bottle. 100 mini cupcakes that could have been made by Publix? $ 500. If you wanted to bring any external product, you are sure be to charged dearly.
Apart from the exorbitant prices, the staff lacks transparency and professionalism. The main sales associate and our point of contact has yet to ONCE answer any of his three extensions (office, direct, mobile) when called. Nor does he bother to call you back. Working with Centerplate requires all the effort on your part to get everything done.
Finally, the day before the event, we had a tasting with the executive chef. Again, our sales associate was distant and less than helpful, and did not properly organise the tasting. The following day for the event, our suggestions were not headed following the tasting.
In summary, Centerplate is a monopoly and can charge and do what they please, because there is NO other option. Service and professionalism are left at the door, and you are left chasing every detail.
If you want to throw an event at the Convention Centre, do yourself a favour a go one of the SEVERAL bars or lounges in South Beach where service and professionalism are upheld.

Huge convention center with indoor and outdoor exhibit areas. The layout can be confusing. I’ve been here for the boat show as well as food and wine fest events. The public garage across the street on 17^th Street is convenient and cheap but you need to get there early to get a spot.
The indoor halls are ridiculously chilled, so even if it’s hotter than hell outside you might want to bring a cardi. Bathrooms are clean (important) but the food options are more than crappy. You basically have a choice of soggy potato chips, hot dogs or bad pizza. Yuck! You’d think with all the food vendors in Miami, they could do a little better than that. Gross, I’d rather fast.
Tough to review in general, with so many different events going on here. Must agree with Hilda H. One of the best events here is probably the annual boat show.

I’ve been coming to the Miami Beach Convention since I can remember, but no event comes close to excitement as the annual boat show. Every year it just keeps improving and becoming better. This year it took three locations (the convention center, isles marina and bayside). Nothing like walking calmly through the halls and the silence it’s broken by horns of great boats who indicate that one new happy person has become a new boat owner. They have all you can imagine. Everyone seems to be super relaxed and the vendors are not pushy specially knowing that you are going with the intention of making a purchase.
This year they added a water taxi from bayside marina to isles marina which it’s nice and shuttles running every ten minutes to the convention center.
Advise: bring something to sneak on or just wait until you get to bayside and lunch of dine in one of the many restaurants available. The food in the convention center is ridiculous in price and poor in quality. A Venezuelan arepa with mozzarella cheese was 8 dollars… laughable, a small bottle of Perrier 5 dollars and a hot dog 10 bucks.
The bathrooms here were exceptionally clean, and the event all together was very well arranged and exceeded my expectations.

I came here for the first time several months ago to spend a couple hours at the Miami International Auto Show. The center itself is huge, and I felt reasonably comfortable within the crowd, so having a lot of space for attendees is a plus. There was plenty of space to walk around and the displays were well organized for the most part. I didn’t buy any snacks from the concessions, but they seemed overpriced (no surprise). Parking was very expensive.

My first visit to the Miami Beach Convention Center was prompted by Art Basel 2013. This large venue was perfect for the masses that attended the Art Basel event.
The diversity of the galleries and the size of many of the displayed art work is a testament to how large and adaptive the convention center is. I can imagine it being the perfect blank slate for all types of events that require spacious yet intimate settings as well.

I’ve been to a number of events at the Miami Convention Center from several trade shows, Art Basel and the South Florida Auto Show and have generally been very pleased how they have handle things, the convenience of the parking and the availability of good surroundings. Unlike the nearby Fort Lauderdale Convention Center you don’t have a security hassle having to show proof of your identity, drive through armed road blocks with security peeking in and about your car. Also, its massive size can handle jumbo size groups with ease and I’ve never found parking to be any more and most often less of a hassle than in other convention venues.
The best part, however, about Miami Convention Center is that it is located in a relatively safe, pleasant area of town and has plenty of nearby, within walking distance, restaurants and shopping such as are located on Lincoln Road. So, I’ve added an extra fourth star not for the convention center itself, but for the good nearby areas and things that surround it and accordingly add to it.

I’ve been to the Miami Beach Convention Center several times. This past week I attended the Americas Food and Beverage Show. The show was held in Hall C. There were more than 400 exhibitors. The room was very large, and in spite of the number of exhibitors and people milling around, it didn’t feel cramped. Being that it was a food and beverage show there were hundreds of samples being given out. The housekeeping staff did a remarkable job keeping the space clean. They were a constant presence, picking up trash and emptying trash cans. It was helpful that there were a large number of trash bins and separate recycle bins. I am a strong advocate of recycling. The restrooms were conveniently located, clean, and, at least when I was there, had plenty of soap and paper towels.
When I walked into the convention center the first thing I noticed was how cool and comfortable it was compared to the heat and humidity outside. The registration area was to my left. Since I had preregistered I was able to type my name into a computer and my badge was generated. The badge was scanned by a guard before I could enter the area where the exhibits were. The lighting was good and the noise level was okay.
The show hours were supposed to be 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on both days. On the second day I walked into the lobby at about 4:40 PM. When I tried to reenter the show I was stopped by security at the door. I pointed out that the show was supposed to go on for another twenty minutes. He said that he was only letting in people who had a red badge. There was no other explanation.
Parking in that area is always a problem. They had valet parking and there was a lot across the street. I think the lot was $ 15. I don’t know how much the valet parking was.
There was a snack bar in the convention area. Since so much food was being given away at the show I was surprised that anyone bought food.

I have been to many events here. The size of this convention center is great for having such functions. The ticket booth outside runs fast and smoothly. Most of the people that work the booth do not have any Customer Service skills at all. Next, keep the line moving I guess, LOL
Going into any event or show the line goes quickly. My most recent visit was for the home show. This event deserves zero stars. Not much to see, there was no enthusiasm at all. There is only enough mattress’s and shutters you can view in one place. Years ago I went and it was amazing. Sad not sure what happened but the type of vendors this year did not impress.
Restrooms are easy to find, having vendors for food and drink make it nice as you are walking around. I do think they have way to many lights in the convention center. It is super bright. The space is large for events. Parking normally is not much of a problem.

Great BIG venue for home shows, beauty shows and the like. I was recently there for the «Oribe Backstage» Hair Modeling Show which I was a part of. THe one criticism I have is that waiting to be served our lunch took forever and it was not done in a timely manner!
The models were starving and we were being rushed to get back to the show. The food servers were very slow and they ran out of a few things.
There is parking at the 17^th street garage for about $ 1/​hour.

I came here to attend the 2013 ING Miami Half & Marathon Expo. It’s a pretty good space, and the proximity to all the South Beach sites couldn’t be beat. Unfortunately, if you’re staying in Downtown Miami, it’s quite a distance. This wasn’t a problem for me since there were complimentary shuttles leaving from downtown, but keep it in mind if you’re in town for sometime else that doesn’t offer shuttles.
The red carpet leading me into the expo was definitely a nice touch.: D

Miami Beach has a great convention center.
Note: You are in a beach town so you will pay to park! Though Miami Beach Convention Center has numerous events I have only been for Art Basel. Parking during Basel runs $ 20.
The convention center is located in an area of a box so parking is scattered all around. There is a parking garage directly across and parking lots scattered around.
There is a mall area near-​by and the famous Lincoln road within walking distance so this means you have tons of shopping and food places once you are done at the convention center.
The convention center is MASSIVE. Be prepared to walk. They do have food places set up permanently but depending on your event they may have their own food vendors. Art Basel has their own food vendors.
The style and colors of the convention center are very South Florida.

I’ve come here from everything for picking up marathon race packs, a work related technical fair a few years back, wine fairs and most recently Exxxotica.
From an aesthetic perspective, the convention center does it’s job. It’s essentially a big box building with large open spaces and very brightly lit (more on this later). They get points for being one of the few Miami Beach spots with plentiful parking. I haven’t tried the food there either for the race packet pickup or Exxxotica so I can’t comment on it. Temperature has been OK, and the people manning the ticket booths were functionally pleasant. At least they smiled and said to «enjoy the show».
Since my most recent visit was Exxxotica, I’ll make a few comments on that:
1. Regarding my earlier comment about the lighting, it was a tad too well lit for being an adult industry event. I would have expected some more subtle lighting.
2. Audio /​aucostics were pretty good, where we could hear the music from one stage clear the other end yet it didn’t overlap with any of the other seminars, nor prevent us from hearing the sales pitches.
3. The couple of performances seen were pretty tame, I guess along the lines of an R rated film.
4. My friend and I were not harassed by any religious pamphleteers outside as I heard happened at this event in years past.
Still, MBCC is an adequate spacious locale for your convention. If they do a few updates on the look and lighting of the place it could go higher than 3 stars. See you at the next event!

Nice

I’ve attended a few conventions and trade shows of different sizes here. For the most part it’s an average (good) convention center. One cool feature is that, if you enter at the rear of the building and need to get to the front for check-​in or to enter a particular event, you get from one end of the building to the other via an overhead glass-​walled walkway that allows you to look down on the convention center floor and see the show from above.
While there are refreshment areas with standard convention fare available here at the hall, Lincoln Road with lots of restaurant options is only a few blocks away and easily within walking distance which is definitely a bonus.
The low point of attending conventions here over the past few years has been the parking, or incredible lack of it. During the last few trade shows I’ve attended here, I drove around for at least 30 minutes trying to find parking and ended up hiking a very long distance, which is never fun in the heat and humidity of Miami Beach while wearing business attire. That being said, it appears that a new parking garage is being constructed nearby.