Art Basel Guide 2018

A couple of weeks ago I attended Art Basel (December 6th -9th), which is an annual art festival that is held in Miami. Before going anywhere, I like to do some research to answer some of my key questions like where to stay, what to do, etc. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any concrete answers to my three main questions, so I will go ahead and address those now, especially since I think my answers will be pretty helpful if you plan to attend sometime in the future.

• My first question was regarding what pass I should get? The actual Art Basel event that is held at the convention center has three different passes. A day pass, 3-day pass and a combination pass for the event at the convention center and the design district. The pricing was as follow: day pay $50, three days pass $135, and combination pass $75. I ended up getting the one day pass and I'm happy I didn’t get the three days pass as I was initially planning to do. Granted the exhibit is huge and involves a lot of walking but if you pace yourself, you can see everything in one day.

• Where should I stay? I wasn’t sure whether or not I should stay at Ocean Drive, which is close to the Convention Center or Wynwood, which is dubbed as the art district and had a bunch of parties for the Art Basel weekend. My friend and I ended up staying at an Airbnb in Brickell (Airbnb is linked), which is close to Wynwood. We ate at Cecconi and Veranda and went to the convention center, which is located close to Ocean Drive, so we were in that area a lot, but we also went to Wynwood every night. To be honest, you can’t go wrong staying in either location since you will probably be visiting both areas during your visit to Miami.

• Where should I go/ what events should I attend? I wasn’t exactly sure what events I should attend, and Eventbrite had a plethora of events, which made deciding where to go overwhelming. I will start by saying that I highly suggest checking out the art at the convention center, which many people don’t do because of the price. I also recommend checking out the Perez Art Museum ( PAMM ), which focuses on modern and contemporary art. Also, no Miami trip is complete for any true art lover without visiting Wynwood. In regards to parties, I can only suggest the ones I attended which were “ You Had To Be There,” which had a zero phone policy. They placed everyone's phone in a pouch that you're unable to open yourself. It was refreshing to be somewhere where everyone wasn't absorbed with what was going on with there phone; and “Everyday People”( which was the best party I attended).

I already mentioned above some of the restaurants and events I attended but to recap I had lunch at Cecconi's which was terrific and not to mention gorgeous and I had brunch at Veranda , which is located at the Faena Hotel . Below are some restaurants and bars that were on my list but I didn’t get the opportunity to visit.

• Sugar • Komodo • Diez y Seis • LaMuse Cafe

• Bakan

I ate well, saw great art and had a blast partying the night away, so it’s a no-brainer that I highly suggest visiting Art Basel.