Bentley Hotel South Beach — Hotel in Miami Beach

It has been almost 30 years since I stayed at Bentley Hotel. Back in the Day, it was known for  accommodating Models who lived here by the month. I normally go to Hilton Hawaiian Village for my  annual conference and vacation in Waikiki this time of year. Unfortunately, the tech conference was virtual this year, and flying to Hawaii was a hassle, so I chose Miami, as a substitute. vacation.  I spent hours on NYE, booking my flight and hotel, and decided on the Bentley, but with much worry and concern. I had read some reviews which mentioned the noise, and it being more of a 3 star hotel, and not truly a 4 star Hotel. I was super anxious about potentially getting a noisy room, loud neighbors and having a bad experience. NOW LET ME GIVE YOU THE REALITY AND DISPEL THE MYTHS AND RUMORS. From the minute I arrived, I was taken care of like a VIP. Miguel, greeted me, and graciously helped me with my bags to the front desk and then to my room. Miguel is a true seasoned pro and veteran, and he was always available, to send me off on a lovely Red Beach Cruiser to check out the local hot spots and beaches. He was always in a good mood which lifted your spirits. The front Desk staff were extraordinary no matter what time of day. The day time shift ladies, Melanie, Monica and Sesegma were so polite, proactive and responsive in making sure I was taken care of. I always had beach towels, Bath towels, and access to all my needs. A standout was Monica, who was always, smiling, genuinely a happy person, and a great asset to the team. The night shift was just as great, with Fidel, and  davén. Security was exceptional with Marlon, always lending a hand, if one or two neighbors were loud, on the weekends. When I would return from dinner at 1 am, my late night  talks with  davén&Marlon were always warm and inspiring. Last but not least was Superstar Noura the GM, of the Hotel. When I arrived at my room, there was a genuine, sincere, welcoming note along with a surprising thoughtful bottle of wine. Noura is a true professional and has her hands in all aspects of the Hotel operations. She leads by example, and is kind, compassionate to all guests and treats her staff in a first class manner. The Bentley ownership is fortunate to have such a multitasking, level headed, calm, leader ensuring everything is top notch. Having her, presence onsite, made my stay that much more relaxed, giving me greater peace of mind. The room was wonderful, very clean, intimate, and the bathroom was superb with 2 different shower heads, with great water pressure. I always bring my own shower head and wrench in case the shower head of the hotel is poor, or not strong, but in this case I was blown away by the variety and choice, and the convenience. I had a lovely desk available to work remotely a few hours a day. The cleaning staff was amazing, I opted to have my room cleaned everyday, and they were very efficient,  always happy and polite. The only minor Hiccup was my phone in my room did not work properly for the 12 days, always getting a fast busy signal within seconds of  saying hello, and once missing(system Glitch)  a very important wake up call. My guess is they have an old phone system, and have cable as their provider, like a Cox or Comcast. Being Managing director of a Kobe Bryant/Gretzky Level Global IT firm, specializing in worldwide hotel brands,I suggest the parent company/Sunnyside of the Bentley, contact my firm Telelegends  to future proof their unified communication and IT needs. In Summary, my stay was an amazing mix of relaxation, great weather, great restaurants, BEST LOCATION, and a team of Superstar staff that made me feel welcome and part of their small family I will most definitely be a returning client, and I would highly recommend and endorse the Bentley Hotel, to anyone thinking about staying in...

This was a trip to celebrate an Anniversary & Birthday with Family & Friends. First the location was perfect right on Ocean Drive literally could walk to all the beach activities. We had 1 - Bedroom Penthouse Suites and I will say the one I was in was very nice looking upon entering. Looked very clean and smelled nice. It wasn't until further into the stay when we started to experience poor service. The type of money that is charged for theses rooms I expected a much better quality of service. #1 - Main Floor (when you enter hotel) - This is where the concierge is located for the entire hotel. It is a very small space & the elevator is small only supposed to hold 5 people (this s/b advertised at the elevator) which we experienced the hard way. Elevator got stuck, when we were coming back from a night out, on the 1st floor. After contacting front desk that is when we were informed only 5 people at a time. They really need to upgrade their elevator systems because they are very slow. #2 - Lobby on the 2nd floor - very small space can become congested during check in and during your stay. #3 - We had a phone in our room that did not work. I asked about this and I was told to use the "front desk button" on the phone I told them there was no front desk button on the phone in my room - ok then just dial 0........0 gets me a busy signal. I was then told someone would come to check out the phone issue in my room - they never did make it throughput my entire stay.....I had to communicate thru text messages. #4 - Amenities in the room were not all properly working.......Freezer didn't produce ice / the sauna in the shower did not work / Patio door needed attention very hard to open once it was closed shut (we used it often). Our Terrace was nice and large had table/chairs & chaise lounge chairs to lay out....the problem was there were supposed to be 2 umbrellas and we did not have one. I called to ask for umbrellas (that was advertised on the website & included with the room I purchased) I was told all the umbrellas were being used????? Ok so how do we take advantage of our terrace during the day (?) the sun is unbearable during the day without some type of shade. I finally did receive 1 umbrella my very last day but I paid for 5 days. #5 - Another guest in our party had a penthouse suite as well and during their stay experienced water leaking from ceiling in the kitchen (their room was right below the rooftop pool) they tried to say it was their fault because they left the patio door open - which was not true! They then said they could move them to another suite that day however they will need to move back the next day because they have someone checking in.....that did not make any sense to me. #6 - There were a few more minor disruptions / trying to get new towels daily (we opted out of the cleaning service) was very challenging. Overall this hotel can use a Cosmetic Makeover & a Technology Upgrade. Again, these rooms are not cheap however what is being advertise on the website is what should be given to customers when they frequent your business. We had a conversation with one of the workers and this came out of his mouth "They hype up the website pictures to get people to book" this is what I know to be called Bait & Switch!! Bentley Hotel - South Beach: I don't think I will stay here again unless some changes happen and customer service steps up another...

Edit 4/8/25. Received another promotional email but still no response to email sent Jan 23. Curious why management asks for guest feedback?

I sent this to guest services on January 23. I have not heard back, but I received several automated emails to post a review. So here it is.

Feedback on Our Recent Stay at the Bentley South Beach

Booking number: B 23xxxx

Dear Hotel Manager/Guest Services Team,

We’re writing to share some feedback regarding our recent stay at the Bentley. While we typically don’t write emails like this, we felt it would be more productive to bring our experience to your attention instead of posting a public review.

My partner and I were overnighting in Miami due to flight cancellations on our way from St. Thomas to Charleston. To make the best of the situation, we decided to stay in South Beach and chose your property based on its promising website and positive reviews.

Unfortunately, our experience did not live up to expectations for several reasons:

Undisclosed Construction: Upon arrival, we learned of a significant construction project at the hotel. The lack of a lobby was especially frustrating, as one of the reasons we booked the Bentley was because from the website it appeared to be a comfortable space to work. This feels a bit misleading, as there was no mention of construction or the missing lobby on your website.

Early Check-In Fee and Room Condition: Since there was no lobby available, we opted to pay the $80 early check-in fee to get into a room where we could settle and get work done. However, the room we were given (Room 203) turned out to be the worst possible scenario for us.

-The air conditioning wasn’t working when we arrived. It was later fixed but well after we left the property to find a place to work.

-The room was directly above the noisy work area and adjacent to what appeared to be a service area, making it impossible to relax or work.

-Ultimately, we had to leave the property to find a suitable place to work, which defeated the purpose of paying for early access to the room.

We left feeling deeply disappointed, as this experience could have been avoided with better communication about the construction and its impact on the guest experience. We also feel that Room 203 is not representative of the quality your property likely wants to provide, and assigning it to guests—especially under these circumstances—made a challenging situation even worse.

To be clear, this isn’t about the rate we paid; it’s about the lack of transparency and how the property’s condition affected the quality of our stay. There are plenty of other hotels along Ocean Boulevard with comparable rates and far better experiences. Had we known about the construction, we likely would have chosen differently.

We wanted to share this feedback directly because we understand that the current situation is temporary, and we assume these construction issues will be resolved in the coming months. However, as frequent visitors to Miami Beach for weekend getaways, this experience has left a sour impression, and we regret not sticking with the properties we usually trust.

We hope this feedback helps your team improve communication with guests and consider how to mitigate similar issues in the future. We would appreciate hearing your thoughts on how the situation could have been handled differently, as we’d like to believe this...