Marriott Stanton South Beach — Hotel in Miami Beach

2/2-2/5/2025—Okay, I waited until the last day of our three-night stay to write this review—because, you know, sometimes things go south at the last minute, and I didn’t want to eat my own words. But here we are, and I have to say: I loved this hotel. Well, except for the elevator situation, but we’ll get to that.

Our journey started smoothly. We Ubered from the airport, and as soon as we arrived, the valet greeted us. I wasn’t expecting the VIP treatment, but here I was, suitcase taken, door closed for me—felt a bit like a celebrity. He gave us the usual "elevator warning" and told us that since we were way too early, check-in was a gamble. Thankfully, by the grace of Jesus, we checked in early. And let me tell you, I was beyond exhausted, so this was already a win in my book.

Our room? Big and spacious. The colors on the walls and curtains gave me instant peace. But the real blessing? The balcony. Huge, quiet, and perfect for my early morning prayers. Plus, I could let my husband sleep in while I got my spiritual recharge—double win. The view was interesting: some buildings, a side glimpse of the beach, and you might be able to catch cruise ships coming and going. And then there were the birds! The doves were basically serenading us. Felt like home. Naturally, I started feeding them (because, habits). Even the crows looked majestic in the Miami sun.

The Amenities & Staff The location? No complaints. There’s a Starbucks downstairs—hello, convenience! We toured the hotel a bit, sat by the pool, and here’s where things got…interesting. My husband had a less-than-pleasant interaction with the pool manager (Heather? Helen? Something with an "H"). According to him, she was rude. But honestly, I saw her being nice to someone else, so maybe it’s a personality lottery. Either way, shoutout to Damian Miller and Gael Gonzales—both all smiles and super helpful. Bonus: a pool staffer even came around offering sweets and popcorn. My husband? Absolutely loved the popcorn.

There’s a gym, small but complete. Me? I need people around me to stay motivated, so I stuck to my outside workouts. But if you’re into solo training, this gym has what you need. They even have morning workouts at 8 or 8:30 AM—didn’t try it because I assumed it wouldn’t be intense enough, but if you do, let us know how it is.

The spa offers nail services, and our room steward, Estrada, was fantastic. Fun fact: she’s Cuban, but she lived in the Canary Islands for ten years, which explains her unique accent. She’s been at the hotel for two years and was an absolute delight to talk to.

The Food & Sleep Situation My husband tried room service hotdogs—twice. That’s how much he liked them. He also had soup at the Japanese restaurant, which he said was great. I, on the other hand, slept like a baby—until I woke up with a little lower back pain. Might be time for the hotel to upgrade the mattresses. Unfortunately, wearing my back brace wasn’t an option in Miami’s heat unless I wanted to double my sweat output.

The bathroom was another pleasant surprise—big, clean, and with an ultra-efficient shower design. They have this little square cutout in the glass so you can turn on the water without opening the door and getting splashed. It’s the small things, you know?

The Infamous Elevator Situation Ah yes, the elevators. If you’ve read the reviews, you already know. Some days they work, some days they take personal time off. I usually took the stairs as my cardio, but let’s be honest—after doing an F45 workout and walking back to the hotel, the last thing I wanted was nine flights of stairs. Thankfully, Jesus came through, and the elevator worked that day. If it doesn’t, just know the service elevator is your backup plan.

Final Verdict Would I stay here again? Absolutely. Would I recommend it? 100%—but be mentally prepared for elevator adventures. Everything else? Top-notch. Staff (mostly the pool manager ) amazing, food delicious, location excellent. Just don’t forget to feed the birds and be nice to Estrada.

Safe travels and...

Some Good, Lots of Bad, Know Before You Book

We will start with the bad first, because for some these things will be disqualifying. If the view or balcony are important to you, know that this hotel's room photos are incredibly deceptive. Only a couple rooms have that good of a view and that big of a balcony, and you won't get one of those rooms. And none of the balconies have the nice furniture shown.

The front desk and management don't seem to care about providing good customer service. There is often only 1 person working the front desk, and the line is always long and slow-moving. Rooms are rarely ready at check-in time. During our stay, we repeatedly talked to guests who complained about these problems.

For us, we paid for the ocean view room which showed the larger balcony, which was imperative because we needed somewhere to enjoy our stay after our baby went to sleep. We even called to confirm the balcony after making the booking, and confirmed with the front desk when we arrived. Yet we were put in a room with a tiny balcony, extremely uncomfortable metal chairs, and a view of loud air conditioning units rather than the ocean. When we tried to resolve this with the front desk and management, they were completely unwilling to do anything to rectify the situation and were even rude about it. They even refused to get us more comfortable furniture or even just a couple of cushions to help make the seating more comfortable. There were other problems, like how they weren't letting guests know about fun family activities that were taking place that weekend, we learned about it from a friendly maintenance worker, and they weren't distributing gift bags Marriott had provided for Bonvoy members, much to the surprise of a Marriott executive who was there.

Finally, if accessibility is important to you, know that this hotel is not accessible. The hotel has 2 elevators but one hasn't been working for at least 3 months. The front desk says it's only been a few days and will be back up in the next day or two, but from our research and talking to hotel staff, that's a lie they've been telling for a long time. That leaves just one elevator for the entire hotel which isn't nearly enough. Most people give up and take the stairs. But even if the elevator was working, the rest of the hotel grounds are not accessible. You have to go up a large flight of stairs to get into the hotel. To get from the front desk to the rest of the hotel, you have to go up more stairs. To get from your room to the pool or 1 of the 2 restaurants, even if you are able to take the elevator to the main floor, you still have to go down several flights of stairs. And to get to the beach, it's more stairs.

Now for the good. The rest of the staff was very helpful and friendly. From the bellman/valets who greet you and go out of their way to help you with anything you are carrying, to the beach and pool staff to housekeeping, the staff deserves high praise. They will do everything they can to make your stay enjoyable.

The pools are good, though a tad small but it works out ok. The food options are very good. The beach is clean and a fun, painless experience, though a little slow on Mondays. The location is great with places nearby to walk, play (including a fun playground for kids), shop, and eat. The hotel grounds are small, but this is normal for South Beach and they do well with what they have.

In summary, for some this is the perfect hotel to stay at in South Beach. If you are going for sun, the beach, and good food, and don't care as much about comfort or good service from the front desk and management, you'll do just fine at this hotel. If you're looking for a nice view, comfortable balcony, easy and relaxing navigation of the grounds, or helpful front desk staff or management, this isn't the...

Honest Review: Marriott Stanton South Beach We travel often, own a resort ourselves, and rarely leave negative reviews — but this was too much to stay silent. If someone had told us, we’d have appreciated it. Hopefully, this helps others.

Pros: Location: Excellent. Walkable to everything, beach access is convenient, and Starbucks next door is a nice bonus. Pool Staff: Absolutely the friendliest and most helpful part of the hotel. Valet Team: Efficient and pleasant every time. Frozen Aloe by the Pool: Classy touch, appreciated. Decent Room Size: Spacious rooms, nice size fridge for leftovers. Gelato & Ice Cream: The alcohol-infused fig flavor was a nice surprise. Beach Access: Easy, though chairs are limited, there is a charge for extra and umbrellas, and you get kicked out of them at 5pm.

Cons (Where it really fell apart): Check-in: Took 30+ mins unnecessarily, holding up the line behind us due to overly thorough staff reading us paperwork. Elevators: Only one working (other one out since February-only two elevators for a 11 story building). Long waits and constant crowding.

Room Issues: No balcony (just a door you can open to a ledge). Peeling powder coating, dated decor, rusted fixtures. Loud A/C thumping in our room 24/7 every 15 minutes — sleep disturbed constantly. Shower leaked badly; towels used daily to soak up water. No fan in bathroom, pocket door to bathroom didn’t close all the way and does not lock. Uncomfortable bedding, pillows, and no makeup mirror in bathroom. No in-room safe — big miss. Had to pay $10/day for a microwave.

Service & Responsiveness: One roll of toilet paper for our stay — no backup. Thank goodness for tissues in a box! Delays or follow-up calls needed for most requests. We requested towels twice with no response so we went and found housekeeping ourselves after 2 hours. 7:30am sales calls (2 in a row) disguised as "gift bag" notifications — very unprofessional. Sales tactics disguised as guest service manager checking on your experience. Staff appeared annoyed when we asked about our lost bag, and we were made to 45 minutes only to tell them to send to our room because we and our kids were exhausted from our day. Asked them to send to our room and the front desk lady looked disgusted at us and said we needed to wait. We were over it and just said-figure it out-send to our room-we are over waiting)

Fees Galore: (so annoying to be nickled and dimed as a guest) $60/day for valet ($70 or oversized). $42/day "resort fee" felt like a joke: 2 bikes, 2 chairs (no cushions), limited beach time-be sure to grab your stuff and leave by 5pm or hit the sand, 1 boogie board (yes, just one), etc. Internet not included in resort fee-like what? Extra charge for umbrellas and additional chairs.

Facilities: Pool too small for the amount of guests hoping to use it. One of the pools was freezing-so other pool was crowded. Iguanas were an issue, getting into chairs-staff was good about running them off but the fear of stepping on one or it climbing on your chair was REAL. Warm water for guests in the beach cooler (refreshing? Not really). Pool and front desk was cold. Front desk should consider throwing some fruit in the bowl and it will look classy and taste better.

Final Thoughts: Despite enjoying our vacation overall, this hotel was not to credit and fell far short of expectations — especially for ~$500/night. We’re industry people and are usually more forgiving than most, but this experience had far too many issues. With this many red flags, we would never recommend - nor return. Sadly, they seem to rely solely on their prime...