Riviera Hotel South Beach — Hotel in Miami Beach

Avoid this bait and switch at all costs!!!

The hotel looks pretty enough on the outside and when you check in, but then things start to go downhill. It was nothing like what was advertised on the website. This is listed as a four star hotel, which is ridiculous. It's barely a 2 star MOTEL. I included a screen capture of the image of the room from the website when we booked. You can see that it looks absolutely nothing like the other photos of the actual room that we got.

The room is literally two steps off the elevator so there is constant noise just outside the door. The room door is on the outside so anyone could walk right up off the street to your door. I have stayed in nicer and safer Motel 6 locations

The room is tiny and cramped. The Internet connectivity was worthless for anything other than sending a text or email. It's also really hard to get around and find things. This place is definitely not disability friendly.

The only counter space is about 30" wide and that's almost all taken up by a sink so there is little space for toiletries. There is no place to hang a bag.

The tile floors have dirt in the grout and haven't been cleaned well.

There is an awful bouncy bed with no other place to sit. There isn't even a chair in the room. There was only 1 washcloth for two people. Only 1 nightstand with one small lamp to light the whole room. Both the light and nightstand looked like thrift store finds.

There was no overhead lighting. I had to use my phone flashlight to see inside my suitcase at night. The room only had blinds that let in tons of light, day and night and no curtains. The closet is also home to the mini fridge, so anything long hanging in the closet is draping over other things. The towels are hanging up inside the back of the shower. But that was not a big deal when I found out the water pressure was so low there was no way it would reach the back of the shower. My bathroom sink at home has better water pressure. The iron didn't work, and there was no place to put the small table top ironing board anyway.

There is also a $38 a night resort fee. I have no idea what that's supposed to cover. We were so exhausted the night we got here, we just went to bed. On our second day. I went downstairs to request a refund of the resort fees as compensation for the terrible room. The manager at the counter refused. She said we would have to take it up with the company's general manager and the company is difficult so I wouldn't have much luck. When I told her I would be leaving a horrible review on every possible website on the internet, she offered to upgrade us to a suite. By this point, we only had a half a day left of a two night (36 hours) stay and I didn't feel it was worth packing up all of our stuff to move to another room just to sleep one night. We are checking out early in the morning and leaving so it's not worth the effort. I told her we were leaving early and then she asked if she could give us a late check out his compensation. She didn't listen to anything I said.

I asked her if we got the only crappy room in the place or if there are other ones that don't match the description. She said there are lots of other rooms like ours so she admitted they are defrauding multiple guests. I told her that upgrading our room doesn't negate that they are using false advertising to get customers. They show a lovely beautiful room on the website and then everybody who doesn't book a suite gets stuck in a nasty junkie old room.

I will also add that we saw three different people bring their room keys back to have them replaced because they weren't working. The first person was told it was their fault for putting their key next to their phone which must have deactivated it. The most recent person who was standing there when I went to talk to the manager was told that if it's the second time it must be their fault. He told her he just got the key 2 minutes before and went upstairs with it and it still didn't work and she just shook her...

Avoid this bait and switch at all costs!!!|The hotel looks pretty enough on the outside and when you check in, but then things start to go downhill. It was nothing like what was advertised on the website. This is listed as a four star hotel, which is ridiculous. It's barely a 2 star MOTEL. I included a screen capture of the image of the room from the website when we booked. You can see that it looks absolutely nothing like the other photos of the actual room that we got.|The room is literally two steps off the elevator so there is constant noise just outside the door. The room door is on the outside so anyone could walk right up off the street to your door. I have stayed in nicer and safer Motel 6 locations|The room is tiny and cramped. The Internet connectivity was worthless for anything other than sending a text or email. It's also really hard to get around and find things. This place is definitely not disability friendly.|The only counter space is about 30" wide and that's almost all taken up by a sink so there is little space for toiletries. There is no place to hang a bag.|The tile floors have dirt in the grout and haven't been cleaned well.|There is an awful bouncy bed with no other place to sit. There isn't even a chair in the room. There was only 1 washcloth for two people. Only 1 nightstand with one small lamp to light the whole room. Both the light and nightstand looked like thrift store finds.|There was no overhead lighting. I had to use my phone flashlight to see inside my suitcase at night. The room only had blinds that let in tons of light, day and night and no curtains. The closet is also home to the mini fridge, so anything long hanging in the closet is draping over other things. The towels are hanging up inside the back of the shower. But that was not a big deal when I found out the water pressure was so low there was no way it would reach the back of the shower. My bathroom sink at home has better water pressure. The iron didn't work, and there was no place to put the small table top ironing board anyway.|There is also a $38 a night resort fee. I have no idea what that's supposed to cover. We were so exhausted the night we got here, we just went to bed. On our second day. I went downstairs to request a refund of the resort fees as compensation for the terrible room. The manager at the counter refused. She said we would have to take it up with the company's general manager and the company is difficult so I wouldn't have much luck. When I told her I would be leaving a horrible review on every possible website on the internet, she offered to upgrade us to a suite. By this point, we only had a half a day left of a two night (36 hours) stay and I didn't feel it was worth packing up all of our stuff to move to another room just to sleep one night. We are checking out early in the morning and leaving so it's not worth the effort. I told her we were leaving early and then she asked if she could give us a late check out his compensation. She didn't listen to anything I said.|I asked her if we got the only crappy room in the place or if there are other ones that don't match the description. She said there are lots of other rooms like ours so she admitted they are defrauding multiple guests. I told her that upgrading our room doesn't negate that they are using false advertising to get customers. They show a lovely beautiful room on the website and then everybody who doesn't book a suite gets stuck in a nasty junkie old room.|I will also add that we saw three different people bring their room keys back to have them replaced because they weren't working. The first person was told it was their fault for putting their key next to their phone which must have deactivated it. The most recent person who was standing there when I went to talk to the manager was told that if it's the second time it must be their fault. He told her he just got the key 2 minutes before and went upstairs with it and it still didn't work and she just shook her...

Well after 2 horrible experiences with 2 of their other hotels. Hotel 1 Jan 9 to 11th. Cruise 11 th to 20th Hotel 2 Jan. 20 to Jan 23rd 2025 I went in the lobby of our hotel to ask a question about an excursion on Thurs. Jan 23rd.and this great gentleman was there.

His name is Rodrigo H. Molina. Cannot thank him enough. Such a great human being.

Well, I started telling him our horrible experiences where we had been staying. He said when are you leaving?? I said tomorrow which would be Friday, Jan 24 2025. Rodrigo said wait a minute will you be able to stay until Monday?? I'm like yes!! Why?? He said great. I'm going to call our sister hotel which was The Beautiful Rivera Suites Hotel to see if they have a certain room I want to give you both for what you have been through pre cruise 2 nights and post cruise 4 nights so far. Both of those stays had horrible experiences and I would LOVE to give you some nights in a very special room. He said let me make a call. He said I have great news. Marcia the manager of The Rivera agreed to give us the most amazing room we have ever been in. It was like an apartment to me not a hotel. It was like we were on top of the world. The room Rodrigo and Marcia put us in had a kitchen, A huge terrace, Huge shower, Huge everything The bed was comfy, Wonderful views The room was very clean. I can't brag enough on this room and the hotel. All the staff the front desk everyone was so helpful at The Rivera Suites Hotel on 20th Street in South Beach Miami.

Rodrigo sent a beautiful welcome gift for us upon arriving to our new hotel. We are so grateful to Rodrigo. Rodrigo and Marcia went above and beyond to make sure our accommodations were awesome. I know Rodrigo went above and beyond to help us due to our horrible pre and post cruise experiences we went through.

We are beyond grateful that I bumped into Rodrigo. Without bumping into Rodrigo H. Molina. We would not have had our best 3 days in Miami in our beautiful room. We would have left Friday the 24th with our bad experiences with us. He's just a great person all around. I am blessed to have met Rodrigo. Thank you Marcia we really enjoyed that you allowed us to come to your hotel and put us in that gorgeous room Rodrigo was hoping to put us. We appreciate you getting us ice for our drive home which was 13 hrs. for some of our refrigerator items. We enjoyed talking to you. Marcia is a great person Blessed to have met you. I have no idea how I could ever go back to a regular room again. It was great while it lasted and what an experience for the both of us who will be married 42 years September 25th and I believe this was our 5 th trip including our honeymoon. I can't wait to start traveling hopefully. If you have a chance I highly recommend The Rivera Suites. Its a great location Across the street from the beach. Great happy hour. El Nogel their restaurant is good. Rodrigo told us about a deli that was awesome. Ocean deli across the street. After spending 75.00 each morning for just a regular breakfast that was such great information and great food as well. Thank you Rodrigo for sharing that information with us.

My only wish is that we would be able to see these 2 amazing beautiful people again.

They are both a breath of fresh air. They are both down to earth with great customer service. (These days nobody knows what customer service even is) Thank you Rodrigo and Marcia. Our stay was Thurs. Jan 23. ~ Mon. Jan. 27 2025

We appreciate the both of you so much if ever in GA we'd love to see...