SLS South Beach — Hotel in Miami Beach

I will summarise the events for each day. The experience was the worst hotel experience I have ever had; and I have stayed in over 10 hotels this year alone. Not to mention that I am a Platinum Accor member and I definitely did not receive any benefits from this status.

Day 1: Friday

I contacted the hotel a number of days before check in to see if we could get an early check-in. I contacted the hotel again the day of arrival to see if an early check-in would be possible and I was told we were getting an upgrade to a suite which might prevent an early check-in. I was obviously happy with the upgrade and accepted missing out on an early check-in in lieu of the upgrade. However, as the bell boy showed us to our upgraded room he warned us the room was very noisy, because of the club downstairs, and recommended we look at the room before unpacking. We did as he suggested and he did not lie. Even with ear plugs the room was too loud to sleep.

By this time it was only just after the offical checkin time of 4pm. I asked to have our original twin room back as the “upgrade” wasn't conducive to sleep. My friend and I had just finished long on call shifts at the hospital and needed rest. But SLS informed us that they had already given away our original room, not long after offical check-in at 4pm. All they could offer us was an accessible room or a room with a king bed and a trundle. There was no apology and I had to fight to get some compensation for the hassle.

Then we headed to the pool and they had run out of towels and no attempt to find us one was made.

Furthermore, there was no welcome drink, as I am accustomed to receiving as an Accor member at an Accor hotel

Day 2: Saturday

We arrive back around 15:30 to find our room had still not been cleaned. I called reception to ask for our room to be cleaned and was initially told that unless the staff could come straight away they wouldn’t be able to clean the room. Clearly, as we were in the room changing for the evening we could not let staff in straight away to clean. I again had to fight to get a basic hotel service like having a daily room clean.

Beach: SLS advertises their beach service as table service but any time we wanted a drink or food we had to go up to staff for an order to be taken. Then, three drinks on the menu weren’t available.

Dinner: we booked the restaurant at the hotel for the tasting menu. We discovered after we were seated that NO dietary requirements could be accommodated. There was no warning during booking the restaurant that such inflexibility was going to be an issue. Again, no apology. We had to leave and find another place for dinner.

Day 3: Sunday

SLS offers free coffee for guests but my friend, who is recovering from breast cancer, can’t drink coffee and asked if complimentary tea was available. A flat “no” was the answer.

Pool:

We asked for towels upon arrival and the staff asked where we were going to sit. We pointed to two spare day beds. The staff then said we couldn’t sit on them because they were being saved for other guest, who had yet to arrive (at some unknown time). Yet again, we had to fight to have access to something as basic as a day bed by the pool. It was clear when the guests, who the beds were being saved for, arrived that they were friends or acquaintances of the staff by the pool.

We ordered food at the pool. Not only did it take over 40 minutes for us to receive our salads, but the salads, which were described as “Caesar salad” were not as advertised. The “Caesar Salad” comprised of lettuce, bits of chicken and cheese. No croutons, no bacon, no anchovies; effectively none of the key ingredients needed to be deemed a Caesar Salad.

Not once did we receive an apology from the hotel staff.

The $100 off a night and waived resort fee did not come close to covering the...

[Update: based on the hotel's response it is very clear that the staff involved in the incident we experienced are not being truthful in their "description" of what took place. No one ever declined to pay the bill. In fact, we would not have had time to do that seeing as the security personnel was standing over our table forcing us to leave. I took photos of what was on our table in order to prevent being charged for food we did not order. As someone with family in the restaurant business, it is appalling that I am being accused of refusing to pay a bill. I would be happy to discuss this further, but the hotel has not provided contact information in their response.]

My husband and I got married at the SLS Brickell in October 2021. Seeing as we had such a lovely experience with the staff and service at that location, we figured we would stay here yesterday for a nice day away from home. We were terribly mistaken. I won't go on about the room size, as most here do, because we're aware of the room sizes in this area of South Beach (Miami local born and raised). What began as a nice one-day retreat turned into getting kicked out of the hotel for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Seeing as we did not want to leave the hotel for dinner, we made a reservation at Katsuya for 8:30pm last night. We were hoping to have a nice dinner together and everything was ruined by the staff at this restaurant. We were even chatting with the group next to us and enjoying our evening, until we realized that the food was taking quite some time to come out. When my husband asked our server if the food would take much longer, he received a snarky response. One of the plates eventually came out, so my husband again asked when the rest of our food would come. Meanwhile, I'm sipping on my miso soup trying to enjoy the evening, but this server was relentless in her comments.

Finally, after minutes of back and forth, the server brings out a woman whom I assume is the manager, to also argue with us and humiliate us in front of other guests. When we stood our ground and demanded human decency from this woman, we were told that we needed to leave the restaurant. Fine, okay. Sure.

We go back to our room, are getting ready for bed and hoping to put this terrible service behind us, when there's a knock at the door. THREE (I kid you not) police officers are at our door with the head of security and inform us that we need to leave the hotel because we are trespassing. TRESPASSING?! Really? Not only was I appalled at the entire situation, but to be treated with SUCH disrespect was baffling. Funny thing is I come from a law enforcement family and ended up getting along quite well with the officers, who were very gracious and understood our bewilderment and displeasure.

My husband and I travel often, we eat at Michelin restaurants and stay at many, many hotels from your regular run-of-the-mill to 5 star world class establishments. Never in my entire life have I been treated like a criminal in the way that this hotel has treated me. I live by the common decency of treating service staff with respect and kindness, ALWAYS. I had such high regard for this brand because my wedding was so wonderful at the SLS Brickell. I cannot believe the disgusting level of racketeering this place has going on. Actually, as a Miami girl... I can. I will never again recommend this brand to anyone in my personal or...

Beautiful, fun, luxurious yet hip boutique hotel just a few blocks from the Art Deco of South Beach, South Beach nightlife, Lincoln Rd restaurants and shops and on the beach. Great walking distance location!

During the week, Monday - Thursday, you can enjoy the chill, relaxed atmosphere and the longest, heated lap pool I have seen. The water temperature is nice and warm in the Winter. Comfortable padded chairs (newly replaced in 2024) and lots of umbrellas (by the pool or free at the beach). Weekends, Friday - Sunday, have the super party atmosphere in the Hyde Beach pool side where you can walk over and attend for free the ticketed parties.

We have stayed three times in the Ocean View King corner room usually or the City View corner room. Both were complimentary upgrades through the American Express Hotel Collection program. The rooms have lots of windows across the front facing the city and smaller ones on the side. The room is comfortable with the long white couch and small table for working/snacking. The pillow top mattress, Lavazza espresso maker and rainfall shower (good water pressure and temperature - like standing under a waterfall) plus there is another traditional shower head on the other side. Soft thick robes and complimentary slippers that I love, a great skin lotion, and even a new SLS duck bag for the beach/pool which came in handy and got carried around Miami.

In addition to the normal kinds of mini-bar drinks and snacks, there were other interesting and helpful choices. Some which may be of use with the mirror over the bed. Bathroom was small but shower area was big enough for more than two. Of note is that the bathroom fan automatically turns on when you are in the toilet area which is a nice touch. The drinking glasses are high end looking with cut glass.

The hotel is set back from the ocean, so do not expect the ocean view room to be an ocean front room. It has a view of the hotel pool with the ocean in the distance. Once, we were on the 4th floor which was just above the roof and A/C units. The higher floors (7 - 12th floors) would have a better view.

Restaurants: The outdoor restaurant/bar is open for breakfast, and a new Cartagena by Juan Manuel Barrientos Columbian tapas style restaurant is opening in October 2024.

Katsuya Japanese and sushi dining restaurant; indoor dining only. You can't get sushi by the pool until the restaurant opens at 6 pm, like the Tuna Poke bowl but there is other food that can be served by the pool.

Pool service - drinks and food was very good and friendly.

A special shout out to Fernando, Chief Concierge, who made us feel very welcomed back to SLS and wanting to return. We greatly appreciate the Concierge and Front Desk team for adding our early check-in request and being able to honor it at 11 am. Thank you to Simon for signing the welcome back letter.

Kudos to Cynthia at breakfast for remembering us from our visit last year - what a great memory! She has been at SLS for about 12 years, and it was really nice to see a familiar face and catch up again. Thanks to Freddy who took care of us for breakfast.

SLS is a fun, relaxing stay in an eclectic, boutique style hotel with a lot of personality and in a fantastic location - walking distance downtown and to Lincoln Rd restaurants/shops. We always enjoy our stays, the personal service, and look forward to...