South Beach Hotel — Hotel in Miami Beach

We had a truly atrocious experience at this sorry excuse for a hotel.

I’m deeply embarrassed for the staff and most of all, the management, of this establishment. In all my years of extensive traveling throughout the US and all over the world, I have never witnessed such extreme apathy, rudeness, and hostility towards guests - paying customers who regrettably chose to give their business to this hotel, in hope of having a memorable and relaxing vacation.

Nothing could’ve been further from that hope. We booked this accommodation through an Airbnb listing, which is where I believe the heart of issue we had took place. On the morning before the day we were scheduled to check out, we were rudely awakened by both the cleaning crew (Do Not Disturb sign was on the door) followed by a phone call from reception to the hotel room phone. They insisted that we were meant to be checking out that morning, 24 hours before our ACTUAL check out, and demanded that we vacate the room immediately or they would be calling the police on us.

Upon being woken from a deep slumber and then threatened with such an accusation, we were understandably quite upset. We went to the front desk and showed them our Airbnb details, which they dismissed without so much as a glance. We asked to speak to a manager and were ignored. They told us that it was our responsibility to contact reservations to address the matter, and in the meantime, to check out of the room or else our security deposit would be withheld. We then learned that the woman threatening to contact the police at the front desk was named Opal - she truly had a terribly dismissive and rude attitude.)

The audacity of this situation was truly leaving me speechless in the moment as it was transpiring. NON EXISTENT CUSTOMER SERVICE & HOSPITALITY. Please give your staff some BASIC TRAINING. I’ve experienced far more kindness, respect and understanding from family-run guesthouses in rural Southeast Asia that cost the equivalent of $7 USD per night. And yes, I get that this is MIAMI, the land of entitled douche-bag diva energy, but that does not give your staff carte blanc to treat paying customers who have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG, with such blatant disregard.

After many repeated unanswered calls to the reservations line - which should have clearly been handled by the front desk staff - 1.5 hrs later - we finally got through to someone, who then FINALLY verified that we were in fact booked through the next day. There wasn’t so much as an apology or an explanation offered - but she had the audacity to tell my friend that maybe we “were not a good fit for their hotel” due to us having had a strong and might I add COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE AND DIGNIFIED reaction to being erroneously kicked out and threatened with law enforcement intervention, as the first line of defense in what could have actually been a very simple issue to resolve.

Do not stay here under any circumstances whatsoever.

Additionally, I have reported this business to my credit card company, and am disputing their sneaky resort fee charges that were stipulated to be collected upon check-in, in the amount of $45.20, but in reality were charged to my card after check-out in the amount of $226 (plus some other unknown and unreported $9 charge). The resort fee, as it turned out, was $45.20 PER NIGHT, yet they failed to specify this in the Airbnb listing description (see attached photo). I will also be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. They should not be allowed to continue to operate, baiting and scamming innocent and unsuspecting guests into their shameful, sketchy and manipulative tactics.

Karma works in mysterious ways, though. Ironically, I checked into another Airbnb for the second portion of my trip, and the Airbnb host offered me a 2 night voucher for a future stay, simply due to there having been some slight confusion in the parking lot and another guest accidentally taking my assigned spot! Perhaps my second host could offer some hospitality management training to the staff of the South...

November 19, 2021 - 21, 2021. Almost nothing on website is accurate. Bathroom towels were plentiful, very clean, soft. Hotel staff and breakfast staff were very polite and did their best to be helpful. Upon arrival it was pouring down rain. Arriving in front of the hotel is when I learned that the property was under construction. No staff available to help me with unloading, directing, or parking instructions. Checked website for parking info., nothing. Drove around saw parking garage, pulled in. Attendant advised SBH doesn't have own parking, "this" garage is the closest. Cost, $40 per night. Had to pay for the 2 overnights upfront. Had a terrible experience parking - no elevator (wasn't told) - lugged my luggage down 5 flights of stairs, lugged around the block in the rain, got to SBH entrance, signs says go next door for the entrance, SBH under construction. Entire front courtyard/entrance area that looks so cute on the website is destroyed and is a construction site. Walked next door, entered lobby. My friend made the reservation for me and met me there to check in. That process was mostly simple. I received my room key and was directed on how to get inside the SBH through the back of this hotel. Again, it is still raining. I had to walk through the courtyard, around the corner and down an alley to get to the back door of the SBH. When I entered the lobby, I was greeted by a musty smell, dusty floors from all the outdoor construction, old tattered, rugs, etc. I made it up to the 2nd floor which also smelled musty, and found my room. The hallway carpet is very old and the hallway was very dark and unwelcoming (probably to hide the terrible paint job on the walls). I entered my room - the "mini bar cart" was a rickety, rusted "cart" with the most unwelcoming, single items on it. Also, the art above each bed was just straight up strange (Disney? Cartoons?). I am not sure what it was, but it was not Art Deco, Miami Beach mojo, old world glamour, elegant, or chic as it was described on the website. It was just plain old. No dresser, as pictured on website for Standard Double Room. Bed was generally comfortable, though nothing special. Sheets were clean, I wouldn't call them luxurious. Bathroom was clean, but very old fixtures. Shower floor was cracking and stained, not appealing. Bathroom light barely worked, lighting was terrible, dim, difficult to apply makeup. That evening I need to go from my hotel to my friend's hotel. Planned to take complimentary shuttle - went to front desk, was told there is no shuttle. This was clearly advertised on the website - no explanation except that it had been cancelled "during covid" and never started up again. Had to walk to friend's hotel at night, alone, in the rain. Front desk did give me an umbrella after I asked for one. In the morning I weaved back through the back of SBH to the outdoor patio/courtyard for the sister property for my complimentary breakfast. My room reservation came with breakfast for two each morning. The "host" immediately asked where I was staying and if I had a breakfast "card". I had to give the card to the host before I was shown to a table. Seems strange and VERY unwelcoming. I was seated at a table and ordering my meal, refills, etc. was all satisfactory, and my server (a female) was very nice. I decided to visit the beach despite the gloomy weather. I asked the front desk where to go and was told "the blue & white awning" was where I could get towels and lounge chair. Walked to the beach (not far, but no shuttle). Went to the blue & white awning cabana, was told that was not for SBH. Was directed down beach to green & white cabana. Note: none of the cabana structures look like website. Walked to green & white cabana, told them I was staying at SBH. Hardly any other people in the lounge chairs, however I was taken past the blue and white chairs (as seen on the website) to rusty old, ugly chairs. Rooftop pool hard to access; no chairs....

So firstly, do not look at the pictures provided for this hotel and get excited like I did. I was under the impression that this was a cute little hotel with great amenities. I was wrong.

When I arrived, I struggled to find check in. The courtyard is empty except for the fountain in the center and a smokers pole on the terf by the corner but no outdoor seating at all. I went into the lobby of SBH and it was empty. The lobby area had a bar to the right as you walk in that most would assume to be the front desk. It looked more like the place had been abandoned, behind the desk is now being used as storage. There was another small alcove to the left that had also been ‘converted’ to storage.

So I walked out with my three suitcases and walked up and down the block trying to find out where the check in was. A man finally opened the door to the hotel next door and asked me if I needed help. I said I was looking for check in and he held the door open and waved me inside.

Check in was very pleasant, there is a $100/night deposit which is normal for most hotels, and they gave me my room keys. When I returned to the ‘lobby’ inside the SBH, there were a set of about 5 stairs I had to carry everything up in order to get to my room on the first floor which isn’t a them issue, it’s my fault for packing so heavy, but the woman at the desk told me to go to the right, and I had to do the stairs twice since my room was actually on the left. But again, no biggie.

The rooms were a decent size but the hotel is showing its age. The rooms are musty, and when trying to open a window to let air in, they were all screwed shut. So I tried to turn on the A/C but it was preset so all I could do was switch between heat, cool, and off. I also noticed my window’s glass was cracked as well.

The amount of stains I found around the room definitely made me a bit wary as well, there was one on the couch, many on the curtains and even one on my bedspread. I found old Nutella snack containers behind my head board, since the outlets for the bed are covered by the headboard and I like to watch my shows before bed, so I had to fight to plug in my power strip.

The bathroom was as clean as it could be for the hotels age, they could benefit from a lime scale treatment on their waterfall shower heads though.

Now the biggest problem with the hotel is the noise. If you stay here, bring headphones to sleep in to block out a bit of the noise. Even at full volume I could still hear people partying in the courtyard, yelling at people, and the person above me must have been mad at the world with how hard they were stomping around.

The rooftop pool is accessible by going the whole way through the hotel next door, but it closes at 7pm, which I didn’t finish work until 7 so I was saddened by that.

Overall, if you’re looking for cheap accommodation for the weekend, I’d recommend with a warning. It’s a deal but there are sacrifices made for the price point.

Edit: it is now a month after my stay and the $300 has yet to be returned to me. The woman on the operator line said that she would work on it and call back in a few days.. I’d like my...