The Clay Hotel — Hotel in Miami Beach

We were looking at a fairly low budget place in South Beach that wasn't too gross or dangerous. We certainly found it with The Clay Hotel.

We didn't see a roach all weekend. The general hotel areas were quite clean and did appear to be renovated. It is an old historic building though, so don't expect it to be like a 30 floor building built within the last 10 years. It has a lot of character and reminded us of hotels we visited in France.

We booked a Deluxe room with the FL resident discount (available on their website). We certainly got our money worth. We were located on the 2nd floor right on the corner of Washington and Española way. We had a balcony outside with a great view (but sadly only 1 char). It was quite relaxing to sit out there in the shade and watch the lively street scene.

The room itself was clean and functional. The bed was firm and the AC was consistent and cool. We had a remote control for the AC unit overhead, but we didn't need to use it. There were 2 fairly small flat screen TVs (we barely turned them on at all but they worked). We had 2 rooms, one with a couch and a sort of contemporary rocking chair and the other with the bed and end tables. The closet was tiny, but it was a short stay so we did not mind.

There was a modern and clean fridge, microwave, and hot water boiler in the room as well. The shower was quite cramped but clean and the shower head had good pressure. It looked like the window in the shower had been re-done lately. There was no AC in the shower and the window let through more noise than the bedroom windows. So it is likely that people would keep the bathroom door closed while sleeping (we did), this appears to have caused some mold to start growing on the ceiling which was otherwise clean.

Overall, we were quite pleased with your stay. The location was awesome. They also gave us a couple free welcome drink coupons good for most places on Española way. We used them at Tapas y Tintos. Note that they said that they were only good when combined with a meal (which was amazing, especially the octopus). There are 2 clubs across the street that stay open until around 6am and the music from the restaurants starts up around 10am. So if you are a light sleeper, you might want to bring ear plugs or go elsewhere. For us, it wasn't a problem at all. We did enough walking and dancing that we were exhausted and slept great each night.

The main complaint we had was with the valet parking. We left the car with the valet for 2 days and did not use it at all. When the car was returned to us, there was a plastic bottle of Fanta soda in the backseat on the floor. It was not well closed and dripping soda on the carpet. It was certainly not ours and we don't know where it came from. We checked the inside for anything missing but didn't notice anything. The outside was covered with palm tree date/fig droppings that were sticky and messy but came off with a heavy rain on...

I deliberated long and hard before booking the Clay. Im glad to report that in the main, our stay was a pleasant one.

When making the reservation I asked for a "quiet room if possible" beforehand via email to avoid any noise from espanola way/washington avenue. hey presto, they put us in a room around the back. A problem solved quite easily. I had no problems at the reception, yes the staff are foreign, but we understood each other without any problems. the price is good, and the room was fine by us. if we wanted to be ultra fussy, I suppose we could say that the carpet felt "slightly" sticky and the bottom of the bath was dirty. I cant be 100% sure this was the case though. the bath looked dirty but when I tried to scrub the "dirt" off i couldnt so I think it is due to the age of the old enamel bath. i didnt have a problem showering whilst stood in it anyway, and I consider myself hygenic.

The balcony in the communal room overlooking espanola way was great! you could lap up the street atmosphere whilst having a beer or two of your own before going out.

The bed was immaculately clean, and the TV reception was good, and the fridge was clean.

I did spot a bug on the wall on the morning of our departure, I couldnt verify what kind it was, but we did have our window open for our entire stay, so i'm reluctant to blame the hotel for that. the air conditioning was good but noisy, so we tended to use it just for short periods, and it suited us fine.

one black mark is the shared bathrooms: when exiting/entering the bathroom you have to lock/unlock access for the adjacent guests while you are in there. Not a problem, if people use the bolts quietly. In our case I think two gorillas had taken residence in the adjoining room as they were really noisy with the bolt in the middle of the night. but, that isnt the hotels fault!

all in all, a good budget hotel, which I would be glad to...

The Hotel Customer Service is horrible. My sister made a reservation for 2 adults and 2 children. My niece and her friend celebrating their Quinceañera. My sister booked her stay through expedia and the confirmation stated 2 adults and 2 girls of ages 15 and 14. When she tried checking in, the front desk stated that the hotel did not admit more than 2 people per room. My sister believe it was a mistake made by Expedia. She was really stressed and called me. I went on the HOTEL website and find that the hotel DOES allow 2 adults and 2 children (under the age of 18). I called the HOTEL to speak to front desk to explain that on their own website it stated that my sisters reservation, although booked through expedia, it could have been booked on their website, as their OWN website allowed a reservation of four people in a room, as otherwise stated by front desk. I asked to speak to the manager, and the same lady stated she was acting as assistant manager, and that the manager was coming back until June 21. GOOD LUCK for them........ She tried to get me off the phone, and refused to log on to her website to verify the information. As the acting assistant manger she should be familiar with her own website. She did not have a response....I asked her to check my nieces passport and her friends, because they are 14 and 15 under the age to be able to be included in the same room, and she refused. She said these are four adults......so this lady has the courage to state "they are adults, when their passports state otherwise", and ignoring their own policies. WAY TO GET CUSTOMER SERVICE. My sister was told that she needed to pay a second room for the two minor girls, if she wanted to stay in that hotel. I NEVER WRITE REVIEWS BUT THIS ONE IS WELL DESERVED. GOD I AM SO UPSET THAT MY SISTER, MOM AND NIECE'S QUINCEANERA TRIP IS ENDING LIKE THIS.

MY RATING SHOULD BE - MINUS THREE STARTS,...