Fortuna House Apartments — Hotel in Miami

We checked into this "hotel" the evening of April 12th. I had done very little research previous to booking, as I had found the property through VRBO/HomeAway, and in 5 years of using this site had never had a problem. Well, our luck ran out with the Fortuna House "apartments." I only fear that others using this service (HomeAway) will face the same dilemma as we did, since the pictures and listing there are clearly fraudulent and the reviews fake. How is it that HomeAway has nothing but great reviews for this place, while YELP/Google are filled with negative ones? I'll tell you why: HomeAway protects its owners by not publishing the negative reviews!

When we first arrived, we realized our mistake. Instead of the off-street parking promised in the listing, we were forced to park on the street and weren't entirely sure of the safety of this, given the surrounding area. Furthermore, instead of the bright, airy, CLEAN room shown in the listing, we were led to a 1st floor room at the back of the building, down a filthy hallway with dead roaches that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in at least a month. We have never found the pictures on HomeAway to be so misleading ... instead of 3 windows ... 1 in the "kitchen" and 2 in the main area, there was one dingy window in the main area with bars covering it overlooking an alley. The room itself was disgusting, from the stained sofa to the crumbs throughout the fridge, filthy countertops, and the floors that turned our feet black after only a short time. I have pictures of it all, even the airline ticket stub left behind on the floor by the previous occupant. I would be surprised if our room had even received a cursory cleaning between their departure and our arrival. The "amenities" included a half roll of toilet paper, no paper towels, a ratty sponge, 2 threadbare towels, a broken bedside lamp, and a mattress from the mid-60s that was as hard as a rock. The "fully stocked" kitchen included some junky cutlery (2 place settings and some misc. spoons), some thrift store dishes (again, for two) and bombed out pots and pans.

Since we arrived in the evening with an early morning appointment the next day, we had no choice but to tough it out. BIG MISTAKE! We should have left immediately. As it is, we did not get to sleep until well after midnight due to the noise from the room above us, and were frighteningly awakened at 5am by a drunken and/or drugged out (prostitute?) banging on our window and shining her cell phone flashlight yelling for "Lex" to let her in! I called the number on the wall (there is no security to speak of here and no one on-site to help with such problems), and when I told the man who answered what was happening, he did not even flinch but said he would call the police. Given the quality of these lodgings and the neighborhood, my guess is that this is a common occurrence. The best part was when said women brought a ladder back and was trying to gain access to the room above us, all the while screaming for "Lex" with no police in sight. Somehow, she ended up inside the building, where we got to hear her yelling and banging on doors above us as well. Maybe if it had been only my husband and me, this would have just been a huge annoyance, but having two small children with us, it was very frightening. We gathered our things and left shortly after, forfeiting our 2nd night, with NO PHONE CALL FROM MANAGEMENT to follow up and see how we were or whether the police had arrived and taken care of the situation. This is simply unacceptable, and no one should have to experience this ever, much less on vacation. This ruined our short getaway ; don't let it ruin yours! Avoid at all costs!!

I'm sure the owner will offer up the same canned response as in previous posts: "you didn't complain during your stay. You should have contacted us and given us the chance to make things right." If we had thought for a second that this were possible, of course we would have, but judging from the property and the attitude of the staff,, there is no way that could...

Upon arriving at the Fortuna House you will more than likely have a difficult time parking. This is not a traditional hotel by any means. The Fortuna House is in a residential community and appears to be the only accommodation of its kind in the area. Expect to arrive at a very old apartment complex surrounded by a mixture of vacant lots, unfortunate buildings, luxurious high rises and adorable fowl life. I find the exterior very charming as well as the layout if the room itself with the original hardwood floors, open closet/dressing area and accommodating kitchen. The decor however, is the cheapest of the cheap decor available at your local IKEA. It's a little disappointing to know where the products and decor evolved from and know what these things originally cost... It really makes the room feel classless. As others have stated, the pictures made this place look much better. However, in this day in age I find it silly to be surprised by good photography covering flaws.

A few things that I do have an issue with are: the walls are chalky and a little dirty. The curtains need to be washed The bed is very uncomfortable and has flattened cardboard boxes as a stabilizer under the mattress (can you even call this a mattress) The bed slats appear to be cracked under the cardboard boxes The pillows are very flat, synthetic and resemble carelessness in the comfort ability of your guests. The sheets are scratchy. No bath mats or extra towels Uneven and mismatched silverware. I mean, if you get everything else from ikea why get silverware from the thrift store? At least you can keep things uniform while still being cheap at IKEA. The dishes are also mismatched. Some from ikea and some look like they've been left over from other guests. The cooking utensils consist of a wide spatula and a skinny spatula. No spoon or tongs... No larger bowls for salads or mixing. No oven safe bakeware No oven mitts No paper towels No colander No cheese grater No can opener There are sugars but no coffee The cable is bare minimum. Not even a DVD player to make up for the lack in child appropriate entertainment.

I understand why people would be frustrated with this rental. Once you notice a few things the list just keeps going because you naturally lose understanding when the cons outweigh the pros. Unfortunately, it is in my experience that the Fortuna House is a bit lackluster with much more potential and room for improvement.

I've managed my own successful bed and breakfast in Huntington Beach, California as well as designed other rentals in Laguna Beach and I am currently a home and office designer and distributor. My opinions are based on my professional experience in owning, designing and managing in the hospitality industry.

I am here for 5 nights. I told them several days prior I am here for work and I'm interested in being here long term and I was still left asking for basic and simple things which were brought after my email.

As a hospitality professional I would suggest the Fortuna House if you're working freelance on a budget or looking for a place as a last resort. This is an up and coming neighborhood in like 5-15 years after builders demolish the rest of the Art Deco properties...

E' una recensione difficile perche' si oscilla dal due al tre e mezzo, iniziamo dai pro.||Location molto interessante. Si trova a un minuto dalla Byscaine Boulevard e precisamente sulla 26th,. Stradina di un paio di centinaia di metri senza uscita (finisce sulla baia, ma non pensate che si possa scendere in acqua). In una decina di minuti d'auto si arriva in Downtown.||Appartamentino abbastanza grande. Gli appartamenti sono una ventina.||I contro. La zona non e' un granche'. In strada si puo' parcheggiare solo da un lato e ci sono pochi posti. Poi se volevte potete provare a lasciare l'auto la sera sul marcaiapiede opposto, ma noi abbiamo trovato ben due multe la mattina (a Miami ci sono tanti poliziotti quanti sono gli alligatori nelle Everglades...).||Abbiamo scelto un appartamento al terzo piano anche se avevamo due valigie pesanti. Al primo piano l'appartamento sulla strada e' occupato a dx dalla governante e quello a sx si affaccia sul box della spazzatura (!). Non c'e' ascensore. C'e' sempre uno strano odore nei corridoi. Pulizia minima, giusto per dare una parvenza generale di pulizia. Dotazione della cucina assolutamente minima. Letto queen normale e divano letto non utilizzabile per piu' di un paio di notti perche' vi distruggereste la schiena. Non c'e' nessuna dotazione per il bagno (neanche per il primo giorno). E' tutto ai minimi termini e i pochi elettrodomestici presenti sono di scarsa qualita' (ferro da stiro piccolo, asse per stirare ridicola, stufetta per scaldarsi ai limiti delle pericolosita'..) Hanno dotato gli appartamenti di un minuscolo fono mentre c'eravamo noi. Abbiamo pernottato 9 notti e in quel periodo NON sono mai state fatte le pulizie dell'appartamento ne' sono state cambiate le lenzuola. L'appartamento non e' dotato neanche di una scopa e di qualsiasi oggetto che servirebbero per un minimo di pulizia autonoma. Non ci sono detersivi, non c'e' nulla per pulire il bagno.Quindi non puliscono loro, ma non si sono neanche minimamente preoccupati di dotare gli ospiti di cio' che serve per pulirsi da soli l'appartamento. Gli asciugamani bisogna chiederli alla governante gentile, ma molto anziana che parla piu' lo spagnolo che l'inglese e tende a darne il minimo necessario... ||Attenzione alla vasca che e' scivolosissima e non c'e' maniglia di sicurezza. Non e' possibile oscurare le camere perche' le veneziane sono semi rotte e le tende non sono oscuranti per cui alla sei di mattina la camera e' illuminata a giorno. C'e' un piccolo televisorino (22") con pochissimi canali in chiaro. (Al piano c'e' un balconcino sul quale si fermano fino a tarda notte gli ospiti a fumare. I minuscoli posacenere traboccanti di cicche non sono stati svuotati per tutto il periodo che siamo stati ospiti. Ma come se non bastasse, la cosa peggiore e' che la casa si trova su una delle rotte di decollo atterraggio degli aerei dall'aeroporto di Miami che dista poco piu' di sette miglia. L'aeroporto e' aperto 24 ore al giorno! Di notte passavano aerei ogni minuto e mezzo e vibravano tutti i vetri dell'appartamento!!! Probabilmente bisogna essere abituati per poter dormire in queste condizioni. Non tutti i giorni era cosi', forse dipendeva dalle conidizoni atmosferiche e di conseguenza dalle aviovie utilizzate dagli aerei per il decollo e l'atterraggio.||Se pero' avete 18 anni, vivrete in appartamento poche ore perche' Miami di notte va vissuta, non vi interesa che il letto sia comodo, sarete troppo stanchi per sentire i vetri che tremano al passaggio degli aerei, non vi interessa che il luogo dove dormite sia molto pulito e non vi interessa che il bagno resti allagato....allora questa soluzione e' ottima specialmente se siete almeno in quattro anche se non sarete a Miami Beach dove si rischia di trovare anche soluzioni peggiori ( non dimentichiamo che nonostante tutti questi contro, l'appartamento costa cmq € 143 a notte..). Ina ltre parti degli USA e in Canada con lo stesso prezzo si trovano appartamenti con dotazioni eccellenti e in posizioni notevoli.||Per quanto mi riguarda, la prossima volta che tornero' a Miami cerchero'...