Hilton Garden Inn Miami Brickell South — Hotel in Miami

This is a Motel 6 on steroids! Nothing about this place represents the Hilton Brand.||||Check in was pleasant and efficient. The room was clean and comfortable. ||I was able to reserve my spot on the cruise terminal shuttle for the next day.||||The lighting is terrible. even with all the lights on it was still dim lit. My balcony overlooked an underpass that had people sleeping under there. On my morning walk I saw bottles of empty alcohol everywhere! Not a safe spot at night...BEWARE!||||I went to breakfast in the morning and it was freezing in the lobby. I had to wear my coat that I brought from Oregon. The lady at the podium did not speak English and just pointed at a QR code on a poster when I asked questions. I chose the buffet, and it was awful! The sausage was chewy and tasted like a meat alternative. The eggs were extremely soft, almost runny. There is a full bar, but it was not available. I was told I could get a mimosa, but there was no one in sight to order one from. I still left a $5 tip and moved on with my day.||||A lobby computer was advertised at booking. I attempted to print my amended cruise e-docs, but the computer did not work.|| || Upon check out the front desk girl told me that there were no charges to my room. I explained that I should have a breakfast charge and she left me waiting for 15 mins while she sorted that out. Just charge me! Then...without my authorization I was charged $2 for a tip after I had already left $5 on the table for absolutely no service whatsoever! I complained at that time about the charge and the awful breakfast experience. Shortly after she told me they had credited my card for the breakfast. Ok! I appreciated that gesture. But just wait...||||I take my shuttle voucher then give it to the driver along with my $10 that was advertised on the website as well as discussed at check-in. I get settled on the shuttle when the driver came and aggressively told me to get off the shuttle to make room for a family, because I was a solo traveler. WTF!!?? It was an embarrassing scenario. I immediately expressed my indignation to the front desk. The employee came out and talked to the driver. The employee then apologized to me for the drivers disrespectful behavior. He asked me to just wait a few more minutes that another shuttle is right behind that one. Shortly after the employee gave me my shuttle voucher and talked to the driver confirming that he had room for me on that shuttle. Now I was on my way and at ease. When I got dropped off at the port the driver told me that he is an independent contractor and does not accept those vouchers. He strong armed me into paying him $25 in cash! I immediately called the hotel and told the girl what happened. I asked to speak to a manager. She said he was on break! ||||After I returned from my cruise I sent an email to Israel, whom I was told is the assistant manager. His signature line reads assistant manager. Here on Tripadvisor it says he is the owner. Just another example of confusion, lies, and deception from this hotel. Israel gave me a cookie cutter apology, and said he refunded the shuttle for $22.26. The price difference in the shuttle was $25, so this didn't make sense. When I pointed out the discrepancy, he stopped responding to my emails. I reached out to Hilton for assistance. The management told Hilton Corp that I mistakenly got on the wrong shuttle! These are shuttles that pull up to their front door to pick up guest. This was a deliberate lie from management to avoid accountability for their mistake...not mine! ||||I see that they have since removed shuttle availability from their website. A smart decision, I'd say.|||| I've resolved that I will never receive my $25 refund for the shuttle that was wrongfully charged, but this is about principle. I have learned that this hotel and Hilton brand are not based on principles of honesty and fairness. ||||I hope you heed mine and others warnings on Tripadvisor, and do NOT stay here unless you want an unpleasant stay....

I have never written a negative review about another company...EVER. But I was so disappointed with Hotel Urbano's customer service and hidden charges I feel like everyone who is considering staying there should at least know what to expect.

My husband and I had not had an overnight alone in 14 months (after the birth of our child). We decided to take a trip to Miami and stay at a hotel and see a show. Being new parents, and this being the first time either of us were going to be away from our daughter it was a very big deal for us. That being said we also were on a very tight budget.

I had done a lot of research on hotels near the Miami Improv (where we were going to see a show) and Hotel Urbano was desirable because of the location, and the cost. I made reservations over the phone. The gentleman was very friendly and even explained the “package” they were going to give me included a full FREE breakfast in the morning time. I asked him specifically what was going to be my final cost for everything because we were on a tight budget. He informed me INCLUDING tax everything was going to be around $160.00. He also informed me that Hotel Urbano does not require a holding deposit.

Then we arrived:

-We drove up to the valet and we sat there…No one was out there and there was no parking available. We went inside to ask someone where we could park and we were informed valet was MANDATORY and there was a fee to park your car…Almost a $30 parking fee!

-Our hotel room was very small and made this noise as if a water wipe was creaking extremely loud every 30 seconds or so…ALL NIGHT (not very relaxing).

-There were guests at their 5 person bar downstairs that were completely over served and falling all over the place making it very uncomfortable for us to grab a drink before our show.

-Later in the night I checked our bank account and realized that the Hotel had in fact put a holding deposit on my card …no one informed me when we checked in that they were going to charge us a holding deposit- In fact the guy on the phone specifically said they don’t charge a holding deposit.

-When we returned from the show we were greeted by EXTREMELY rude staff…At that point I was already frustrated.

-They next morning after a horrible night’s sleep (from the pipes) we went to check out. When we got our bill were charged for 8 additional charges that we were not informed of. Included in those additional hidden charges was a Bistro Urbano fee, food and beverage tax, valet fee, city of Miami parking surcharge, and sales tax for parking.

How can a company offer a free breakfast (which the cost of the hotel room was more expensive already because of the breakfast) and then charge you a Bistro fee and sales tax for it. What a JOKE.

To sum it up; our first night away turned into a nightmare and unpleasant experience. I WOULD NOT recommend this hotel. If you decide to stay here plan on horrible customer service, and a bunch of...

I have absolved this place!!

Let me start by saying that the staff, with one exception, Alejandro P. at 0510 this morning (Tuesday, 27 August 2024), have been amazing!! And Tia, she should be promoted, given a raise, and never let her go…as she has been your best employee, by far!! Everyone else was great as well, but Tia totally rocks for you guys!! Plus our dog, Ruthie, loves Tia!!

The food was good!

The atmosphere was great!!

The location is fantastic!

The Valet people are great!

I would highly, highly recommend this place and Kay and I will be coming back!

The only reason that they get 5-stars on Service is because of Alejandro P. at the front desk this morning at 0510!! We got up and were in search of coffee. The coffee pot in our room doesn’t work, and we didn’t complain about it because we could come downstairs and grab coffee (no problem). Well, we came downstairs earlier than usual this morning, and there was just cold coffee from the night before. So we tried to find someone…nobody around to be found! The Valet was helping us (he was awesome)! He was unable to find the guy. He finally knocked at the door, and finally the guy, Alejandro opens it…he has bed head. His hair is a total mess! His face is not awake. He has trouble focusing his eyes. But he gets up and comes out. Yes, looking like we just said… We ask for coffee and he tells us to “go sit till 6!” We tell him that we need coffee now. He says, “No. at 6!” We tell him that we have work this morning. Can he make a pot? He says, “No!” Then we say, fine…can we get a coffee pot from you because the one in our room doesn’t work? Alejandro says, “No!” We say to him well we will have to check out them. He says, “Okay!” We then tell him that everyone in this hotel has been amazing, except you! And he says, “Okay!” So I asked for his name…I also told him that you shouldn’t be asleep on the job! He comes back with “I wasn’t!” And I tell him then you should tell your face, your hair, and your clothes that because they all were!! And, if it weren’t for the Valet hunting you down, and knocking on the door (as the Valet even said that “I must be the only one at work here!”) that you wouldn’t get up until you have to help out out breakfast at 0600!

Alejandro P. REFUSED to get us a coffee pot!! He REFUSED to make a pot of coffee or even a cup of it!! He REFUSED to help at all and way to go ahead and leave the hotel, basically as he made sure that we knew that he could care less about us as guests of the Hilton Garden Inn!!

So that is my one and only complaint!!

You will absolutely love it here!! But, don’t deal with Alejandro P. or you won’t be happy!!

We will be back! I just hope to NOT have to see Alejandro P. again or to have him get remedial training so that he is a better employee and promotes the Hilton brand (as right now, he drove it into the...