Flamingo South Beach — Local services in Miami Beach

DO NOT MOVE HERE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Management (AIR Communities, a subsidiary of AIMCO) repeatedly screwed me over—especially during the move-out process—and my complaints fell on deaf, uncaring ears, despite living here over two years. It was and continues to be maddening. (And “Obligo” is in on it.)

Here’s my story, in a nutshell:

I leased a renovated studio apartment with a large balcony in the Central tower (for about $3,200/month) in July of 2023.

I was excited to move in, but pretty soon there were ugly ropes hanging down in front of my balcony and workers peering inside my unit periodically every day while chatting and playing loud Spanish music.

This went on until shortly before New Year’s Eve and, despite constant construction noise from across the street (which woke me up every day), things went back to normal for a while. I was willing to overlook the everyday annoyances and focus on the positive.

Then about 3 or 4 months ago, the workers outside my balcony returned and this time, besides invading my privacy, they destroyed valuable personal property on the balcony and left everything else filthy.

(When I brought this to the attention of Luisa in the front office, the first thing she asked was “Why didn’t you bring all of the furniture on your large balcony into your small studio apartment for 3 or 4 months?” What a stupid question.)

Meanwhile, management started “renovating” apartments to my immediate left, then right, and then above me, causing extremely loud banging, drilling and other noises all day, every day except Sunday. As someone who works from home, it was has been incredibly annoying and unpleasant, to say the least. When I raised the issue with management reps in the building, all they did was shrug their shoulders and say, in essence, “at least your lease is up soon.”

I finally moved out on Memorial Day, but not before one final management screwup. I had reserved the main freight elevator for 3 hours but, when my movers showed up, it was out of order. No one notified me in advance and, to make matters worse, an incompetent “security” guy working that day gave the alternate (smaller) freight elevator to someone else. This naturally turned my move-out into a clown show, which increased its complexity, duration, and cost. We barely made it to my new place in time and were saved by a kind girl who kept their freight elevator open much later than policy allows.

And now, as a final insult, Air Communities sends me a bill almost $700 as a deduction from my security deposit, even though I had a $300 credit —-which means their last invoice conveniently would’ve eaten up my entire $1,000 security deposit — and left the place in outstanding condition.

They told me in advance that there would be a fee of $139 for professional cleaning, which I thought was acceptable, but they piled on a bunch of additional charges so that they could max-out security deposit. They are truly shameless.

If this is how you want to be treated, be my guest —- move in. Otherwise, go elsewhere. You’ll be glad you did. I certainly am.

P.S.: I moved out almost three months ago…and they’re STILL charging me for nonsense, with the help of their cohorts at Obligó (who just follow orders and don’t ask questions). Just got another bill for $164 today! The whole lot of them...

The Flamingo, on the surface, is beautiful. The views are stunning, and if you work with Jashba, she’s truly amazing—she goes above and beyond, and I’ve only had positive interactions with the staff. However, there are serious issues that need to be addressed for the building to justify the prices they charge. Renewal rates have recently increased 20–30%, even though tenants still face daily construction noise, malfunctioning amenities, and worsening hygiene and safety concerns. Also—run from the south tower.

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🧼 Cleanliness & Maintenance: Severely Lacking • The south tower is filthy. My friend’s pet developed a rash from walking on the carpets, which are never cleaned or vacuumed. • Dog urine stains and odors linger in the lobby and elevators with no apparent cleaning or maintenance. • Water and trash are regularly tossed from balconies, as if basic hygiene and safety don’t apply. • Another friend developed respiratory issues due to mold in the ceiling after moving into the south tower.

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🔊 Noise & Disruption • Loud music blasts from multiple units with no consequences, despite quiet hours and noise rules. • Tenants play music at the pool, even though it’s prohibited, disrupting other residents’ peace. Staff does nothing—except in one case when a tenant attacked another at the pool, and security finally intervened to remove the aggressor, proving they can act but rarely do. • Daily construction noise continues nonstop, even as rent prices climb.

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🔧 Broken Amenities • Elevators are broken constantly in all towers—at least one elevator is always out of service. • The move-in elevator in the south tower has been “under renovation” for over six months. Large furniture doesn’t fit in the passenger elevators, and they still charge you a freight fee without disclosing this limitation or offering reimbursement. • The freight elevators are tiny, unreliable, and frequently inoperable. • Access points are broken regularly—residents get stuck outside due to malfunctioning bay doors, locked gates, and sidewalk exits that won’t open. • Water features are poorly maintained: • Flooded fountains • Hot tub loses heat after rain • North pool is overheated, while the south pool is under-heated

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🚨 Security: Good Staff, But Serious Blind Spots • The security team does their best, but there are major blind spots—from unmonitored public access points to problematic tenants—and management has not addressed these gaps beyond a single email after a major incident. • A man broke into multiple towers, held tenants at gunpoint, and attempted to abduct a resident who managed to escape through the garage. • A homeless individual lived on the property for weeks, entered units, used amenities, and harassed residents. Security failed to act until police were called—after multiple incidents and returns.

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🚭 Other Concerns • The building is labeled smoke-free, but tenants openly smoke in and around the property with no enforcement. • The pool was shut down after a toddler defecated in it—because the parent didn’t use a...

Happily had a bad experience within 15 minutes of arriving. I for one appreciate it because I would never give this place my money. Here’s why: I took an Uber from Brickell for 30 min just for the agent to start to show me units on the computer in the lobby at $500 more than they are posting online. Deceiving to say the least. Then fumbles when I confronted him about it. If I wanted to look at cell phone videos uploaded to a laptop I can do that myself before I get there which I did. And saved myself a lot of time and money. I showed up to view apartments. Not your laptop screen. Complete waste of my time. I’m actually insulted by his attitude and that’s pretty tough to do. He had a tone and approach as if he needed to screen me first before wasting time walking around with me. I feel like he honestly wasn’t interested in showing me anything. Agent attempts to belittle my budget for this apartment stating that some people pay $30,000 for apartments here. Nice. If you are spending $30,000/month to live here I invite you to learn how real estate works. I wouldn’t pay anything to live here regardless. But definitely would not pay what they are (apparently) asking considering what some of the other buildings in Miami offer. Everyone checking in to view apartments was either with a parent or said the appointment was in a parent's name. Younger crowd most with tattoos so if you are responsible adult and higher income this ain’t it chief. When I first arrived I got told by a woman and someone on the radio that leasing office was closed and it was impossible for me to view apartments at all today let alone 6pm. I called the number from the text thread but nobody answers when I’m trying to find where to go. And you can’t text them back directly. Nice. Automated system is super annoying and keeps asking the same questions that I already filled out online. Agents didn’t take time to review and they keep texting you all day asking “one more thing before our appointment”. Agent seemed annoyed that I wasn’t looking for 2BR (I have no idea where he got that from) when I filled out a form and replied to their online post about 1BR apt. I’ve been to 10+ buildings in Brickell, Wynwood, Edgewater etc and not once did I have this kind of experience with any other company. “Hypebeast” tenants, rude agent. Lots of terrible reviews regarding build, construction, ongoing maintenance, and staff. It’s a shame because the building looked really nice online. Although I will never know because we didn’t get further than the lobby before I left. I knew from the start this place wasn’t for me well before reading countless google reviews after I got home.

Like I said, happy to have the experience so I know not to move in there, just wish I could get my $40 Uber fare and an hour and a half of my time back. Literally don’t waste your time and read google reviews like I...