My disadvantage in writing this review is that I have not stayed in other comparable hotels in this same area, so I can only comment on this one experience. I had researched multiple options before the trip and this place seemed to be one of the better options in terms of price, location, and space. None of the similar hotels in this area offered an included breakfast, and (I'm guessing) all of them probably only have valet parking. With that said, let's begin.
The hotel is located in the North Beach section of Miami Beach. It is about 5 - 6 miles from South Beach. The drive in between can be bad depending on time of day, etc. There is some trolley system that you can ride for free to access other part of Miami Beach, but you may have to take 2 different ones to get where you want to go. My advice is to stay close to what you are mostly interested in. We ended up walking to dinner all 3 evenings we were here. There is a Starbuck's adjacent to the lobby, also.
First the good points.
- Beach access from the hotel is across the street, about 100 yards south and 100 yards east. The beach is open to the public, but most of the access is taken up by hotels and condos. Hence, you can only access the beach every block or 2. Here it was easy. It was great to take a walk on the beach around sunrise. We also had a (restricted) view of the beach from our east-facing room. The view was limited between 2 other high rise buildings but we were able to watch the sunrise in that gap.
- General conditions: the hotel seems relatively new, clean, and well-maintained. The room was relatively spacious. The queen bed was a bit small. I wasn't a huge fan of the pillows, but they were serviceable. The room had a toaster oven, a microwave, a sink, a dishwasher, some cups / plates / silverware, and a dorm-type refrigerator. We were able to fix simple breakfasts for ourselves each day in lieu of some on-site buffet. It was a comfortable room, generally.
Now the potential issues:
- Traffic in this area in the evening is terrible. The street where the hotel is located is a 3-lane major road and is one-way. It is solid with cars (but moving) from after 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. It makes driving longer distances for dinner, etc. something you may want to avoid. In the morning, traffic wasn't bad.
- Noise: there was a lot of street noise until around 8 p.m., after which it quieted down (mostly). The rooms were decent for noise, but we did end up hearing the adjoining room mostly through the door that was between the rooms (i.e., the walls were better soundproofed than that door). But this wasn't a big issue. There was construction going on (renovation) at some nearby high-rise buildings, and this tended to start by around 6:30 a.m. Given the constraints, this wasn't a big problem for us, but be aware. My assumption is that this area was likely quieter than South Beach, though.
- Valet parking: I have nothing against the people who park cars, but on the whole I'd prefer to park it myself. Also, I don't think the hotel made it clear in advance that you had no choice in this, and it cost $40 per night. That said, given the cramped building sites, I understand why this is the case and I assume every hotel here has the same restrictions. I'd like to have been better informed about it up front, though.
My only advice would be to ensure that (if you have a push-to-start vehicle) that you double-check on the key status before leaving the hotel. Do not assume it is in the cup holder. Enough said.
I do not regret staying here. If I returned in a couple of months, I might explore other options just to have a point of comparison. This could be the best value in accommodations in the area, though. You could do a lot worse than this, certainly. read more