Nick A.
Yelp
I have struggled with this review because there are some aspects of the property that are great, and others that are just outright disappointing.
The property itself is a nicely renovated boutique hotel with a rooftop pool right in the heart of South Beach. The photos are tastefully displayed on all floors and in the lobby as well. It gives you a sense of history of the facility as well of South Beach over many decades with an emphasis on post war Miami.
I booked the room through Expedia and was happy with the price in relation to other properties that were just outrageous (Fountainbleau and W come to mind).
Many of the Art Deco properties are either in the midst of being upgraded or have been upgraded from what I could tell. The immediate area is busy 24/7 with a sprinkle of homelessness as an obvious concern.
I was contacted by the property via text by the concierge Edgar who I unfortunately never met (I wanted to thank him for his courtesy).
When I checked in which was after midnight Edgar ensured my Monday night, Tuesday morning check-in. Unfortunately, the person who did check me in just didn't live up to my customer service expectations.
First, my card key did not work and had to go back to the lobby which was irritating to say the least after about 7 hours of plane travel. Then my Internet did not work and her instructions were incorrect as well. She finally sent someone to my room to correct the situation.
By now I got to unpacking and the room was clean, but small and lacked a full-sized closet. In all my travels over the last twenty-five years I have never stayed in a room that lacked a standard closet. The closet was so small that I had to leave most of garments in my roller.
Second, there was no desk or table to place my laptop. That was equally nerving since I had to use my bed as a desk which to me was strange as well.
The I asked for an ironing board which was not full-size and again there was nowhere to actually iron. Again, the dimensions of the room could more then accommodate a real closet that included a full-size ironing board.
There was no tub and that was fine, but the room offered less then the bare amenities one would expect from a boutique property such as this.
There are no ice machines on the floor and when I called the front desk to find ice or get ice, the phone rang endlessly with no one picking up or traveling to a voice mail.
The overall layout of the property is strange in that you need to walk through a first floor restaurant which seemed interesting and to their credit they offered a twenty percent to guest to dine at the property.
The rooftop pool was small, but nice enough with chairs, towels and ice water readily available. The pool area accommodates about twenty people and they had a random waitress who took orders, but you needed to kind of find her.
Shockingly the drink poured into plastic cups were $15! This was during the day. Again, the cost once again exceeded the value.
On one of the few times I did approach the reservations desk the attendant was woefully overwhelmed and was frustrated by the volume of calls and inquiries to the point she was stand offish and a bit unprofessional.
What I will say is this is that South Bay is for the hip, attractive and young. I was attending a conference so I was required to stay in the immediate area off property for the event.
There were many young people from all over the world who seemed to enjoy themselves and I interacted with guests from Italy, Switzerland and a honeymoon couple from Ireland.
My mood was rapidly changed in the way my card key and Internet issues were handled and I don't think I recovered from the lack of interest in my issues by the desk.
The overall day staff seemed nice enough and I wish I had eaten at the restaurant where the help seemed professional and eager to please ( I did dine at Mr. Chow's which I'll review at a later date).
I will say this property is for single individuals under 35. That is the target and the secondary target is probably the international vacationer. I am pushing 60 so I didn't fit the demographic. Maybe that was part of the lack of appeal once inside the place.
I would not book again, but I would recommend to those in the target audience mentioned above. South Beach is hip, fun and cool; and I guess Gale South caters to that type of customer. I got the feeling with the exception of Edgar who I never met, they saw my stay as an irritant and not really welcome.
I'll return to South Beach, not at this property and will do a better job researching my options.
The overall way of which I was treated kind of put a damper on this stay.
I would not recommend, there seems to be a plethora of other options.