Jhon C.
Yelp
I stayed at this hotel during Florida SuperCon weekend here on Miami Beach at the MB Convention Center. (NOTE: Don't get the 4th floor room facing the other hotel next door. You won't be able to keep your curtains open since the other hotel's pool is at the same level as your room. So I had to keep the curtains closed at night.) I liked this hotel, but bottom line, they need security at night.
Pros:
- A block away from the beach, you can go the Lowe's (which is across the street of Collins Ave.) and use their private beach area. Its included in your hotel stay, but the front desk never told me just the door man who was extremely helpful and friendly. (NOTE: Front desk staff was helpful and friendly too but it would have been nice if they told me a small brief on all the amenities to my hotel stay.)
- Modern and chic. My room was huge and had a great view of Collins Avenue. Furniture was stylish and so were the fixtures. Awesome views of the beach and city.
- Hotel bicycles. Great to ride around town. They are located in the hotel lobby which is on the 3rd floor.
- Pool is very nice! But its open from 8am to 8pm. Too bad it aint open till 10pm because its so cool at night with the blue lights on.
- Bar. There is a nice small bar across the street from the hotel. I highly recommend. Cheap drinks and good atmosphere. (NOTE: I never tried the food or drinks at the bar inside the hotel.)
- Staff. They were friendly and professional especially housekeeping. They cleaned up my room n gave me extra towels.
- Small refrigerator. Its very small for drinks only but not much.
Cons:
- Bad entrance. Its a side entrance, and it is actually on 16th street and NOT...again NOT on Collins Ave even though the official hotel address is 1600 Collins. There is hardly any space except for 1 car spot in front, but there is a very small hotel parking garage for guests using valet. The door guy/valet is NOT there at night at all so good luck. Too bad they don't have a person on duty at night. There is only 1 guy and I think his hours are from 9am to 7pm. The entrance is so small and is extremely filthy at night. Each morning I would see tons of trash outside the outside doors.
- Parking. There is NO hotel parking at all. There are two huge city parking lots, one across the street and the other next to it, for about $20 a night.
- Traffic. There is so much traffic on the weekends on 16th street especially during the weekend nights. So if you are coming at night, then be prepared to double park and watch your car when you unload your luggage. In the daytime, its not bad especially since the door guy/valet will be there to help you.
- Marijuana. I could smell marijuana here and there at this hotel especially some hotel guests smoking outside of the front entrance which is so small and others just smoking inside their hotel rooms and I can smell it in the hallway.
- Street crime. I am a Miami Beach resident, and Collins Avenue is a shady area these days with some homeless and sketchy folks walking outside the hotel on Collins Avenue. I saw some street prostitutes walking up and down Collins Avenue by the hotel too. So be careful when walking on Collins Avenue and Washington Ave.
- Security. There is no security at night by the front side entrance. None that I saw at all. It would be nice. I stayed from Friday to Sunday, and on Friday and Saturday nights, I didn't see any security at all or anyone wearing a security shirt at all. At 10pm, the front door closes and you must use your room key. Thankfully, I didn't lose it because I read the horror stories here. But while I was waiting for food both nights, I noticed some shady people around the front entrance and I don't know if they were hotel guests but they could come inside the lobby area of the 1st floor and could follow a guest into the elevator. BTW, if you don't have a room key the elevator will let you go the 3rd floor (which is the front desk) with no room key.
- Room. Even though the room was big and modern. It wasn't useable like a typical room. Not enough wall outlets for chargers. At my bed, my girlfriend didn't have any outlets on her side of the bed but I had outlets on my side. Otherwise, the next outlet was in the bathroom. The modern bathroom shower is like in the middle of the room but its NOT see-thru at all. Its somewhat close to the bed, so it would be awkward if you were showering and your friend and you just know they're showing next to you. There is not enough room on the bathroom sink counter. Its very small, my girlfriend and I had so much toiletries between us that we didn't have room on the counter. The counter cabinet can't hold too many towels too so make sure to contact housekeeping for more towels. Plus not enough towel racks to hang your towels again except one in the toilet area n on the shower door. (NOTE: we had a king size bed in my room so maybe there are extra towel racks in the rooms with 2 beds.) The wall wardrobe cabinet was tiny