The Meridian Hotel

I'm usually pretty good with taking photos right when I check into my room, but when you're rushing to a 5:30 pm reservation across town and your room that should've been ready by 4pm is given to you at 4:40pm, let me know what you would do. A great thing about Meridian is that like many hotels, they will hold your luggage for you while you explore the area. Then you can come back at check-in time and be on your way to your room. In this case, the receptionist (which it wasn't his fault) kept calling to see if our room was ready every 5 minutes knowing that we were rushing to get to our reservation. Aside from the initial headache of check in, the room smelled nice and everything was clean. There were some minor kinks like the sink clogging a little bit and the shampoo and conditioner being pretty bad quality (really the one time I tried trusting hotel amenities and it bit me in the butt). My hair is generally not hard to deal with, but the conditioner that was provided did nothing for my hair. Additionally, the bed and pillows were way too soft and not my favorite. And very rarely, we heard some of our neighbors talking in the morning while we were in our room. I guess the walls are pretty thin. Housekeeping is only provided if you ask for it and we didn't feel the need to call since we were only staying a few days. The pool, which we didn't care to use even before we got to the hotel, was small and more for wading than it is for swimming. Aside from that, the staff at the hotel are nice and friendly. The hotel itself is also sleek and modern. One of the best things about this hotel is that it's further away from the busy club scene so it's not as loud as some hotels that are closer to Ocean Drive. This hotel is also across the street from a very good vegan breakfast spot which is great. The hotel is also close enough so that we can walk or bike to the busy parts of South Beach. Overall, Meridian is a great mid tier option because of the price and convenience. I just wished their beds were just a little more firm.

Let's start with the reservation, I initially was booking on hotels.com but the. I went to check if the director booking rates were cheaper, well immediately a pop up states if I book direct I'll receive the best rate, early check in, late 1pm check out and upgrade upon arrival ...all if available. So I immediately book directly. I book and you have to prepay the whole thing in advance which I'm quotes about $425. Ok cool, not bad for 4 days/3 nights. Then I get I get sent a copy of my bill which now states I still owe another $100 now. Hmmmmm ok. So apparently my initial quote wasn't the full price. Problem #1. Then 2 days before my arrival I get an email/text that fixes me the ability to upgrade my room, or book an early check in ALL FOR ADDITIONAL MONEY! But I thought booking direct gave me the possibility of these things complimentary. I see a room with a balcony for just $35/night additional. Ok cool. I book the room with the balcony cause I like to people watch or eat on the balcony. I don't book the early check in because I know they aren't sold out, so an early check in should be fine. I get to the hotel around 10:30am to check in and Luis asks me if I wanted to pay to check in early and I remind him that on his own company website it says early check in, late check out, upgrade all available if I booked direct....i remind him if its available for me to pay it then it IS in fact available, right?!? (Deductive reasoning). He shook his head in agreement. He reminds me of the balance plus the $35/upgrade. I'm good with that. He tells me how much he's holding on my cc for the stay and gives me my room keys. I get to the room I'm underwhelmed immediately. My initial room showed carpet on the floor, this one did not. There is NO closet nor dresser for my clothes. It's an IKEA type portable closet with 4 drawers on the bottom. I opened the curtains to check out this balcony and it's a high wall I'm looking at. I can't see a thing. In order to see ANYTHING I've gotta stand up and look over 1 side of the wall. There are wooden dividers on each side that separates each room. The Queen size bed is 2 twins put together. Now I also requested housekeeping for 2 days, they NEVER came. The location is good, no loud noise (except the arguing couple next door). It's 4 blocks from the beach and lots of places to eat nearby as well as cute shopping spots (CVS, TGIFridays)

The hotel receptionist guy was super friendly!! Location was really good as well it's close to a lot of places therefore walking was perfect! But when we asked for housekeeping they did not come and we asked the guy who wrote down our room number to also bring some new towels and he never came we were there for 4 days and no housekeeping. There was also no microwave! Do not let these pool pictures fool you! It's very small & 3 ft only and was also dirty! They charge you about $400 that will be refunded but it's ridiculous they automatically charge you $160 to ride their bikes and to have 2 beach beds in the beach that DOES NOT include an umbrella it's an additional $20 you have to pay and for some beach towels. People should not be forced to pay that amount for stuff they did not intend to use.

Great stay. Easy check in process which I was able to complete online beforehand and just grab a key when I made it to the hotel. Good location just far enough away from Ocean Dr where you didn't have to listen to excessive noise all night long. But within walking distance to everything. I wish they would give you more towels and toilet paper but not bad. I enjoyed sitting on the balcony and relaxing. I liked that there was a little cafe downstairs for the mornings and bar for a drink at night if you wanted. I'd look into booking again next time I'm in Miami.

Perhaps I romanticized this hotel from my few stays pre-COVID. I enjoyed my experience some time ago but not this time, unfortunately. A few occurrences: 1) Our initial room 322 had a pungent smell of mold and mildew upon entering the room. Over the bed, the ceiling corner appeared to have signs of water damage and mold. We requested another room, which was a downgrade from the initial room we paid for. We were not reimbursed for the downgrade, nor were we upgraded for the inconvenience. 2) We requested housekeeping services multiple times, and they did not arrive until the night before our departure, and even then, the room was not fully refreshed (bed remained unmade, etc) 3) The rooms are very sparse, minimal furniture with no closet or mirror (except for the bathroom), offering no ironing board or typical amenities for a hotel room. 4) You have to ask for ice for the ice bucket; it is not readily accessible, and there are no snacks or drinks available. Few pros: 1) The hotel offers beach towels and guaranteed beach chair reservations 2) Bicycles are offered 3) The staff tries to be accommodating, even if very little. Would I return? I would not given the amount I paid for just the bare minimum, and lack of service and responsiveness.

The majority of the workers were nice and friendly. Some were not but everyone is entitled to bad days I guess. The room was not ready when we arrived but they kept our luggage and put it in our room when it was ready. The hotel had a nice pool but it was reserved the majority of the stay but it was nice the days we were in it. They also reserved some beach chairs for us at the beach so we didn't have to worry about renting them they were included in our stay. They also had their own electric bikes that you could rent and they were free for 2 hours before you had to pay for them. I wish they provided us with more towels. It was hard getting more towels for our room. They were a little stingy with the towels. I also wish that breakfest was included in the stay because it was pricey trying to order breakfast daily, but when we had breakfast and food there it was really good.So we got some breakfest items from a grocery store. I loved the Mini Bar attached the hotel. It was always a fun time and such a blast. It was noisy on the nights we didn't go but it was expected for the bar being attached to the hotel, so we didn't mind. Our room was pretty sound proof for the most part. Lastly they provided parking down the street that you had to pay for separately but we were still able to park our rental. All in all, the stay was pleasant.

Super dirty small room. Only 1 towel. Cool place and vibe but unfortunately the cleanliness of it is lacking badly.

Luis got us in smoothly. Didn't have to wait long at all. Rooms were very clean and taken care. Bathroom also was nice. We didn't get a chance to get in the pool but it was very nice.

My stay at this hotel was truly outstanding, thanks in large part to the exceptional leadership and management skills of the hotel manager Federica. Their warm welcome, attention to detail, and commitment to guest satisfaction made my stay memorable and enjoyable. I would not hesitate to return to this hotel in the future, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a fantastic hotel experience in Miami Beach. Thank you to the manager Federica again! and the entire hotel staff for making my stay so wonderful :)

Absolutely horrible experience! We stayed in a room that was extremely humid and made everything very damp and basically wet. The room had a bunch of stains and the pool was gross. We stayed in room 318 and there was a connecting door to our room that slammed shut everytime someone opened it. We stayed 4 nights and every night we were unable to fall asleep. And that's just because of the door slamming. On top of that the walls are extremely thin and you can hear the downstairs bar until 3-4 am in the morning. It's unacceptable that we paid for 4 nights of being kept up and unable to sleep at all! On top of staying in a room that was gross, we couldn't even enjoy the amenities like the pool because it wasn't clean. To make things even more frustrating I was lied to that I could reach out to a certain email to discuss my frustrations and I have been ghosted! I sent them multiple emails and no response. They want to seem like they care about concerns and complaints but they do not!! Waste of money.