The room was large but looked sparse as it was all white and with no decoration/artwork. The room was dusty and appeared not to have been vacuumed. When we checked in there was no bin, flickering lights (we ended up taking out a lightbulb as one of the light fittings was faulty) and the safe wouldn't work due to low battery - but the reception staff were helpful and did resolve requests to fix, but felt like there were no checks done to ensure the room was ready.
The location was great for getting across to Miami Beach and exploring areas around Downtown, but it was extremely noisy with a very busy road, meaning the balcony was fairly pointless, and there was noise from neighbouring rooms.
We went for the inclusive breakfast offering which was truly miserable - staff were very unfriendly, and it was made very clear it was one offering from the set menu, and with either a coffee or orange juice - my partner asked for a tea instead and was charged over $6, as it wasn't part of the set offering. Only cooked food was offered, as the hotel no longer does pastries (and so that menu option is no longer available). Coffee was lukewarm and weak, served from a large dispenser, but refills were not available, and even asking for some water was clearly an inconvenience. The room had MDF panelling, badly painted black, and with fake flowers on the table - there were few diners and the room felt funerial - the library next door had far more charm. Breakfast required a voucher - we were given 1 voucher for the 4 dates and then shouted at by the breakfast staff as apparently each day needed a new voucher, which we hadn't been given - it got resolved, but was a further headache and felt like bootcamp, and not comfortable or relaxing.
Our room was not cleaned or replenished for 2 days - on enquiring we were told the do not disturb sign had been left up and the cleaner had tried to access 3 times (simply not true), and was made to feel like it was our fault. However, at check out, and without us requesting it, the hotel had reduced the $40 daily resort fee to reflect the lack of cleaning, which was a (rare) kind gesture.
We also left our bags on our last day - on returning, I asked if there was a washroom I could use - 'no' was the initial answer from the receptionist, but then the second receptionist jumped in and said we could of course use the toilets on the third floor. This reflected the overall service which was inconsistent, and felt like guests were an inconvenience - and even when we left and said goodbye, we just got ignored.
The hotel just felt like it was lacking any love - the majority of the building is private apartments, and the separate entrance and service for this seemed far better quality than for the hotel. Three of the reception staff were very friendly, but other staff seemed very unhappy, and there were varying levels of staffing (especially earlier in the week, there seemed to be only a skeleton staff) - it feels like better management is needed to help the staff feel valued and motivated.
