8/10 Very good
Very good deal for a very decent, if small room in a good, convenient location in South Beach. Basically clean. What you should know: This is one of those virtual hotels where you communicate over email, text, sometimes a phonecall that goes to some place in California. The people you do meet, maybe once while you're there, don't speak English. Location is not easy to find, especially in a major rainstorm, which we had to deal with. If you don't like this virtual stuff and prefer interacting with people, you'll have problems with this hotel. Espanola Way is pretty but LOUD LOUD LOUD. We had a room in the courtyard so it didn't bother us. Most rooms give you no control over temperature, so if one of you is cold or hot sensitive you can tell them, but they'll only make minor adjustments as they control temperature for several rooms at a time. The hot water takes a long time to come on and is not that hot, though it's kind of hot enough. Security is iffy. Access is through two combination locks, one for all the gates and one for your room. Obviously everyone who has stayed there recently knows the gate combination and perhaps someone from the outside has seen the combination as it's entered. You'll likely have trouble at first because inputting the combination is a multistep process that is not obvious. Valet parking is $45 per night, though you can park at a municipal lot a 5-minute walk away on 16th Street between Washington and Collins Aves for $20 a night/day. Just be careful to use the right lot because the first night I got rooked by a lot on 16th between Drexel and Washington that said "Public Parking," but was a private lot that charged me $85. Great con. All that said, it basically worked for us despite all the minor annoyances and it will probably work for most people. But if you want a classic hotel experience you won't get it here.