4/10 Rating
Other options on Espanola Way
OMG, what a nightmare. A.I. lodging may be the new way to stay in a hotel, but not for me. You arrive on Espanola Way, cute street no traffic allowed, restaurants within steps of hotel. You can't enter the hotel unless you have a door code which you will not get until they send the code to you via email. You check in on line. Not an easy process. You pay in full ahead, so they have captured you. Once you are checked in you get hotel and room entrance codes. That being said, we did not. We arrived early and were assured (written in an email confirmation) that there would be a person there to let us in, store our luggage and help with check in upon our arrivel which was just after noon. We were also told that no one at the hotel speaks English. The very nice man with integrity did his best to help. We only gained access to the hotel because one of the guests leaving took pity on us and let us in to be in the a/c and to try an iron out our arrival/check in problems. The lobby: basically you will want to turn around and run. It is just horrible and very dirty. No elevator (not mentioned on web-site). We were 3 older woman traveling. Staircase reminds you of the emergency stairwell in a 60 year old building (which is what it was). The room was cheaply decorated, nicks on everything, but clean. No toiletries except hand soap and cream. We were not the only frustrated guests. Guests were arriving and just threw their hands up in the air and left. Oh, the "library/sitting area" was a joke. There were other A.I. hotels near by that were much nice looking. Our room was less expensive than a full service hotel in the area, but at least make the hotel desirable to stay in. It was like staying in a hostel at $400.00 per night. Oh, they charge you a $30.00 non refundable security deposit on top of the room and tax, or put a $250.00 hold on your credit card/debit card for a security deposit. For Miami Beach, there are other places that are soooooooo much better that I would stay at. Unfortunately, we made a hotel change at the last minute and chose this one based on location.