Hotel Ocean

Good location

Great location! We stayed in the front with a view of Oceab driver / ocean view. Bathroom was pretty big size with double vanities! Big shower and had a bathtub. Room itself was also big more than enough space for luggage.

They did not have a scale that we could use for our luggage. Was very disappointed as to we have to repack our bags at the airport. We have traveled quite a bit and it’s the first time we experienced no scale. Staff barely spoke a word of English. Which in other countries all good but we were in the US so we expect to be able to speak and communicate. The front desk help staff where very relaxed did help with any issues we had (except for the scale did not even try and accommodate us).

Room size, bed and location

Staff not so helpful. A bit noisy with restaurant area late at night.

The location is the hotel’s strongest point. It is central to everything South Beach has to offer and sits directly across from the beach on Ocean Drive. The hotel also provides towels and beach chairs, which makes spending the day on the sand easy and convenient. Parking was also manageable. There is a parking deck about a block away that charges $20 for 24 hours, so we were able to avoid paying for valet. The bathroom was spacious and included both a shower and a tub, which was a nice feature.

The photos made this hotel look much better than it felt in person. The decor was underwhelming: mostly white, dated, and lackluster rather than fresh or stylish. Our room also had very little natural light, which made it feel even less inviting. There were several issues with the room itself. The bathroom water never really heated past lukewarm. The safe was missing. The sheets were stained, and there were black dots on the bed that were definitely not grains of sand. That was especially unpleasant because the hotel has a notice warning guests that staining the sheets can result in an extra charge. Another thing I noticed immediately was the strong bleach-like smell when entering the hotel and elevator. I understand that cleaning products have a scent, but this was more hospital-like than fresh and was off-putting. I did bring these issues up with the front desk the following day. To be fair, I do think they would have tried to correct the missing safe and sheet situation if I had stayed longer. Unfortunately, my stay was cut short by one day because of illness. We vacated the room before checkout time, but the hotel did not refund the unused night. Also worth mentioning: Kanoli Italian Restaurant, located in the hotel courtyard, was a mistake. It is not associated with the hotel, but it is right there on the property. The Italian food was very poor, especially given the outrageous prices. Cocktails were around $26 and absolutely not worth it. Overall, the experience did not match the photos or the price point.