More about Shelborne Beach Resort
SunSpot Rentals Miami Bargain of the Year!!
by rickfromNYC about SunSpot Miami Rentals at the Shelborne Hotel
Location, Location, Location. Walk out the back door and your on the beach. Walk out the front door and you have nighclubs, resturants and shopping all within a short walk. We booked through Sunspot Rentals and got a room with an OceanView for $120 a night. This while the hotels all around it were charging $400 a night.. It's not a super luxury Hotel and the food at the resturant was just ok. The Staff was friendly, the room was really nice with modern furniture, comfy bed for my bad back and a 360 Degree view of the beach and the Ocean.. I actually booked the room after seeing a video of it on youtube. It was just like the video. For the money I'm saving I'll be coming to Miami more often this coming year and will defintely book at the Shelborne Again. Great View, Great Pool, Unbeatable Location and great Price.
Worst hotel experience of my life
by A TripAdvisor Member
This hotel is falsely advertised on the Internet. For a $200 night room, it was more like a $50 dirty motor lodge room and Marcello at the desk was a condescending snot. After driving for 2 days we arrived at the hotel to a beautiful lobby. We were excited then we're taken up to our room where it STUNK simply because the air conditioning had been leaking in the closet and water had probably been soaking into the rug for weeks. We nicely expressed our disappointment with our room and we received NO APOLOGY, No INTEREST IN rectifying the leaking and then were shoved into another room that seemed well OKAY at first.
We took showers and figured we'd get some food and decide what we we're going to do. We were FAR from satisfied. As we sat there we noticed the following.....a backup in the sink (in a bathroom so small you couldn't even move) stains on the curtains, dirty hair on the floors, stains on the sheets, a fridge that didn't even get cold, a balcony where you couldn't hear the waves over the LOUD FAN that was below. The room was foul, we were disgusted and annoyed.
We went down to ask the manager if there was anything better he could offer us. While we stood there complaining and rightfully so, another woman came down and said "I'm not staying here, the room is disgusting" and another couple came down and wanted out as well. The man at the desk (Marcello) gave us no apology whatsoever, was the rudest person I'd ever come across..we said we were leaving and to cancel our reservation and he said he would have to charge us for the night EVEN THOUGH WE NEVER SLEPT THERE!!! I'm disputing the $200 charge (for nothing but aggravation and rudeness) with my credit card company....
but most importantly I wanted to make sure if I could help make anyone's vacation to South Beach more pleasurable I would let them know the Shelborne Beach Resort is THE WORST EVER!
We ended up spending a little more money and went over to The Raleigh Hotel and what a great choice we made. It was worth every penny, the staff was amazing, and we were just glad it happened because had we stayed at the Shelborne it would've ruined out entire trip.
Whatever you do, never stay at this DUMP.
What A Dump!
by A TripAdvisor Member
We rented directly from the Shelborne Hotel a room for four nights. The lobby is pretty. However, the hallways and the hotel rooms are in bad shape. The carpet is old and frayed. Paint is chipped and plaster is peeling. The restaurant is more closed than open. The gym is dusty and serves as a cemetery for old, unwanted equipment. The pool area is pretty and you are steps away from the beach. However, all their towels are cheap and thin and you cannot take them with you to the beach. We would not stay at the Shelborne again, and would recommend that travelers avoid it at all costs.
Not up to par... at all
by TripAdvisor Member H408M
Our vist to the Shelborne was nowhere near what their website described. No Aveda bath products, no terry robes, not at all what we expected. Our room was OK, recently updated but we got lucky. Other rooms (we were traveling with friends) are no where near current - smelly, old green carpet, beat-up decor. They did relocate our friends to a "better" room but we were still disappointed overall. Pool chairs are rickety, the lobby is quite dark, shower water temp kept changing drastically. You have to pay for beach chair rental, where some other hotels provide them free. Now we know why the internet rates were so attractive...
Great spring break stay
by TripAdvisor Member ConShark
I discovered a room at the Shelbourne through a Miami/SoBe craigslist site of available sublets and rentals. We were able to secure a 3 day stay at a room in the Shelborne. The rate was very reasonable, especially since the rates of surrounding hotels and condos was much more expensive. The room was very comfortable and clean, with just enough room to accomodate me and my friends. The staff at the hotel was very accomodating to our needs and very helpful. We liked the fact that the hotel was in close proximity to the beach (the hotel lies right on it) and also within walking distance to Lincoln Road shopping area and many restaurants, shops, bars and only a short cab ride from clubs. The area is very vibrant and alive, especially at night, so we were never bored. Overall, we will not hesitate to stay at the Shelbourne on our next trip to Miami.
Avoid at all costs
by A TripAdvisor Member
I booked 30 rooms for a trade show in town. The overall experience has been horrible. The staff was very scarce and rather unfriendly. Wait time for breakfeast was 45 min in some cases.
Rooms were old, dirty : paint peeling, smell of humidity and mold, outdated baths, etc.
The ceiling of one room opened up and flooded the whole room during a rain storm, mainy hallways leaked water. One laptop was stolen during the stay.
One of the staff commented that the owner of this hotel is not willing to spend a dime on renovations and intends to milk this hotel as much as possible. Many art deco hotels in South Beach have invested in renovations : go there, they charge the same and the experience is better.
Do yourself a favor and skip the Shelborne.
Not very good!
by A TripAdvisor Member
We've just come back from a tour of America and Miami was our first stop. We were very excited about our stay there and in spite of the bad reviews we had read about this hotel, we were looking forward to it, thinking it couldn't be that bad. Well, it was actually worse than we could have imagined. Our room, which had an amazing ocean view, was smelly and uncomfortable. The carpet was dirty, the shower was dodgy, the A/C noisy, the windows were broken. Also, the onsite restaurant wasn't very good - apart from breakfast.
On our last night (we couldn't wait to leave), there were some extremely strong winds in South Beach and because we had broken windows, the noise of the wind through the gaps was unbearable. My husband had to get up 3 times in the middle of the night to fill the gaps in the windows with toilet paper (!) to stop that horrendous noise. And it worked, which was a relief but what a long suffering.
To say something positive about the Shelborne I would say that the staff was friendly and they went out of their way to help us out with a few problems we had. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough for us to enjoy our stay. I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone.
Stay away from this place
by TripAdvisor Member PhlipDowt
These people SCREWED me big time. I had cruise booked to leave on 2/27, and i was supposed to stay here for the winter music conference on 3/5 when i returned from my cruise. Well, i get a call from them on 2/23 saying they dont have a room available and they have another hotel for me 20 blocks away and also far from the beach. They gave me three days to find a decent hotel for a weekend that is booked solid. Now i am stuck a hotel that got bad reviews on here but it was either that or the airport.These people do not know how to run a business.
Forum Posts
Where to go when traveling alone?
by CAGuyInNY
I'll be in South Beach on Wednesday, Dec 28th - have a one-day layover before going on to the Club Med at Turks & Caicos. I was supposed to be going to CM Cancun right after Christmas, but thanks to Hurricane Wilma, it's closed and I got rebooked to T&C, but two days later. So rather than sit in Tampa while my brother is working, I decided to hop to Miami for a day - my flight for T&C leaves from there, so why not?
Anyway, the practical upshot is that I'll be in South Beach alone for a night looking for someplace fun to hang for the evening. Any suggestions for someplace particularly good for the solo traveler, especially someone a little older than the typical SoBe partier? (I'm in my early 40s, but can pass for mid-30s.) Thanks!
RE: Where to go when traveling alone?
by CTnightowl
I met lots of great people at teh Clevelander. Its a tourist bar but you cannot beat the location and there are lots of people traveling solo there. South Beach rocks- any bar or club down there is a blast
RE: Where to go when traveling alone?
by RichBeau
You'll just have to wing it a bit but as a guy you'll be pretty safe in South Beach by yourself. I've travel pretty much anything below 23rd Street without any problems at any hour (often I'm carrying some pretty nice camera equipment).
I don't know what your willing to pay for a single night but the higher priced hotels have very good benefits like the using the concierge to get you into some pretty good clubs. Though I've had the concierge at the Best Western wrangle some pretty good privileges pass the ropes. There are a gazillion clubs, with Cro-Bar and Mansion being very popular, though there's talk about Shine at the Shelborne Hotel (but again use the concierge they really can help).
The Clevelander on Ocean Drive is full of young men having a party listening to their parents music from the 70s. Generally the women are outnumbered 10 to 1 at the bar. It's very loud. There are much better places.
If you're looking for a good place to eat and relax with a good glass of wine here's some tips for eating in South Beach...
All of the South Beach restaurants are expensive. On Ocean Drive you are not paying a premium for service, or even for food, but for ambiance - pick a good spot.
Restaurants employ greeters who can be aggressive. Stick to your guns and don't let anyone in hot pants talk you into anything.
Small menus are better than big ones, because they allow the chef to concentrate on a few good dishes, or at least a single genre.
When in doubt, order local fish.
Remember the gratuity (aka tip) is usually included in the bill and can be from 15% to over 20%. Check before you pay.
If you've got specific questions, ask away.
--Rich Beaubien
Discovering South Beach Deco
www.domanipress.com
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