The staff was absolutely wonderful! Very pleasant and courteous. The room wasn't great, but it was clean. The neighborhood in which it is placed still needs help cleaning up, but the people were friendly.

I stayed with my two daughters one night in this hotel in April. I would not book this hotel again for one reason: next to the hotel is a nightclub. I woke up in the middle of the night from music especially from the low tones (bass) of a very heavy music installation. The next day the receptionist told me that the music was of the nightclub next door and that the music was there every night! I was lucky because I had a room at the fith floor at the other side because if you had a room low in the building at the wrong side the music was much louder the receptionist told me....
I stayed 3 days at the Hilton Vacation Club at Ocean Drive at 5 minutes from this hotel and there it was very quiet.

First, of all my friend and I wanted to experience Miami and a 5 star hotel ranked low because we didn't plan to be in our rooms (we weren't) except to sleep but we did want a nice comfortable hotel. No roach motels. Our priorities when booking a hotel in Miami was to be in walking distance to everything for a reasonable price. We found it at the Marriott.

Lobby

I reviewed all the travel websites and read numerous customer reviews and read a few bad reviews so I was a little worried that the room would be a little crummy, old and dirty. Well first, upon arrival, Stephanie (I believe) was so polite and nice as she greeted my friend and I. The lobby was super clean and everything looked fine. We received our keys quickly and went to our room.

Room

The hotel is a standard hotel which means it's clean and has your basic amenities. The room was average and I think the pictures shown by other guests are accurate. The room was clean and I was slightly relieved that the room was actually nice. No view but who comes to Miami to look out the room window? Plus we were on the 2nd floor and I'm absolutely certain that if we had asked, they would've moved us. No big deal. The only complaint I have is that there isn't a refridgerator.

Rooftop Pool

The pool was nice, only 4ft deep at it's deepest but it was more of a lounge pool and they had music playing and potted palms surrounded the pool. The view from the roof was neat and you could see the ocean in the distance. It was nice. Went up there to cool off from the hot sun. It was clean.

Employees

The absolute best part about this hotel was the employees. When I get a chance, I'd love to let Courtyard regional manager know that the employees, Stephanie & Diego, that they have at this location are SO polite and SO courteous and went out of their way to meet and EXCEED our needs. They gave passes to the venues we were interested in visiting, they had information on any activity we were interested in participating in. The concierge was GREAT! I wish I remembered that guys name cause we sat and talked to him every day and he gave us tons of info about Miami regarding what we were interested in. I am just so pleased to receive 5 star service from a standard hotel. LOVED the employees.

Location

We walked 2 blocks to Lincoln Rd and all the shopping and then we walked about 5-7 blocks down to Ocean Dr and all the restaurants and lounges they had down there. Beach was 2 blocks away. Everything was close which was great. We did take a cab to a few venues but even taking a trip to several spots (we couldn't decide where we wanted to go), the fare was still $13. Everything was close enough for a reasonable cab fare.

Overall, the hotel employees really upgraded this hotel. The rooms are average and clean and the shower pressure was great. The employees were so professional and sweet. We even had to check out late and since our flight was at 6:20, they let us keep our luggage at the hotel while we wandered around for the last few hours and when we returned they armed us with water, hailed a cab for us to airport, walked us to the door (the desk manager and concierge) and watched us ride off. I would recommend this hotel to all that want to enjoy Miami at a nice hotel within walking distance to everything.

Location:

Absolutely the best part of this Hotel is the location. And of course you can't beat that. Yes it's across the street from a strip club, and yes it's adjacent to another exclusive (maybe seedy) nightclub, and yes there maybe some homeless on the streets, but during the day-light hours you would never know it. It's two blocks from Lincoln avenue where great restaurants and shopping exist. It's about one block from CVS and other handy dandy needs stores and only about two blocks from the beautful beach. Don't rent a car because there's nowhere to park anyway and buses and taxis are convenient.

Price/Value:

Quite pricey for what you actually get. Put this hotel in Orlando or Tampa or the Carribean and it is rediculously overpriced. For the same price you get so much more hotel in those locations. Remember however, this is Miami Beach. There is nothing down here that is inexpensive or affordable for the average traveler. You can get more trendy, a better breakfast, or larger rooms with flat screen tv's for about $400 or $500 a night. But for Miami Beach this is quite a decent price ($150 to $300) for a mid level hotel.

Hotel:

The hotel is a worn building that was recently updated or renovated to meet the decor standards of the Sobe area. The lobby is very small but nicely decorated with that art deco style travelers expect. Once you pass the lobby things start going down hill fast. The two sometimes functioning elevators are slow and very dated, and better pose as freight elevators in a better facility.

The rooms are very small. I was traveling alone and I realize my king size room with no couch is smaller than my childrens rooms in our house. The bed is decorated nicely with clean sheets and linen and at the foot of the bed is barely enough room for the armoire to store cloths and luggage. Next to that is a small table with a small tube TV (I guess 27") with poor reception and few channels. Good news is that internet service is free in the room.

Pool:

The pool is located on the roof. I have been up there many times and have never seen more than 4 people at a time. If you like that solitary feeling then this is good. I was looking more for a social fun atmosphere and that it is not. Most times there's nothing going on and nothing to see except tops of other roofs. The pool itself is nothing to right home about and certainly not inviting.

Service:

Front desk service is of course excellent for smiles and answering questions and being just helpful. The breakfast buffet is average with warm good food around 7am but if you arrive 8am or later don't expect the area to be clean or stay restocked with warm fresh food. There are fresh water bottles everywhere and in your room. If you open one of them be prepared to be charges $2.50 for that water. Sometimes in the middle of the day they will put out complimentary lemonade with tiny cone shaped paper cups to sample a taste. How nice.

The exercise room is in the basement and like most hotels have old and out dated equipment. No treadmills or cardio machines. Just an old universal weight machine sold in the Sears catalogs from the 1970's.


Overall it's not the best deal in the world, but to save a little money and have a nice location this is as good as you'll get in South Beach. Cheers!