This property is one of the older properties on Collins Avenue but it was fine to rest your head. It's all about perspective because if the room I had were somewhere in Europe then we would say it has "old world" charm, if it were in New York City then we would say it has a "loft like chicness" to it. But because it is in South Beach and right across the street from the newer and fancier high rise hotels then most people would label it a dump. In my opinion overall the hotel had a 50's/modern look to it and my room was huge with 2 double beds, walk in closet, large eating/lounging area, adequate bathroom with adjacent dressing room. Some may not like the concrete floors but it keeps the room cool AND multi-million dollar lofts in New York City have original concrete flooring and is very chic to some. The continental breakfast was pretty good with coffee, tea, juice, bagels, cereal, muffins, croissants, and oatmeal. Would I stay there again? ABSOLUTELY! The location was great with the beach across the street, Lincoln Road mall about a 5 minute walk, and fantastic restaurants all within walking distance.

I do not think I could ever express sufficiently the horrific experience my friend and I had at this establishment. I live about 30 minutes from Miami Beach but having friends in town it's often convenient to stay at a hotel for one night after going out on the town. I booked this hotel through a corporate travel service provided by my company. The price was reasonable and it was in a great location but I didn't expect the Ritz. Anyway to make a long story short we came home late in the evening to a very loud radio next door. We called the desk and they eventually, after an hour, took care of the issue. We then fell asleep but about 30 minutes later were awakened to the sounds of the neighbors screaming about the purchase of illicit drugs, prostitutes, and weapons. I am not joking. I called the desk, said the police should be called and was ignored. We got no sleep, and spent the night having to listen to these people scream, bang, and smash things in their hotel room without having anything done about it. I called the desk, and nothing was done. Do not stay here, do not even think about it. It's unsafe, I would go on to say dangerous. The hotel staff does not care about you, they ignored us in the morning when we just wanted an answer as to why it wasn't addressed. I have already contacted my company to have them removed from our travel services provider.

So I try to check in and they did not have my reservation. I had booked my room two months earlier via Expedia. The front desk asked me several times if my room was under someone else's name since it's possible someone else's credit card was used to book the room. I say no several times and explain I was the only name on the reservation and I booked it with my own card. This went on for about 5 minutes before he went and manually pulled the arrivals booked thru Expedia and found my reservation. Of course he didn't know why it was not in the reservation system. So that made me angry. The room's are ok but the concrete floor is not comfortable to walk on with bare feet. The hot tub in the courtyard was not really hot more luke warm at best.

I was a bit worried going to this hotel as i had read from the previews reviews it sounded like it was the worst place ever. But on the contrary this hotel is great. The location is perfect for getting to anywhere on foot, and the beach is across the street. When we checked in the staff member that greeted us was super nice and beyond helpful. He was very knowledgeable about the area and how to get around the city itself(via bus or taxi). The room we were given was on the second floor but there was nothing fancy about it. Yes, it had a bed, bathroom TV/radio..just the basics. The floor was concrete and not finished so yes bring slippers to walk around. The bathroom was outdated but it was very clean as well as the room. I been in 5 star hotels and their rooms were dirty! The beds themselves were excellent very comfy and slept well. Ok i will contradict myself and say would have slept perfect if it was not for the very THIN WALLS we had. You can hear everything (and I MEAN EVERYTHING)!!!! Its not a place where you can explain those with small children about the noise next door. We also had people coming back from the bars at 4:30am blasting their room radio....so yeah it was not very pleasent. I wish the walls were better. Because truly this hotel has the potential to being the perfect place to be in. Since we were never in our rooms except for sleeping this hotel is great. If you are looking for luxury this is not a place for you. I would recommend this hotel for those who are on a budget and are not looking to being in their rooms for a long period of time. The staff is great and the rooms a very clean.

The good things about Aqua – the location is perfect for the beach clubs and restaurants. The complimentary continental breakfast is a touch from 7-10 along with free wi-fi in the lobby and the helpful staff. However the thing that bugged me about the place though was the lack of carpet in the rooms. Why they think having no carpet would be a ‘cool’ feature I don’t know?! It’s remarkable seeing what some smart Photoshop and camera work can do as the pictures on their site looked so fresh yet when we got their it was hardly that modern and stylish as they make out. I recommend requesting a large room if you can (possibly at a higher price as other rooms we saw were remarkably larger) because the room I had was quite cramped with barely any walking space but a plus was having a fridge, a CD player and an in room safe. If I were to return to South Beach I wouldn’t choose the Aqua. It did a decent enough job as I’m not a fussy traveller but there are other placers on Collins Ave at around the same price per night that you will get more from in terms of quality and extra amenities.