Suites On South Beach - Miami Beach, USA 

My mom, teenage sister, and I stayed in Miami for 3 days before our Western Caribbean cruise in Aug 2007. We were looking for a comfortable hotel suitable for a family vacation and found the Suites on South Beach after reading the reviews on Tripadvisor. I have to stress that this hotel is more like an apartment - there is no front desk or any other amenities that you would normally expect from a hotel. However, if you want a cozy "home away from home" during your stay in Miami, this is a great place to stay. Our hotel room was located on the second floor of the property. You walk to the "office" which acts as a front desk, and they'll give you your room key and the access code to the front gate. Then you have to drag your luggage upstairs to the outdoors hallway. No elevators here! But we thought this was all part of the fun, so we didn't mind it at all. Great things about the hotel: 1) Location! The hotel right on Collins & 13th Ave, which makes it a 2-minute walk to the beach, Ocean Drive, and nearby restaurants. The hotel is also just 20 minutes by cab from the airport. If you do take a cab, remember to bring the hotel's address with you, because this is not a well-known hotel and the cab driver will have no idea where it is unless you give him the address. 2) Practical rooms - the floors are tiled (nice for the summer heat), the decor is chic but minimal, and the fridge and microwave in the kitchen come in handy, especially with kids. The flatscreen TV was a nice touch. It's true that there's no closet space with shelving, but there's a walk-in closet where you can drop all your luggage. If you do need to hang things up, hangers are available. I didn't see any of this as an issue at all! 3) Price - the rates were very reasonable, especially when compared to other hotels in South Beach. It's great for the budget-conscious family vacation. 4) No noise - South Beach can get VERY loud at night when the partiers are out in full force. I found we were shielded from most of the noise because our hotel room was on the 2nd floor. Not-so-good things: 1) Bath products - bath products were provided, but they were of a low quality. You're better off bringing your own soap, shampoo & conditioner. 2) No front desk - we didn't need any services from the front desk, but if you're looking for concierge services, you won't find it at this hotel. They didn't even have maps to give us when we wanted to go explore the area. However, there are plenty of tourist information centers in the area where you can get maps. 3) Internet - the hotel has no Internet access. There is one computer with Internet available at the sister hotel down the street (about 5 min walk), but that computer is always hogged. Overall, this is a great "no frills" apartment-like hotel, perfect for the family vacation.