Hotel Impala - Miami Beach, USA 

My husband and I are frequent visitors of South Beach (at least twice a year) and we typically stay at the Hotel Astor. I thought for a change this trip, I’d try a new place. Lesson learned, go with what you know and never stray. I booked my room at the Hotel Impala through Hotels.com about a week in advance of our trip and our Deluxe Room was confirmed. As it was June and the “off season,” obviously hotel deals were left and right. I took the reviews I read with a grain of salt, but I can now see that I was naive to ignore them. Upon our arrival, we were greeted at the desk by a British woman who didn’t so much as say hello, and instead the first question out of her mouth was who we booked our room through? When I said Hotels.com, suddenly the hotel was “booked” due to being “oversold” and that there were no rooms available. When I told her that our room was confirmed, I got the brush-off. We were then told that they owned LaFlora, the hotel next door and would receive a room there. When I tried to question as to what was going on, I was then greeted by the LaFlora owner and promptly shooed away by the Impala owner. I was never contacted by the owner of Impala prior to my arrival informing me that there would be a problem. My husband and I are very patient travelers. We’re not whiny and we don’t complain, but I’ve never been so enraged in my entire life – hence this review. I have never encountered a hotel that was “oversold,” when I received a confirmation. In fact, on the contrary, I have booked the Hotel Astor numerous times - both through their individual website and Hotels.com - and there’s always been a room waiting when my husband and I arrive. Never any problems. This is why Hotel Astor is number 2 on TripAdvisor, and the Hotel Impala is falling far, far from grace at a rapid pace. I’m not going to review LaFlora because I feel that the establishment was an innocent bystander in all of this. I never booked that place, I was simply placed there sight unseen. However, I will say that LaFlora is in no way, shape or form a luxury oasis. It’s a bed and a shower and needs major renovations. Since I never intend on staying there again, I’ll leave readers to form their own opinions of LaFlora from its reviews. My advice to SoBe travelers re: the Hotel Impala . . . be very aware. I would call twice, three, four times prior to your arrival to ensure that you have a room. But, in essence, I highly recommend that you do not even book the Hotel Impala to begin with. I never will again and am recommending to my friends who frequent South Beach to NEVER book there. To the lovely staff at the Hotel Astor – we will see you when we return in the winter. My sincere apologies for ever straying from you.

I stayed one night at Impala, after spending most of the week in the very impressive Mandarin Oriental. So wasn't expecting much after staying in pure luxury. What I found was a very pleasant surprise. The hotel staff were incredibly friendly and the place had a lovely atmosphere. Everything was very clean and the decor was very stylish (lots of wrought iron and archways etc). As said in a previous review, this place isn't 5 star and for the price one shouldn't expect it to be. Its close to the action and has everything you need if you want to stay somewhere that won't cost you the Earth but still provide you with a pleasant experience.