Aqua Hotel & Suites

We spent two nights here before a cruise, then came back for another two on our return. This is an old hotel, and the rooms and bathrooms feel dated and tired. But it’s a genuine original art deco building. The originality is still there, unlike at a Hilton owned Miami art deco hotel where it’s been taken away. The rooms were clean, the beds very clean and comfortable, and the staff lovely. We’d definitely stay again.

The location is good, but the room was horrible for the money. It had a bed and TV, with a chair where the listing said there’d be a sofa bed. The walls were paper thin, and I could hear my neighbor on the phone as if he were talking to me. Service is hard to judge, but communication was terrible. Since February 2, no one has answered my email or contact form. I’d already left that day and asked if I needed to formally check out, because I’d paid taxes and resort fees on arrival and didn’t want surprise charges. Still no reply. My son and I ended up at Casa Victoria off Espanola Way and loved it. For about the same price or less, go there instead. Avoid Aqua Hotel. I booked the trip package through American Forces Travel, which I didn’t realize was Priceline, for the flight; the hotel was through Agoda, also a Priceline company. I won’t use a service like that again. I’d rather stay at a Cockroach Motel, Howard Johnson or Red Roof Inn, where at least I get what I paid for and can’t hear the neighbors.

Within the first 20 minutes I had to change rooms because the air conditioning didn’t work and there was no hot water. Staff said rooms 110 to 115 have no way to control the AC. In the next room, the blinds were coming off the walls and there was mold around the windows. We still had no running water at the sink. The hotel was disgusting, and the staff were awful and the rudest I’ve encountered in this industry. This has to be the worst hotel I’ve stayed at. I’ll be reporting it to American Express and the Florida Department of Health.

I showed visual art with a gallery at the Aqua Art Fair during Miami Art Week. The Hotel has a really great setup for galleries, with track lighting, curtains and white walls, and opening day was well attended for seven hours. It was a very impressive experience, and the location is amazing.