Circa 39 Miami Beach Hotel by IHG

We spent our last night in Miami here after returning from the Keys, before flying out the next day. It worked well for that: the room was functional, nothing fancy, and the hotel is about 20 minutes from Miami airport when traffic is clear. Restaurants and shops are also an easy walk away. There’s a hotel beach section with chairs and an umbrella, but you need to bring your own towels. The beach is about a two-minute walk, just a block over, and the exercise path along that stretch is nice for walking or running. We had dinner and breakfast at the downstairs restaurant, and both were very good. The hotel is part of IHG, so you can earn points. There’s a pool and courtyard too, though we didn’t use them because it was cold during those December days.

Being right on the beach was hard to beat, and I loved my room. The front desk, bar, and housekeeping staff were all friendly and very nice. WiFi worked without any trouble, including during the full day I spent working from the room. It wasn’t especially quiet during Design Week, when the whole island was noisy and lively, but I was fine with that and slept really well once I settled in. I had a fantastic stay. Thank you.

We spent four days here and had to keep asking the front desk for housekeeping. Our room never got cleaned and we didn’t get fresh towels. The bigger problem came after checkout: we left a $300 deposit, but only $147 was refunded, even though nothing was wrong with the room when we left. After reading other Google reviews, it seemed this deposit issue had happened to others too. My husband called and was told to email the manager, Sebastian, about the charges. He did, then followed up twice, but got no response. We’ll dispute the charges. Save yourself the headache and read the negative reviews before booking.

The staff did a great job accommodating me and my friends for my birthday weekend. Our rooms were pleasant and spacious, the beach chairs were really nice, and the location worked perfectly. Circa 39 made the weekend special, and I’m already looking forward to staying again. :)