Riviere South Beach Hotel

The staff were courteous and check-in was quick, and I slept well in the comfortable bed. But the condition of the room and the hotel made the stay a poor experience, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Room 102 had a strong musty odor when I walked in. Turning on the AC helped, though the unit started with a loud noise before settling down. The shower took around three minutes to warm up, then kept swinging between cold and far too hot, with no proper temperature control. The Wi-Fi didn’t work from check-in until the night before I checked out, even after I asked the front desk four separate times. Breakfast is advertised, but it’s served in the small reception area, with very few tables and limited food options. I was there for three days before boarding a cruise.

We were asked for a €200 deposit, and when our cards wouldn’t work in the hotel’s system, we had to pay it in cash. The cards worked everywhere else, including at other US hotels. The next morning, before our early flight, we went to reception to make sure we’d get the deposit back, but the administrator couldn’t sort it out. She kept calling her manager and passing along the message that the problem was our fault because our cards “did not work.” We asked to speak with the manager directly, and that conversation went badly. We were called “difficult clients” and asked to prove we had a morning flight. When we said keeping the deposit would effectively be theft, the administrator came to our room, photographed the minibar, and took away its few soft drinks and cookies. It felt unnecessary and disrespectful. The administrator spoke very little English, so communication was hard from the start. This made for a stressful, very disappointing end to our vacation. A manager should be helping find a solution instead of blaming customers. That wasn’t our experience.

Michael at reception was especially helpful and polite whenever we needed something. The rooms were decent for the price and had plenty of amenities, plus a small but decent breakfast. The hotel is close to Ocean Drive and the popular streets and places to eat nearby. We enjoyed staying here for the first part of our trip around the USA.

Mike (Michael) at the front desk helped us get into our room early when we arrived ahead of check-in. He was kind, understood our situation, and really went out of his way. The room was clean, the AC worked, and the price was affordable. We were also just two blocks from the beach, Walgreens, and Espanola Way, with lots of food and entertainment nearby. Highly recommend.