The Malone

We left halfway through our stay as soon as we could find somewhere else. The customer service made things even worse. There was no phone number, only email, and the replies didn't make sense or address our concerns. Management first said by email that they'd give me a partial reimbursement, then went back on it and refused to do anything despite how unhappy we were. The unit was awful. There were cockroaches, musty old carpets with stains throughout that might have been blood, and a smell like someone had died there years ago. My family started having allergy problems as soon as we came in. The fixtures were coming out of the walls, only one of the three TVs worked with the remotes, and the internet didn't work at all, so I had to use my phone hotspot. Verizon service was poor too. I was so uncomfortable on the pull-out couch that I slept in my car one night. It seemed like nothing had been invested in the place for decades. You couldn't pay me to stay again, though it might make a good horror movie set.

I've been staying here for seven years, and it's a good value. I come to Coconut Grove regularly in winter for work, and The Malone is handy for both my job and the Grove's great restaurants. I often book a two-bedroom, sometimes with two bathrooms. It's clean and quiet, with fast Wi-Fi, enough parking, and responsive, helpful staff. I recommend it to my sailboat racing teams.

The smell was so strong I felt like I might throw up. The place wasn't clean: I found a hair on the bed, which made me think the sheets hadn't been changed, there was dust everywhere, and I saw cockroaches. The person who gave me the keys could only offer spray for the smell, which obviously wasn't going to fix how dirty everything was. The host Ari was extremely unprofessional. I sent messages and photos but never got a response. Thank goodness I booked through Airbnb, because they refunded me.

The rooms themselves were okay, and the desk staff were nice and always around. But they couldn't help with anything in the room because everything is run through Airbnb. You have to contact the Airbnb host, who may or may not respond. I've stayed in worse places while traveling for work, so the place was okay overall. The Wi-Fi was the worst I've ever experienced, and there was no cell signal inside the rooms. I finally understood why people sat in their cars in the lot with the engines running for long periods. If you need internet for work, forget it. The same goes for kids' devices that need Wi-Fi or cell reception. I'm pretty sure my dial-up in 1998 was faster.