Rodeway Inn South Miami - Coral Gables

There are signs all over the facility calling it smoke-free, but the whole hotel smelled like an old smoking lounge. Our first room reeked of very strong cheap weed and cigarellos, like it had just been hotboxed. When I asked the front desk for another room, they said they were fully booked. Once I asked for a refund, they suddenly found one. The new room smelled better, though still odd, and its flooring was deteriorated. The towels and bedding were stained, and I’m pretty sure the towels had been used and folded again. The parking garage is very tight. If you have anything bigger than a small car, trying to get in is brave. My truck had less than a fraction of an inch of clearance. If zero stars were possible, that’s what I’d give.

The second room was no better than the first, and one mattress smelled so strongly of urine that it couldn’t be used. We had already switched rooms because there were cockroaches, and in the first room water from a bathroom leak dripped onto the toilet seat. There was also an awful moldy smell, an old TV, and a door that was hard to close. We only booked this place because we needed somewhere to sleep for a few hours on two nights, but the conditions were unsanitary. My daughter left her AirPods behind, and the front desk either didn’t answer our calls or hung up when they did. We left in the morning and asked for a refund for the second night because of all the problems. They refused. It’s shocking a place in this condition can still operate. Don’t waste your money here.

The piano display in the lobby is a mystery. It can’t be touched or played, so I guess it’s just there to surprise guests and raise questions. There’s also a sign about wearing clothes properly and not smoking indoors, which seems more decorative than useful. The street-facing railings had me thinking about gravity, and the windows were so dirty they looked like they’d come off the bottom of a boat. The AC technically works, though it mostly makes the room damp. A mat sits under the constantly leaking unit, as if that fixes things. The room smelled like pot for much of the night, which was better than the other smell. The crooked toilet seat added suspense to every bathroom trip, and I leaned on a wall wondering how much was decoration and how much was structural. Floors gripped my feet like a mouse trap. Several cockroaches kept me company, and we stayed up late together playing cards. I lost at Go Fish. When I unplugged a lamp, its sticky cord stuck to my hand. That happened, no exaggeration. For the price, you get exactly what you pay for: astonishingly little upkeep, but technically a functioning hotel. If new management or owners were needed, I’d gladly step in. Anyone with basic knowledge of cleaning and maintenance could see the potential. Having the owner stay in a room for a week would probably show what needs work.

The price was cheap for a night with two friends, but the room had neither a fridge nor a microwave. Breakfast wasn’t included, just coffee and tea. The thermostat didn’t seem to work, so our room was freezing. I’d pick somewhere else.