Fair Price. Clean. Great location.

I stayed three times at the Clay Hotel & Hostel during the past years.

Now as ever: The location is very convenient. The Clay is in a Spanish style street in Art Deco Southbeach. Everything is close by.

I had a Deluxe room this time. "Deluxe" in this case is what "Standard" is in other hotels; the room was simple, but always clean and quiet. If you want to have a nice view and a little balcony take a "VIP" room.

What I really like about the Clay is the atmosphere: The Clay is charming and personal. There are a lot of young travellers as it is a very inexpensive hotel. The price is fair: If you want a good room for a low price this is the hotel to choose.

The phone system didn't work properly this time, that was a bit of a nuissance.

I'd go there again.

Great South Beach bargain for night owls

I stayed in a private room/bath in mid-October 2004 and found it a great value -- but if you stay on a weekend, you better be a night owl like me. The Mediterranean-style building is neat, with old tile floors in the lobby and stairs and tropical scenes painted on the white walls. The room was very clean, pleasantly kitschy and had a cute, tiny balcony with a view through a palm tree of pretty Espanola way (watch out for the pigeon poop, tho). There was a free safe in the closet, comfortable bed, ceiling fan, fridge, somewhat odd selection of TV channels (could only find one network station but it had CNN and VH-1 plus a few other cable channels). The staff and housekeeper were very nice and the $10 in-and-out parking at a nearby garage was a great deal for South Beach. But if you like to retire early, beware the tapas bar on the corner -- it was very lively until about 3:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights and til about 2 a.m. on Thursday. Fortunately, mornings were pretty quiet compared to other places I've stayed in the area -- never heard a vaccuum before about 11:30 a.m.

Great meeting place

stayed in the hostal in jan 2001 and have very fond memories of my stay. I was on my own, but shared with lots of friendly and interesting people. i booked in for one night, but extended my stay 3 times, so had to move rooms 3 times. the staff were very helpful, the rooms clean and comfortable. I loved the mexican resaurant on the ground floor, great food and friendly staff.Hope to get back some time, but I hope the rude cuban guy who worked there has left. as I am a mature adult and can choose to come in late if I want to.

Great place

I was there for the 2nd week of august and I had a great stay. i did not stay in the hostel part. I was in a normal hotel room. I booked one with a balcony. We (my finacee and myself) were not in the main building, we were in a building a block down the way. That was fine with us as we were still super close to things. We were on the top floor. The room was very small, but it was perfect for us because we just wanted a nice clean place to sleep. The bathroom was clean and well maintained. The shower pressure was also great. We did not have to deal with a lot of noise which was nice. You do get cable but I dont see the point since you are in Miami South Beach! i found the staff friendly and nice. I didn't realy try to talk to them to much as I was so busy myself.

I would recomend this place to a person who just wants a nice budget room in a great location. The clay is really relaxing and I can't wait to go back!

Nice s.t. but unreliably so

Hi I stayed at the Clay Hotel several times and made all kinds of mixed experiences. Hostel part is a risk because you may be in the room with noisy folks who disturb your sleep all night coming home from the party but you could also meet some cool friends. Its a bit cramped at times. Private rooms

small but nice and cool and with a refrigerator which is good, location is also nice, common area is not spectacular sometimes clean s.t. not, big screen tv in room adjacent to kitchen that had a very foul smell... staff at front desk was partly really nice and helpful and partly unfriendly. I got treated with no consistency and would not entirely recommend this for a place to get to know to too much over time but s.t. its good. Cheap but not really as it comes with the trouble and no loyalty.

Some staff was unusually rude and disrespectful.

When trying to talk to the manager she was rude.

They need to improve on their customer service.

Nightstaff was especially friendly and helpful:)

Good rooms. fair price. nice reception

got an own room with own bath room for about 50 dollar. quite fair in the centre of miami beach.

rooms are fine (i spend two times at the clay in different rooms - and both were ok and comfortable). the rooms on the esperanca market front are not too loud - got no problems at night.

my recommendation: pull the cables out of the phone, because at my first stay, some stupid ------- called me over and over again in the middle of the night. the guy at reception said, that this happens from time to time (might be some teenagers joking around).

Hostel - not good...

I stayed at the Clay Hostel.... I slept all of 3 hours. The rooms were packed with travelers (6 girls - three sleeping beds right next to each other, I could have rolled out of my bed and rolled onto the next persons practially, I walked into my hostel room and I had to step over suitcases, the room was hot. The bathroom floor was disgusting... the toliet kept flooding. The people are very nice and the hotel rooms are wonderful for the price. The gave me a parking pass for $10 a night which was great, it is usually $16. The area is great. I would recommend staying the the private rooms, if you had a little more money or shared with someone.

Lovely hostel, great location

A pretty hostel with lots of interesting nooks and crannies and some beautiful foliage. Our private room was very clean, with a tv and fridge. The shared bathroom was small but clean. Nice common areas with windows overlooking a quaint side street. Location is very convenient, only two blocks from the beach. Our room looked out onto busy Washington Street. We are used to urban noise, but those who are not will *definitely* want to ask for a room that is further back in the building.

Excellent Value

Excellent Value. I stayed in a single room with my own bathroom. The hotel is located in a great location and the accomdations are adequate for this price range. No complaints and would definitely stay here again.

Excellent Stay

Stayed at the Clay twice this past year. Spring Break 2003 and revisited in the summer.

Excellent service from friendly international students. Maid service is excellent. We had our room trashed numerous times and by some amazing act of great proportions these ladies somehow got the rooms back up to great shape every day.

Had a room with two twin beds and a shared bathroom. Only downer about that was the people we shared the john with kept forgetting to unlock our door when they were finished. TV reception was pretty jacked up, but we were never around to watch it anyways.

The rooms have fridges and there's a grocery store across the street that has all kinds of beer.. if you blow your wad before the vacation is over like I did.. I got stuck drinking in the room.

Right in the heart of Miami Beach.. two blocks from beach, shopping, clubs..

I reccommend this place without any hesitation.