Royal Palm South Beach Miami Beach

The staff at the Royal Palm Crown Plaza was by far the friendliest and most helpful I have ever experienced. Every Detail is taken of for you.

Spent one week in this hotel. Fabulous beach, pool, great service. Some things slightly over priced but worth it. Rooms were very nice with balcony and ocean/city view. Our 6 yr. old son came and felt very comfortable in this calm and quiet hotel.

We will visit again next year.

The hotel is in a great location and has a nice design. The room was modern and very clean. The only drawbacks are the lines at the front desk and the lack of soundproofing in rooms. Doors slamming in the hallway seem to shake the whole room.

A friend and I stayed one night at the Royal Palm before departing on a Caribbean cruise. We were both delighted with the service, the friendliness of the staff and the cleanliness of the room. (Thanks for the up-grade!) The ambiance was suberb! As African American women traveling alone, we selected the hotel becauee it was Black-owned and we were concerned about safety! We felt very safe and secure. Thanks for the CD player in the room. I would recommend the Royal Palm to anyone who has discriminating taste!

Let me tell you how I fell in love with this Hotel/Resort!!!

The Hotel is spotless, the staff is friendly and the atmosphere was great! It was my first visit to South Beach and I was scared of staying at an overpriced, ran down hotel. This hotel/resort was a lucky draw on my part. It's right on the beach. The beach service was great, a lil slow at peak times but that's to be expected. The hotel is right in the middle of everything. It was a waste for us to rent a car.

I'm going back in December and I know where I'm staying!!

One of the cleanest hotels I have stayed in. The staff was very friendly and helpful, especially when we arrived at 8:15AM (the cruise ship arrived in port earlier than advertised) Official check-in is at 4:00PM. We were assigned a room and in it by 8:30AM with no partial day charge. Wouldn't hesitate staying there again.

I am the type of person that needs to know everything about a hotel and/or city before I go. I do days of research. Hopefully I make the right decision. Sometimes it's difficult to do when you've never been there, and know no one knowledgeable about it either. This was my problem in going to South Beach Miami on 9-05-02 to 9-09-02.

I would be happy to help anyone who would like to get an opinion from someone who is well traveled. I prefer to stay in upscale hotels, and generally money is not an object, although I'm not rich. Just e mail me.

However, the place to stay is at Royal Palm Crowne Plaza. My problem was that there were no reviews because the hotel is only three months old. Stay here, and nowhere else or you'll be sorry. Forget the Delano, Loews, Roney, Fontainbleau, Clevelander, Tides, etc... I obviously did not stay in any of these before as this was my first trip to Miami, but after seeing South Beach, I know.

I got a suite with a king bed, pull out sofa bed, wet bar, mini bar, balcony (small) and a view overlooking Ocean Drive. This view also gives you the ocean, and downtown. Get this room, as opposed to Oceanfront, only because all you will see is the ocean, and you'll miss the brilliant lights that have made Miami famous. You still get the ocean view too. The action in Miami doesn't start until sun down.

Not a great place for kids(South Beach that is, unless you stay at the hotel and aren't looking to go out into the city. If you do that then Roney, Loews, Fontain, Eden Roc, or the bigger resorts would be ok.) Go to Disney World and stay on Disney (that's a whole other review). Although, give my kid an inground pool, and she'd be happy in the middle of Watts, in Compton California!

The Royal Palm is the best location, best views, extremely clean, beautiful, full service 4-5 star hotel, great beach access, a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for, great staff and service, I can go on and on.

I had a very frustrating experience with poor service, dirty

towels and sheets, overcharges without explanation, very poor customer service not answering voice messages or emails.

This hotel was spotless! There was even a card under the bed saying they cleaned there too! The best warm outdoor pool with music in the background and usable floating beds. My husband, 6 and 8 year old and I stayed there for one night before a cruise in August 2002 and we had no complaints. They opened and closed your car door for you and opened the lobby door for you everytime you entered the hotel. Everyone was very nice. Absolutely no complaints about this hotel. This was definitely worth the $107 we paid. But be aware that they add almost $40 in taxes. But still was even worth the $150 we ended up paying. Definitely a first class hotel.

The Royal Palm Hotel on Miami Beach is a new art deco hotel situated on the 1500 block of Collins Avenue. This hotel drew my interest, first because it was a brand new hotel (not renovated) and second because it is situated on an impressive stretch of ocean front Collins Avenue with the likes of Loews/St. Moritz, National, Delano and the Sagamore. I had to try this place!

The hotel, although new, has a direct lineage back to the best in art deco engineering and architecture. The main building was based on the original design and construction techniques used in the 30's era Royal Palm Hotel. The lobby bar looking up to the 2nd floor restaurant area is an incredibly striking display of 3 dimensional art deco and has to be seen to be believed. When walking through the hallway back from the beach you are overtaken by an optical illusion that the polished marble floor is sloping downward toward the main lobby and Collins Avenue. I had to study the floor to see how the architect managed to pull that off.

The guest rooms are large by Miami Beach standards. My room was broken into 3 separate areas, living room, bedroom and a huge bathroom. The rooms were immaculately clean and the bed was turned down daily. The only negative on the room was that the balconies are too small to actually walk out onto. I think the outer design of the hotel is benefitted by these small wing shaped structures, but they are useless from a guest standpoint (blame the architect for that one).

With all of the positives going for it, this hotel should be up for a 4-5 star rating, however the 80/20 rule is at work here. This rule tells us that it is always the last 20% that is the killer, and the Royal Palm sets out to prove it. The building and location are nothing short of sensational, but it takes the people and the guest services to transform a decent hotel into a great hotel.

The problem areas include a miserable check-in/check-out experience. People working here with guests would be better working somewhere out-of-site. As an example, it took me 4 days of asking for a wet-bar key for my room before one was finally delivered. The 4th day excuse was that there were not enough keys to go around (keys fall under the 20% rule).

I asked for and was granted a late check-out. Unfortunately I was locked-out of my room at the normal time anyway and everyone at the front desk told me it was because I was checking out late. I think they missed the point.

The concierge seemed very confused, even with simple questions and requests. I often stay at 4 and 5 star hotels around the world. I have learned to depend on quality concierge's whenever I am in a new setting. They can be a hotel's most valuable guest asset. Another one of those 20% things.

The fitness center was not open. It didn't seem that anyone knew why or when or if there even was one. I was told that I could go over to the Loews and use their fitness center. I did go over to Loews, but it only confirmed I had found the hotel I was really looking for. The concierge and staff there were helpful, courteous and into guest service, even with guests from another hotel.

The $10/day resort fee was not mentioned until I checked in to the hotel. I was assured that I had paid for everything in advance...not quite.

One of the most confusing things that I found concerned the hotel restaurant. The restaurant is beautiful. Modern art and a wonderful view of the ocean behind their second floor pool. Should be a winner, right? Every meal I had, I found that I was overcharged on the bill and had to have it amended. I can understand this happening once, but it happened every time. These were not huge mistakes, but they were consistent. On the last day the waitress told me that the computer was not putting in the prices listed in the menu and she would correct my bill. I never did see anyone try to correct the computer.

Conclusion:

This hotel is an anachronism. Physically, it has everything going for it. It should be one of the great Florida hotels and certainly one of the best on Miami Beach. This is not the case. I guess it is just another victim of the 80/20 rule.