Pros:

1. Shuttle ride to Orange Bowl from hotel, very close to stadium
2. Easy access to interstate
3. The state of the rooms will motivate you out the door to explore Miami, not so clean, kind of stale smelling and old decor, etc.
4. Staff friendly and quick to fix any problem
5. Least expensive Hotel recommended on Orange Bowl site


Cons:

1. Absolutely NOTHING around the hotel, no restaurants, shopping, NOTHING! Make sure you have a rental car.
2. Cleanliness so-so, maybe okay for indiscriminate folks on a budget (like us). As stated above, it will motivate you to leave and explore Miami.
3. All attractions are at least 20 to 30 minute drive.
4. Pool is located next to a busy overpass. We drove to the beach (about a 20 minute drive).

We had never heard of this Hotel but we found the roomsto be nicer than we expected and the staff was very friendly. They went out of their way to be sure we where taken care of. There is not much to see in the area so be prepared to drive atlas 10 to 15 minutes to the Beach or other attractions.

BAD AREA - We stayed on Christmas & our car was broken into. This hotel does not have good security and is in a very bad area. DO NOT STAY unless you have alarm on your car. Nice rooms, but we will NEVER stay here again, because of safety reasons.

I booked a room at the Elpalacio for my vacation as a getaway, big mistake. Problem #1, the remote control for the television did not work. They finally responded to the problem 3 hours later and offered to switch my room, which was not an opinion because I had already unpacked. Problem #2 when I went to turn on the AC I noticed that there where ants crawling on top of the unit. Problem #3 At about 9:45am housekeeper enter my room while I was in bed. When she noticed I was there she ran out of the room. I recieved a knock at my door around 11:00am by another housekeeping to clean the room. I then asked the housekeeper if she could give me 5 minutes, because I was on my way out and she said yes. When I exited the room, she appeared to be entering the room to clean, but when I returned at 2:30pm the room was still in the same condition which made me angry because I had returned to the room to rest. I immediately came out and approached another housekeeper, who informed that she was sending someone right away. I waited for another 45 minutes, still no one. I then went to the front desk where a gentleman gave me, the guest, directions to housekeeping so that I could inquire on my behalf because he was too busy on the phone. He should have been the one to resolve the matter.
Finally the housekeeper returned to the room to give fresh towels and empty the garbage pails, were left empy. She left a roll of gabage bags on the bathroom sink, I guess that was for me to do.
Overall, I did not care for the service that I recieved. The room had an odor ( it's a good thing I brought the febreeze), and next time I think I'll spend the extra money and get something decent because this hotel was far from it.