Lets start by the Positives...

We arrived and the check in was easy and the front desk staff were very helpful and accommodating. They told us because we were a member of small luxury hotel we could have a late check out (our plane wasn't till 6pm).

The room was cute and had everything we needed, the baggage guy went through everything with us, how the hotel room worked and opening and closing time of the restaurant etc.

The food in the BLT restaurant is very good, of course the meat is fantastic, but they also do a sushi menu, the sushi is also really good.

The cleanliness of the hotel and the bedroom was amazing, super clean and always neat. They come in the evening to do a turn down service (which for me put them on the 5 star rating).

The waiter at the bar one night was very nice, talkative and always happy and smiling.

Now for the not so good areas.

The only staff that were nice were the front desk, the baggage guys and one guy behind the bar one night. Everyone else didn't want to help, didn't smile and even didn't say hello to us when we sat down or wanted to order.

The restaurant in the hotel has great food, but it is let down by the service. They are slow and we were waiting 40 minutes for our food to come out (the starter). The staff are rude and don't care.
The lady who site the people in the restaurant never smiled and looked miserable. It was like she didn't want to be there. One night we wanted to stay in the hotel and asked if there were tables available inside or outside, she was rude and just said NO. We went outside and there were 4 table free of 2 persons. We didn't argue and went for dinner somewhere else. We got back 1 hour later and these tables still had no one sat at them.

Lastly the concierge. There are 3 different people on the concierge changing at different times of the day. The first Lady was very nice and tried to help, but she came across as she didn't really know what she was doing. The second guy was lovely, smiling, happy and wanted to do as much as possible to help. The last guy was just terrible, rude, arrogant and when we went to the front desk to ask something he came up and got straight in our personal space saying he would help... Not nice.

All in all, if the service was sorted out I would defiantly come back to this hotel, but as the service how it is i would try somewhere else.

We enjoyed two exquisite nights at The Betsy. The reservation staff, all the way up to the General Manager, Mr. Lehman, confirmed and ensured our requested weekend arrival dates to celebrate my wife's birthday. There was a hand written card expressing the hotel's warm wishes, accompanied by a complimentary bottle of champagne. The hotel is beautiful. We enjoyed a suite, which was elegantly decorated. Accommodations, service, friendliness; all were first class!
The location was perfect. Everything within walking distance. Chairs and service was provided across the street on the beach. I would not stay anywhere else in the South Beach area. We loved this hotel.

We loved the Besty! Great location, great rooms, great buzz. Breakfast on the terrace at the front of the hotel was cool. Great things to eat and to see as the world walks, jogs and runs past in various outfits and with various animals.

A colonial feel, muted shades and dark wood - for when you tire of the art deco colours and lights that South Beach is famous for.

Not all rooms can face the ocean - and we had a cute junior suite (upgrade free as SLH members) which had a decent - not large - bedroom and a great little dressing room / sitting room. All the amenities you would expect.

Very helpful staff - got my iPhone and iPad working with their wifi - no problems! Oh, yes FREE wifi!

BLT STEAK is the hotel restaurant - good food, simply presented and great service - just what you would expect. (BLT does not stand for bacon lettuce and tomato but in fact Bistro Laurent Tourondel!). http://www.zagat.com/r/blt-steak-miami-beach

Cab from airport a fixed city rate - well priced and quick.

We booked the hotel through the SLH web site with the lowest price guarantee. As it happens we saw a lower price a little later and SHL kept the guarantee and the hotel even discounted the room further as an apology. As we say above we even got the SLH upgrade too.

Recommend - book via SLH the guarantee is real.
http://www.slh.com/destinations/americas/usa/miami-beach/the-betsy-hotel/

We picked The Betsy for a stop-over night enroute to the Caribbean. The staff were amazing and very welcoming. The hotel is just a 20 - 25 minute taxi ride from the airport and is ideally situated so that even if you only have one evening to spare, you can enjoy the beach, stroll along Ocean Drive, enjoy the Art Deco of the neighbourhood, do some shopping and have some fabulous restaurants to choose from. We were made to feel so important that we contacted the front desk manager on our return through Miami and he was able to accomodate our one night request at a reasonable rate. We were made to feel like valued returning guests rather than another traveller looking for a good deal. On both occasions our rooms were great - one looking over a side street and one looking over the pool. We enjoyed a drink at the roof top bar and had one breakfast which was included in our room rate. The breakfast was not huge - pastries and fruit - but enough to get the day underway. Would definitely recommend the Betsy to friends, family and colleagues.