just got back from 4 days in south beach, where we stayed at the Cardozo hotel. having stayed at many of the art deco hotels in south beach, I think the Cardozo is one of the better choices. a lot of the complaints I have read on trip advisor about the Cardozo are made by people that just don't understand where they are staying...sure all the 90 year old art deco hotels have small bathrooms, its not like they have a way to make them bigger...the bathroom at the Cardozo was small but it had been updated and they did the best they could with the space they had to work with...never ran out of hot water either!
we stayed in room 205, this room was dead center, right above the bar...the room was quite. the room had been updated and nothing was broken. the bed was average, ive see worse. the décor was a little sparse, and had wood walls and a wood floor. no art or accessories, I guess they were going for a minimal look...and they succeeded! there was no Gloria estavan books or music in the room that others had mentioned...one night we ask for additional towels, they were there in 2 or 3 minutes. for the price the room was a good deal.
one of the other things I liked was the location, it was close enough to the ocean ave night spots, but far enough away that you couldn't hear the partying late in to the night...the Clevelander, and oceans 10 both have outdoor bars that are very loud, fun to go to, but nice to get away from when you are done partying. there was a guitar playing singer at the Cardozo but he was not overly loud..another plus about the location is there is a parking garage right behind the hotel, its like its part of the hotel, since we always rent a car, we had a convenient place to put it...$20 per day compared to $35 per day plus tip for valet parking...
now about the food and drinks at the Cardozo. I read many reviews about the oversize drinks that were served, however they were not your only choice, regular size drinks are readily available. I also noticed that all the hotel sidewalk cafes were offering the oversize drinks as well...this must be the new thing..
ok, about the food, the café is a leased department, has nothing to do with the hotel..in fact I think all the sidewalk cafes are owned by the same food vender, as all their food taste the same, cost the same, has the same specials and is promoted very aggressivly by pretty girls as you walk by each hotel. it is what it is...not great food, not horrible food... if you want a great meal go a few hotels north to the betsy hotel and eat at blt steak, a five star meal with five star service. we also ate at "Red, the steak house" at 1st. and Washington, ( a 6 dollar cab ride) it is great, also a few doors away from Red, is Milos, also a great choice..both are expensive, about $250 for 2 to eat and drink, but after all if you are on a budget you usually don't go to south beach. we also ate breakfast at a diner named jerrys, its on Collins a five minute walk from the Cardozo. average food and poor service...also had breakfast at the Cardozo, very good and not expensive. so just eat breakfast at the hotel. the room also had a refrigerator, great for stocking your own booze in and doing a little pregaming...
the staff were friendly, helpful and didn't bother you...just what im looking for in a staff. the room was cleaned each day, usually as soon as we left, I always leave a few dollars on the table each day for the maid, and I always get good service...you know that's a crappy job, so don't be a tightwad...
I notice that the tip was included at many places, so be sure to check your bill, according to the servers that's the only way you are going to get a tip from the Europeans, and they far out number the americans.
I think ive covered just about everything, all in all the Cardozo is a better than average choice for south beach, you cant compare these hotels to 5 star hotels in las vegas, these are century old properties, that were never intended to be what they are now, funky little art deco hotels, so just enjoy south beach for what it is.....great weather, an international crowd to people watch, the ocean just a few steps away and a good place to wind down for a few days...a nice little getaway...

The Cardozo definitely isn't fancy, I would call the rooms adequate; however, the location is perfect. It sits right in the heart of South Beach. The rooms are covered with dark wood and look like they should be a north woods cabin rather than on South Beach. The rooms are small similar to most rooms on South Beach, but hopefully nobody spends much time in their room on South Beach. Service was very good and the workers were friendly.

I checked into the hotel 11/17/2012 & wanted to valet my car. It was not initially clear how to valet, as there were no visible valet staff or a valet desk. I called a friend who had already check in, and she advised me to park in front of the restaurant & let the front desk staff know I wanted to valet my car, which is what I did. I laid my keys down on the counter, advised the front desk attendant, Devin, that I wanted to valet my car and check in. I filled out the required paperwork, including information for my vehicle, and he proceeded to check me in and provide me with my roomkey before turning to help the guest behind me. I absent-mindedly picked up my keys and put them in my purse, then proceeded to go to my room. It wasn't until the next morning upon check-out that I realized this, and discovered that my car had instead been towed. I was excessively frustrated as I travel for work and stay in hotels on a weekly basis and have never seen a valet desk set up internally at the front desk without an attendant in the driveway. Because this is unusual, I feel that it is very important that as a standard part of the check in process, the front desk representative should ENSURE that parking options are addressed. Although I made the mistake of picking up my keys off the counter, I do not feel that the representative fully served me, as he moved on to the next customer before completing the full process with me. Had he gone through the parking options as part of the process, I would have handed him my keys and willingly paid for the service.
What infuriated me more was the response I received from the hotel manager, Maria Loscano. She advised me to calm down and told me that it was my fault because I didn't have a valet ticket (which are distributed by the front desk staff and kept behind the counter) and she took absolutely NO responsiblity for the actions. I was forced to pay $245 to retrieve my car & another $20 for a cab to the towing yard. I mailed a letter to Jesse Abad at the corporate office on 11/28/12, asking for some kind of compensation, as I feel that there was a miss in their check in process and room for process improvement. Because I received absolutely no response from her, I have called and left a message for her with her assistant every day this week. I finally got to speak with her directly this morning, only because I was able to go through an automated phone system and the call wasn't pre-screened by her assistant, only to have her treat me very poorly. She refused to discuss the issue with me, saying she didn't have time to discuss it and had other higher priorities. I find it very sad that someone that is responsible for running a hotel whose business operates on the satisfaction of the guests does not have time to rectify a situation. After I pressed her to make time, she finally agreed to set up a phone call for this Friday, so I've yet to see the end results, but so far I have little faith, based upon the behavior of EVERY staff member that is a part of this hotel. Regardless of how this turns out and whether they make amends, I am still highly disappointed that I have had to fight to even discuss the scenario with the appropriate parties. I would not recommend staying at this hotel and don't intend to stay there again, based upon my recent experience.

Stayed here for one night on our way home from vacation. We wanted to be in the middle of the art deco district & the Cardozo was a great choice. The beach is directly in front across the road which is pretty close imho. Lots of restaurants to choose from in the vicinity as well as the hotels own restaurant. The building is very charming & the main entrance to the hotel is actually from the side street. The lobby area is tiny, but clean and sweet and yes, there was incense burning but it was not overwhelming nor intrusive. Staff was helpful & friendly. The room was very clean, shiny dark wood floors & walls, white bedspreads and sheets accented with leapord print pillows. We had a renovated bathroom with travertine counter, travertine tiled shower with glass surround and a cute vessel sink. Spotlessly clean.....

Would stay here again without hesitation to enjoy everything South Beach has to offer.