I've read quite a few negative reviews for the poor old clay hotel... But I LOVE this place.

Before you book with this place understand that it is a youth hostel... not really a hotel, its a bare bones type of cheap accomodation for people that don't want to hang out at the hotel.. and really why would you.. its miami beach!

Staying at The clay hotel is one step above crashing on a friends sofa..if you are down for that then..you should have a great time.

DO NOT expect much, basically the sheets are clean, rooms are rundown but generally clean, atmosphere is very good, Its close to everything, full of vibrant friendly people from all over the world, and the dorms in particular are a great place to meet people if you are traveling alone. HOWEVER... the staff are often distracted and indifferent, Depending on the rooms some are very run down, I have never seen a cockroach but its an old building and its miami... BUT IT IS THE CHEAPEST PLACE TO STAY IN SOUTH BEACH!!! (20$-100$)

I stay here almost every time I come to miami. As a flight attendant I've stayed at a lot of hotels, and when I was younger I even worked as a maid in one. My experiances have lead me to look for the cheapest place to lay my head simply because I don't find that there is a whole lot of difference, Its not my house or appartment its just someplace to sleep!

this was one of the 25 hotels that we would visit this summer and after we got back this must have been the best when it can to price and quality.
we did not spend a lot of time in our room but we did had a good working AC/locker and spacy bathroom we booked one of the famaly room overlooking espangola way. overall we where very happy with what we got here.

I booked a stay at the Clay hotel for February 22 - 26th. When I arrived the lobby looked nice enough however everything got worse from there. I checked in and was given a key to my room. When I went up to the room I discovered that the room was still occupied. The bed was unmade and all of their belongings were still there!!!

I went back to the front desk and they checked me into another room. When I went up to this room I discovered it was the most disgusting room I had ever seen. The rug was awful, there were stains on the refridgerator, the bathroom garbage was full, and it was OBVIOUS that the toilet had not been cleaned. At this point I decided there was no way I was staying at the hotel and I cancelled my stay.

The pluses are, Great location, lot's of History, fairly inexpensive, cool architecture, neat layout, and a frige.
The negitives are, old, tired, 3 blocks from beach,no wash rags, phone books, parking, clock, not even a Gideon Bible? The front desk was very young, didn't speak english very well, and I think helping us was interupting their social life. Overall the place was clean for the tropics, cheap and gets the job done. This place is not the Waldorf but you are not paying those prices. We had a private room and didn't have to share a bathroom. I would go back.