Just returned from a girlfriends' weekend and we stayed two nights at the Boulan. If you understand that at this time, this is really more of a condo rental than a hotel, you should be absolutely delighted. (I understand restaurants will be opened in the future on the property which should make it more full service). One bad point - when we were there the phones didn't work. It seems like they are still getting this place up and running. Nonetheless, it is extremely sleek and modern, and my guess is the apartment was far more spacious and stylish than any hotel room you could get for its location and price. Although the staff was truly minimal, the front desk guys were extremely helpful, considerate and tried hard to provide excellent customer service. The rooftop pool and lounge area is gorgeous and was my favorite part of the property. I felt like I was in a movie set. If I ever return to South Beach, I would definitely stay at the Boulan again.

Although this place is being marketed as a "boutique" hotel which normally means a hotel with few rooms and good style Boulan simply isn't either.
The rooms are small apartments and vary according to ownership. There is NO room service NO bar NO restaurant all of which I would expect to find as checking in a hotel.
We discovered all this upon our arrival as this was not stated on Expedia or bookings although when I was searching for a 4/5 star hotel in South Beach Boulan came close to top of the search list.
This remains a mystery .....
We complained before even viewing the room but since it was almost 10 pm we decided to stay for the first night and as suggested by the night porter discuss our situation with the GM in the morning.
The room was clean but the mattress terrible !
I called Expedia to complain about being sold something that did not reflect reality.
They apologized and said that the terms were "no refund" but if Boulan's duty manager agreed they would provide us a refund and find us alternative accommodation.
I went downstairs to find out the manager was in a staff meeting and although she clearly knew I was going to speak to her(Expedia called prior to me going downstairs) she kept me waiting at least 15 mins.
She was extremely rude and didn't remotely understand my view. I felt fairly intimidated by her severe tone so I returned to the room upset and asked my husband to go see her.
He did and she was even ruder to him talking over him and threatened to call the POLICE!!!!! He hadn't' t even raised his voice but was simply trying to explain the reason of our discontent .
We eventually contacted the owner .(Mr Vardi)
He was nicer to deal with but charged us for the night we stayed ( which I don't dispute) and half the day we spent trying to check out!
If you want a well located self catering accommodation Boulan will do but if you want a sleek hotel
DON 'T.
There are lots of lovely buzzing boutique hotels with polite staff in South Beach !!!!!

The best hotel we ever stayed at! We had a big apartment, very clean, two toilets and a bathroom with both shower and bathtub. The staff was very nice and helpful. The only thing you can complain about is the breakfast. Just bread, bagels and Danish, sugar, sugar, sugar....the only thing I could eat was the Philadelphia cheese.

I booked the BOULAN last minute because my 88 year mother suffered severe damage to her home from hurricane Sandy. I was told that there would be service in this facility but most of the time they don't answer at the front desk. I tried to take a shower last night at 11:00 pm but there was no hot water. I booked an ocean view but as it turned out the hotel overlooks another very large building so you can't see the ocean. I want to move my mother to another hotel but the Boulan has a very strict cancellation policy and so far they won't give a refund. You would think they'd have a little more consideration for an 88 year old woman who's home was ravaged by hurricane Sandy. I 'm hoping they'll be a little more accommodating, keep you posted....
By the way, they're still doing construction on the building and it tends to be very noisy at times, buyer beware....