Went to Miami for business, booked the hotel far ahead, planned to arrive a night earlier and sent them a mail, never got a reply from them, so had to take a different hotel for one night. When I finally arrived there, they told me at 2, that check in is only at 4. When I returned at 4, they told me, they don't have a room, as they are hopeless overbooked and for the first night they accommodated me on the opposite of the street. Had to pay the same price, but was a horrible hotel, far beyond the standard I booked. That meant another night packing and unpacking. Got a sea view room, they are pretty old and a very very small bathroom. It was always noisy and the elevators were not working during the stay, only one was operating and you sometimes had to wait 10 minutes for the elevator. The resort fee was a joke, as the breakfast was really poor. If you ever should stay in Southbeach, I can't recommend this hotel!

Now given the images online and premium price point I had high expectations... Well the arrival and lobby delivered as expected, and lets not forget the very friendly staff. Now the elevator started showcasing the expectation beyond that but I assumed it was under transition. The foyer/hallway for the guest rooms were stylish done with very cheap and low quality products that were aging as if bought at Ikea.

The guest room had some awesome touches such as the stark white Carrera Marble floors, spacious layout and walkin closet. The functionality just simply was not well thought at all. No power outlet by the bed to charge phone, no floor length mirror in the entire room, no counter space/towel hooks/shower storage in the bathroom, no light in the closet, and my biggest thing, the shower was poorly thought out and the water leaks out into the room and uncontrollable when taking a shower.

Lets keep hope alive that the stay can match the lobby and staff eventually. If you absolutely must stay there, ONLY stay in the front of the hotel as the view is not worth the horrific rooms in the back.

Some rooms are recently renovated; some are not. No complaints from my group though, even with non-upgraded rooms. My upgraded room was renovated and was very nice. If you upgrade, yo most likely will get a newly renovated room, but you have to ask.

The front desk got us checked in quickly. Vicky at the concierge desk was fantastic at taking care of our needs.

When booking the Shelborne I actually used Trip Advisor to help. There were some mixed reviews, but from the people who got renovated rooms, they had a great experience. Unfortunately, I was not in one of those rooms.

When I arrived, they let me check in an hour early which was nice, but my room was old, stained and definitely in need of serious TLC. I could also hear EVERYTHING. I was removed from the elevators, but could still hear them. Everyone someone shut a door, or flushed a toilet, you could hear it and anyone staying next to, above or below me, I could hear their entire conversation. That isn't why I am giving this hotel a less than stellar review. It is getting one because of a safety issue I had with my room and how the manager chose to deal with it.

Before leaving for a great dinner reservation, I realized my door was not locking behind me. I immediately called the front desk and when the maintainence man said he could not fix it. I went downstairs and asked for another room. The front desk assistant, Raimondo, was extremely apologetic and very nice. He wanted to do all he could to help, but to no avail. I was down there for almost 30 minutes in which time I NEVER saw the manager. When they tried to fix the door again and it did not work, I went back downstairs and when I caught the manager behind the desk (no he never offered to speak with me) I asked what he could do...one free drink per person in my party from the lobby bar. Gee thanks. We've now missed our reservation and I'm still stuck in the same room.

Fortunately, the concierce, Rafael was FANTASTIC! He made me feel like a VIP the rest of the weekend I was there; setting us up with a fabulous dinner at Flame where appetizers, champage and dessert was on him. The next night, I didn't have to wait in line at Joe's Stone Crab, a place where a 2 hour wait is normal. If it wasn't for Rafael, I would be scathing about this place right now. Raimondo was also a huge help.

They say that this hotel will be fully renovated by April 2014 now that Wyndham Hotels has purchased them, however, I'm sure because of the location (which is AMAZING) this hotel will up its prices. Otherwise, I'd recommend staying elsewhere.