Struggled to find a hotel on the front, in the Art-Deco area, at Miami Beach at a reasonable price and came across Room Mate Waldorf Towers. Formerly just the Waldorf Towers (posters in the Art-Deco Information centre) so one of the Art-Deco hotels, Room-Mate have kept the Art-Deco exterior and refurbished the inside. We had a huge room on the first floor at the front and were happy with that. Bed was comfortable, room well equipped and clean, elevator to help with moving luggage. Reception staff friendly and helpful despite being ridiculously busy (folks arriving off cruise ships at 9am hoping to find rooms available etc)
Valet parking available - more or less essential I guess.

Now what some people might see as the downside - at ground floor level the whole strip is one long chain of restaurants (mostly outdoor) and clubs. So the entry to the hotel is through the restaurant and every time you go in someone hustles you to eat, which gets a bit tiresome. Also some of the clubs have very loud music which keeps going until 2am, the hotel provides earplugs! Normally that kind of thing bothers us but surprisingly this didn't - even without earplugs (and we slept worse on the Sunday night which was a bit less noisy!)
There are so many restaurants, and no way of telling which are good/bad/indifferent - fortunately in the streets behind there are good restaurants with a reputation so on the whole we ate well (try the Colombian/Peruvian restaurant Bolivar - we were well impressed at quality and low price)
For me the answer as to whether or not a hotel is good lies in whether or not I would return, for the Waldorf Towers I would have no hesitation!

Although rooms are pretty small, this brand new hotel deserves a visit. Setting is perfect, in the heart of the Art Deco District and facing the beach, but what makes this place really special is its outstanding staff, particularly Ana who was very helpful, lovely and professional. Thanks for an awesome stay!

We've been to South Beach a few times by now, and have gotten used to paying too much for small, somewhat run-down hotels just to be close to the beach. Luckily, this time, we found a real gem. What a fantastic experience! We loved it so much we came back again a week later, and had an even better experience.

Pros:
- Location can't be beat, right on Ocean drive, and walking distance to everywhere
- Service was great - nice, helpful, and fast
- The entire hotel looks almost brand new, with nice decor
- The restaurant right downstairs had good food for incredible deals, $5 breakfasts, $9 lunches, and a great 2-for-1 deal on cocktails (unlike some tourist trap places where it's 2-for-1 but you pay $50+ for each one)

Cons:
- At times we noticed a line at check in/out when there was only one person at reception


Full story:

We got a good rate on a room, and were happy just with the location. When we asked at check in, they offered an upgrade to an ocean view suite for a small fee, and we took it. We absolutely loved the room. Spacious, new, great view of the beach, and a nice bathroom. We knew we were coming back to SoBe the following week, and asked at reception if they have the same room available. After checking with the manager, they agreed to let us book a room for the same fee, and said if they have the suite available we'd get the same offer to upgrade, so we made the booking, and cancelled our other hotel.

The following week we called ahead, and confirmed that the suite was available for us to upgrade. When we arrived, Ana at reception already remembered us from last time. She told us she had some news - the same exact suite was not available. "BUT.... and I need a ta-da-da-da for this... we're giving you the presidential suite instead!". We were indeed happy - this one was even bigger, and apparently we were getting the best room in the house.

Then Ana even went above and beyond, with helping us with some odd requests (we arrived too early to check in, and needed some help organizing for our day that she was happy to assist with).

Feeling happy, we settled in for lunch and cocktails with friends, and had a wonderful rest of the stay. When we later needed some ice in our room, we called reception, and in less than 15 seconds, someone had run up the stairs to grab our bucket and fill it for us.

Overall, our best stay in SoBe so far. We'd be happy to return here, and glad to recommend this place to our friends.

The hotel is just across from Miami Beach in the middle of the Art Deco district. The bed was nice and soft, and our room was further back in the hotel so we didn't hear the partying on Ocean Drive at night. Valet parking is your only option and it was $25 night.