I just returned from a girls Trip to SOBE! We arrived early and the room was not ready so we left the bags with the guys at the door...came back at 4pm and the room was ready. It is a typical south beach boutique budget hotel so if you want luxury pay the luxury price and do not complain!! We took advantage of all their great amenities, cabanas by the pool, chairs at the beach, and the Awesome happy hour. The staff was very friendly and accommodating, housekeeping, front desk, concierge, bellmen, ect.
This is more of a party hotel and I will be back every time I come to SOBE to have a great time!

I have NEVER had such an amazing time in south beach, and I attribute that to this amazing boutique hotel! Right in the middle of it all, the Catalina was THE place to be. Starting the night at FREE happy hour and a DJ in the lobby is the only way to go, we were spoiled :)
Great food, stellar staff (especially Pedro Ortega, the worlds BEST concierge!), free beach chairs, super comfy rooms....sigh.... I can't wait to return soon! Thank you Catalina!

Stayed here on business. Wrong place. First of all there is no parking at all. You have to pay $32 a day to park your car with the valet. When I first checked in at 5pm I waited 30 minutes. Then they wanted a personal credit card to put on file even though the room was booked by my company.
The doormen were not helpful at all and just watched me carry 4 bags to my room. My room wasn't even where I checked in it was next door in another building.
The room was DARK. I had to take the lamp shade off just to use my computer.
The coffee was $4 in the morning.
The front desk called my room at 530am by mistake and after waking me, they didn't even apologize. I woke up an went to the front desk and the girl that called me said there's nothing she could do now that she woke me up.
Overall just a pitiful example of management and how poorly a company can be run.
Just lousy

I grew up in the area and will frequently stay on South Beach when I'm back in South Florida to escape my parents for a few nights. Had never stayed at the Catalina Hotel & Becah Club before, but there were few hotels available the weekend of the BCS National Championship game, which was being played nearby, and it was reasonably priced and in a good location on Collins Ave close to Lincoln Road.

First impressions: my husband and I arrived around 7pm and there was a line out the door to check in. The lobby felt like a cheap nightclub with ugly, oversized plastic furniture. The rooms were small (totally fine) but felt dirty, worn, and almost dorm-like. My husband remarked that the bathroom (BTW, the door handle was broken and falling off) looked like a locker room, and that this was the type of bedroom that he would not want to go over with a black-light. The hallways smelled like a combination of mildew and bleach, and I was not impressed with the stripper-esque posters in the elevators or left on the desk in the room. Notably, we had just returned from spending a week in South America, and felt LESS safe at the Catalina Hotel than we did in any city we visited in Argentina or Chile.

I wouldn't stay here again.