As a solo traveler and after reading previous reviews, I was apprehensive about staying here. South Beach is a wild and crazy place and The Catalina is definitely part of the "scene." What made my overnight stay quite pleasant was the change in my room assignment, made by the concierge when I checked in. Without me asking, he gave me a quiet room at the back of the hotel. It was spacious, immaculate, and quite comfortable. As I didn't eat at the hotel, use the outdoor areas or the bars, I can't comment on any other element. I was; however, pleased with my experience there and grateful for the professional concern the conceirge showed.

Overall I can say this place is one of my favorite chill places to stay at in Miami. Pool on the rooftop being where my best experiences were at. But when it comes to parking... While waiting for our car to come back from vallet it took 50 minutes! We could have gotten ready to go out and eat within that time! But we just set there like " let's be calm and wait...." Minutes continued on... Took forever... Good hotel just don't expect to retrieve your car anytime soon.

I had first stayed at this hotel (Maxine part - there's 3 hotels together) in August 2010 and it was great. I then stayed January 18-21 with two of my girlfriends and we were booked in a room in the middle hotel (Catalina I think) and it was really small so we asked to be moved and the front desk was awesome to us and moved us to the Maxine. Amazing what three years will do...but still a good hotel and we had a great time at the downstairs bar and the rooftop pool. The free shuttle and happy hour continue to be a great perk and the staff are all really kind and helpful.

So I just returned from another stay (Feb 9-12 - I live in NJ and hate snow!) and this time noticed a lot more issues. The shuttle was great and drivers were wonderful. My friend arrived before me and she had a room in the Dorset - room 101. The bed was so squeaky and the set up of the room was odd so we asked to be moved. They moved us to 280 in the Maxine and there were numerous mosquitos in the room - two bit me and my friend killed one on her bed that was full of blood. I saw a roach in the bathroom and then noticed the air conditioner had a huge gap in the top of it to outside which would explain the skeeters! Overall, still a good deal, just make sure you get a good deal. My friend tried to extend her stay and they wanted instead of like $150/160 a night $399 - b/c of the boat show. It's worth 150 but I wouldn't pay much over that. She is staying at the Shelbourne instead and says it's way nicer.

BTW - the girl who bartends at the Maxine (tall, beautiful - think her name is Uva) is adorable and remembered me from one month to the next - things like that are good about the hotel. She's so friendly and kind - makes you want to go back. They also work with a promoter named Iddo and he's awesome as well if you want to go to a club - pay an amount and they take you on a bus to the club. So overall some bad, mostly good!

We stayed at the Catalina for my bachelorette weekend and here is our review. We stayed 3 nights with 6 girls....for the amount of time we were there I would say it was average, but would never stay there again.....

Pros:
- Location was key
- Restaurant in Maxine with good food - ate here about 3 times....breakfast is yummy and cocktails
- The beds/pillows are really comfy
- Keith and Johnson that work at the rooftop pool are WONDERFUL! Loved the free shots that were passed around...
- The rooftop pool was really nice to hang out at and the pool beds are really comfortable
- Beach chairs and towels included with room
- Bottle of Kettle One vodka included in the Rock Star room

Cons:
- Pictures on website are WAY nicer then the hotel and rooms actually are - rooms are outdated and pretty old/run down looking in person...
- People that work at hotel are rude and slow
- Our two rooms were located in the Maxine and directly above the bar. The music blasted every night until wee hours of the morning (6am)...the first night we had to call and go down there a number of times until they unplugged the stereo....had to do this again on the second night too
- The bathrooms are HORRIBLE, can only fit one person in the bathroom and the whole bathroom was flooded with water after you shower
- There are barely any outlets to plug your phone, etc into in the actual room. We had to unplug the clocks and the one and only table lamp to do so
- The rooms are VERY dark, so girls, getting ready in the rook makes it impossible especially trying to put your make up on
- The smell in our hallway was musty and made us sick