This was our fifth visit to South Beach in the last ten years. We have stayed at the Tides (the best so far), the Raleigh, the Setai and the W. During those trips, we have visited the grounds and lobby of the Delano and decided to give it a chance. Looking at the many positive reviews of the Delano, I have to figure that I my standards must be to high. For instance being able to sit on the toilette and open the door to the hall at the same time might be considered a positive by many.
We booked an Ocean Front King via Tablet Hotel last Aug. We go to the hotel around 7:30pm. The person checking us in said that they had us down for a City View King. I showed him my full confirmation from Tablet. He agreed that I had indeed booked the Ocean Front room but said they did not have one. Then he and eventually the assist general manager, spent more than 20 minutes try to figure out what to do. I expected that they would offer me an upgraded room but no such offer was forth coming. Eventually, the assistant manager said we could have a partial ocean view on the 4th floor but admitted it might be noisy in the morning. The alternative was as City View from on the 11th floor. He said he would reduce our price by $150 per night but that was probably not much lower than we would have paid when we originally booked. Then they offered us a free continental breakfast which would could not really use. They were very nice but if I had wanted a City View, I would have booked it.

So the bathroom which was extremely small and actually so close to the hall door that you could open the door while sitting on the toilet, was not totally clean. There was a tissue left in the sink for instance. The room smelled of some kind of spray which was probably used because people had smoked in the room. We were joined by another couple and they had to move rooms because of the smell of smoke.

The main restaurant, Binca, is very expensive and not very good. The pool is nice very crowded. In general, I would have to say the staff was very nice.

We have an apartment nearby but sometimes stay a night or two at the Delano to have fun and enjoy the pool scene. This is a long overdue review of our several visits there over the past year or so.

Quintessential Miami hotel/hotspot. Great pool scene. Amazing people watching. (Celebrities abound). Good restaurants. Sexy atmosphere, especially the rooms. Small, but nice spa with great massage and other services.

What is there not to love about the Delano?

Ok, so the service can range from amazing to lackadazical depending on the staff member...but it's Miami (where most wait and hotel staff are more interested in oogiling their colleagues and planning for the after-party then focusing on the guests needs0. By Miami standards, the Delano does just fine in the service area.

For my money, this continues to be the most enjoyable and coolest place, by far, to stay on the beach for the 30-50 year old set. We will see if the recently opened SLS proves to be a game changer and real competition for the Delano in this regard. Ritz- too family oriented. Setai- no action/scene at the pool. Gansevoort- rooms are cheap and down market, and main pool (no rooftop) is an eyesore. Shore Club- college frat party.

Absolutely stuuning place. Rooms as beautiful as they look in the brochure and really well equipped ( Ipads, Irons & boards, mini bar etc )
Staff are attentive and always willing to help in any way that they can. Food is great (in our experience anyway ) Drinks were a bit pricey but remember you are (in my opinion) in one of the best hotels in Miami, so it is comparable with any other top clas hotel.I honestly cannot praise this place enough. For us it was perfect. My only slight crticism is...do not use the hotel phone's. We rang from to the uk. Not cheap at all. Our mistake though, Buy a phone card if possible or use the public phones. Much cheaper.

The staff from the reception, the housekeeping, and servers are enthusiastic, polite and exude in abundance old world manners. This hotel attracts young people usually with older family members. It is a cross between new generation and older generations finding a common location to enjoy each other. The enthusiasm is catchy, and you may feel different in how you feel about yourself. There is an upbeat mood, the lobby is full of large Samson pillars and bellowing curtains. Our room was really cozy to be in but unfortunately the windows were pelleted with dung from birds, but we received a memo from the front desk that the windows would be cleaned the next day and they were. We had wonderful views of the beach thereafter. The pool is shaded most of the time and also reserved for the limited sunny locations. There is a secured room key lock on the back entrance to the pool so you can walk the broadwalk and the beach. The food for breakfast is good and our lunch was even better. Our bathroom was small but it has all that is needed but only one person can be in there at a time.The driveway into the hotel entrance is very small but it functions. The doormen and the car valets were not in attendance upon our arrival and we had to locate someone to get our luggage and take care of the car for parking. The pool had people who worked and then people who worked there but chated with other staff members for extensive periods of time. Felt as though we had to interrupt them to get towels or help.