I have stayed with this hotel two times now as my plane ticket on both sides required me to stay overnight in Miami. I am pleased with my stay overall and for the right purposes definitely recommend this hotel...
Physical building: while if you look you can see this building itself was not built within the last few years (i.e. nicks in some doorframes, perhaps see a spot where there was a paint job from a previous style of decoration), the building has been cared for and money has been invested into keeping the hotel up. In the two rooms I have been in, you can see obvious new carpeting, lighting, wallpaper, etc. Public spaces are cared for. In fact, on the first stay, not only did they do normal things like clean the room, they brought a new flat-screen TV for me! Okay, it was coincidence they were installing the TV's while I was in my particular room, but they are installing the big flat-screens in all the rooms.
Beds: Oh, my gosh...they are seemingly new pillowtop mattresses and I don't think you'll want to get out of the bed! Additionally, the beds I've had automatically had some regular and down pillows. It was a great bed overall.
Staff: The Front Desk is friendly and helpful. Restaurant staff wasn't overly friendly, but not surly either. You should be okay with the staff. Shuttle/bellman staff was generally helpful too.
Location: This may be a downside for you...honestly, there isn't much around the property in terms of touristy stuff. About all I saw was two fast food restaurants and a Bennigan's a few blocks away. There is the hotel's restaurant, though. The hotel seems to be really focused to the customer who needs to be near the airport. For that purpose, it's fine. However, if you don't have a car, you may be a little stranded. The shuttle, I'm told, is only for back and forth to the airport (and other reviewers say to the Port, but I can't comment on that). If you need/want attractions near your hotel, this location is probably not for you.
Overall, this Holiday Inn seems to be one of the better ones and for the property itself I can again recommend it. Just be mindful of the location issue.














