Royal Palm South Beach Miami, a Tribute Portfolio Resort - TEMPORARILY CLOSED

Aug 2024

I used to live in Miami Beach and was familiar with this hotel. It was an excellent choice for a summer long-weekend for me, my wife and our dog. Location is so important for a hotel and the Royal Palm has a perfect location! Situated just north of the end of Ocean Drive and beach front, you're in the heart of SoBe. Take a stroll down Ocean Drive, to the Art Deco Historic District or grab the City's free trolley to the SoFi neighborhood. We had a basic king room with a partial ocean view. The bed was comfy and the room was bright and clean. The pool area was amazing and all of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful, including the bellhops, the girl in the coffee shop and the front desk clerk, Davina, especially. She went out of her way to say hello to me in the lobby, addressing me by name, adding that little, special touch that made you feel appreciated as a customer. The only complaints we had were the lighting in the bathroom of our room, as it's way too dim, and there isn't a refrigerator in the room that you can use to keep some drinks or food cold. Save yourself the insane $55 parking fee and stick your car in the City lot around the corner for $20 per day.

Aug 2024

I booked a surprise trip to Miami for GF's birthday. We have been meaning to go to Miami with multiple previous trips planned but something always gets in the way. It didn't hurt that Miami seems to be cheaper in the summer time and it's pretty much the same temperature as it has been at home in NY but with the added benefit of a beach and some art deco architecture. The signage got us up to speed with its art deco font. We were assisted with our bags which actually ended up being more of a hassle for reasons I'll explain below. This place was much cheaper than I was planning to spend (maybe because it's August?) but I couldn't turn down the savings and was optimistic. The lobby is spacious enough that I didn't immediately feel that I had made a terrible mistake. The man who checked us in, Boris, was excellent and really licked my ass as a platinum member. He did a great job with the buttering up, offering me a room upgrade and making me feel welcome and appreciated. Our upgraded room was not available, it was 3-3:30pm after all, so we left our luggage with the bellman and went to scope out the property. There isn't much "property" to scope out. It's a smallish pool and an even smaller pool up a flight of stairs. The beach is pretty much right outside the back. We took a seat at the bar and once we were greeted by the bartender, had a menu to review. This was the moment I became acutely educated on how expensive shit is in Miami. At least on par with NYC if not more. But I digress. We ordered some cocktails and some snacks: a flatbread/pizza and chips and guac. The cocktails were delicious. The chips were great, the guac was pretty solid, the pizza was not much better than what you would get from the freezer. It had been at least an hour, probably an hour and a half if not more. We had not heard anything about our room being ready so we went back to the concierge to check on it. We were told that we had not even been checked in. Boris, who was standing right behind the person who was now assisting us, completely ignored me saying numerous times "Boris checked us in". Finally the person assisting us pulled him over and he said "I didn't do it right?". Oy vey. The room we were supposed to get was still not ready so I have no idea if we actually got an upgrade or not but we were given a room that was ready. It was in the corner and was incredibly spacious with a separate bed and seating area. Views were excellent with a view of the beach in the distance and a view of the city's skyline. This was the real highlight of our stay. The sunsets were INCREDIBLE. We waited over an hour and our luggage wasn't brought upstairs. I had to make a point of asking for it to be brought upstairs which was annoying. This is getting long so I will summarize the rest: -unlike pretty much every other "resort" I have had the pleasure to patronize, they don't have umbrellas at every chair so there were occasions where none of the shaded seats were available. Either you have to sit in the sun or just not sit by the pool. This is frustrating. -the towels are so small they're a joke. They're like a tissue. You need two to cover more than half of the chair but if you get a bitchy towel person, this may be an issue (our problem one of the days) -bed was much harder than many other hotel beds but it wasn't uncomfortable -not an overwhelming amount of options at breakfast but what was available was very good -I travel with a plastic portable bidet because I like a clean you know what and they literally threw it out/removed it. I've traveled with this thing for years and it has never been chucked. We were SHOCKED. This is my personal possession. Now I have to buy another one. Annoying. -room and bathroom were super clean but there was black spots on the curtains which looked to be mold. -location is EXCELLENT. 10 seconds from the beach. a few minute's walk to many restaurants and shopping in the area. a block or two away form

Aug 2024

I rated this hotel 4 stars, but I would technically give it 3.5 stars. I think everything about this hotel gives Tribute Portfolio resort except for the rooms themselves. When we walked into the lobby, it was clean and decorated nicely. We got there around noon and our room wasn't ready yet, so we were able to check our luggage and head out to the pool and/or beach. Towels are complimentary with a towel card (given by the hotel) but beach umbrellas are $25/day or cabanas are $150/day. We opted for the umbrellas for the three days we were there. The resort is so close to the beach, which was amazing. When our room was ready, we went up to check it out. We had a corner room overlooking the beach. This room also had a balcony. In my opinion, the room felt a little cheap compared to the rest of the hotel. Even the room bathroom was giving more luxury than the room itself. The room served its purpose which was to sleep in, but that's about it. Having the balcony was great so that we could see/hear/smell the ocean at all times. Overall, I would stay here again because the location is perfect, the lobby and pool area are nice and beach access is steps away from the hotel. But I would really appreciate it if the rooms were given a little upgrade.