Boulevard Hotel Miami Beach

For our cruise we flew into Florida a day early, to protect against any flight delays or luggage problems. We spent the night at The Boulevard Hotel on Miami Beach. This hotel is the reason that I wanted to start writing reviews. I had done my research and I knew that we wanted to stay on Miami Beach, the area is beautiful and is melting pot of people and cultures. Since we were only spending one night there I wasn't up for spending $$$$ on a five star resort, we just need a place to crash for the night after traveling all day.

First off, the hotel is right on Ocean Blvd., which is the street that runs right along the coast and the Miami boardwalk. This area is extremely packed and right in the middle of everything! I'm talking bumper to bumper traffic, and people all over the place, when we commented on the traffic, our taxi driver laughed and said this is nothing and to wait until tonight. He was right, as soon as the sun starts to set everyone comes out to play. Location wise we were in the place to be, we were surrounded by the beach, restaurants, and shopping. My first clue to what the shape of the hotel was in should have been the $65.95 per night price tag. When they say you get what you pay for... they aren't joking!

The lobby and front desk was really cute, it had that old time vintage surfer vibe to it. Everything was fine until we got to the bedroom, then I couldn't wait to check-out. There wasn't a thermostat in the room and the temperature was set to Sub Zero. The blankets had cigarette burns, even though we were in a listed non-smoking room. Oh and the view! We had a window that was barred up and looked right into a alley way that you wouldn't catch me dead walking through even in bright daylight. However I knew we were only going to stay for a night, I mean come on, how bad could it be really?

After dinner we were exhausted from flying and decided to call it an night. Everyone else in the hotel had a different idea. Paper thin walls let you hear everything above and around you, I was able to hear when anyone flushed the toilet and unfortunately could tell when they forgot to wash their hands. There were numerous parities going on out in the hallway all night along with a couple of fights. Welcome to Miami I kept telling myself. This most defiantly wasn't a place to bring a family, but if you were with a group of college kids on spring break and just needed a place to crash for really cheap, then Boulevard Hotel is perfect.

Rating: ♦