Hotel Breakwater South Beach

Greta hotel right in the middle of everything in South Beach! Arrived Sunday for the last of the Miami carnival party at Mangos right next door. The price was super cheap for a big weekend of partying in Miami. Valet parking is a bit pricey at $50 a night but then again so is everything at south beach. Estefanie was at the front desk and was so courteous, great people skills and very pleasant, she even gave us a bottle of champagne to toast away our stay for the night. Aside from the AC in the room being hard to control everything else was just amazing. Love the dual head shower and the complimentary package in the room. This is my second time at this hotel and I can't say anything bad about it as they are always good to me.

This hotel is right on South Beach strip. The staff Elsa, Alex and Harold were helpful and pleasant. I would definitely recommend this establishment.

Couldn't have asked for a more perfect stay in Miami Beach! Incredible hotel--our room was fabulous with a king sized bed that was so comfy, large room and amazing view. The location is in the middle of South Beach, right on Ocean Drive. That said, was surprised we could barely hear any street noise in our room! Loved the amenities (the pool, free bike rentals, beach chairs and towels) but what really made our stay was the people. Each and every staff member we encountered was kind, courteous and went above and beyond to make our stay special. Huge shout outs to Lizza, Sekene, Hubert (SO helpful!!), Estephanie, Araji, Stanley, Jabit, and all the housekeeping staff.

Couldn't recommend this more--book here to save some money (to spend on the overpriced food in the area) and enjoy one of the best hotels in Miami Beach!!

I only give this hotel a 2 because of the friendliness of the front desk staff and the location to the beach.

Lily and Kai were excellent! Lily got us into our room earlier than the 4 p.m. check-in and they helped us find our way around. She pointed us to MamaMia, gelato and coffee place connected to hotel, which was lovely! Even the night front desk staff was great, though I never got their names. And as far as location, it was close to the beach, which is what we wanted. They offered us towels and chairs if we wanted them and we were at the beach in 5 minutes.

That is where the good experience stopped.
1) I reserved an ocean view room (more expensive) and you can see the picture from our room, you have to look to see about an inch of the ocean. I paid extra for an ocean view and I might as well have saved my money.
2) The room carpet was damp when we got into the room. Okay, we figured they just cleaned it and it wasn't dry yet. Over that day and the next, the room got mustier and mustier and smelled of mold. It was almost unbearable when we left the 3rd morning. When they did clean, they could have something about that.
3) The maids took one of our hand towels and didn't replace it or the "free coffee" pods in the room. We drank 2 and they didn't replace them, nor did they replace the condiment package (creamer & sugar).
4) The cleaning crew arrived at 9:30 a.m. on the day of our checkout - checkout is at 11!

All in all, I would definitely not stay there again.
Elizabeth C

This place totally sucks and is a SCAM. Took 3 days for a manager to finally , " be on the property." From the second we arrived this was a disaster. Front desk is no help. When I tried to get a refund they lied and said I didn't launch a complaint! I complained for 3 days to speak to the manager!!!!!
Dirty Elevator, homeless woman who peed on the property, filthy pool. And this was our honeymoon! Do yourself a favor and SKIP this.

DO NOT STAY HERE

During our 4-day girls' trip, we stayed at Breakwater Hotel. After complaints of plumbing and a strong mildew smell, they transferred us to another room that also had plumbing issues. We were unable to request yet another room because were told for 2 days "only a manager can help you". Kia, the manager, was present on our final day. I was given a business card and told to email my complaints and I was given a refund of the $82 service fee. I explained to Kia that the $82 was offensive, given the plumbing issues in both rooms, one room with a strong mildew odor, the inconvenience of having to switch rooms, and the run around with attempting to have matters resolved with the 2nd room. We would have been transferred to a 3rd room if we were able to speak with a manager. Only front desk staff were available on the last days of our stay.

My friend's written complaint (also posted on Yelp), the inconvenience of transferring to another room caused us to miss an important dinner. I will also post reviews on several sites including the Breakwater site in case upper management cares enough about guest's experiences and rectify their plumbing issues.

The day after the trip I emailed Breakwater, I had to make several calls to get them to address my very detailed email of all that occurred during our stay. As I disputed the charge, Breakwater staff sent a statement "that I never made any complaints during our entire stay and that I was trying to beat the system". Another Breakwater response was that we stayed the 4 days and didn't go to another hotel - wow, we had already moved to another room and they did not care about or consider the cost we would have encountered.

Pros: delicious food, readily available fruit (oranges & apples) and bottled water, reception staff was great, and the hotel was directly across from the beach.

Cons: (1) You will get the run around when seeking a resolution, (2) management may make a false statement against you, (3) a dead cockroach was seen in the hallway, (4) plumping issues - there were work crews on the 3rd floor working on 3 units as we were transitioning up to the 4th floor, (5) the lobby has a strong but good smelling air freshener scent. We checked in saying, it smells good in here! But later guessed that the strong lobby smell was probably to cover up mildew or other odors, (6) the wall art throughout the hotel did not reflect the multicultural patrons, the artwork should reflect all races of the people that make reservations there, (7) loud street noise, the neighboring restaurant had live music late night, and (8) remodeled bathrooms but dated furniture.

If I knew Breakwater was unprofessional and dishonest, I would have taken pictures of all towels laid down to soak up water in our rooms on both the 3rd & 4th floors and called the state department over the severe mildew smell and plumbing issues - the room on the 3rd floor. If we called the State Department, Breakwater staff would not have been able to be dishonest and deny our unpleasant 4 day experience, and there would have been a record of the plumbing issues in the building. We do have a picture from the 4th floor of water not draining from the bathroom sink. The lessons learned - take pictures of everything wrong and never book at Breakwater Hotel South Beach!

My friends and I did not think that we had to cover ourselves and defend ourselves while we were on vacation. What a huge inconvenience and disappointing experience. I thought I was going to have a great time, for that was my first trip to Miami.

We booked this hotel last minute. Our previous arrangements canceled. We arrived earlier than checkin. Unfortunately, our room wasn't available, but the hotel held our luggage until our room was ready. The staff was more than friendly and accommodating. They allowed a little later checkout as a courtesy (our flight was later in the day). The room was nicely updated and big for south Miami, AC worked well, and had good complementary toiletries. The hotel is centrally located on the strip. Parties everywhere! The cons were the TV wasn't installed straight and the bar table underneath the TV was slightly loose. I still would recommend giving this hotel a try. Pretty good bang for the buck.

Overall, the hotel isn't super glamorous but met its needs as it is clean and safe for solo female travel. I love how they had free bikes. There was a small pool but who needs it when you have the ocean in South Beach anyways, right? As far as service, the front desk ladies were great and were very helpful and good communicators. Housekeeping did great as well. My only complaint is it was weird walking through a restaurant and ice cream shop to get to my room but I think it's common in the area. If I were to come back again, I'd probably stay here as it's budget friendly.

The Breakwater is centrally located to all the action on Ocean Drive. It has plenty of amenities, very clean rooms, and safety features in place. It is steps away from the beautiful Miami South Beach. They also have bikes, beach chairs, and beach towels for your daily use. It's also 2 blocks away from the Metro Bus Route #150 (9th & Washington) which is a $5 round trip cost per person from the airport. The a/c kept the room cool. The mini fridge in the room kept my beverages chilled. The pool is nice and private. Your room card will allow you to obtain 10-20% off in discounts for various restaurants near the hotel. Lily, Kai, and team welcomed us and made sure we had everything from check in to check out. They even escorted us to our room at check in and informed us at check out that we are still their guest until we depart with access to amenities. I would strongly recommend this hotel to a friend. This is my 5th time staying at this hotel and look forward to many more future visits. Book with confidence.

My husband and I took a Disney cruise and decided we wanted to spend a day in Miami before flying back to California. We decided to go with breakwater based on the reviews we read and the convenience being right across from the beach. We disembarked the ship at 9am but check in wasn't until 4pm. I was a bit worried that I would have to wait till 4 with all my luggage. As I got to the hotel Lily was the receptionist to greed us. She offer that we leave our luggage there and go walk or eat and she would call me as soon as a room became available. She was so nice and sweet along with Kai who help with our luggage. Not lying almost 12pm she calls me that my room is ready. I swear that was amazing of her. The rooms are so clean, beautiful and the restroom is fabulous, 2 shower heads. As we were going to the beach to relax Lily and Kai offer towels and chairs and even water . Can I say the customer service is amazing and how freaking convenient they make it for their guest. I am so sad I only planned to stay here for a day but I love this place and all amenities this hotel offers their guest. Even discounts to shops next to them. I did stay at another hotel on Collins when I first got here before we boarded the cruise and the customer service does not even compare at all. This place is a MUST if you are ever here in south Miami Beach. Lily and Kai made it so much better! Thank you for having such amazing staff. Literally has been the best customer service I receive in Miami.