James Royal Palm Miami South Beach Reviews

Didn't stay overnight, but the room I visited seemed very spacious and clean. A very nice hotel from what I could see.

Had a stay a few weeks ago.
Complimentary upgrade was issued so that was nice. Front desk and bells were also very polite and helpful.
Grounds seemed outdated.
Got a suite. While the suite was very large and comfortable the rooms were outdated and '' old''
All complaints were addressed by the front desk and via email.
Was hopping for the amount of Marriott Points spent the hotel would be prestine and flawless.
The location for southbeach night life couldn't have been any better.
They are undergoing new management so maybe down the line I will see if anything has changed

Everyone, went out of there way, to make our visit comfortably, after we didn't get the handicap room, I requested!

Super nice, from the valet to the havitation service all very nice

People who write 4-5 stars reviews provably did not experience truly nice service.
Traveling pretty much often to Miami. Tried many hotels on Collins Ave.
First time at this hotel and the last one. Rooms are not cleaned. Linens smell bad, mini bar charges are outrageous. Customer service is mean.
BE AWARE THIS HOTEL IS FAR FEOM TO BE ROYAL.

Very clean and affordable room wonderful ocean views

As a resort, it is disappointing. Old furniture, expensive, the worst beach service I've experienced in my life. The detail: I'm a Sheraton Vacation Owner!! Can't believe that...

Excellent customer service. Rooms are clean and fresh.

I got the reservation around Christmas so that is a bargain for $179 per night excluding resort fee. I found the room quite special and love the vibe and the view from the room.
The reception and baggage help are 4 star standard. But the concierge service is just terrible. I called them twice and they are always busy, and they told me they would call back but they didn't. And there is no follow-up. But it is just a 4 star hotel not a 5 star.
There is a pool full of kids all day, and a bar. The food and drink on the beach is good and is about SoBe price.

But the guy who helped me set up beach chair just lie to my face telling me that they could only give me one towel and told me he would try. But he never try. I was waiting for his response for 20 mins about the second towel(I am insisting on a second towel because the beach chair is kind of nasty and one towel will not cover it all) until I got so impatient that I just went for it myself and got it immediately. Beyond that, no waiter came to us after we settled. I have to ask for water,drinks, and food myself. When I went to the garbage can to throw away some trash, one of the waiter just told me to throw the trash elsewhere, and I just ignored him and put it there. Then, he just came murmuring something to himself something not friendly. It just makes me very uncomfortable. But I didn't confront him.
I have also be in surfcomber and this kind of problem never appear.

All in All, beach staff is terrible and resort fee is $30 plus 14% tax. All other things are just standard for a 4-star hotel. Not Worth $300 per night. Except for the SoBe style room.

A bit dated hotel, clean rooms, very comfortable bedding. Quite small for a standard, nice view. Quite noisy. Ideal location on the beach and near shops, restaurants. Top staff, nice breakfast on the terrace. By cons with a Huawei phone impossible to have WiFi. It is not the hotel's fault.

I put 1 star just because the room was nice. The rest to avoid

Awesome place to stay. Perfecto location in Miami Beach. This hotel is very close to great restaurants, coffee stores, night clubs, Lincoln road, beach and pool are part of the facilities. Excellent service, and an amazing vibe.

Very well placed hotel. Beach access. Paid parasol on the beach not included with the room

The room was beautiful and super clean. Everyone has been friendly and attentive. They even gave us champagne because we were on our honeymoon. The view from our room was amazing.

No where does it say you are mid renovation. I searched for an hour on your website and through your social media, and it isn't there, yet you still charge people for using the facilities that are unavailable to them. Our room was filthy when we arrived. I had to call front desk to have the cushions in the seating area replaced since they were covered in what seemed to be blood, and the bathroom door fixed since it kept sliding open. The seating area was addressed, but the door was fixed using only velcro, but was still left hanging from only one bolt. I was expecting it to fall any minute. We were locked out of our room 3 times, and my wife was left waiting outside while I had to go deal with the fact that my keys were deactivated because your system checked us out of the room we had paid in advance. Three times! Both keys. My wife waited holding items we had purchased at 1am with wind gusting at her because you locked us out of the room we paid for. When we returned to the half fixed door, the repairman had left his tools on my suitcase. I had to remove oil stained tools off my personal belongings because not even that could be done correctly. I called front desk again, and was told someone would pick them up in the morning. I had to clean up after your workers. I really hope you understand how dissatisfied and angry I was at that moment after having my wife locked out of the room at 1am because your hotel is so disorganized. When we attempted to rent a couple of bikes, we arrived at a restaurant, and lo-and-behold the locks do not work. We had to bike back without enjoying lunch because you can not maintain the items rented out to guests. This happened twice. Not once, but twice with two separate bikes. I tried the second time before leaving, but of course they didn't work, and the person attending to us took so long retreaving other ones that we missed an appointment we made to go jet skiing. The construction going on kept us up two separate nights, which again is not made clear to guests before booking their rooms anywhere on your website. I can not explain how unsatisfied I was with my stay here. You nearly ruined my vacation. The only saving grace was the charming person in front desk. I really hope she brought up the comments I made when checking out to management, but I will never stay here, and I will never recommend this hotel. I wish I spent a dime here, but it's too late for that. If you care at all about your hotel, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my stay.

Excelent location in south beach. Close from everything. Beach club is fine, they give you 2 beach chairs but charge you USD20 x the umbrella!!! Also parking USD45 x day seems a little expensive but you have another parking around the corner on 16th and Collins USD20 x day. The hotel is great and beach+pool+walking distance deserves the 5*

Amazing location at a great price, wonderful beach, very friendly staff.

Beautiful hotel, prefect for a quick getaway with your besties

The entrance is 5 stars, the rooms leave something to be desired

Very convenient location. Rooms were clean and big, but nothing fancy. Got a great deal ($90) via HotelTonight, so can't complain! There's a $33 resort fee and valet parking is $42, but there's a garage across the street for $16.

1. The valet people stole $5 in quarters from my car.
2. Hotel staff (or others) stole a wallet with new vehicle tabs in it during the time our bags were on the luggage dolly and out of our sight.. supposedly in a secure area for around 3 hours past check in time since...
3. It took THREE hours past check-in before they had our room ready.
4. Check in staff asked if I wanted a complimentary bottle of water . She gave me two tiny bottles. I thought, how nice. Well, those bottles were billed at check out as costing $7-$8 each!
4b. Apparently lying staffer is also a rude one. Same woman got upset that we asked about our room that was not ready for 3 hours after it should have been.
5. Floors were filthy. Staff could be seen rolling vacuum cleaners over floors endlessly without the filth coming off the floor.
6. Room did not have a tub as advertised.
7. Balcony was too narrow to even fit a chair on it! But the ocean side view is nice.
8. Before my stay I did not know the history of the name of the hotel. Although the location has changed a bit the historical namesake is known for: The hotel was built on the site of a Tequesta village. A large mound was removed to make way for the hotel veranda. Between 50 and 60 skulls were found in the mound, and tossed into barrels and sinkholes. Some were later given away as souvenirs.
9. Restaurant food is insanely overpriced.

We booked the hotel and it doesn't say renovation. We had to stay in construction and dust. Pool was closed, lobby was messy, and I forgot my shoes at the room and I called few hours after check out , we spoke 4 different persons and left a message about this lost. No one called us back, that's so ridiculous. I have never seen such a bad hotel service in my life. Stay away from this business!!

I can't tell you how much my wife and I enjoyed our stay here. First off, the entire staff was amazing! They were all so kind and professional. Great SPG Platinum recognition! A few examples: First, we walked in at 1 am and I asked the front desk for a beer. They told me that the fridges were locked but they found someone who had a key and they got me a beer. In fact, they gave me 2 beers just because it took 5 minutes to get the beers. Second, the breakfast was supposed to stay open until 11:30am. When we got down there at 11:00, they were already cleaning up. They told me they had a private party that they needed to set up for. Well, the manager Pedro came to rescue. He offered me 3 options: 1) we could eat a few bites from the lobby bar, 2) we could go back to the room and order room service, 3) if we wanted lunch, we could eat at the restaurant outside. We chose the restaurant and Pedro took care of the entire tab. Ladies and Gentlemen, If that's not customer service, I don't know what is! I've stayed in at least 30 different hotels in South Beach and this is now my go to hotel anytime I'm in South Beach!

This hotel valet parking very dishonest, lots of unnecessary charge in my bill $48 parking plus $33 destinations fee each day. pus 4 other BS fee . Very disappointed

Hotel charged my card and Steven T. Wilson lied to me. Below He stated my card wasnt charged. I called and spoke to another supervisor and she said it was accidentally charged but she "caught it and did refunded". Well the charge happened at the end of the month And you know how Corp. Card works. No on wants to compensate me for my time nor fees on my card.

DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL.

Message from Steve:

Thank you for choosing the Royal Palm South Beach!

This email is in response to your inquiry into your billing for your recent reservation. After reviewing the folio I can confirm that you were charged for overnight valet parking and the hotel's resort fee. These are mandatory and non-negotiable.

As for the card that was charged, we cannot distinguish between your corporate card or any others attached to the reservation. I can assert that the card that was charged was a VISA ending in 9052. The reason that this card was charged is because it had been physically presented upon check-in. There was a Mastercard ending in 0776, but was never charged because it was not provided to the agent for a swipe. It does appear as though the system attempted to take a room and tax authorization, but that had been overturned once the certificate for points was attached to the reservation. The hotel is no longer in possession of that authorization.

I hope that you find this information helpful, please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

Steven T. Wilson | Loyalty Supervisor

Hotel is ok, rooms are spacious but noisy. Guests were noisy too so maybe that was the problem. Location is great, staff is good!

WORST PLACE EVER!!!! STAH FAR AWAY IF YOU KNKW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU!! This place is dirty af, sticky floors dusty countertops. Broken phones, so don t need room service or concierge. Stay in one of the other nearby hotels

Great sized room with complimentary coffee and water and free bike hire. Great location with private section of South Beach. Beds included in the 33 dollar per day resort tax which is the unfortunate sting in the tail.

From the moment we walked up to the beautiful resort, we knew we were going have a fantastic stay. Decor is trendy and creative, staff super friendly, rooms on the smaller side but still cool and comfortable.

Great hotel with a nice atmosphere. Loved the pool.

Old building, recently remodeled, but only on the surface. Doesn't seem to be maintained very well and the staff don't seem to care much about the customers. There are better hotels in Miami for sure.

This hotel sits on the beach and has a nice location with a park for children just up the beach trail. The hotel itself is not very children friendly. I had a hard time trying to get a double stroller through the property and if I was having trouble I do not see how anyone in a wheelchair could get around. On average I had to wait 10 mins for an elevator part of that was due to people pushing their way past me and not giving me a chance to get on or the elevator doors not staying open long enough to catch.
The staff was hit and miss. The concierge desk was not very friendly and I felt was very short with me. When it came time to check out we had late check out set up but still had staff knocking on the door before that time telling us to leave.
There are two pools which are heated one above the pool bar and one on ground level. There is a tiny hot tub that is built into the wall which does not allow for a lot of seating.
Being a Marriott this is supposed to be a smoke, tobacco free property but people were smoking all over the pool deck and in the pools and hot tub. Ash and cigarette butts everywhere. I had to leave with my children a few times because I did not want to be around any of that. Staff did not even care when addressed.
The rooms are descent size. The decor is dated however and worn.
I ordered room service one evening and tried to order a vegetarian item in which I was told they did not have the ingredients for so they did try to create something with what they did have. I was charged for more than it was worth but at least they tried to accommodate.
I have Titanium status with Marriott and can fairly compare with other properties. This is on the bottom of my list. There are far nicer places to stay.

Excellent experience here. Great facilities with a pool and hot tub. Beach chair service, and pool-side towel & drink service. Great location on Collins ave. Favorite of the three hotels I used on my trip.

Beautiful.... Beer selection, however..... Lacking.

Nice hotel, elegant and fancy, a big place with alot of people comig and.going. I got a big room with a small balcony on the 16th floor, one living room with a tv and a bedroom with a king bed and another tv. Spacious bathroom too, paid a little over a hundred.. Will definitely visit.again! Expensive drinks at the bar though.

Beautiful stay! Perfect location! Hotel service could have been better but overall a great trip!

Such a terrible check in process... this place lacks Customer Service... stay away... We were stuck for 2 nights... The rooms are not comfortable and bathroom door is a roll on door with no lock. Never stayed at worse place... And we had an Upgraded room not the standard one.

When I arrived at the hotel they gave me a room with noises in the air conditioning that did not stop, we complained and nothing had to wait the next day for us to relocate to another one on the 14th floor. TV only in English when you finish your stay, it happens a folio with information in English. To be a Miami and a tourist hotel, it only offers you one language. Grace that the employees were Cuban since the American receptionists could not speak if not English. Clean very well and the rest of the Hotel is very well a few meters from the beach Miami Beach.

I stayed at this hotel the weekend of June 26-29 of 2020. The staff was very rude and combative toward my friends and I. They lied and told us the phones were not working when we know for a fact there were. One day I had to wait 4 hours for clean towels and had to cancel my dinner reservation due to the wait for towels. The staff lied to us yet again when we were on the beach to order drinks, they said the bar was close and we saw other people placing orders and getting served. The elevator were so dirty and smelly. The lobby had a pungent smell like something was dead. The ceilings were leaking so bad they had to place buckets in the lobby, not a good look at all. The air didn t work in my room and the staff just didn t care to help. I wish I could give this place 0 stars. I feel as though 1 star is more than enough. They really left a bad taste in my mouth. I was treated to poorly.

Nice eclectic resort, but the bathtubs are to high for a short person 5'3. The lead massage therapist gets a 10! Ask for him.

it is the first hotel I have ever been to where housekeeping has been this bad. For 2 days we have been unable to get our room serviced and have no toilet paper.

We have spoken to guest services management and housekeeping supervisor and all to no good.

just got a lady to come and clean room - a little too late to resolve a bad experience.

Definitely not returning.

The room is nice and clean...no odor like the other reviews. Staff is friendly even brought us coffee at midnight..

prefect location right next to ocean dr.
Rooms were very clean, staff and service was fast and very friendly
Only the price was a little high, but it's worth it

Worst bar tender service... He was more interested in impressing the 22 year old girls at the bar than serving clients ..

One of my favorite places to stay on south beach. Great customer service. And close to the beach which is great

Wonderful hotel, right on Miami Beach. Friendly staff too!

I'm going to write the review that I wish someone wrote for me.

1. Budget at least an extra $450 for hidden fees (parking, resort fee, etc.)

2. Do not come here if one of your priorities is actual REST. The walls are thin, and you can hear EVERYTHING; every step above you, the rooftop air, fan, whatever... it hums all day and night. I had to move my room twice because of it.

3. Not worth the price, and should be considered 3 star.

4. Partial view is a joke. You stare at another building, then have to be outside to see the beach. Although I would not advise spending so much money here, IF you MUST, get a full beach view.

5. They are NOT clean here. There's hair everywhere. In each room I went into, there was hair on everything. In the shower, on the nightstand, on the dresser.

6. Parking is almost $50 per day. The lot to the left of the building is $30 per day.

7. I was highly disappointed in this hotel experience. The only reason they didn't get just one star, is because they tried to be accommodating. The truth is, they're simply NOT WORTH THE MONEY IT COSTS TO STAY HERE.

Rooms are really cool! real art deco hotel with enought space and percect cleaning. top location in front of south beach. prices in line with Miami so not cheap. suggested.

I enjoyed my stay checked in on July 20th and left on the 24th. I had a pleasant stay. Would come stay here again in the future.

Literally the worst hotel I have ever stayed during vacation. Do not trust security or housekeeping. I had money stolen from my personal items and housekeeping enter my room when I had a do not disturb sign on my door multiple times. The hotel manager did not do anything to help me or accommodate for what was done. I've tried to contact a manager multiple times after returning home about the progress with my case and never got a response to this day. They are careless and very unhelpful. The housekeeping did not even clean the rooms properly, left dirty towels on the floor and also went through my personal items and stole money from me. Claims for the hotel also does not help you out in anyway they want you to explain to them over and over what happened just to tell u they aren't liable for anything that happened. They considered themselves not liable for housekeeping to enter my room when there was a do not disturb sign on the door. So think twice and book with a hotel that promotes more security and protection for you and your personal belongings.

Older hotel with trendy updates. Friendly staff & excellent location. Steps away from beach. I was suprised by the room size and, I opted to take the larger of the 2 available rooms..it was very small.l! Miami Beach is expensive... the restaurant blocks away from the hotel even charged us a resort fee.

I have Stayed here four times. This last time, something must have happened since my third visit. Hotel was dirty, unkempt, not classy like it used to be. Service was horrific. We asked for numerous things that we had to ask two or three times more for, including cleaning service that was to be made. They will not answer their phones, the manager on duty acted frequently like he didn t want to help, I coild Go on and on. So devastating as this used to me my favorite hotel at this destination. What s happened? :( Management change??? Owner change? Clientele change came with that...

Great rooms and great service. I don't have any complaints.

Rip off of money. Front desk staff are rude and not willing to help. Rooms are old and dirty nothing works, windows seals are useless distroyed my bag and shoes after water and mold got on them. Never stay here unless its free. SOmone on staff took and ate my doordash delivery and no one is telling me who.

Just got here and I have been waiting hours just for my room to be ready. Front desk is extremely inattentive. They even had to physically bring me into the bag room for me to find my own bag which I left while waiting. The room they are planning on giving us is one king bed instead of 2 queens like we specifically requested. My friend and I booked here for FOUR nights. Not even one day through I can already tell you I will not be returning and will probably continue to write poor reviews, unfortunately. I am generally not one to complain but this is the worst a hotel has treated me in a long time.

The hotel was decent. Great location and friendly staff, clean and tidy.

However they rip you off inside of hotel. Two of us went for breakfast, it was a a very basic, serve yourself buffet breakfast, low quality, and it cost $67. The bar is also very expensive.

The rooms were decent quality though, but it is a little bit tight for room around the pool.

BE AWARE. There is a 150$ per night fee for incidentals. More depending on room cost.

Reservation will not tell you this cost. It will be sprung on you at the last min.

Do not come here I'd you can avoid it

Tim and Shannon were fantastic!!! Took personal interest in our special request. Requested best view Tim actually went to rooms to see what rooms were best and available. Got early check in. Great location !! Great staff. But the difference was Tim and Shannon! !! People make the difference !!

Phone didn't work in my room. I stayed 3 nights and never got maid service. Construction noise made it impossible for me to enjoy the pool.

This was my third time staying here. I've stayed here before and after the renovation. I'm always impressed by the friendly staff and the wonderful aroma of the resort. I love the location of this place, it's close to everything. Royal Palm is affordable and still very nice.

Advertisement was wrong there's no free complimentary breakfast that is one thing that is on here that I saw and that I experienced that it was not a free complimentary breakfast so therefore you have to ask when you check in all of the things that is included in your stay at the Royal Palm Hotel Resort.

Very nice and well-kept hotel. Very professional and helpful staff. It is located in front of the sea, and if desired it also has 2 swimming pools accessible until late in the evening.

Amazing hotel!!! The view from our room was breathtaking!!!The hotel was very clean,Staff was very friendly. Hotel close restaurants and not too far from fames street Ocean Drive

It's in the right place in the South Beach. Right to walk distance to everywhere. Room sizes and views are ok. Old artdeco style building with newer extensions. Air condition are smelling dirty. House keeping is not enough and too slow. Parking attendance also works for the visitors of other places. Don't bother for reservation in house restaurants, typical hotel food preparation. Foreign tourism is very popular. Crowded Beach with paid amenities that's somehow I decided to stay there again because it's close to everything.

They are ready to run businesses like never before, considering social distancing and all the other healthy measures.

Quaint inexpensive hotel with a gorgeous view. Nice venue for all different occasions with updated rooms.

Rooms are nice. Ice cubes are small (relevant for filling your water bottle before going to the beach). The party room by the pool is ok, but the couches are nice. Pool is small, but the gate with direct access to the beach is awesome.

One of the top hotels in south beach, amenities, pool, gym, professionalism and staff makes this a great stay. Pricey $$$$

Great hotel on the beach. Not 5 star, but it does the job well. Chairs at the pool are tight on the weekends

I did a mother & daughter trip with my mom Wed May 29, 2019 to Sat June 1, 2019. The location of this hotel is PERFECT! Near Ocean Drive, lots of restaurants, and there is a Starbucks and Walgreens within walking distance. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was decent but pricey, so a couple of mornings we just did breakfast sandwiches & coffee at Starbucks. Yes the rooms are outdated compared to others, but it was still cute, comfortable and clean. The hotel lobby is very nice. The hallway had a weird odor, but not my room. I had a small standing only balcony with a partial ocean view that was nice. The front desk staff was very helpful and allowed us to do a late check-out. I'd recommend calling ahead to confirm your room details. They had me listed for a king bed although I booked for a double. However, I had no issue getting this resolved. My only complaint would be the tub is very high. I did bang my knee a couple of times getting in and out to shower. But after the first day, I got used to it. Last thing I'll say is that our stay started on a Wednesday, so it was quiet to start. The hotel did get more busy by Friday and Saturday, but this should be expected when visiting South Beach! I enjoyed my visit and I'd definitely stay here again mainly because of the location.

I would give this place 5 stars but I walked into the W Hotel and realized what 5 stars was. That said... I do like the James and would stay there again. Props to all the staff... They are super nice and believe me... That counts.

The reason for my unhappy stay I would say The staff just doesn't care

Every time we went to the pool bar seem to be extremely long wait to get a drink The worst service came when we went to the cookery Saturday morning ordered coffee with three different people that took the fourth to finally get it after the meal was over and they finally came over and filled only one water glass at this point after waiting 25 minutes we canceled the omelettes ......obviously when it's an automatic tip people just don't care

And to add insult to injury when we checked out of the hotel while driving home I noticed someone changed three of the six preset stations to French Creole ???? Which would make me assume that someone was driving my car around town

I enjoy my stay it was customer friendly, great atmosphere.

Nice hotel, in a great location . the room was very nice. The one thing i didnt love , is the snacks.. I was really tired, and didnt have the energy to go eat somewhere (theres a lot of restaurants around the hotel) so I tried the cookies, it was awful.. And cost me 7 $ . but overall my experience was great.

We hated almost everything!

On top of the room rate, you pay a resort fee of 17 $/day for nothing (dirty towels at the pool and chairs on the beach), not even an umbrella at the beach (this goes for an additional $19). No indoor pool. Unlike what they write and say, there is no Spa, no sauna, no nothing! Massages are not complimentary, but go for about 150 $/hour.

The bar at the pool is super expensive. They did not note down our order, so then it came wrong, and 40 minutes late because they forgot to send the order. And we also had to pay the 18% obligatory tip!

Inside the room: Almost no light, no regular/comfortable shower but just bath tub.

Public toilets at ground and 2nd floor: Disgusting - the toilet was brown dirty!

Conclusion: Worst 4-star hotel we have ever been! Never go there! Never!