Riviera Suites South Beach in Miami Beach, FL

We had a lovely stay at the Riviera Suites over New Year’s Eve! My husband and I go to south beach every year in December for his birthday and we love staying in the boutique hotels in the area. This was our first time at Riviera and we were delightfully upgraded to a Suite for my husband’s birthday. The suite was spacious with a kitchenette and living room area and had a nice bathroom and large king bed. I highly recommend getting a suite as the standard rooms are a bit small (typical for south beach though). The only downside is that the walls are thin because it’s an older building so you can hear your neighbors(again typical of south beach I’ve experienced this in every boutique hotel). Huge thanks to Alibe for the upgrade! Everyone we worked with was super kind too! Housekeeping was quick and came everyday even when we left the room late. Check in was easy and they let us keep our luggage by the desk since we arrived early (note that they don’t have proper luggage storage but our luggage was locked so we felt fine leaving it out). The location is great and we could walk to Lincoln road, espanola way, the beach, tons of bars and restaurants! It’s a bit further north from the heart of south beach but we didn’t mind the extra walks since the weather is so gorgeous (also uber/lyft is really cheap). We went to the rooftop pool one day which has gorgeous views although there isn’t much room to sit along the pool but there is an attached deck area that has more seating. It’s also very nice that there is a second pool that’s well shaded! Overall I would definitely recommend this hotel it’s so cute, great location and super nice staff!!

Be very wary of this property and their bizarre bait & switch cancellation policy. I was scheduled to stay there from Nov 12-16, 2024 for a conference. On the day of my arrival they attempted to charge my credit card for the first night. Typically, hotels will perform a pre-authorization of your credit card to ensure you have funds and your card is valid. However, since the hotel unlawfully tried to do an actual charge, my Chase Visa flagged the charge as potentially fraudulent. Unfortunately, I was in the air flying cross-country to Miami, so I did not receive the text from Chase until my plane landed. When I landed, I figured out what the hotel was trying to do and authorized the charge. Instead, I got an email from the hotel saying that I CANCELLED MY RESERVATION due to a credit card decline! Why would they try to charge the day someone is traveling and might not be able to immediately respond? Had they done a pre-authorization like every other hotel chain there wouldn’t have been any issues. This must happen to other guests on a regular basis. I called the hotel from the airport and explained what happened. The hotel clerk was very pleasant and said that it would not be a problem and just to come to the hotel. When I arrived, I was informed that they couldn’t just reinstate my reservation. Having worked in the hotel industry, this was a red-flag because you can always reinstate a cancelled reservation – it a happens all the time. They also said they could NOT re-enter all of my information from their computer and that I’d simply have to re-book it myself on my phone. While this was a frustrating inconvenience, it wasn’t a big hassle. I then noticed when I tried to make a new reservation that the rates were WAY HIGHER! I told them that while I didn’t mind making a new reservation, I’d like for them to honor the rate I had just a couple hours earlier. At this point I was speaking with the front office manager who said she “didn’t have the authority” to change a rate or reinstate my cancellation. (Again, based on my experience working in the hotel industry, managers can always make rate adjustments.) This was such a bizarre experience. I asked to speak with the General Manager, but I was told they went home for the day. The front office manager then weirdly started to communicate with some faceless reservations operator via computer text messaging who she said had authority to adjust rates, but that person was apparently unwilling to re-adjust the rate. It was such a blatant bait & switch for the room rate - Indiscriminately cancel a reservation and try to have people re-book at a higher rate. Again, they could have pre-authorized just like Mariott, Hilton, Hyatt, etc, but they tried to charge on the day of arrival. You couldn’t pay me to book with this hotel or their crappy south beach chain of run-down old properties.

Just spent 3 nights pre cruise in Miami Riviera suites/ Hotel . Perfect location, great hotel, great short stay . Room was perfect , check in was easy , rooftop pool was a bonus. Special thanks to Staff members Rosy and Elzet for their help and welcome

We stayed at this property for two days before embarking on a cruise. The spacious accommodations and good location was overshadowed by their mini bar scam. Check-in/Room: We reserved a Lux One Bedroom King Suite. According to their website, the room is supposed to accommodate 4 people and include a writing desk and a bathroom with separate entrances to the living room and bedroom (jack and jill). The room did not have the writing desk or the jack and jill bathroom. The bathroom had just a shower with a half glass wall. Upon check in, we noticed that there were no towels and not enough blankets and pillows to accommodate us. We had to call not once but twice to be serviced. Property/Location: The property itself was pretty decent and clean. The elevators in the main building were not working at the time of our stay. So, we had to hike up to the rooftop deck and pool. It was nice, but we did not stay long as it was cool and windy. The property is in a nice location on South Beach and within walking distance to several restaurants. We appreciated this as we did not have a rental car (parking nearby was ridiculous - $80 overnight). Oceans Deli was perfect in the morning for a quick breakfast sandwich and coffee. The CVS was also clutch! Happy Hour/Restaurant: The happy hour offered was at their "sister" hotel - Maxine's Bistro. For both days, a tequila punch was offered. It would have been nice for them to switch the alcohol from day-to-day, but we enjoyed the drinks. We also enjoyed the ambience and the service at the restaurant. We had a whole snapper fish one day and the seafood paella the next - yum! Check-out/Unauthorized Charges: I should have paid more attention to the reviews... as with other Tripadvisor contributors, I got scammed in fraudulent mini bar charges! We did not touch anything in the mini bar, period. I did not receive any email, invoice, or any other notification of the charges until I reviewed my credit card statement a few weeks later! In my humble opinion, this is sneaky business! I did attempt to dispute the charges. I called several times, emailed twice (with pictures and evidence), and I have yet to receive a refund and/or even a call back! This way of doing business is dishonest and people need to know. It is not the dollar amount or the fact that it is was never resolved... It is the principle of the matter and it is thievery! So, do yourself a favor and, stay elsewhere!

Rooms were very good. Great location and friendly staff on check in. Parking nearby. Short walk to main strip. Beds are very comfortable and the shower is good. We are a family of four and the rooms is perhaps a little small but I guess you pay for that given the location.