Reviews

Royal Palm South Beach Review: Studio Suite

a stuffed monkey on a beach

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Royal Palm South Beach Review: Studio Suite

I have to admit, South Beach isn’t quite my cup of tea. Miles on the other hand…flipping loves it. Dinner at midnight and breakfast at 1pm. You rise to watch the sunset, go to bed as the sun rises, and have ample opportunities to live la vida loca. Hot sun, hot bodies, hot rods, hot dogs, and it’s just really flipping hot hot. Miles doesn’t sweat…despite the fact that he has a wallet full of credit cards, and a soul driven for maximized spend, he isn’t real. But his daddy is very real and for the love of it all…Miami is a humidity driven sweat fest. Thank goodness the Royal Palm South Beach has plenty of water in the lobby and air conditioning, because I almost melted over the 4th of July.

The Deets

  • When: July 4th Weekend
  • Where: Royal Palm South Beach
  • Loyalty Program: Starwood Preferred Guest
  • Elite Status: Gold ( From Amex Platinum )
  • Room Category: Studio Suite
  • Upgrade: None to speak of. Hotel was sold out.

The Royal Palm South Beach is part of the Tribute Portfolio of Starwood

This Tribute Portfolio is a collection of independent hotels that are uniquely steeped in history, luxury, and superior service. This is certainly true of the Royal Palm South Beach. It feels like an independent hotel and is certainly VERY Miami. The style of Miami luxury isn’t quite my preferred style, but I appreciate it. It’s art deco minimalist. I love art deco and the Raleigh hotel ( an SLS property ) is right up my alley for exuding how posh art deco can be, but the typical Miami art deco is more bright colors and white, white, white. I think the exteriors of the hotels along Collins are absolutely DOPE! The Royal Palm South Beach is definitely cool, and has a vibe to it.

Hotel Entrance

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Miles on Collins
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Collins tower

There is one U shaped drive – don’t enter the wrong way or you’ll be met with lots of angry exiters

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The Lobby: Sometimes crazy, sometimes not ( after 6am and before noon )

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that guy is wearing the same speedo Miles has. AWKWARD
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some peace and quiet
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where did all the people go
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spin the wheel for a prize

The hotel is pretty cool with lots of hang out areas

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lobby cafe and coffee bar
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another tv/hang out to the right, bar to the left
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what soccer with everyone!
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it’s after noon somewhere!
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such a cool staircase
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on back to florida cookery and the pool

Outdoor spaces, food, and the pool

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tons of outdoor space to sweat out the toxins
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grab some grab at Florida Cookery
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head down to the pool
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chillin
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wait is that a staircase to another pool?
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yep it was, the upstairs pool

And then on out to the beach

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almost there
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made it…where’s my thong?
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back to the hotel. You can see two towers

Up to the room

We had a corner room on the end. I have to say that this is probably the worst tower to be in because I can’t see how any of the rooms, except the circular suites, could possibly have a good ocean view. It’s set closer to Collins than the Ocean, and the lot is fairly narrow. Our view was barely a city view as we saw more air conditioner and adjacent building than any semblance of city. But that’s the thing isn’t it…who stays in the their rooms when its MIAMI!!!!!!!!

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room 501
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living room
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opposite view of living room
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living room tv and entertainment center

The Mini bar is empty.

The reason behind this, and new to me, is because you pre-purchase outrageously priced mini bar packages. It’s so crazy to me, because you can just walk down the street for 5 mins and buy what you need at CVS. I think the hotel would make a TON more money if they offered packages that were just retail in price. They can buy everything at huge cost discounts and wouldn’t it make sense to make some money than no money at all? Anyways…we never used this. But it’s nice to have for leftovers or other food and drink.

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mini fridge
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wet bar and coffee
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Small work desk
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view from living room
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view from desk
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King bed
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bedroom view
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flatscreen
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bathroom
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tub/shower combo
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Biology products

Man I hate when they do this. I love to stock on products every single day and take them home. I’m a hoarder, what can I say?

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The room was a great size and the only complaint I’d really make is the noise factor. People LOOOOOOVE to party in Miami. If you are one of those partiers, then this won’t apply to you at all. This weekend I was on the straight and narrow and wasn’t ‘LIV’ing up. You can hear people in the halls, coming in from Collins, and even out on the street. Look, it’s South Beach but it’s worth mentioning if you’re looking for someplace to be that isn’t CRAZY. Other than that, the room was great. Wifi worked well, tv was easy to use, and the products were fine. Anything to write home about? No. But nice. Yes.

More pics around the hotel.

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circular suites
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by the entrance
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from the beach

OMG the Gym. I almost forgot…cause I forgot to go. oopsy

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gym entrance
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my kind of workout
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very nice facility
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cardio

 

Overall:

If you’re looking for a hotel that you can use points, party, have good food, see celebs ( Lawrence Fishburne was staying there), be SUPER DUPER central, and great beach access….this could be your spot. The only thing I would bring up is that the Hyatt Centric is LITERALLY across the street. It doesn’t have all these fringe benefits like beach access, but it just got downgraded from a category 6 to a 4. That is ridiculous and also means you can use your Chase Hyatt Credit Card for an annual night. That’s pretty dope if you ask me. Otherwise, if you can get a good deal on this hotel – it’s a cool spot in a cool location.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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