Haddon Hall Hotel South Beach

Our room was not ready for check in until after 5pm. There were carpet tacks coming through the carpet, watch your feet. No face or wash towels in the hotel for 3 days. There was mold all over the bathroom and shower walls. If you have mold allergies, prepare to be sick. There was a rusty shower head, bugs in the light fixture and very old room furnishings.

It is close to the beach but there are other hotels in the area that are much nicer and safer. Stay at one of them!

We just returned (Feb. 2007) from our two night stay at Haddon Hall South Beach, it was a big mistake. I'm sorry for not checking the hotel reviews before we booked.

The place is a total scum pit. The staff was not friendly, they gave us a dirty look when we asked for some extra towels for the pool. After we checked in, we knew we were in trouble. The room had mold growing on the bathroom ceiling and wall. We were on the second floor, the windows were filthy and didn't lock. The carpet was gross, we actually asked for some extra bed sheets and placed them on the floor to walk on.

When checking in, they immediately take your driver's license and credit card and make a photocopy of it, which I thought was kind of strange. I asked them how they protect my personal information and really got no response as if the girl checking us in didn't understand my question.

We asked to change rooms the first day and were told they had nothing else available. We actually thought of just sleeping near the pool, it was a bit cleaner in that area, but the hotel seemed to have a wild cat problem. Yes, cats were roaming all around the pool area they were very wild and wouldn't come too close to us. We counted around eight of them just roaming around out in the pool area.

One night we asked for some ice, I got a very sharp response from who I think was the owner, "No ice, we don't offer ice." After we survived our two night stay and just made the best of it, we went to check out they lost our arrival paperwork with my credit card and driver's license photocopy. Everything seems to be on paper. I did get a little verbal with the gentleman stating that if not found, someone could steal my identity. I wasn't leaving until it was found. Thank god they located it.

Bottom line: Do not stay at this place, it's gross.

They have a nice pool and average rooms. Our bed had an iron mark and loose strings on the comforter. Housekeeping was supposed to be from 9-3. When we contacted the front desk, she told us to go find them and let them know. How hard is it to pick up the phone and call them? After all, I was the customer.

Avoid this hotel if you can. The rooms smell, there's no hot water, and the hotel staff are very rude. Also, if the front desk runs out of parking decals, but tells your car is okay where it's at, don't believe them. Your car will be towed without that decal. But don't fret, there's a parking garage three blocks down the road.

This was not my first stay at South Miami Beach. The Haddon Hall Hotel South Beach is a bad hotel with one exception: its location - it is close to the beach and local restaurants. That's it. We did a check on this hotel as well as other hotels around 1500 block on Ocean Drive. They all are really bad, mismanaged places. So, we booked our stay with Hotels.com at a relatively good place: Chesterfield Hotel. When we were arriving music was playing loud in the hall of the Chesterfield, and we got really excited about our little vacation. When I got to the front desk, I was told that my reservation was transferred to Haddon Hall due to Hurricane Katrina (which was 1 month ago). Next morning, we were told a different story that it was Hotels.com that transferred us to Haddon Hall.

In any case, we arrive to Haddon Hall, and we quickly realize that a three star hotel does not offer any stars. To start with: every transaction is done manually, so it is very difficult to track something down if necessary. Then there is a $50 deposit, which makes you think. We had our deposit back during checkout, which was lengthy (since they had to do a manual transaction with a credit card). We get to our room. It was a smelly, small room. One may easily notice that the floor is old and dirty. It is not sanitary to walk barefoot there. Everything was small there, including towels and beds as if it was designed to maximize profit rather than provide services. Everything had a sign that it was worn and was living a second or third life. There is no central A/C and a small A/C unit mounted in the wall did not have a thermo-regulator, so one has to choose either to sweat during the evening or freeze during the night. There is no complimentary breakfast or parking. If you want a place to sleep and do not care about the room at all, this is a place for you since you get a decent price. Other than that, pay more and stay somewhere else.

Of course, our vacation was ruined since two of the people traveling with me barely could sleep in such a room. Once I got back home, I called Hotels.com. They denied that they transferred me to Haddon Hall first, and I had to fax them the security deposit transaction at Haddon Hall so that they could believe me. Once I faxed it, they did not call me back. Instead they sent me an $80 gift certificate for my troubles (1/3 of the price I paid for hotel), while I was trying to get the refund. It turned out that they sent a confirmation to Chesterfield hotel to do a transfer to a sister hotel with an upgrade. Chesterfield in turn moved us to Haddon Hall, which was not a sister hotel, but apparently it is cheaper for them to do it, so that they can profit and get money from naive tourists.

The lessons of my story are the following:

1) Avoid third parties such as Hotels.com at least in South Miami Beach. Pay more and get more from retailers. If choosing Hotels.com, get the room from a hotel chain rather than a small private one.

2) If dealing with places like Hotels.com, then beware of my comments. If you end up in the situation like mine, this is scam and call them immediately to clear it up.

3) Avoid Haddon Hall hotel by any means. Parisian Hotel and Geneva in the same block are as bad as this one.