The Palms South Beach Hotel

On May 19, 2008 we arrived at The Palms Hotel in South Beach to spend a 3 day vacation of "total relaxation". We booked our trip through Travelocity and pre-paid for our vacation package. The previous day before our departure, we called the hotel to confirm our reservation and to inform them of our late arrival due to our flight schedule. Everything was good to go. After a long day we finally arrived at the hotel at 11:30 pm, valet parked our rental car, and proceeded to check in. To our surprise we were encountered by the hotel night manager Mischa Griffin, who aggressively informed us that there were no rooms left in the hotel at all despite our pre-paid reserved room!! You could only imagine our shock and disbelief, especially since the room was paid for and guaranteed through Travelocity and confirmed the night before!!

After several attempts (also tried to upgrade) to get our confirmed room, Mischa Griffin informed us that the hotel was overbooked and that this happens quite often. We've travelled all over the world and stayed in hundreds of hotels and have never encountered a hotel being overbooked!! This was simply unacceptable and when we asked why someone didn't notify us about this she simply said "I don't know what happened before I got here". She then quickly pulled out an already completed and ready to go "Letter of Introduction" for another "sister" hotel for us to spend the night and told us to come back the next day to check in at 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Mischa Griffin basically decided to have us plan our vacation around her schedule. She then proceeded to disappear after she realized our justified frustration and complete disappointment with the hotel management and their handling of the situation. To make matters worse, she informed us that anyone that checks in at that point will be turned away as well. However, to our complete astonishment, we witnessed two couples and a lady check in to the hotel!! Once we realized that the manager at The Palms Hotel in South Beach Miami, Mischa Griffin, lied to us about not having rooms available, we decided to contact Travelocity to cancel our reservation and provide us with a total hotel refund. After two full hours dealing with Mischa Griffins poor hotel management skills and getting a refund, we finally found rooms available at 2 in the morning at the Marriot South Beach Hotel. After a miserable experience with the hotel management, we were fortunate to find a great hotel and were able to salvage and enjoy our 3 day vacation of (almost) "total relaxation".

We also encountered another guest staying at the hotel who went through a similar situation. His "confirmed" room was also not available due to overbooking!! However, he was lucky to be able to get an upgrade. Despite this he was apparently extremely disappointed with how management handled his situation and tried to assist us as well. However, when he did that, Mischa Griffin rudely and assertively asked him if we were with his group!! He then simply walked away.

We strongly recommend not booking at this hotel due to their current and ridiculous policy of overbooking despite confirmed reservations. We were humiliated, disappointed, and unfairly treated by Mischa Griffin and the hotel management. We also recommend that travel sites such as Travelocity and others not do business with The Palms Hotel in South Beach due to their existing policy and the negative affect it may have against their website. Despite getting a written apology from Travelocity and a discount on our next booking, we will be writing directly to Travelocity for them to re-consider their relationship with The Palms Hotel in South Beach unless they change their current policy of honoring Travelocity's guaranteed policy to its customers of hotel confirmation and room availability.

If you are concerned about your personal health and safety and that of your loved ones, then please read the following complaint about BEDBUGS and POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE at this hotel.

March 23, 2008

To Whom It May Concern:

The purpose of this letter is to immediately address the bedbug problem that exists in your hotel premises - the Palms Hotel in South Beach Miami, Florida.

My sister and I checked-in on Thursday, March 20 and scheduled to stay until Monday, March 24. Upon our arrival and first night's stay in room 511, we truly enjoyed the service and ambiance of the hotel. As a matter of fact, we were originally scheduled to stay at the hotel across the street - Habana Libre - but decided to spend a bit more to obtain a better vacation experience.

After the first night, my sister woke up the next morning itching and found red spots on her calves and ankles, which developed into itchier swollen welts throughout the day. At first, we were not sure what had caused it but decided to do some research when she discovered more of the same bites throughout her body the morning after! Sure enough, pictures of bedbug bites online closely resemble the ones found on her legs and body. Our strong suspicion is that the long light blue body pillow (which can be found in every room in this hotel) is thriving with bedbugs. She used the pillow to elevate her legs due to a recent knee injury.

We immediately called the front desk and spoke with the acting hotel manager about our situation. To my surprise, the first question he asked was, "Have you told anyone about this?" Personally, that is not exactly the response I expected to hear from a hotel manager who is truly concerned about his guests. And despite his apologies, I did not feel that he had a good grasp of how devastating the situation was. I had to come down to the front desk and personally ask for him. To top that, there was no call to action and no effort to go above and beyond for the customer. I had to request for the uncased pillows to be removed from the beds and the sheets completely changed in our new room. I was also informed that neither of you will be available until Monday morning, which frustrated me even more.

We transferred from room 511 over to room 327 - from our preferred king bed to two double beds and on a lower floor. Having to pack up all our stuff two days before we check-out was an extreme inconvenience and a complete waste of time. As a result of this, our plans for Saturday night were ruined and I am now sitting in the hotel room writing this complaint instead of having a good time!

Most importantly, my sister is now suffering from constant itching, and worse, from public embarrassment. We are both completely uncomfortable with sleeping in your beds with fear of waking up to the sight of our bodies tattered with bedbug bites. I noticed that there are a lot of families with young kids that stay at this hotel. If I were a parent, I would be extremely concerned for their health and safety.

This vacation did not turn out to be an enjoyable one and we are both honestly disappointed to say that it is because of our aggravating experience here at your hotel. I regretfully yet respectfully request a full refund of my entire stay here. Also, I strongly suggest that those light blue pillows be removed from all hotel beds and have all pillows encased. In my opinion, it the least you can do in an attempt to alleviate this terrible situation. Bedbug-infested beds coupled with bad customer service can quickly leave you with a tarnished reputation in the hotel business.

Please reply to this letter by contacting me at (xxx) xxx-xxxx at your earliest convenience. I hope to hear from you and have this resolved prior to our check-out on Monday morning.

Respectfully,

Anonymous Palms Hotel Guest

We obtained the hotel via price line for $125/night and was booked for a standard room. (we stayed one night before we left on a cruise) When we arrived, we were upgraded to an ocean view. The hotel is not your ordinary hotel because of it's history. The hotel was a hospital about 65 years ago. Hence, the layout of the rooms and design of the bathrooms. The elevator took a while to get to our floor but when we're on vacation we like to relax. It simply did not bother us as it only took an extra minute or 2. I was incredibly pleased with our room. When we opened the door I saw a large floor to ceiling window with an ocean view. We could gaze down on the pool/palm tree area. I felt relaxed immediately. The linens are a crisp white and our bed was amazingly comfortable. We did not eat at any of the restaurants because I read the reviews of how expensive they were. We drove down to the heart of southbeach which took about 5 minutes in "normal traffic" for southbeach. Later we found out we could have taken the city bus that drops people off in the heart of southbeach and about 1/2 block from the hotel. The bus costs $1.50 and we wouldn't mind saving $20.00 to park our car. Valet parking was about $23.00/day. The pool was wonderful, the ambiance in the pool/palm tree area was serene and quiet. Check out was not problem.

We stayed here for a bachelor party and had a wonderful time. The staff was extremely helpful and went out of their way for our group, including upgrading the bachelor's room. The "back yard" area is very nice, with lots of room to relax. The food is quite pricy, but they have a tomato soup that is amazing! We loved this place and plan to go back.

This hotel is very Miami Beach, which can be a problem and it was a bit of one here. If you are trying to have a great vacation and came here to relax, do not go during spring break.

Things here take a long time. If you take the elevator, be prepared to spend some time. I didn't like our room, I thought it would be nicer than what we received, it felt very...used and old. On top of that, they charge you extra to use amenities (pool, beach, etc.) that should come gratis. There are better alternatives.