The Catalina

I stayed at Catalina Hotel – Miami Beach from February 7–10, 2026 and unfortunately experienced multiple serious service, sanitation, and safety issues that were never properly addressed. Upon arrival, I was checked into the wrong room type. After showing proof of my reservation, I was told I would need to contact Expedia before the hotel could correct it. The sliding glass door in room 1 would not lock resulting in me having to find maintenance to fix it (front desk began ignoring my calls). After 30 minutes, maintenance fixed the issue. The floor was visibly sinking (1102), and the Wi-Fi would not work, nor did the room have really any signal which made me feel extremely unsafe. The following day, we were moved to a different building. The second room had several concerning issues: • No hot water during the stay • Non-functioning air conditioning • Wi-Fi and television did not work • Cracked and visibly sinking shower base • Peeling paint and deteriorating bathroom surfaces • Hair present on the soap dispenser • Bathroom floor flooding due to lack of proper shower barrier I requested washcloths seven times, both in person and by phone, and never received them. The shower had no door so water poured all over the floor resulting in us having to keep towels on the floor. At approximately 4:30 AM one night, there was an individual outside our room behaving erratically. I called and texted the front desk multiple times and received no response. That was particularly concerning from a guest safety perspective. Additionally, two guests became trapped in the elevator and firefighters were required to respond. Hallway trash remained overflowing for multiple days. When I attempted to address these issues with management, I was told a manager would contact me, but I never received a call. The front desk would ignore my calls to the point that I had to go to the front desk in the main lobby building (my room(s) were located in adjacent buildings. I watched from outside each time the front desk did not answer when I called or text. I am sharing this review so future guests can make an informed decision. Based on my experience, the property did not meet reasonable expectations for safety, cleanliness, or basic functionality of advertised amenities. They also state that they have an airport shuttle which is untrue. Update: As you can see the “manager” who replies is using an AI service to generate feedback. This same manager heard me speaking with her associates asking for her and walked past me after sneaking out of the side door of the office (in clear view of guests in lobby) and didn’t say a word to me to acknowledge my issues, but rather sent another front desk agent out to listen since her first agent didn’t care enough to even say anything to me. They lack true respect and dignity for guests and the experience during the stay.

The best thing I can say about this hotel is that it’s in a great location, but it ends there! We booked on Expedia based on the pictures. We checked in On February 14th. when we opened the room door, our mouths dropped! Only the green paint on the wall and grey paneling matched the picture. The room and bathroom looked like it was in the middle of being renovated and they just rented it out anyway. I swore the bed was going to fall apart when we laid on it, let alone any other activities. The floors are not level and have soft spots. The bathroom ceiling looked like it was whitewashed with Killz and some of the paint splattered all over the new tile on the walls. There was hair on the floor and sink. There was no door nor divider of any kind between the shower and the toilet/sink. There was no toilet paper holder, nor shelves our counter for toiletries. It looked like a third world hotel! They gave us four face towels, when we request more later in the stay all they had was big hand towels. The cleaning staff spoke zero English and barely helped with anything. We were dressed up and on our way to dinner when we got stuck on the elevator with 4 other people and had to call for 911 to get us out. The elevator dropped between floors and it fell and sounded like we crashed into the ground floor. The firefighters had to axe the top of the elevator because the roof door did not open. They had to send a small scissor ladder down for us to climb out the top of the elevator and clothes got greasy. Stopped to talk to the manager the next day and about resolving issues with our stay and he was nonchalant about it. We exchanged multiple emails with him and had to twist his arm to get any of our stay taken care of. I could keep going but I would never recommend this place to my worst enemy to stay in! Check out photos of our room.

My stay was horrible and I will never return. From start to finish I am disappointed. We went to celebrate my late Bestfriend’s birthday and was faced with a horrible experience outside the beach. The desk attendant was rude, told me my bank card was not a real bank card (chime). Not one employee nor booking site advise the elevators were down. We had to walk up several flights of stairs. There was no help with parking. The hotel was dirty, the carpet looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since it opened. The hotel had an odor they tried to mask. The bed sheets and pillows were dirty. The tv had no channels. To top it off I couldn’t speak with management after requesting two days in a row and was given an email to contact which I haven’t received a response or refund from after a week. I do not recommend this is definitely a one star hotel.

I had a great stay at this hotel, the location is excellent! Everything you need is just a few steps away. I want to highlight the front desk service, especially Barbara, she is exceptional, very kind, and helpful. She assisted us with everything we needed, including recommendations for places to go and things to do. 10/10, thank you so much!! :)

I am extremely disappointed with this hotel. €650 was stolen from my wallet, which was inside the safe in my room. This is completely unacceptable. The rooms are outdated, the floors are in poor condition, and the overall cleanliness is very questionable. For just $30–$40 more, you can easily find a place that is actually decent and where you don’t risk having your belongings stolen. I reported the incident to the manager, and his response was basically that I should “deal with it myself.” In 8 years of traveling around the world,and being an influencer with 50k influencer I have never experienced anything like this. I strongly do NOT recommend this hotel. If you still decide to stay here, make sure you don’t bring anything valuable and don’t expect much. On top of that, the location isn’t great and it’s quite far from Ocean Drive if you plan to walk.