Hilton HHonors - Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel Miami-South Beach Trip Reports and Reviews

HHonors warning for the Surfcomber!! This property is NOT HHonors friendly, I my opinion they would like nothing better than to not be a part of the Hilton family.

Trip report for 8/9 – 8/11

Called the property three days before arrival to confirm the reservation for smoking room for two nights at $105.00 per night. At that time I found out they had not put my HHonors number into the system and to make sure they knew I was a Diamond VIP. The impression I got over the phone was who cares!!

On arrival found that they had put me up in a non-smoking room and did not have my HHonors number in the system. When they handed me the paperwork to sign I again noticed my HHonors number was not noted, I was told that the number does not show on the paper work but was in the system. I was also informed at this time that I would be paying $7.00 a night resort fee that was never mentioned during booking or verification and of course the $18.00 a day to park. Was give the traditional cookies; I might note this was my first time at a Doubletree; the cookies although good were not spectacular.

When I got to my room was I ever in for a surprise, this room is a closet, This has to be the smallest room I have ever stayed in and I put in over 100 nights a year in motels! I realized I had not received anything for breakfast and went down to the desk to ask what was needed for breakfast, and was told that this was not included, when I insisted as a Diamond VIP this WAS included I was given one coupon for one day again I had to fight to include the second day. I never did eat in the restaurant so I cannot report on it, but I always insist on the coupons just in case. When I asked about the room size, I was told the property does not upgrade for HHonors and has very few premium rooms.

On check out the room rate was incorrect, they charged me $113.00 a night not the confirmed $105.00 and had to be ok’d by the manager to reduce the rate. The front desk had several people standing around complaining about breakfast coupons not received, room rates, and personnel. I was very happy to get out of there, but when I went to leave the valet park attendant noted they had not charged me for parking and I had to return to the desk to correct the problem.

My impression of this property is that they overcharge for everything, give nothing away free and only fix things when someone complains. The employees were rude and looked to be very unhappy with there jobs. I will not be back and will warn everyone to avoid this property in the future. It has been over a week and no points have posted as of yet and I really don’t expect them to. I will have to go through the service desk to get the points.

I am not normally a complainer and this is the first bad report I have ever posted about a property but I feel that people should be warned about a property like this.

I have a weeklong stay coming up in September on Miami Beach with additional co-workers for business and it looks, as I will be staying at a non-Hilton property for this trip. The Fontainebleau and HGV are out of my price range for these dates, any suggestions for good service at a reasonable price?

Stayed at the Surfcomber - the hotel is nice, I think they have recently renovated. It is a short walk to Ocean Drive and right on the beach. There is a resort charge ($7 per night) and the Valet parking is $18, neither of which were quoted when I booked online. There is a municipal car park about 5 blocks away if you want to take your chances. A great swimming pool. I would stay there again.
dont turn right going out the hotel unless you want to get accosted by hookers lol

We stayed there in February. The rooms are small, but the price is good and you are in the art-deco area. There are many restaurants in the immediate area and within walking/taxi distance. We found parking 2 blocks to the right of the hotel (north) meters till 11pm if I recall correctly. I'd recommend it.

This is a terrible hotel...as diamond I got a ocean view room but with a torn mattress and absolutely dirty carpet. Had to ask for breakfast coupons..it was not given on check in. Outside of being in South Beach...this is a very poor hotel.

I was there on an award stay last month. To begin with . .

1. The hotel tried to charge me $229 a night after they couldn't find the fax on my free award stay.

2. Tried to charge me for the $5 bottled water since I had another bottle of Evian in my room that I bought.

3. Received the coupons for breakfast at check-in, but the food in the restaurant is not that good. You're better off going to one of the cafes on Ocean Drive.

4. Upgrades?!!? Yeah, right. I think those are unheard of at this hotel

5. Hotel staff need a 'refresher' course on customer service. Except for the bellhops/valet drivers . . . they're the best. They at least try to go the extra mile.

The pool is the best thing at the hotel.
And the beach access is great.

Enjoy!

Actually - the more I read these posts, the more I begin to think. I called the front desk of the hotel and ask what amenities they give to Diamonds and she flatly said, "We give you breakfast". I asked her will a Diamond member who is paying the full fare be given any preference over an upgrade, all she said was that you'll get an upgrade if there is one available at check-in and not before. In other words, if a Gold on a discounted rate checks in 5 minutes before I do, I am SOL. (No offense to the any Gold on a discounted rate). That way the airline system is better - their upgrades are done before hand based on your Elite status and what fare you paid.

I have stayed at the Doubletree 3 times. They have always looked after me very well. I received an upgrade the last time I was there but they then had to move me with many apologies - and free valet parking.

they have always provided free breakfast and water.

the location is good for access to the beach south beach centre is a 15 minute walk.

The rooms are large but not luxurious. It is a pleasant 3* and I will be staying there again in April.

Actually I am sitting in the DoubleTree SurfComber hotel right now and I did receive an upgrade to one of the 4 suites as a Diamond. The room is amazing - 2 bathrooms, large bedrooms, living room, balcony, etc.

Service has been great and so far I've been here 1 day and no complaints.

OK now for the post trip report. As you know, I did get upgraded to one of the 4 suites at the hotel. However it wasn't accidental. I faxed a letter to the hotel explaining that I was Diamond and was paying the full rate and therefore requesting a suite upgrade. This was followed by a call the night before and the following morning. My thing was that since I was arriving late, I did not want to loose a suite just cause I didn't get there in time. So I got a room assignment early in the morning and arrived later in the evening to see my suite ready. I can see why people might say the hotel is a bit run down but to tell you the truth, I had friends satying at other properties on Colin's Ave. and by comparision the DoubleTree was much better. It was spring break so all hotels were packed and they had to hurry up and clean the rooms. However the DoubleTree had it's own private beach (hence he $7 resort fee) and MTV was there the week before.

The room was nice - a separate living room and a bedroom, a "balcony" and 2 bathrooms. It had a great view of Colin's Ave where all the action was. The car valet guy was right below me so it was pretty conveniant to just call and ask for our convertible. In short, the room made for a perfect house party.

We only had minor problems - like one of the toilets were slightly clogged but this was fixed immediatly. I requested a check out of 2 PM but this was refused saying that they were full. However the next morning the lady called hersef and said that I could stay till 2 PM if I wanted. I had a slight problem with the bill but again this was sorted out very quickly.

The location was great and I had a great time. There were 1-2 staff members that were extremly nice and I made sure to put their names on the comment card.

In short, if I had to go there again I would.

Surfcomber is OK- as a Diamond I was upgraded to a suite. There was a comfortable couch but not much else. I was really annoyed that there was no phone on the desk (had to hook my computer up by the bedside table). Surfcomber has more of a touristclass feel than traditional DTs. Generally the MIA Doubletrees are not up to par. The location would be the main reason to pick this hotel, but why not try the Fontainebleau Hilton resort which is also on Collins?

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KLM PE,HHonors Diamond,SPG Plat,PC Plat,SAS Silver

I just came back from the Surfcomber, not the biggest DoubleTree I have ever seen, but it was well kept.

As a Gold, I got free continental breakfast, and to upgrade to the full cooked buffet, it was an extra $2.75

I was also upgraded to a suite, which was small, but it had an ocean view and two beach chairs in the terrace, way nice http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I really liked the hotel, it was close enough to the Lincoln walking mall, which if you go, you really have to go to the gelateria in there (white with lots of stainless steel, can't remember the name), and for dinner, you have to go to NEXXT, excellent food.

It was a beach front, you just have to exit a gate and go through a small "sand" road.

Cookies as always were excellent http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

And it was real close to the Art Deco Historic District.

I really enjoyed my stay, if it wasn't for that Man of War (http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/Forum44/HTML/017671.html) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

And for the most interesting/weird point, I didn't know SoBe was topless http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jfe:
And for the most interesting/weird point, I didn't know SoBe was topless http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif</font>

And some of the topless women are attractive. ;-)

Saturday, August 20

Returning guest to this property. Although a “beach” property (a former Hampton Inn) I’ve never been disappointed here. As with the majority of South Beach properties, most are 2 star properties that charge an arm-and-a-leg for a place to lay your head. Hilton does not have a true "luxury" property on southbeach.

Location is great as you can easily walk down to ocean drive to dine or party or over to the Lincoln Road mall. There is a CVS a few blocks away in case you need to pick up a few items.

Checked in at 2:15PM. The lobby was empty as this is the low season. The only activity was from the MTV Production staff. The Surfcomber is being remade into “Hotel MTV” for the 2005 VMA’s.

I walked right up was acknowledged as a RETURNING Diamond and caught up with the staff as they wanted to know why they hadn’t seen me in a while. After shooting the sh*t, I received a drink coupon, two breakfast coupons (one per day) and those oh so yummy cookies that are oh so bad for you!

I was assigned an ocean view suite with a semi-wrap balcony overlooking (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/Photo_082005_016.jpg) the pool. The balcony also provides you with a view of the Marseilles Hotels pool. In addition, the balcony is shared with the room next door but is separated by a small divider.

This was uneventful stay as Miami is dead in summer. I had no service mishaps or any unusual bumps in the road. The hotel consists of two (three floor) buildings connected in the front to form a “U”.


SUMMARY
Check-in/check-out
Courteous and friendly staff who is knowledgeable of the Hhonors program.
Treats Golds/Diamonds very well
Good job at accommodating guests’ preferences
Doorman are attentive and knowledgeable of the area.

Guest Rooms ^
Large, clean and airy
Ample workspace & electrical sockets
Nice sweet dreams bed, pillows and linens (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/Photo_082005_018.jpg)
”ok” furniture (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/Photo_082005_017.jpg) with sleeper sofa in parlor. From the parlor (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/Photo_082005_015.jpg) you can look onto the adjacent rooms balcony.
Halls are pretty narrow, so I could occasionally hear people in the hallway, but not adjoining guest room.
Suite upgrades are hard to come by at this property as there are only a few
Private balcony (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/Photo_082005_019.jpg) note: adjacent hotel can see onto your balcony if you decide to lay out in your birthday suit :rolleyes:

Guest Room Bathrooms :td:
This properties bathrooms has got to rate as some of the smallest in hotel history!
Lots of face, hand & body towels
Large mirror

Lounge
This property does not have a lounge

Common Areas :td: / ^
Clean, entry, lobby, marble floors and check in area
Nice courtyard in the middle of the two buildings
Short waits for the elevators
Starting to show normal wear and tear. A remodeling is need to keep up with the doubletrees located in coconut grove and Biscayne bay
Pay PC in lobby
Concierge in Three free PCs near the pantry.

Gym
This property does not have a gym or workout facilities

Pool ^
Nice space and views with direct access to the beach
Outdoor bar
Has cabanas but they are never used.
Pool is not very crowded
Lounge chair covers could use a good cleaning


HSIA/Wireless Internet
Free for Diamond members

Concierge
There is a concierge on staff, but I have never used.

Parking/Valet ^
Valet parking is improving. 10 Minutes is longest time I had to wait during this stay, a much needed improvement from the 20/30 minute waits I’ve experienced in the past.

Breakfast ^
Nice breakfast with plenty of food, fruit, meat and beverages. The restaurant is indoor/outdoor so you can eat outdoors overlooking the pool if you like.
I’ve always used the coupons and sometime ordered extra food but have never been charged.


Would I return? Yes, but, based on season and rate
Would I recommend? Yes, based on requestors needs
Would I recommend restaurant? Yes
Value for price paid? Great (for summer)

Overall property rating on a scale from 1 to 10 = 6

great report think I have to send some friends there.

Is there any better deal than $169 us for oct?

Nice report,

A couple of things to add:The hotel does have wireless high speed internet and it was free for Diamond members.

There is actually some workout equipment inside one of the cabanas. Nothing special, typical of what a Hampton might have.

I agree that the doormen/bellhops were very helpful. I rented a bike to use while I was there and they would park it for me in the storage room. Like a valet for a bike!

I've returned from a weekend at the surfcomber.

Pool ^

New Lounge chairs and umbrellas have been purchased. The old chairs have been moved to the "inside beach" area adjacent to the pool.

In addition, now there are chairs/umbrellas on the roof decks of the cabana buildings.

Now if they could only get the water features at the pool working propertly.

Just completed a two night stay at the surfcomber. The HSIA was actually free as the prior poster stated. I believe it's free for everyone at the hotel since I don't know how my diamond status played into the connection...

I just fired up my laptop...and connected...no sign in page necessary.

I just was looking to get away with my boys for a few days (22-24 of Feb) and ohh my. The lowest rate they have is $350 a night. Did I miss something here or is this a 5 star hotel. Sounds like a great hotel. Any idea what might be a better time as far as rates go. Chaz

I just was looking to get away with my boys for a few days (22-24 of Feb) and ohh my. The lowest rate they have is $350 a night. Did I miss something here or is this a 5 star hotel. Sounds like a great hotel. Any idea what might be a better time as far as rates go. Chaz

This is peak season in South Beach so prices are going to be a bit ridiculous (vs. off-peak in the summer where rates are around $160/night) even for the cheesiest of hotels. At the same time you are looking at a holiday week (President's Day on the 20th) so the prices are going to be even worse.

If you look at the following week, the prices have come down a bit.

The reason the rate is so high for the end of Feb is The South Beach Wine festival is going on about 3 blocks from the hotel the 23-26 of Feb. After the 26th, the price are around 170 a night. I opted to use points as rooms for the weekend where 400+ a night.


http://www.sobewineandfoodfest.com

Phillips 32" Flatscreen (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/DSC00278.jpg)TV's and Wolfgang Puck (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Doubletree%20Surfcomber%20Hotel%20Miami-South%20Beach/DSC00320.jpg)Coffee have been added to the rooms.

Couple of updates:

Workout Room – has been closed inside of two of the "cabanas" and is air conditioned!
Valet Parking – Is now a whopping $39.
Diamond Benefits – In the past you would get free internet, breakfast and an Upgrade. Now you have to choose between 4/5 options (Free Internet, in house gift, buffet breakfast upgrade, etc.) when you check in.
Rooms – Looks like all the rooms have Panasonic flat screen TVs ^

Any more recent reviews/updates?

Just booked an Honors stay here this weekend.
Curious what to expect:confused:

I have stayed at the Surfcomber 7 times over the last three years. I recently spent my first trip at the Hilton Bentley. The Bentley is a much nicer hotel than the Surfcomber. There is nothing wrong with the surfcomber except the rooms are small. The pool is great and the location is better than the Bentley. But the Bentleys location is not that bad...If you dont mind walking it is 10 minute walk to the middle of the action. The neighborhood where the Bentley is, is a little more residential and quite. Not as rowdy as the area near the Surfcomber. I guess it depends what you want but after staying at both I would say give the Hilton Bentley a try.

Sam

Let me know if you have any questions, be happy to answer them.

Had a great stay at the Surfcomber last weekend.
I used points for an Honors stay and received a regular King with a view of the pool.
The room was small, but after visiting Miami as many times as I have, the size didnt surprise me. It was only my girlfriend and myself, so it was perfect for us. A bigger bathroom would have been great, but the positives out weighed the negatives.
We were there for the Winter Music Conference, so we were happy to find out that we had free access to all of the parties at our pool. This perk alone saved us at least $160 in ticket fees.^
I would 100% stay there again for the Conference, but I will say, if I was booking another Honors stay on an off weekend, I would choose the Bentley for the comfort factor.

PS...the warm cookies at check in are a GREAT touch!:D

I was there this year as well over WMC, used points. We were told we had to access the pool deck prior to 2pm, and if we left we could not come back to the pool unless we paid to get in. And let me tell you, the goons monitoring the entrance watched the second hand on their watcch for 2pm. And could not come back in thru the back gate from the beach, had to walk bare-footed around the block and in the city sidewalks to come in the front odoor.

I have fired off a letter to Hilton via website, they responded with their apologies and said that the hotel should get with me directly within 3 days, and already 5 have passed. I knew it would be a wild time (5th WMC experience) but in the past, have been allowed to come and go from the pool as a hotel guest, this year was told I had to buy a pass.

The promoter of those parties easily raked in half a million $$ between cover charges and the booze they were selling, probably more over those 4 days. Letting hotel guests in for free no matter the time would not have killed them, and I would have still bought the $14 redbull vodkas once I got in anyhow!

Good thing, the lady at the front desk with long black hair who's been there for many years, got me a balcony room over the restaurant overlooking thte pool, so me and friends partied up there on our own! But still....

For the record: A little late now but in Nov 07 as Gold I was upgraded to an ocean view room (there are only 4), and got breakfast coupons. Room and stay was nice. Good location.

However - I left $5 on the bed each morning but forgot to do so on departure (probably inexcusable but I plead to you that where we're from there is no tipping). A few days later my CC was charged $10, apparently for two bottles of water that I didn't declare on departure. Not true. Then again a few days later I was charged $7.xy and couldn't be bothered following up on it.

Just returned from a two night stay at the Surfcomber. My wife and I had a wedding to attend in Miami on Saturday so we decided to arrive a couple days early and head to South Beach.

First time staying at a Hilton property as a Gold.

Arrived after midnight (delayed flight), the desk clerk was friendly and confirmed my breakfast MyWay selection. I asked about coupons and she said they would be slid under my door by morning, which they were.

Was upgraded to an ocean view room with a rather large wooden balcony over looking the pool. Bottle of Evian water and a small mesh back with three "Taste of South Beach" chocolates was on the desk with a note from the GM. Nice touch, but the salutation on the card said "Dear {Last Name} {First Name}, instead of the other way around. Small typo, I just laughed it off. Balcony was very nice. Room was small, but not as bad I was expecting after reading some reviews. The bathroom was very dated but otherwise ok. Carpet was a bit worn and pulling-up around the door to the balcony.

Breakfast was in a meeting room as the main restaurant was under renovation. Upgrade to hot items was $5 (even though the menu price difference was only $2). Waitstaff was very friendly and attentive. On the second morning our server recognized us and ask if we'd like the same drinks as before.

WiFi was free in the room.

Beach was fantastic and we were able to charge chair and umbrella rentals to the room as well as drinks.

I paid about $145 with the AAA discount. I think that was a pretty good value for the money. I'd return if the price was similar.