Hilton HHonors - Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach Trip Reports and Reviews

I just returned from this place 2 weeks ago ... we had a 2 bedroom suite over looking the ocean. Nice room, 2 plasma tv's, full kitchen with all the amenities, table ware, flatware, glasses ect. Mini bar is in the full size refridge. Best part of the room was a huge balcony, probably 200 - 300 square feet ... access from master bedroom or living room via sliding doors. Covered as well so no issues with those wacky 1 hr rainstorms.

Right across the street from Prime 112 which is an excellent option -- great food and great scene.

It is a converted hotel, no hilton affiliation when I booked in the spring (or they did not make it known I should say). Presented my card on check in, had to call last week to get points credited as it did not happen automatically. Also, they put a large hold on my CC for "security" which always annoys me.

Location was nice, not in the middle of the action (15 minute walk) but that was a plus. Plenty to do close by, good restaurants, liquor store that delivered, beach was public but nice. Has a small hotel pool which I did not use so I cannot comment, although the cooler by the pool has free bottled water so I would snag a couple on the way to the beach.

Very nice feel overall, not problems. Hotel was booked 100 percent but felt like we were the only ones staying there. Boutique type hotel mentality throughout. No shop in the hotel for little trinkets, had to walk next door to the marriott for that!

Any questions, post or PM ... just trying to recount all the details, had 2 stays elsewhere since and its starting to blur.

I just returned from this place 2 weeks ago ... we had a 2 bedroom suite over looking the ocean. Nice room, 2 plasma tv's, full kitchen with all the amenities, table ware, flatware, glasses ect. Mini bar is in the full size refridge. Best part of the room was a huge balcony, probably 200 - 300 square feet ... access from master bedroom or living room via sliding doors. Covered as well so no issues with those wacky 1 hr rainstorms.

Right across the street from Prime 112 which is an excellent option -- great food and great scene.

It is a converted hotel, no hilton affiliation when I booked in the spring (or they did not make it known I should say). Presented my card on check in, had to call last week to get points credited as it did not happen automatically. Also, they put a large hold on my CC for "security" which always annoys me.

Location was nice, not in the middle of the action (15 minute walk) but that was a plus. Plenty to do close by, good restaurants, liquor store that delivered, beach was public but nice. Has a small hotel pool which I did not use so I cannot comment, although the cooler by the pool has free bottled water so I would snag a couple on the way to the beach.

Very nice feel overall, not problems. Hotel was booked 100 percent but felt like we were the only ones staying there. Boutique type hotel mentality throughout. No shop in the hotel for little trinkets, had to walk next door to the marriott for that!

Any questions, post or PM ... just trying to recount all the details, had 2 stays elsewhere since and its starting to blur.

Any more recent reviews/updates?

I have booked an award stay there in February - the quoted rates for a revenue room were out of control ($989/night).
Thanks
ckc

I just returned from the Hilton Bentley Beach Hotel. The location was perfect for us, away from the SoBe crowd but no too faraway from the attractions. They had constructions going on where they are making the lounge across from the front desk. Also the whole area is going through massive re-construction but we did not hear much noise in the early mornings/evenings. We spent most of the time at the beach.

We were there for an award stay and the front desk/manager claimed their ocean view suites were all sold out :rolleyes: when they were still selling it on the web. So we ended up getting a partial ocean view studio suite. The room size was great with a balcony overlooking the interior 4th floor courtyard. The service was cold, no greeting from the front desk at all. The valet ($26.75 a night for parking) never opened the doors or greeted us. The housekeeping service is horrible at the hotel. I called a couple of times for replenishing towels/amenities and on the first time, they picked up and hung up the phone. Same thing happened with room-service and the front desk. It is unacceptable and I requested the GM to call and have never heard from him/her as of yet. The staff other than at the front desk barely spoke English and I forgot how frustrating it can be when you can not communicate effectively. The management needs to take better care if they expect return visitors.

There is a mandatory 10.70$ resort fee at the hotel which provides the lounge, umbrella and towels at the beach. The guy who works at the beach from Wed-Mon is very good and took good care of us. The beach was nice and there were at least a couple of photo-shoot sessions going on during the weekdays (Tue-Wed). Around 12:00 pm you can order drinks from the marriott's bar (a couple of guys/girls come out to take your drink/cocktail orders) and the service was good IMHO. They also have a small heated pool which is pretty nice. However, there were constructions going on close to the pool. The pool no longer has bottled water but there is a water cooler/dispenser close to the shower.

We did get the diamond full continental breakfast at their restaurant. The breakfast selection was good but we only had breakfast there twice. There is a full service Starbucks 15 blocks away and for us that was the ideal breakfast spot. There is also a starbucks next door at the Marriott (doesn't have the full selection). We ordered room-service once and food was decent for room-service (They never returned to pick up the dishes (even after calling them) and the dishes remained outside our door when we went out for breakfast the next morning). There seemed to be plenty of nice Aston Martins, Bentleys, Ferrari's, and Lamborghini's parked at the Prime 112. The scene was great there (but you gotta pay the price $$$$).

IMHO, it's barely a category 6 and the service is questionable. I probably will stay at the W once it opens next year on my future trips to SoBe.

Not a good start. If I were you, I would not have left without speaking to the GM.

Also, you paid a resort fee? It's not on their website. I thought we were not paying those any longer. :confused::confused:

Well I hope you call/email the Diamond Desk and explain what happened. It appears, based on this report, they have a way to go before understanding the HHonors program.

Not a good start. If I were you, I would not have left without speaking to the GM.

Also, you paid a resort fee? It's not on their website. I thought we were not paying those any longer. :confused::confused:

Well I hope you call/email the Diamond Desk and explain what happened. It appears, based on this report, they have a way to go before understanding the HHonors program.

Not having a good experience so far!!

When Diamond Desk made the arrangement, they told me I had to leave a credit card deposit on file of over $2200!
They also told me they had to make special arrangements since the hotel did not have the "standard" room available.
I recieved a confirmation with a the room type and the deposit applied.
I checked this evening, and it now shows "Room Selected at check-in".
To add insult to injury, the rate showing is almost 50% (for the two nights I booked) of what the original booking was.
So, I asked for:
A) the room type I was promised
or
B) at least refund the difference in deposit on my credit card, since the deposit is now $1000+ more than the room for the two nights.
DD is refusing.
:td:
It seems ridiculous, and perhaps even unlawful that my deposit now greatly exceeds the cost of my two night stay.

Not having a good experience so far!!

When Diamond Desk made the arrangement, they told me I had to leave a credit card deposit on file of over $2200!
They also told me they had to make special arrangements since the hotel did not have the "standard" room available.
I recieved a confirmation with a the room type and the deposit applied.
I checked this evening, and it now shows "Room Selected at check-in".
To add insult to injury, the rate showing is almost 50% (for the two nights I booked) of what the original booking was.
So, I asked for:
A) the room type I was promised
or
B) at least refund the difference in deposit on my credit card, since the deposit is now $1000+ more than the room for the two nights.
DD is refusing.
:td:
It seems ridiculous, and perhaps even unlawful that my deposit now greatly exceeds the cost of my two night stay.

As a followup:
We stayed her three nights over a weekend in mid Feb., two on award and the last night on revenue.
The mgmt already advised that they "never" give out ocean front rooms, though we had a view of the ocean in the second of the buildings.
These are privately owned condo suites that are managed by Hilton for rental, while many are owner occupied.
Many of the salient points are already mentioned in previous posts, so I will just highlight a few areas:
There is no bar other than the restaurant, if you want drinks by the pool, byob (plastic everyone please!), although they have a cooler of self serve bottled water.
The beach is well serviced, provided you tip reasonably, and drinks are available from the Marriot staff.
There is a free computer near the front desk with Internet access for guests to briefly check email etc.
The one bedroom suite we had was still quite new - full kitchen, almost nothing in it used. Much of the fridge is taken up with a "mini bar".
Bathroom was spacious and luxurious with separate spa jacuzzi tub and shower stall.
TV includes Satellite, so if it's raining cats and dogs and you want to watch a movie, there are lots of choices.
There are also free DVDs the hotel will loan on a first come/first serve basis.
There is one restaurant - it's fine for breakfast, service was terrible both times we went. I had to get my own coffee - I know it's a buffet but...
The pool area is small, but comfortable.
It's a fair walk to much of anything (convenienc store, drug store etc.) from here (Ocean and first).
As previously mentioned and OT, PRIME 112 is spectacular (fourth visit, always great, though too much food).

Now, on the second last day, I walked across the pool deck and slipped on wet marble, fracturing two fingers I landed on.
Being a guy, I initially ignored it, then couldn't bear the pain, and asked the front desk for a first aid kit for starters.
Well, they sort of have one, but if you need anything but a bandage, you might be out of luck.
I made an ice pack with the ice dispenser on our fridge in the room and ziploc bags I always have when traveling.
The hotel asked if they could call the doctor, and I agreed.
The "doctor" turned out to be paramedics which was overkill and embarassing.

The local hospital splinted my finger, gave me a sling and some meds, and the hotel manager picked me up at the hospital and took me to the pharmacy to fill my scrip for pain meds (although he was doing a dozen different things and I had to wait for him for quite a while).

I suggested the hotel should wipe down the wet marble, and/or put some grip type tape to make this area less slippery next time.

When we checked out the next day, the concierge gave us a ride to the airport, there was no bill (one night stay) presented and I was promised a copy of the accident report (still waiting).

The hotel seemed a cross between concerned/annoyed, and concern over being sued.

We had room service when I got back from the hospital (courtesy of the hotel) from the Italian (only) restaurant.
It was ok - they're not well set up for room service. They have one person who has voicemail if they are not available.
They couldn't accomodate special requests like parmesan cheese, or hot peppers (they did find some tabasco). Food was ok, not great.
There is no wine or beverages available, you are expected to use your mini bar for this.

In summary,
good location if you want to be near SoBe, and away from the direct action.
Nice rooms
Management seems "annoyed" at Hilton affiliation, esp. requests for rewards, and sense of entitlement from Dia/Gold members.

They did a reasonably good job of taking care of my situation, though it shouldn't have happened in the first place. Also, my medical bills are quite high (I have insurance fortunately) and I'm surprised they didn't offer to cover them. In fact, I still have splints, and am getting physio for the fractures (hence the long delay in posting this review).
If there are any specific questions on this property, I will do my best to answer.

Mr. SECKART and I had a four night visit to this hotel June 19-23 and found my experience to be a bit different than what others had posted earlier in the year. This was an award stay, and the studio suite we were booked in was upgraded to a one bedroom partial oceanview suite. The room had a full kitchen including full size fridge (two shelves of which were stocked with minibar items) and microwave. Weirdly, the bathroom had a shower head but no shower door (we determined it must have been a handicap accessible bathroom), but had a full jacuzzi bathtub so there was no way I was complaining and ending up in a smaller room without it!

As far as gold benefits, well we got an upgrade. Then two bottles of water were delivered the first evening by housekeeping as they did turndown service and a note from mgmt welcoming us to the hotel We received 2 breakfast coupons good for Vivi restaurant next door (detached from the hotel but just two doors down on Ocean Drive).

The buffet at Vivi was not at all like what I had read on the forum previously, they had hot bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, seasoned red potatoes and french toast. Additionally they had more baked goods than I had seen in a long time at a Hilton b-fast buffet from bagles and toast to gourmet danishes, cookies and muffins. Then there were two bowls of fresh fruit, a bucket loaded with chilled canned juices and a bucket loaded with indiviudal milks and yogurt and a selection of boxed cereals sitting next to it. Additionally, the mgr came over to take our coupons and asked if we would like complimentary coffee, tea or a fresh cappucino and that they would make omelettes to order for no charge as well with the voucher. Our last morning when we were in a rush to get to the airport at just before 8:00am, we were not offered any made to order items or tableside service of coffee or tea, so we just helped ourselves to what was sitting out on the hot and cold buffets.

The pool had fresh chilled bottles of water in a blue cooler that were refilled all day. Towels running out at the pool seemed to be a problem as was replacing the covers on the pool chair mattresses between patrons. Additionally, the fourth floor fitness center had a bucket of chilled bottled water and some very nice nautilus style equipment and cardio machines as well as a small sauna in the women's restroom (can't confirm if the men's had this). The beach staff were polite and quickly set up beach chairs with mattresses and linens (the speed of which seemed to be determined a bit by gratuity in hand) as well as umbrellas or cabana style covers if you arrived early enough, but again the towels seemed to always be out when we arrived. The beach bar service was provided by the Marriott next door, and the server had a habit of telling you the total with 18% gratuity included and then expecting an additional tip-as in walking off with your money and having to be flagged down again to return with your change.

Staff were polite and the concierge was particularly helpful in finding restaurants, grocery stores, liquor stores, etc. Housekeeping service was prompt and thorough and included nightly turndown and removal of trash and wet towels. No matter how many times we told the honor bar person we did not need any replenishment as we were not utilizing the honor bar, they returned daily to ask yet again!

My only complaint was related to the construction-that we knew was going on in advance. However, our room was literally right next to the work site, they started promptly at 8am every morning except Sunday and ended between 3-5pm each day. :mad: Our room number ended in 11, so a word of warning to anyone who might like to stay out a little later and not be awakened at 8-this room would not be for you unless you brought ear plugs!

Let me know if you have any other questions about this property that I didn't cover, we explored the property and the nearby area pretty thoroughly over our long weekend there.