I must have been at a different hotel! :confused: I'm surprised that the old electrical box in our room is from 2003. And those big gouges in the closet doors that have been painted over sure make it seem like an old hotel. But then again, I should be grateful that the closet doors were repainted, as the walls weren't and they were badly in need of a coat or two. Everything in that place is reminiscent of something that was constructed in the 1940s-50s. Reminds me of many of the classic old Fairmont hotels in Canada (Royal York, Queen Elizabeth, the Empress, etc) but not in as good a shape.

Also, we could hear all the noise from the hallway (doors closing, elevator bell, etc) because there wasn't even a proper door sweep to keep the noise out (something I would expect from a hotel that was built 7 yrs ago). The bidet in the bathroom is also typical of older hotels.

Are you sure you didn't stay at the Doubletree Surfcomber? It's in the art deco district, built in 1938 and is constructed in an art deco motif.

The Bentley is at the south end of South Beach on Oceanview Drive one or doors up from the Ritz Carlton. The Doubletree is much further to the north on Collins Avenue.

I was thinking the same, I stayed there last year and while I was not a big fan of the furnishings, they were quite new.

No, my reservation was made at the Hilton Bentley, and it says Hilton Bentley on my receipt! ;) The furnishings weren't old, but the room didn't seem in very good shape. I would be more likely to believe that the hotel underwent a renovation in 2003 rather than being a new build. I will concede that the bed was VERY comfortable.

I had the tiniest room available on the floor (805A), based on the floor plan on the back of the door. It also didn't help that we had just spent 5 nights in a HUGE ocean facing suite at the luxurious Westin Diplomat (which cost a mere 48K SPG points ^^^).

I was also quite unhappy to find out that the pool was closed for a private function on the day that we asked for a late check out since we had planned to spend the day there! We ended up leaving at 9:30 a.m. as we could see no good reason to stay there. So I essentially wasted my Q3FN coupon. :(

The building is pretty new, FYI many buildings in Miami are built like that!

I understand what margarita girl is saying but it is not so bad. We spent our wedding anniversary there a year ago.. it was amazing. I also felt some strange feeling about the condition of the hotel, very small reception area compared to the photos on the Hilton website and its "fame" by name but we cannot complain. We got upgraded to a 2 bdrm king oceanfront... we decided to use one bedroom for afternoon nap and one for the evenings :) but at the end we never needed the other bedroom. View was beautiful from the balcony, we got wine, welcome and all kind of stuff... food was excellent!! One of my best Hilton experience ever....

First off I think the Kardashians and their film crew being at the Bentley over the holiday diluted my upgrade.

I stayed over the Easter Holiday and it was fantastic. I had a small room, it reminded me of the room at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe (too lazy to check spelling); it was small but nicely decorated and well appointed. There was some paint chipping in certain areas but I found it charming as opposed to being tired. The room was 605A so I had a small balcony with a decent view of the city. The t.v was small with terrible sound quality - ruined my Sunday night line up. I swore I was getting a suite but whatever. I booked this trip early January before my points dropped in value.

I was comped an upgraded breakfast every morning which was actually very delicious. I was given a bottle of red wine which I let the boyfriend have since I only like white and 2 bottles of water. I was very happy.

The pool area is small but cute - I didn't hang out there. The beach area is nice but I didn't hang out there either. I was charged $20 for the pool - my boyfriend went one day and had a towel in the room. He said that he did not give a room number for the towel so I guess the room maid reported it.

Great restaurants a few blocks from hotel are Nemo's and Soiji Sushi (spelling?) - drinks are pricey.

The Kardashians did bring about crowds of people outside the hotel whenever their handlers leaked their plans to the paparazzi. Still it wasn't bad and did not disturb my stay. The only thing was that their film crew supposedly snatched up all of the rooms on the higher floors but that's only what I heard.

Last thing, Around 0730 on Monday I was awakened by what sounds like construction but oddly did not see it when I went on the balcony. It did not last long but did wake me up.

I would definitely stay here again - using points of course.

Same thing happened to me. Overall not a very good hotel experience. I would not return.

Also, watch your statement for valet parking charges. I was charged three times on the same day for valet parking. Uh, that's $90+ for one night of parking? Right. Calls are not being returned from the hotel to figure this out.

Going for a one night stay May 27. Booked a 1 bedroom corner suite. Will report if I am given a HH Gold upgrade. After reading these reports (some of which are old), hope I am not making a mistake by booking at the Hilton Bentley!:(

I hope not.. I have a long weekend scheduled here in October..

Reviews on Tripadvisor are pretty good.

Please report back with your experiences.

Any one have any updates on this property? Am thinking of staying here in Dec.
Thanks!

I stayed here for a long weekend 2 weeks ago; the property is beautiful. No upgrade, but was given a bottle of champagne as a welcome gift and breakfast vouchers. I had to stop past the front desk each morning for the breakfast vouchers which I found strange.

You have to pay for chairs at the beach, but as a Diamond, myself and my gf were given a glass of champagne, bottles of water, and were setup in the front and center of the beach.

I'd recommend not renting a car unless you wish to go exploring elsewhere as the hotel is down the street from a multitude of restaurants/bars/clubs all within walking distance..

Great, many thanks for the update justinc848. Am not Diamond so don't think I'll get quite as much attention as you! Looks like it should be good anyway.

Just an observation about HH award reservations at this hotel.

Tried to book about one year ago--and had to request a Diamond Force, which was successful. This reservation was subsequently cancelled.

This past weekend tried to book four nights for next October mid-mopnth including a weekend (11 months from now)--again had to use Diamond Force, which was successful (got response in 2 days).

So I suspect very little inventory is made available for award redemption at this property.

Cash deposit at the Bentley Miami on a rewards stay???
 

I am going to Miami for 3 nights to celebrate my birthday in late march and called the diamond desk to book the Bentley Miami using a Q3FN certificate for one night and 100K points the other 2. The hotel is going for $609 a night and a couple miami properties I would rather stay at are already soldout and didn't want to wait around for a diamond force request for free nights so called the diamond desk to book figuring $609 a night is a great way to burn points.

They took me the reservation is not cancelable (which isn't a big deal but the rooms showing on hilton.com are. I was also told there was a $39 a night deposit. Why are they charging me a deposit on a free stay? The DD rep said when I show up the money should be refunded to my credit card. Makes no sense, if I don't show up they will have a room that would have free they can sell.