Days Inn South Beach

Just a word to the wise. Be aware that the Days Inn South Beach, a.k.a. the Seagull Hotel, has an «annex» which is not part of the hotel but is a separate building which looks like a warehouse storage building partitioned into guest rooms.
I found out about the annex when I arrived with my Priceline reservation (prepaid) and was put in one of the annex rooms. To get there you have to walk through the hotel lobby, past the hotel laundry, out the back door into the alley, past the garbage area, and then, voila, you are at the annex. The room was dark, dingy, had mold on the walls, the air conditioner was falling apart (no on-​off switch and the grill was missing) and the floor was naked cement. I went to the hotel manager and complained. I told him I was going complain to Priceline about their deceptive advertising and find another hotel if they couldn’t give me a proper room.
To my surprise it worked! I was given a sixth floor room with a balcony overlooking the ocean at no price increase. The room was decent, standard motel quality, The housecleaning staff is a bit pushy, wanting to know if you are ready for them to clean the room around 9 am, but you cn just tell them every 30 minutes or so that you do not want them to clean the room just yet.
My stay at the hotel was enjoyable after I was moved away from the annex. The hotel location is great (I don’t think you can get closer to the beach). The staff is friendly.
All this being said, I would stay there again only on the guarantee that my room was not in the annex. My entire Miami Beach vacation would have been ruined if I had stayed in the annex building. I consider myself lucky that the management gave me a decent room. The alternative would have been to find another hotel and try to get my money back from Priceline.

My boyfriend and I just got back from a 7 night stay at the «Seagull» Days Inn and I have to say we enjoyed it just fine.
Me and my boyfriend booked it for $ 65/​night on
, then I emailed one the managers at the hotel and asked to put us in a room with a nice view and a balcony, without paying the $ 20/​night extra for ocean front.
We got room 815 on the top floor, their biggest room. It had a wrap around balcony, 180 degree view of Collins Ave, Collins Park, and the beach. It was a 4ft high balcony wall, so totally private to just us. It was one of the the best parts of our trip, because we got to lay out privately, and it was sunny on the deck all day, because it faced north.
The room was big, probably 600 square feet, bigger than my apartment, with a lock-​off entry room with a loveseat and coffee table and french doors to close it off if you want.
The beds were nice, we had two doubles, both had pillow top mattresses and nice pillows.
There’s nothing special about the TV or other amenities, but we didn’t come there to watch TV all day (except for the NBA playoff games).
There was enough room in the drawers of the TV armoire, we didn’t use the open walk-​in closet.
The shower has a good round curtain rod, but the bathroom is basic. No complaints, though. The toilet ran a little — just jiggle the handle.
The pool was nice and big, but full of little kids in the evening. I liked the tropical garden feel of the courtyard leading to the pool.
The lobby is Miami beach art deco, but charming enough with a fountain and bridge. We didn’t get the $ 12 buffet breakfast at all — too expensive. And the lobby bar was dismal and depressing at best — never saw anyone drinking there, and the bartenders looked really bored. But there’s a Walgreens a block and a half away with basic necessities and food stuff.
The only big problem was the balcony door — it needs to be replaced, and the door sweep had rusted off, so when it rained, water leaked into the room, soaking the carpet. We weren’t bothered by it, but it smelled like mildew until it dried a couple of days later. We didn’t complain. You get what you pay for.
We didn’t rent a mini fridge for $ 10/​day, but a thermal bag full of ice sufficed for beer and some food.
It’s just steps from the beach, which was our biggest vacation desire, and most convenient. However, that part of beach was almost full of rented umbrellas and loungers ($ 30 a day we didn’t want to pay) so we had to maneuver our little towels and umbrella to a spot untaken by big rental ones. And there are jet ski rentals right there on the beach too, which seems cool, but they are really loud and annoying after a while. Not related to the hotel. There’s plenty of open beach space a little further down.
The concierge was friendly and helpful, as well as the front desk staff. I even stopped by to thank them for booking me into the best room they have. I didn’t have to pay extra for it, so all you have to do is ask…
I would definitely stay here again — BUT only in room 815!
I saw inside a lot of the other rooms, and they were small, no balcony, facing the big high-​rise parking garage to the south. No thanks.
The hallway carpets need to be replaced, and all the walls repainted, which they were doing while we were there.
You can tell it’s an old building, surrounded by fancy high-​rises, but we weren’t there for luxury and to blow a ton of money. We were there for the sun and beach, and this room had all we needed, with plenty of extra space to spare.
I’d recommend this place for young couples wanting to travel on a budget, or groups of friends travelling together, but not for someone looking for a fancy getaway.

On a whim, a bunch of my girlfriends and I planned to stay here for a day after getting off of our cruise. The price was within our budget and upon walking into the lobby we thought we were getting some incredible deal. The lobby is nice enough, fairly clean, etc. The staff was helpful but not entirely friendly.
Upon getting up to our room we found that it was absolutely DISGUSTING! There was a huge/​loud air conditioner in the room and the whole place smelled like mold. There was what looked like splooge stains all over the floor between the beds, red jelly on the wall (true story. howd they NOT notice it when they cleaned the room before we came?!), mold on the window, crookedly hung pictures on the wall, cracks in the sheet rock, and various stains all over the rest of the room. None of us wanted to walk on the floor without shoes much less lay on the beds. We stayed for a few hours and checked out. I am confused how a place so disgusting is still in business!
I will never stay here again nor will i recommend it to anyone!

HORRIBLE! the only good part is that the beach is right next to it! its very unsanitary and unhealthy living space. just walking through the hallways you start gagging! mold on the ceiling, leaking water in the ceiling, parts of the ceiling fell from the ceiling as well! smells horrible! roach infested! mosquitoes everywhere! THIS PLACE NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN!

I was not expecting much but wow, this place was the first place I had ever stayed at that I would truly call «budget». The staff, while friendly, are totally clueless for the most part. When I pulled up I asked about parking and was told there was nothing available so I parked in a near by garage only to find out from another staff member the hotel sells parking passes for the huge lot across the street. The décor is cheesy but not in the kitschy-​cool Miami Beach sort of way.
My room was pretty much disgusting. Cigarette burns all over, the windows nailed shut, the very loud air conditioner, a shower that only had «freezing» and «scalding» for options. If it was not basically free I might have not been so happy but like I said the price is right.
The two good things — the location and the parking. A lot of the hotels in the area charge $ 30/​night for parking, a pass to park anywhere on the street was a mere $ 6. It was on 21^st street right where it ends into the beach so you had to walk all of 30 seconds east and you were greeted by the warm Atlantic.
If you’re 19 and going for winter break the Day’s Inn might be for you, otherwise try something a little farther south on Collins.

I stayed here for a convention in Miami Beach and the star I am giving it is completely based on its location, which is right on the beach and near the Miami Beach convention center. The hotel was badly in need of maintenance, and the air conditioner leaked water all over the carpet. Judging by the smell in my room, this was not the first time this had occurred. Plus, when I checked out of the hotel (on a Sunday morning, of course) the front desk staff didn’t know how to process a tax exempt request for my room, including the manager on duty.
I would never recommend this hotel to anyone, unless they are your mortal enemy and have severe mold allergies.