Chesterfield Hotel & Suites South Beach Florida Review
Your Barnstormers, Buddha & Buffy stayed at the Chesterfield Hotel & Suites for a couple of nights before departing Miami cruise port on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. We thought we’d give you our impression of this South Beach hotel.
Specifically, I’d like to address value, convenience, amenities, and impressions.
Chesterfield Hotels & Suites is a value hotel. One of the Art Deco style hotels it has been upgraded with modern amenities including an elevator for its three floors. It does, however, show its age and the “workarounds” necessary to add modern features.
The lobby has the reception desk on the left, a sitting area on the right, and the Safari Bar just off the sitting area. There is seating and tables outside which give you plenty of room to chill and people watch.
We stayed on the third floor and generally used the elevator to go up and the stairs to go down. The elevator wasn’t huge but adequate for the two of us and our luggage. Going downstairs the stairs were a bit steep and a bit narrow.
Our room had two twin beds, we went for value, a TV, an alarm clock, a fridge, and a shelf above the fridge and below the TV. There were no other shelves in the room or bathroom, no bureau, or chest of drawers, except for the shelf in the closet just off the main door. There was a hotel safe in the closet but wasn’t free. You had to use a credit card to use it.
The bathroom had a fairly large shower area that was big enough for the two of us but the floor was a bit slippery for a guy who’s had two hips replaced. As I mentioned there was no real shelf space and there really wasn’t a place to put the small bar of soap once you opened the package.
The air conditioner, a split, worked very well and kept the room comfortable. The beds were comfortable and you had quite a variety of pillows to choose from. All-in-all the room was a bit cramped but adequate if you plan on spending more time exploring and enjoying South Beach rather than hanging around a hotel.
Here are some pros about staying at the Chesterfield
The price is right, at about half the price of The Blue Moon which we stayed at last year. Just be aware that they will place a $100 per day hold on your credit card for the stay and will charge a resort fee as well. The resort fee, depending upon who you booked through may NOT be included in your initial charges.
The Chesterfield is convenient. We walked quite a bit along Collins Ave, Ocean Drive, and Washington exploring the shops, restaurants, and Art Deco buildings. Sitting on the corner of 9th St and Collins the hotel is easily accessible to the beach (the hotel will provide beach towels), restaurants, and shopping.
The staff was friendly and helpful although…there were a couple of things we’d like to see improved.
Cons of staying at the Chesterfield Hotel & Suites
No coffee. No coffee maker in the room and no coffee or water in the lobby and most of the coffee shops and restaurants close by didn’t open until 8 AM.
There is a bar downstairs, The Safari Bar, and it does have a happy hour between 5 & 6 PM each day offering free gin or vodka drinks. They’d run out of limes on the day we arrived so other mixed drinks weren’t available and who doesn’t like a lime in a gin & tonic? On the second day, they’d run out of tonic water and were down to screwdriver cocktails… We felt sorry for the bartender who said she was out of pretty much everything to use as mixers…blamed her manager.
Other than the unexpected fees and holds on our credit card, that’s pretty much it when it comes to downsides to the Chesterfield.
Would we stay again?
I think the best testament to whether a place is worth it or not is whether we’d stay there again. Yes, we would. We don’t spend a lot of time hanging out in the room as we prefer to explore and experience the places we travel. The price really is right for those short trips we make to Miami to board a cruise.
