My boyfriend and I received a stay at the hotel as a gift from our good friends for use as a getaway for his 30th birthday at the beginning of January. We live in South Florida, so we hardly ever have a chance to stay the night in South Beach. This was a nice (and much needed!) excuse to relax and unwind after the holiday season. We were totally blown away by the hotel's location! It's right across the street from The Delano and The Shore Club (where we had dinner at Nobu), and so convenient to walk anywhere (we did Lincoln Road on Sunday). And it was easy to catch a cab to one of our favorite night clubs off the strip (and not expensive either).

When you pull up to the hotel, you definitely feel like you've arrived in South Beach. There are actually two buildings to the hotel
and each building has it's own lobby/bar area. Each lobby has cool furniture and the front patio is filled with places to relax and enjoy the view. The hotel staff was very friendly and were helpful about information about our room and the property.

To our surprise when we got to our room, it was on it's own floor! Not only did we have our own little private elevator lobby, but we had our own rooftop terrace outfitted with teak chaises and a white sofa. We watched the sunset as we looked at our amazing view of the South Beach strip. It was awesome. The room itself was very South Beach boutique. All white bed linens and curtains, funky lamps, a cool red shag rug and there was music playing when we walked in.

I can't say enough about the pool, except that I wish I had spent more time there. It's very pretty; lush greenery, cabanas, it's straight out of a magazine. I'll definitley be checking out the poolside manis and pedis next time I stay there.

In all honesty, I think the best way I can review the hotel is that you can have the total South Beach experience (location, people watching, boutique hotel, awesome pool and beach access) at an excellent price point without any sacrifice of ambiance.

The location is incredible, pool is great, you get freevouchers for chairs on beach, free drinks for 1 hour 7-8 pm, clean room, trendy boutique hotel, but the Front Desk/Luggage guys suck!!!!! Took forever to check in/out and get luggage, but other than that you can't beat the value for the price, clean, trendy room, great location, free drinks/beach chairs!!!!! We'll be back!!!!!!!!!!!! A Fish Called Avalon in South beach on Ocean Drive is the place to EAT TOO!!!!!!!!!!

My friend and I drove down to South Beach on March 26, 2007 and stayed at The Catalina Hotel on Collins Ave for two nights. As we pulled up to the hotel, the valet attendant greeted us and immediately helped us with our luggage. There was a rather large crowd in the lobby checking in and out but the staff kept everything under control. I didn’t mind waiting a few minutes because the music in the lounge/lobby area was awesome and definitely put me in the mood for vacation. I requested, through Expedia, to have a room on the second floor and the hotel made sure that the request was met which we really appreciated. We enjoyed our room very much as it was trendy, clean, and the beds were extremely comfortable. The showerhead in the shower comes from the ceiling and was very refreshing after long days of lounging at the beach and walking up and down Lincoln Drive. At night, we stopped at the hotel bar before leaving and there was always a friendly bartender willing to serve our favorite drink. In general, we had a great stay at The Catalina Hotel. The staff was accommodating and helpful, rooms were clean and the location was perfect. I recommended this hotel to all of my friends who are traveling to South Beach and will definitely stay at this hotel the next time I travel to Miami.

We wanted to get away for an all girl's weekend in South Beach. We wanted something modern that screamed "South Beach!", something on the beach and close to all the best clubs and restaurants. We could not have asked for a more perfect hotel than the Catalina Hotel. The Catalina Hotel was absolutely FANTASTIC! We arrived to a very friendly and attentive staff, who went out of their way to make us feel welcome during our entire stay, no matter what time it was. And
the rooms, the rooms were very cozy. The beds were SO comfortable. The shower was awesome. Flat screen tv, wood floors, very modern decor.

The pool area here had a nice, relaxing ambiance. And the beach club is right across the street. What a great location, next to the beach and close to Lincoln Rd, with all it's shops and restaurants. We planned on going out all weekend, but we ended up staying at the hotel almost the entire time. The restaurant was great, great food, great atmosphere. Then there was the bar. Awesome happy hour, great music, you can sit outside and people watch or lounge around inside.
I read some of the bad reviews on here and can't believe they were talking about the same hotel. The Catalina Hotel is a great place to stay, if you wanna have fun, be close to the beach and don't want to pay an arm and and a leg to stay on South Beach.