I'm a mom, and I took my 2 children, 6years and 3 years of age to stay near the stadium for a boyscout event. I walked in with no reservations around dinnertime, and was given a room on the first floor. WHAT AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!! The room and bathroom were done almost entirely in marble, there was a jaccuzzi tub right in the room itself, not the bathroom, a new tv, telephones everywhere, wifi access, cofee maker, fabulous bed with soft blankets....... the room opened up onto it's own private porch, that then opened right onto the swimming pool. The pool is lined with greco-roman statues, and is georgeous! I got the kids dinner from the sports bar on the top floor...what a view!... and we dined like we were royalty in our own private greek villa. You'll love it!

We arrived at the El Palacio a bit leery because the price was so right. The uneasiness disappeared as soon as we hit the front door. The front desk folks were very friendly the entire stay. Next we were very impressed with the room. We had a corner o n the 8th floor overlooking the Calder racetrack. What a view! The balcony was comfortable for evening and morning viewing., The room was spotless. The housekeeping did a great job every day.
The sports bar on the 9th floor is huge. The food and drink are typical bar fare. Breakfast at $10 was OK. Same every day. Eggs etc. Did the job. The pool, putt putt and basketball court provide a nice diversion. I would stay here again. Close to Dolphin stadium. They run a shuttle for games.
It is not the Hilton but neither is the price. It is a bargain. To the previous posters. There are bugs in tropical areas like florida. I however, saw not a one.
Two thumbs up.

Ask me if I would stay here again, I would have to seriously think twice about it. Our phone did not work the 4 days we were there. We found a french fry beside the bed. Then to top it off we had a roach crawling on the headboard......There were young adults partying next to us so we were unable to get a good night sleep the first night. We stayed Saturday through Tueseday. The party stopped Sunday evening. I spoke to the front desk about the phone not working the first night and then again on the third night. I spoke to the same person on the second attempt to get the phone fixed. When we went to check out I told the young lady who checked us out about the problems and her remark was,"Oh my!" There was no apologizing to us for the unsatisfactory items in our room. If for some reason I would have to stay here again I would inspect the room before excepting the room and I would make sure all the amentities worked properly.

I stayed at this hotel while visiting family. Miami is not a cheap place, even the older hotels are charging more for rooms. That said, I was happy to find this place for under $100 each night. To start, this hotel is ok for a short leisure trip, but I would not recommend it for business travelers.

The hotel is very close to major sporting venues in the city. There is wireless internet in the rooms, a restaurant, and light shopping nearby. There is some free breakfast food if you dare. The rooms are ok for the price and the place is close to the interstate, well......., it’s very close.

Pay the extra money to get a room on the Flagler Race Track side, which might help with the noise. There are a few things that the hotel could improve. The rooms didn’t have any hotel information such as hours for the in-hotel restaurant, charges for calls and general hotel info found in most hotels. I couldn’t get anyone to answer the front desk line to ask questions. I had to make a trip to the front desk. As with many old hotels, the shower was a little luke warm and the walls were a little thin. Last, the breakfast stuff was free but guests needed to wait in line at the front desk and get a yellow slip to get the stuff.

However, when you get to speak with the staff, they were friendly. All said, an ok stay, but simple improvements would make it better.