Review : Lincoln Rd-Miami Beach Charming Vacation Apartment

Miami Beach checks the box for many travelers looking for a relaxing and fun vacation. With plenty of restaurants encompassing cuisines from around the globe, determining what you are in the mood for may be the biggest decision of your evening. In addition, with lots of hot spots for celebrity sightings at Miami Beach's numerous luxurious cocktail bars, you might start to wonder where the budget locations are. Bars, restaurants and shops that don't charge exorbitant prices exist, albeit they are few and difficult to find. But hey, you're primarily here for the beach, which is free to enjoy (unless you rent umbrellas and chairs from the vendors). Lodging, unfortunately, is certainly not an area where budget travelers will find their happy place. Here, we review the Lincoln Road-Miami Beach Charming Vacation Apartments.

Booking

There is no shortage of chain hotels where points can be used and earned for staying throughout Miami Beach. However, a majority of them will charge a resort fee, which Interglobal Adventure does not think is appropriate at many of these properties. With the (hopeful) ending of the coronavirus pandemic, it seems that everyone and their dog is coming to Miami Beach for that post-pandemic adventure. Locals will be quick to point out the inexpensive flights from the northeastern states and plentiful flights from most major cities throughout the country. After looking through numerous options for lodging, and trying to stay within a reasonable budget, we landed on a property seen on Airbnb, Booking.com, and other hotel aggregators - Lincoln Road-Miami Beach Charming Vacation Apartments. Reviews were definitely mixed, but we didn't want to break the bank on a place mostly used for cooling sunburns. While pricing fluctuated slightly between websites, we settled on Booking.com since there was a better cancellation option period, just in case a different property was identified or travel plans got changed.

Screen shot taken from Booking.com

The Location

This is the reason why this specific apartment was selected. The location is incredible being only one block away from the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall. Tons of restaurants, bars, shops and stores leading to the beach make for easy access to all one needs in Miami Beach. In addition, it is an easy walk to Espanola Way, supermarkets, other eateries and the boardwalk. Those without issues can make it easily to the famous South Beach Art Deco area along Ocean Avenue. 

The Apartment

Room 102 is advertised as a deluxe queen studio with an kitchen, private bathroom and living room. Photos show a clean, well-appointed apartment with various amenities including new appliances, personal care products and modern fixtures. The reality is upon arrival, the apartment was observed to have numerous deficiencies that were clearly adjusted with temporary fixes. For example, the stove did not work but a dirty hot plate was available. The toilet handle was broken causing a challenge when trying to make sure things went away properly. The front windows could not be closed fully, giving a sense that someone could easily pry them open from the outside and gain access to the first floor apartment. The décor was a mish-mosh of odd items that left one wondering if these were grandma's rejected heirlooms. A sofa in the living room was found to be incredibly uncomfortable and missing pillows. It is a pullout full mattress that is equally uncomfortable. The advertised queen bed is actually a murphy bed with a queen box spring but a full sized mattress sitting on top. The bathroom shower provided ample hot water and the closet (part of the murphy bed frame) contained plenty of fresh towels. However, there is absolutely no place to hang a towel - not a single hook or bar is available, although evidence of past wall ornaments are visible. The fridge and kitchen sink worked well, however the kitchen has an unfrosted window without treatment that looks towards upon a neighboring parking lot. At night, it is possible for others to have a view into the kitchen, eating area and parts of the sleeping area. The eating area has a table and a few chairs, which were used for holding luggage and wet towels. Air conditioning was ample for the apartment and easily adjustable.

Security

Upon reserving the room, the owner emailed a code that allowed for entry into the building using the electronic keypad. In addition, the keycode for entry into the apartment was also shared. I found this odd as I was still months away from visiting and I could have canceled my reservation all the way up to three days prior to arrival. This makes me wonder if the owners change the code in-between rentals. My guess is they do not. This could make people a little concerned that others may have access to their rental while in the apartment; it certainly made us more cautious about how we stored valuables. Measures that we took included keeping the TV on during the times we were not in the apartment, having the bathroom light on and the door mostly closed and other things to make it appear that the apartment was occupied.

A paper towel was also placed over the unfrosted window in the kitchen to block any unwanted eyes. There was not much to do regarding the front windows; they appear to be stuck slightly ajar.

Conclusion

The apartment was clean with a spacious living room, tight sleeping area (you will hit the frame of the bed as you traverse to and from the bathroom), decent-sized bathroom and comforts of apartment living. The location is amazing with easy access to the beach, restaurants, shops, food halls and activities. The lack of operational appliances, a fully functioning toilet and places to hang things can be overlooked. However, the discrepancy in the bed size, lack of comfort in the couch/pull-out bed and significant security flaws will have this traveler seeking other arrangements in the future.

Originally published on June 27, 2022