Golden Strand Ocean Villa Resort Association,Inc

STAY AWAY! the beds are squeaky, bathrooms have mold and the A. C didn’t always work. The floor are sticky, housekeeping only comes once a week. The kitchen sink doesn’t drain properly. You have to go get your towels exchanged by the gate at the front of the resort. If I could give it a zero star rating then I would. Don’t get fouled by the lobby of the resort… this place is crappier than a motel 6.

Listen guys. this is an awesome resort. cant beat it! Great clean private beach with rental lounge chairs and umbrella. olympic size pool.library.beauty salon. day spa. poolside delicious Italian restaurant. poolside tiki bar. you can get delicious hamburgers. poolside…spectacular gardens. great views all around. super friendly helpful service. love it.love it. love It.love it! stayed here many many times. In the last 25 years. cant get enough! Recommend it in a heartbeat.

This review is somewhat biased by the fact that I read all the horrible reviews for this place on Unilocal as well as other sites before actually arriving to Golden Strand, and thus had very low expectations. Also coloring my review is the fact that I love the movie «Club Dread» and this old school resort definitely gave off a Coconut Pete type of vibe.
With all that said, I stayed at the Golden Strand recently while attending a conference in Aventura and can honestly say I had a great time! Sure, it seems as though management doesn’t place too great an emphasis on upkeep (ie, repairing automatic doors seems to be a low priority), there is no room cleaning during your stay (though they do empty your trash), you get random charges for parking and for use of the fitness room/​umbrellas/​beach chairs, and the front desk staff can at times seem quite annoyed by your mere presence.
But hey, that all just adds a bit of quirkiness, right?
Seriously, however, you cannot beat the location of the Golden Strand right on the beach front and the view of the ocean from our balcony was nothing short of magical. How can you be upset when you get to watch the sun rise and set each day from your room (or from the very near beach front)? Being one of the last non-​high rise resorts in the area, Golden Strand definitely has a unique charm that the towering behemoths flanking it and all around the area do not. Beyond this charm, the rooms are spacious and fully furnished, there is an on-​site tiki bar, and the pool is large and clean.
All in all, I think the Golden Strand offers a great vacation escape for the price as long as you temper your expectations a bit (Is that sad? Maybe.). Now if I had seen a cockroach in the room as other reviewers had noted, we may have had a different story here…

Stayed here from 9÷7÷13 — 9÷12÷13 as one of our RCI trips.
Let’s just say I wanted to be prepared for what I was getting myself into by reading some of the reviews on here and a lot of it was pretty accurate.
What I found to be correct are:
–The staff really aren’t that great.
A week before our check-​in, the reservation clerk had told us that we’ll be accommodated for an early check-​in at around 7am-​8am. After reading some of the reviews we had called in again the day before check-​in and they said «Oh sorry, doesn’t seem like there are any such notes for an early check-​in. I have to give them SOME credit because even though check-​in is at 4pm [that’s. really late… it’s hard to understand] we were able to check into the room around 2pm. On several occasions we’d cal into the front desk and were asked to be on hold for ages, we’d just end up hanging up and calling back. The front desk clerk weren’t all that friendly and some of the housekeepers we encountered outside of the room were kind of rude.
–No, the rooms aren’t as clean and nice as they seem.
We stayed in Building 1, in a suite with two bedrooms. Everything seemed really nice when we checked in. But the floor felt a bit too grimy and dusty to be walking around barefoot. The utensils and cups had a funky odor. There was rust in the refrigerator. Also, and maybe this is because I’m spoiled just a bit, but they didn’t provide things such as dish washing soap, detergent, coffee (filter, cream, sugar etc. but it had a coffee machine… thanks…), or any other types of bathroom products (shampoo, conditioner, shower gels, lotion, disposable cups, toothbrush and toothpaste) that I’ve come to expect from resorts and hotels.
–Yes, the resort is older and it shows.
This resort is very much dwarfed by all the high risers along the beach. It doesn’t have very much curb appeal. The stairwell is horrible and reeked pretty badly, its doors sticky from years of crappy paint that’s beginning to feel like putty. Even the on-​site parking sucked. We were told if parking has ran out, there’s a off site place to park a street away. But there are no shuttle service to bring us back. We would have to walk back in the thunderstorm and rain.
–And yes, the internet was glitchy and slow… Not much to add to that.
But a couple good things I found that weren’t true in other reviews (maybe we were just lucky):
–Thank HEAVEN there were no bugs in our rooms. Not in the kitchen, the bathrooms, the beds, no where. No bugs, no geckos or lizards or organic living breathing things of any sort that didn’t belong. OH EM GEE what a relief!
–We weren’t charged for losing our pool bracelets or asking for a new key or for trash pick up. (Although as I’m currently writing this, the rest of my family are still at the resort and have yet to check-​out until Saturday, so we’ll see.) We didn’t lose any towels so I think we’re good on that.
–The water ran well, hot and cold as needed.
–The AC worked well except I couldn’t find a way to get the fan to shut off. It was set to auto but ran all night. Other than that, the temperature adjusted just fine.
The quick and simple?
Cons:
–The stairwells (gross!)
–Lack of toiletries
–Poor customer service
–Older, bit run down building
–Poor parking
–Slow internet and weak phone signal
Pros:
–Lovely pool (but it closes at dusk! boo.)
–Beautiful beach front, lawn chairs, umbrellas. Kept very clean.
–Playground for the kids (even though we didn’t have any on our trip but it seems great for families in general)
–Gym, library, spa, and bar, and restaurant on site (we didn’t use any of those either but for those fitness gunky and anyone into convience, they’re there for you)
–Laundry Facilities on site and free of charge
Overall, the experience wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Working at a hotel myself, I believe guests should expect courtesy from hotel employees. Convenience is important. It’s good to go the extra mile to please the guests before the request is even made. Simple things like dish washing soap and toiletries shouldn’t be that hard to ask for. This resort does barely enough, and definitely not much more to make your stay comfortable. It wasn’t horrible but we won’t be coming back.

Loved this place. It’s certainly not the nicest place I’ve ever been but you can’t beat the location or the view. The pool is very large and their is a private beach with private chairs. The man working the area would get you an umbrella or cushions which is nice. They also had a tiki bar with well poured drinks and a nice Italian restaurant on site.

I don’t even know where to start with this place but if you are looking for a relaxing, enjoyable vacation DO NOT STAY HERE.
Lets start with the customer service and arrival. Being part of the time share we checked in on a Saturday. We took a red eye out the night before and arrived at the hotel around 11:30am. I had called the week prior to let the staff know we would be arriving early to see if they could accommodate us with early checkin. The representative said she would leave a note and they could try to arrange something before checkin at 4 but nothing was promised, understandable (upon our arrival that note had disappeared of course.) After getting to the resort and learning our room was not available, we went to the grocery store and returned around 1. They had told us our room should be ready in about 20 minutes. THREE hours later, our room was still being «cleaned.» Last time I checked it does not take 6 hours to clean a one bedroom condo, when the guests staying there earlier checked out at 10. Because the staff was being extremely rude and anything but accommodating, I asked to speak to the manager, thinking I would get some sort of decent customer service. But no, the manager was one of the worst employees I’ve ever dealt with in my life. She was rude, catty, and had the worst attitude. She explained how she had no control over the housekeeping and didn’t know what was going on. If you call yourself a head manager you better know what’s going on with your hotel. The women (staff) then proceeded to talk in Spanish, obviously unaware that two people in our group speak Spanish. She overheard the maid on the Walky talky say the room was ready, but somehow we waited another 40 min to get out room keys. Like I told the manager, I understand checking is at 4 but they could have at least tried to accommodate us a little better. Okay, enough about the checkin.
The room: as I stated we had a one bedroom, one bathroom that accomated four people. The room was filthy, which made it hard to believe they had been cleaning it for several hours. The bathroom was old and the shower, oh my… lets just say you wouldn’t want to drop your soap on the floor. There was little bugs in the kitchen and we had to rewash all of the dishes from the cabinets because there was left over food on them. Myself plus the three other guests had 5+ bug bites that we would wake up with, obviously from the beds. In order to get our sheets changed we had to go down to housekeeping to exchange sheets and make our own beds. Same went for towels. Not to mention housekeeping closes before SIX! We stayed for a week and someone finally came the day before we left to mop and sweep our floors after we had asked them to come several times but instead they handed us a tiny broom to do it ourselves.
The daily fee we paid for: supposedly the daily fee includes wifi and chairs by the pool/​beach. But that’s funny because the wifi didn’t work AT ALL and we had no service our whole vacation until we left the hotel. We also paid for cushions for the lawn chairs and umbrellas by the pool. When we went to ask for cushions for our chairs the gentlemen was completely rude and acted like we were totally putting him out of his way while he was eating when he was supposed to be working. Then they came around and picked everything up at 4:30 in the afternoon!!! One day we went down at 3:30 and he wouldn’t give us cushions because it was «too late.» Talk about LAZY. We also called down to get a cab several times but of course no one would answer so we had to hail them off the street ourselves.
The remainder of our stay was a constant hassle and did not improve. Do not make arrangements to stay here!

Checked in on a Saturday night. No in-​room internet access for our 4 devices. I called the front desk and then wasted 2 hours on the phone with ITG; the company that provides internet access. Issue was NOT resolved. The technician promised to escalate the issue.
Sunday morning and I wanted to go enjoy the beach but instead worked another hour with ITG only to discover that all the wi-​fi routers in this part of the complex work but NONE OF THEM CONNECT TO THE INTERNET. I was told no one would address the issue until Monday. Front desk employees just apologize but do NOTHING.
Lots of bugs in the room.
Killed a gecko in my room. Killed 2 cockroaches the size of mice. Yikes! Did not tell my wife about the cockroaches until after we checked out. She was already freaked out about the gecko.
Resort charges $ 10 per day «resort fee» for services which include in-​room wi-​fi. It finally worked for a couple hours on day 6. Woo hoo. At check-​out they offered a $ 20 credit. Again, woo hoo.
There was no 3G signal in our part of the resort. Had to go to the lobby or to the beach for 3G.
Parking was limited so be prepared to park across the 6-​lane highway behind the gas station. Think of it as free exercise. And, doing it at night in a strange city will get your heart pumping also.
If you like bugs and geckos; or want the «glamping» experience, or don’t care about being online (because you are technologically impaired or on-​the-​lamb) then this is your place. Otherwise, stay somewhere else.

One of the only non-​high-​rise beachfront villas. Man, I love this place!
It is perfectly preserved in the late 1980s with beach front cottages, villa style town houses and poolside condos. All equipped with kitchens and easy access to any outdoor area. I’m not a huge fan of walking through a freezing hotel lobby, soaking wet to get on an elevator just for a quick trip to my room so this sort of place sings to me.
For over 30yrs my family and I have been staying at the Golden Strand for a yearly summer staycation but without a timeshare program, which they have but we typically rent directly from the hotel.
During the summer months there are plenty of kids in the pool to entertain your little ones and a bunch of teens on the volleyball courts for your older ones. There is a great little restaurant on site and a poolside bar. The gym isn’t top notch but it gets the job done. They also have a kitschy little library and game room which is hosted by a staff member who keeps fresh coffee brewing all day at no charge. I’ve never received a spa treatment but the spa has been updated and is pretty impressive for this little beachside oldie.
Call me crazy but I’ll take this little place over the Diplomat any day. It’s simple, clean, fun for the kids and quality time for everyone. Now if you’re looking for a couple’s getaway, this might not be the right place. ;)

We are currently finishing up a 5 day stay at this hotel. I wish there was a way to give it a ½ star. I may be spoiled by habit of visiting the Four Seasons but this was our only option being that we booked a last minute getaway.
This hotel is old, and clearly not well maintained. The cleanliness is superficial– I have never seen such dirty feet on my children from walking around indoors. Gross. The kitchen counter has microscopic bugs that crawl all over. The dishwasher interior is full of rust. The bedspread has visible ‘spooge’ on the underside– the housekeepers didn’t have it turned down on our arrival for a reason.
On our third day, the elevator in our building broke. It has remained that way ever since, with no one at the front desk knowing when a repairman might show up.
Yesterday, they let us know at 3:28 pm that the water would be turned off for maintenance at 3:30 pm. Nice of them to give fair warning. It was supposed to be off for an hour. At 6 pm the water finally came through lukewarm even though we let it run for a half hour. It still sputtered and dirty water came out. I took a cold and dirty shower. I am a kid who went to camp, loved being dirty in nature, now I am a grown-​up who appreciates a relaxing vacation and a clean shower. The kids did not get showers. They are teens who are stinky, imagine my joy.
The front desk clerk, was plain rude when I inquired about the status of the maintenance.
This morning the water was still sputtering and dirty. This afternoon, the water is still cold. They are reluctant to hand me the key to another room in a different building so that we might shower. Today’s desk clerk, is equally terse. They sent up a repairman whose job it is to run the water until it might get hot. He needs a shower and now I have to smell him in addition to my teenage son.
The water continues to run cold, as do my feelings about this hotel.
If not for the warm weather and sunshine, I wish we stayed home.

Great staycation.

I use to come here years ago before Sunny Isles was built up. Less than 24 hours being here I can see this place is still in a time warp. For some reason the hotel has parking spots for about 90 cars however with over 200 units. We rented a unit for 4 guests and come to find out only 1 parking permit per unit. How is that? So instead try hunting to find a free place to park or pay $ 30 a night next door at trump. The service is ok at the pool bar/​restaurant. Is it worth close to 90 for lunch? Not really but I guess since we’re in Sunny Isles we pay for inflated prices for pasta and meatballs /​cheese pizza. The service at the front desk, Alma was unhelpful and as a supervisor shocked at the poor service level to resolve the parking situation. Live and learn come here with 1 car only or go to a real hotel for better amenities and service. It’s a shame place has real potential.

I booked the hotel through
, for a two night stay the week of the Miami music conference. Total cost for me was $ 480 for two nights. Circumstances did not allow me to check-​in the first night I had booked, so I called the front desk to inform them that I would not be able to make it that night, but I would arrive the following day. When I inquired as to whether there was a possibility of being refunded or credited that first night, I was quickly admonished and curtly informed that, no there can be no refunds at all and good night. click. When I did arrive to check in, the front-​desk attendant informed me that there was a $ 200 security deposit due, of which I had no idea of when I booked the hotel in the first place. I told her that I had hit my limit on my credit card booking this hotel and my flight to Miami, and in reply she asked for cash, which I did not have. After a little back and forth, she informed me that without the $ 200 security deposit, I was not welcome to stay there, simple as that. Now I had already lost one paid night, which I assume the hotel simply absorbed as I did not utilize the room the first night booked, nor was I comped for anything at all. Every other hotel in Miami was booked since it was Spring Break, and it was 8pm as well. I explained that to the manager on duty, who finally relented and said a $ 60 cash deposit was sufficient, since I was only staying one night, was alone, and check-​out was at 10am. Fine.
Now, this place perhaps was good 20 years ago, before Sunny Isles was built up with all those new shops and resorts. But today, with the impressive Trump International Resort on it’s left, and the beautiful Aqualina Resort & Spa on it’s right, this two-​bit 4-​story resort is dwarfed by it’s neighbors. Completely out-​dated and lacking in style, substance and amenities. The whole place has a very Motel 6 feel to it. The amenities that you do have are sub-​par, and this resort nickel & dimes you for every single thing. Lost your pool bracelet? that’ll be $ 25. Lost a towel? $ 10. Trash pickup is charged too. There is a service charge of $ 10 a day, cable TV is incomplete, the bathrooms are too small and the shower has sliding glass doors. Haven’t seen that in more than ten years. The little kitchen was well stocked with all the essential utensils, and there was also a clean full-​size refrigerator. The view from my room was also disappointing however, since it was the absolute farthest one from the beach, in the corner of the resort in building 4 behind the security gate and directly in front of the road. The air-​conditioning did not work well, and I got little sleep that night. To top it all of, the room attendant barged into my room as I slept at 9am without so much as a knock.
In conclusion, this place was very disappointing. Rude, condescending staff; out-​dated rooms and amenities; check-​in at 3pm, check-​out at 10am is simply not acceptable; my experience on the whole was dreadful. To it’s benefit, the room was clean, the bed was comfortable enough, and at least there was a flat-​screen in the room. I will absolutely not be returning to the Golden Strand and I suggest you do not either.

The Resort is more of a condominium than a hotel. We really enjoyed the stay here for our first time in Miami but wish we would’ve stayed a little closer to south beach. The room was pretty clean upon check in and they only take out the trash if you stay less than a week, housekeeping costs extra. Most of the people who stayed at the hotel and the area in general seemed to be at least over 30 if they weren’t with their family. The staff was very friendly and almost all of them spoke English. Our $ 10 a night per person accommodation fee was paid for with our Expedia booking. The resort had wireless routers in EVERY room and the free internet was always fast whenever we used it. There is just not much to do in the area but a $ 2 bus ride to south beach is just about 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic and frequency of stops. Unless you’re gonna drop big money on the food at restaurant downstairs I suggest dining somewhere else. Although the wait staff is extremely friendly and the bar can get pretty lively at night.