What Do You Get When You Cross a Youth Hostel with a W Hotel?

This place. Very simple, very cool. A block from the ocean in South Beach. With windows that actually open!

In a shameless, "we strive to be hip" way, they also offer the hotel as a production location.


My colleagues are very picky when it comes to sleep comfort, however, so we will unfortunately not be using this place again. They were not enamored of the stylish and firm platform beds nor did they enjoy the invigorating din of late-night revelers and traffic on the street below.

Back to the damn Hampton Inn.

Stock Photography Fail

Staying at a Hampton Inn in Miami, this was my room key, carefully branded by Hilton Hotels Corporation to include the friendly and regional Florida welcome. Nice attention to detail. Notice, however, the image in the middle left, where a license plate on a vintage vehicle cheerfully suggests that I "Explore Kentucky." (Click image if you don't believe me or if you have poor eyes.)

Who knows, maybe it was intentional, in that "You're not just welcome in Florida, you should check out Hampton Inns in Kentucky as well" way.