When you consider the Viscaya - think mansion from the 19th century turned into hotel with very few modern amenities! There are two flights of stairs leading up to the front door and two flights of stairs leading up to the rooms. Metered parking is in front of the hotel. The "free" parking is on the side streets. Be prepared to lug your luggage quite a bit. My room was quite large and clean but it was freezing all night until the portable space heater finally heated the room by the next morning. I slept with every blanket I could find to stay warm! I noticed a fan in the closet for the hot months so be prepared! The TV is tiny. Don't expect luxury there. I chose the Viscaya for the hot breakfast. Don't be misled. The breakfast options are the basic continental and then you get whatever is being prepared that day- eggs, pancakes, waffles or quiche. They don't serve meat. Be prepared if you are expecting a huge breakfast buffet, you won't find it. The staff are lovely, the hotel is quiet and non-smoking, the bed was comfortable and the price was right. Just be prepared for what you will get.

A friend of mine scheduled her wedding well over a year in advance for 10/10/10. The Vizcaya rushed her into putting a VERY large substantial deposit down because they, "already had one wedding booked and people were clamoring to reserve that date!" The groom had a serious medical emergency and due to the medical costs, they were forced to take a more conservative approach to their wedding plans. At this time they went back to Vizcaya (still a year in advance) and explained their circumstances and canceled their reservation. For months the Vizcaya led them on inferring that they "may consider" a partial refund. The year passed and shortly after 10/10 they claimed to have been unable to re-book the date and retained the entire deposit in exess of $2,000. By the way, from the very beginning, they would not allow her to sell the date and tranfer her deposit to someone who could have been married on that date. It should be noted that they got married in a beautiful church in her home town with the reception at a nearby bistro. everthing was extraordinary and put Vizcaya to shame.

Great B&B within walking distance to downtown. Yes the carpets are a little stained and wrinkled but the room was nice (stayed in the coach house) with a big bathroom and nice showers. The breakfast was OK but stay away from the processed waffles and quiche (which they microwave to a nice soggy texture). Eggs and coffee were good with some fresh fruit. It is not fantastic but for the price and location, well worth it.

I was planning my husbands “Birthday Celebration Week” and had made reservations to stay the Vizcaya Mansion well in advance for a “King Deluxe Room” in the Victorian mansion for the final night of our adventure. The website bragged about the fine setting…we were both excited to be surrounded in a lap of luxury.

Once we arrived at about 7:30 in the evening, we were told the room I reserved was unavailable, since the folks staying in that room decided to stay an extra night…you could almost hear our ‘bubbles burst’. The young man quickly said that they’d give us an upgraded room…in the Carriage House. We figured that didn’t sound too bad. We climbed the stairs to our new room in the Carriage house and found it wasn’t cleaned from the last guests. We couldn’t believe it.
If checkout time is usually before noon, why wasn’t this room cleaned??

So, the young man ended up giving us the key to supposedly ‘the only room available’: a room, with a bed, a 12” television, a bathroom with a toilet that didn’t flush properly, a sink that didn’t drain well and a Jacuzzi tub that was out of order. I couldn’t hold back the tears after this last ‘surprise’.

I had to use earplugs to control the din from machines roaring behind the Carriage house as well as the freeway located a block away…and eye ‘mask’ to block out the bright security lights emanating from the front door that had only frosted windows.

Luckily my husband took the unexpected ‘horror’ in stride…it looked like the Vizcaya Pavillion had wonderful facilities for weddings or special events…but if you wish to stay somewhere nice and comfortable---without any surprises DON’T STAY HERE. I would suggest staying at the Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hyatt Regency or Radisson. You may pay a little bit more, but you wouldn’t get the Bait and Switch treatment we received.