El Palacio Sports Hotel, Opa-Locka

You could not find a better location in proximity to Landshark stadium and Calder race track. Unfortunately, the amenities and staff are seriously lacking. With a million or so poured into this place it could be a Gold Mine. Get some decent pillows, nice, clean bedding and even some new mattresses. Put some decent soap and toiletries in the bathroom and get some real glasses and coffee mugs! Small things that could make such the difference. Unfortunately the afternoon staff is clueless as to where things are. We asked to find the closest Catholic church, a restaurant for dinner and the beach. The woman at the desk was unaware that the church is right around the corner on Miramar parkway and if you go east on Miramar the beach is only 20 minutes away. We ended up at IHOP for dinner because they couldn't tell us where a restaurant was. It was very disconcerting when we were told that we would receive a phone call when our adjoining rooms were ready for check-in, and when no call was received, we returned around 4:30, but it turned out they gave away our adjoining rooms. Insistence paid off to get them to move things around to find adjoining rooms. When my daughter called the front desk for additional pillows, we were told don't even ask -there were no extra pillows or blankets. I wish I had the money to pump into this place and make it the luxury hotel it could be and market the sports crowd. The location is GREAT, but the staff and amenities could use some work. Joan Rivers or Donald Trump to the rescue on this one.

The hotel itself looks pretty nice from the outside and is very close to the Dolphin Stadium. So you would think that the inside was just as nice as the outside. Well that's not the case. The hotel staff were at times not the most friendly bunch of characters. The room that we had was supposed to be a non smoking room but it was not. So when I brought that to the attention of the hotel staff, they told me that they would move us into another room. Needless to say, that did not occur. Next time, we're sticking to the hotel chains that we enjoy the most, like Marriott or Holiday Inn.

Room was dirty and very stinky. Front desk was rude and unhelpful...at check-in, presenting a name and pre-paid reservation number (from online dolphinstadiumhotels.net), the front desk clerk refused to process the check-in because she doubted she had a fax confirmation from the reservation company...she said she couldn't process the check-in from the reservation number without the name of the reservation company. Presenting her with the website address and the email confirmation from the company didn't help out one it. After arguing with her for 30 minutes, another lady behind the counter finally told her that our confirmation was sitting on the fax machine and had been. Not even an apology. We were told we could pick up extra linens (which didn't exist in the room) for a third person (4 years old) at the front desk as housekeeping was closed so no one could bring them to us. When I got to the front desk, a single sheet was waiting for me...no pillow, no blanket. We came back from the dolphin game early to go eat and have a few drinks in the Legends sports bar we heard was so great, but they had closed early before 10pm on a saturday night "because they weren't busy enough." So, no food available. And the pool closed at 9pm. The place was barely in business. It was almost within walking distance to dolphin stadium, and an easy 5 minute drive, which must be the only reason this place can pay the light bill. To sum up: $170 (w tax) for a run down, stinky, pitiful looking place, devoid of help at the front counter, and a "sports bar" and pool that closes almost before the sun is fully set. Not my idea of a fun sports locale. This is one to miss.

the people at the front desk were so friendly, the food was great, the room were clean, and the pool, golf course and basket ball court were all very entertianing

we request a nonsmoking room, they gave us a dirty smoking room. service sucks, inter at your own risk. this is not a 3 star hotel.