As I’ve been visiting several hostels of the Generator Chain around the world, it made sense while in Miami to visit the newly opened Generator in November 2018. At first, I was impressed by the looks on the surface, but I had the unfortunate misadventure to experience exceptionally bad service from one of their staff. Usually, I wouldn’t take it into account, but considering a complaint to higher management did not help to get an apology from the staff, this kind of behaviour can be expected to be experienced by guests in the future, which is a shame to the Generator Hostel brand internationally.
I’ve always liked the modern and quality style of generator hostels in other countries, and this one won’t disappoint on the design perspective. The lobby is beautiful and has a lot of style to it. It also seems obvious they haven’t been cheap on the furniture, providing quality everywhere you look. The rooms are also of good quality and provide clean towels to guests. There is also a pool which is unusual for hostels in Maimi, so this is a plus.
The wonderful experience stops there, however, as Generator Miami is mostly oriented towards its hotel customers than its hostel clientele. In fact, the typical Hostel vibe is pretty much nonexistent, with hotel guests keeping to themselves and creating a weird impersonal vibe. The few hostel guests I met were all disappointed with the vibe and most of them left at night to a nearby hotel called Freehand hostel, which provided them with the good hostel atmosphere people are looking for on a Miami Holiday.
Hotel customers expecting quality attendance will also be disappointing, as the staff treats customers as hostels kids. I encountered a problem myself as some staff at the reception was very rude, arrogant and behaved in an unacceptable way. This was the case for a certain “Eric” which, out of his personal feelings decided not to provide me with some facilities advertised by the hostel, in this case, refused to let me use the advertised bike service. This was totally childish and absolutely unprofessional, especially for hotel guests that will be paying over 100$ for a stay.
This kind of abuse of power should not be tolerated in the service industry and is unheard of in more than 13 years reviewing hostels! Imagine going to Starbucks and the barista would decide to punish you by refusing to provide a service like Wifi or bathrooms to paying customers just because he didn’t like you… This is pretty much the case of what happened here, which is totally contrary to the professionalism of Generator hostels I’ve been around the world. In this case, the employee was at fault and when I told him what he had done, out of nowhere he took it as an insult and decided to “strick back” with the punitive measure… If Generator Miami continues to act this way with their customers, they will quickly damage the reputation of the brand internationally…
The other problem with the hostel is its location. It is pretty far from the action of Miami South Beach. Most hostels will be a few streets away from Ocean Drive where all life is happening. Generator is located about 45 minutes walk from the best part of town, and will require quite a lot walking and taxi to get around if someone wants to go to the beach, dining or clubbing. Not ideal to experience South Beach in my opinion.
All in all, if you want to sleep while in Miami, be far from the action and don’t mind rude staff, this will be a good place. But don’t expect the usual Generator Hostel Quality found in Europe…
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