We stayed at the inn in late March 2008. I read some of the other reviews and the place is a little tricky to find but not bad if you ask ahead of time or print out the directions from the website. The neighborhood is sort of rough but not really threatening in my opinion unless you want to walk around alone at night. There is some noise from the adjacent highway overpass but depending on the room not bad for an in-city hotel. Our room was upstairs in the main building. The first night the room smelled sort of musty and though there are windows they can't be opened. The second night the central AC was on and improved the smell a lot. The bed basically was shot but tolerable. The main asset of the place is historic character and the really nice shaded property, landscaped back yard, and breakfast. A movie with a scene about a quaint b&b was shot here a few days before we stayed - so that tells you something about the overall look of the place. The parking also is secure though the constant need for keys to get in and out does get a bit old. It is an easy drive from here to South Beach and there are some restaurants just across the river though we didn't go to those.

This B&B is very, very difficult to find, be sure to call and get directions. When we tried to call we only got a VM, which is one of the main problems with our stay. You could never find anyone at the front desk to check in/ check out, or ask any questions. When there was someone there they weren't particularly friendly.
Now this place seems to have a very good reputation (It's in Lonely Planet) and was a very charming place to stay if you like B&B. The bathroom was questionably clean, found some brown sticky stuff on toilet tank lid. No plug for sink. This B&B is like an Oasis in a not really good area of Miami so you need a key to lock you car in the adjacent lot and a key to get into the fenced-in house, which brings us back to our arrival. There was no one at the front desk to answer phone calls or see us trying to get into the locked fence. Had this nice couple not come along and let us in, we would have had to find another place to stay. The breakfast was OK, coffee. juice, fruit basket, one small cut up coffee cake, yogurt, bagels, toast, etc. However, sitting outside the small kitchen in the courtyard area was glorious. It almost made up for a rather bad experience. I would not recommend this place to friends. but if you really like the B&B experience w/ all it's pitfalls, then this is the place for you.

I booked the Miami river Inn months ago before reading the reviews on tripadvisor. I was concerned about some of the negative reviews and wondered what it would be like. I suspected that I would agree with the last reviewer from Seattle about the neighborhood, and sure enough, I did. We are from San Francisco and used to mixed neighborhoods, so it didn't bother us at all. I can see how somebody from a white middle class neighborhood would find it a bit threatening though. I found the room to be very clean. It was basic, not as glamorous as it looks on the website, but we had the cheapest room. That is probably one of their better rooms on their website. We don't care about a small bed, and it didn't seem to be that hard. The grounds were lovely and well-maintained, and there was a nice pool and hot tub. The breakfast was fine; no complaints at all in that department. You absolutely need a car. It is not very convenient to walk to places from. There was a big Publix supermarket a few blocks away. I was not bothered by the security fence. Since I saw broken auto glass outside I was glad of it. I didn't want the same to happen to our rental car.The biggest negative as far as we were concerned was the location being too close to the freeway. We were practically underneath the overpass. Also there was an ugly highrise building next door. I would have liked to have seen it about 60 years ago before all the ugly stuff went up around it.

We just got back from a two-night stay at the Miami River Inn and found it a quaint (if a bit quirky) B&B near downtown Miami on the edge of Little Havana. Pluses included the wonderfully decorated, meticulously clean, very large rooms, the nice garden and pool, a quiet setting, and a fine breakfast. Minuses would be the lack of a shower (just a bath) in our room , no maid service on Sunday and the rather ugly fence surrounding the grounds. Given the other reviews on this site, I wasn't sure what to expect of the neighborhood. The Inn is indeed on the edge of Little Havana, which we found to be a perfectly safe and quiet working-class neighborhood reflecting quite a few Latin cultures these days (not just Cuban). From what I can tell, if you're used to diverse, urban settings, you'll find Little Havana an interesting place to explore. If you're from the suburbs and assume that anyone who speaks Spanish is probably a criminal, you'll be beter off at the more controlled setting of the resorts at Orlando or South Beach. Overall we really enjoyed our short stay at Miami River Inn and will certainly consider staying again on our next visit to Miami.