Vagabond Motel

We were passing through and stayed for a night. While we probable aren’t the target demographic (family with 2 teens) we had a great time! The room is comfortable and stylish. It was even quiet with music outside. The pool area was great and the bartender is the best I have ever encountered. This is the only place I’ll stay if I come back to Miami.

Very laid back and fun, great cocktails, definitely try the chicken meatballs and the chocolate ganache with sea salt ice cream. The dessert was to die for!

A delightful treat nice ambiance Art Deco trendy design in an open space and the cuisine world class. Each dish wether the kale salad/​fish tartare or Lamb shank all succulent served with a burst of flavours! Not cheap but top notch restaurant that deserves its accolades.

Vagabond Motel:
We were passing through Miami on our way to the Keys and wanted to stay in a nice place near a good place to eat. Reservations at the motel and restaurant were a winning plan! Easy check in, comfortable room, accessible comfortable outdoor areas, and walking distance to the Vagabond Restaurant and Bar (which is awesome btw!). The motel is actually priced competitively with all the other area motels/​hotels. Based on confidence in Unilocal reviews, our stay was a no brained. We were very pleased during our short visit.

This review is for the motel. I stayed here for a couple of nights in February 2016 while visiting Miami with a friend. It’s a decent and unique place to stay. Was hoping it would be similar to the Valley Ho in Scottsdale, AZ… Which it is, yet a slightly lesser version of. Don’t take that as a negative statement though. The Valley Ho is AWESOME.
The Vagabond is a nice place. Our room was a quality room with good mid century modern design. I think the pool is the highlight. Despite being in a fairly dense, urban area they did an excellent job of making the pool secluded and private. It’s like a little oasis.
The staff was fine, no issues. The complimentary breakfast is a little disappointing, but my expectations for complimentary hotel breakfasts are never high and never factor into why I chose to stay somewhere.

This is a restaurant, and a great one at that. Chic. Great food. Casa Dragones tequila! It’s happening, a little loud, very fun.

Great addition of options in the Little Haiti area. Newly renovated motel with a nice and relaxing pool area with a bar to enjoy a few drinks. You need to check their Facebook page to find out when they have live music, which they do very often. Sometimes a DJ, sometimes a live band. They have full bar, but I had a beer to chill out and talk. Perfect spot for a friendly get together or an unpretentious date. Service is simple and welcoming.
They their restaurant just adjacent to it, but this one I will need to review at a later date since I only saw it! But it looks inviting and it will definitely have me coming back for more.

This review it’s exclusively for the pool area, since we didn’t try the restaurant…
I drive by this place everyday, and had no idea how sexy and cool it was. It’s the perfect alternative for SoBe, if you want to either have a date or get together with friends, while enjoying some fantastic cocktails. Even though the house was full, it didn’t feel crowded.
Service was on point, not overwhelming, and did not had the rudeness you find in the other side of the bridge.
The night we went it felt like a Model convention was going on… beautiful people everywhere… I was like, it’s full moon or what?
I’m definetly going back!

On a layover trip I stopped by the Vagabond motel and I can tell you that the mixologist I encountered sets a high standard for his cocktails, and his in depth knowledge of the spirits absolutely wowed me. Sebastian is a very talented Mixologist and an amazing entertainer behind the bar. I’m happy to share his expertise in all things related to fine liquors. Thank you for an exceptional experience and mixing me one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. Best wishes for success Sebastian!

I have not stayed at the motel, however, the pool bar was exceptional!
I visited the bar by way of recommendation form a coworker while visiting Miami for a conference. Much to my surprise, the bar tender– Sebastian, was just as skilled and capable of providing a memorable experience as my colleague had mentioned he would. I am, for the most part, skeptical and reluctant to order my trademark Manhattan on the rocks at new bars, but he was quick to develop an eloquently garnished whiskey exactly as I am used to it. I could tell from his precision while measuring the individual ingredients in my drink that he takes his art incredibly serious. This, and, he even whipped me up something he thought I would enjoy, an old fashioned – I love it when a bar tender is able to develop something new and memorable based off such a small window of interaction.
I would recommend this location to anyone looking for a good time, great atmosphere, and IMMACULATE bar tender attention to detail, this guy really knows what he’s doing and brings the place to life!

4 stars solely for the architecture of this building. the renovation is impeccable and its nice art works from local artists on the walls around the property. the pool area is chill. few seats. service was ok for a busy late afternoon til early evening. great addition to the biscayne corridor.

This place was wonderful, I highly recommend, super cute, great service. Only issue is walls are very thin, so noise from other rooms can be super annoying.
But far more importantly — the Restaurant is incredible, one of the best meals I’ve eaten in my life — with a hot shot young (23) Latino chef from LA~! Yea Los Angeles represent!
Anyway the food was out of control — rabbit liver toast with gooseberry jam — was a special and it was incredible. The ricotta gnocchi with kale butter was so rich, and magical I couldn’t even finish a small bowl of it — and I was literally sad about it.
Stay at this place and eat at their restaurant — it’s a before you die must!

This review is for the bar outside by the pool.
I’ve heard good things about the Vagabond, specifically about the outside bar. Late on a Friday night, at around midnight, a group of us decided to try it out and see what all the fuss was about. I’m always excited to try out places that are highly recommended and have great reviews on Unilocal,so this seemed promising.
When we arrived the bar seemed pretty busy, but not too busy where we couldn’t be served. We immediately made our way to the bar towards the male bartender who was working and asked if we could order drinks. This is where Vagabond gets one star. The bartender was the rudest bartender I have ever encountered. He did not care about taking our order, he did not care about getting it right, and he did not care about showing us a shred of courtesy. Honestly, he seemed too busy trying to show off for the older guy next to me with his Tom Cruise «Cocktail» moves (these words were specifically spoken). One of my friends was having none of it, and I tried to diffuse the situation by being extra nice to the guy and he just wouldn’t budge. Your job is to speak to people and make drinks, if you don’t like that, then get another job.
We got our drinks, but they were awful. My friends was undrinkable. I have no plans on returning to the bar due to the awful customer service we experienced. I don’t understand how it has become so customary for people to receive bad service at places because it’s Miami. You people have officially lost a customer.

I didn’t stay here. Instead, I went to check out the restaurant. I just wanted to get a quick drink and be on my way. I was in time for lunch, and there was a barista named Tim who took care of me. Excellent service, knows his stuff, and will serve with a smile. Ask him for a drink with a balance between sweet and spice. If he has the syrup made and laying around in the fridge, he’ll give you a sample to try. I loved it. I asked for it to be made with vodka, on the rocks. I like my small drinks once in a while and this one blew all the ones I’ve ever had so far. If you’ve never had spice in your drink before, give it a shot. It was new for me and I loved it!

My review is on the hotel only: I want to like it, I actually love the area it is located in… But I’m left confused on what this place is trying to be??? You can’t be good to your guests and fun to your locals?!
I was there for work and blasting music in your courtyard every single night until midnight SO loud that I can’t even sleep is not comfortable as a hotel guest. Being there on business means I have to work, …at 7am!!! YES 7am! So blasting club music all night in every room in your courtyard means no sleep! It’s ridiculously loud!!! I want to have a good time when its time for it! Not when I need to sleep and get up early for work! Excuse me for being responsible!

Wow, wow, wow! I stayed here 4 nights with my gf on a business trip, but what little time I did have on the property was all pleasure. This place exceeded my expectations of cool! We stayed in room 205 which overlooks the pool and the sunset. My only negative comment would be that to get your stuff up to your room you have to park your car around the outside perimeter of the building, or out front and walk it up the stairs. Not a biggie, especially for what you get. As an architectural photographer by profession, this place checked all my visual boxes. The design was perfect. I wish I could’ve spent more time just chillin’ there! And if you’re looking for healthy food, I was addicted to Mi Vida Café across the street.

Restaurant very nice and great service.
This place discrimination by age. charges extra at event if your over 40.

Brian Z. Guertin invited us to meet supermodel Patricia Velásquez who was hosting an event for her new book, Walking Straight. To my surprise, my friend from Australia, and her friends were there to greet me. I met the manager of the property. He took me inside the to show me the rooms. This location was completely restored down to the mermaid in the pool. It was an amazing vibe. I have not been anywhere else in miami that has this feeling of being in a historic hotspot. The Owner of the property was also someone who came over and shared some stories with me. It is said that the original rat pack used to stay there, and you would see Frank Sinatra, and Sammie Davis Junior would have been splashing around in the pool. I was invited to come back to try their resturant, so maybe I will have time before i depart. Namaste.

Ok… here’s the funnest thing about my visit today to one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit since day one arriving to Miami 20 years ago… I met the owner (the current owner). And it was a funny meeting.
I’ve been living in Miami since November 2007, and driving down the Biscayne Corridor those days past the Vagabond you would put the pedal to the metal to get out of the ‘hood’ as fast as you could… unless you were waiting in line for the immigration building, in which case you stood in line around the block. It was a seedy, rough, sad pathetic neighborhood. It was. There is no denying that. But always vibrant, as are so many of our underdeveloped beautiful neighborhoods.
Spring forward almost a decade and the neighborhood around 79^th street has absolutely take a complete 360 degree turn around.
So, I finally walk into the Vagabond Motel after watching it going from a crack motel to a derelict building to a flea market and back to a derelict building and now to WOW… what a dream and a vision and some $$ can do.
So getting back to the funny meeting with the owner… I was at the bar with my friend ordering a drink and he came up and said to the bartender «on a scale of one to five on Unilocal how would you rate tonight»…I’m not going to divulge what his bartender rated it, but after that the owner turned to me and asked me how I was enjoying my evening, were we having a good time and was there anything we needed. This was before we checked in. This guy was genuinely passionate about his place and I totally wish him well.

I have been in love with this area of Miami since I first encountered it 5 years ago and have been watching this property. The amazing sea nymph sculpture and old mid-​century signs got my attention. Was thrilled when I visited last year and saw that someone had saved it from the wrecking ball. My boyfriend and I wanted to stay a night in MiMo during our Miami trip, so we chose the Vagabond based on this and the fact that the renovation photos looked amazing and the reviews were really positive.
This place was perfect and perfect for us. First, the communications from the hotel were really kind and thorough and welcoming. The marketing and branding is also good-​they have kept the vintage feel/​best architecture but added modern amenities. Parking is on site (and free). Check in was easy and it was love at first sight! The rooms were mid-​century inspired (great custom made furniture and modern versions of mid-​century iconic furniture) with modern amenities (e.g. phenomenal shower) that made our stay feel swanky without feeling pretentious. The bed was giant and so comfortable. We were on the 2^nd floor with a view of the pool.
The pool. Sigh. This and many other details reinforce again and again that the developers and owners care so much about the property and its history. The pool is within the hotel’s courtyard, not seen from the road. Feels so secluded and safe. When you enter this area, you are truly walking into the best of the 1950s/​60s. Tropical landscaping, cozy summer furniture, a great-​looking bar, and my God, the pool. It starts at a 3 ft depth and goes deep for the true swimmers. See the fantastic mosaics of the mermaid and dolphins? That was reconstructed based on the original design that had been cover with earth and concrete for years. Can you imagine what it took to save that? The water was perfect and we kept finding wonderful little details — tiny shells in the concrete enveloping the pool, little water sprays to play with, the poolside towels fitting right in the with 50s design.
The bartenders were really talented and welcoming/​nice, and the cocktails were decently priced for such a special environment ($ 9 – 12). We swam and sunned for a few hours. We kept saying to each other «we’ve stepped back in time, into the best version of a mid-​century motel-​but better.» Pinch me. A jazz band played in the evening hours-​what a great environment. Again, special without being snobby. It was nice hearing the music softly in our room as we got ready for bed (the music ended around 10?).
We had to leave early this morning and it pained us to leave. However, we are so excited about what this shows Miami and other cities-​it can be done and middle class people can afford the resulting experience. We cannot wait to come back next year and you can bet our whole week stay will be at the Vagabond.

A essayer !
Relativement cher mais cadre génial ! Si le budget n’est pas un problème, je né peux que recommander ce motel remis à neuf. En plus de disposer de chambres bien fournies et très belles, le vagabond motel n’a rien à envier aux hôtels de «luxe». Vous pourrez aussi profiter de cocktails autour de la piscine dans une ambiance musicale festive.
Tellement sympa comme hôtel, qu’à peu de chose près, j’y restais et né visitais pas Miami alors que je n’y étais jamais allé :p
Et le restaurant est très bon :-)

The Vagabond is a newly renovated MiMo Hotel/​Motel that has reopened it’s doors recently.
It’s gotten a much deserved and long awaited facelift. You can tell they put a lot of love into re-​opening this place.
It’s probably been dormant for 20+years. Someone tried to reopen it about 4 years back, but they didn’t have enough capital and imagination to pull it together.
Now the pool is open, the rooms are renovate for guests, they have a great little outdoor bar beside the pool and they are often playing mellow dj beats out there.
The poolside bar is open to all. You don’t have to be a guest there.
Soon they’ll have a trendy fusion restaurant to check out as well.