Vizcayne

Management is horrible. They make every process more difficult than it should be. There are so many people who work here that do nothing. However you’ll be told what not to do on the regular.
If you have a second car, you’ll most likely have to Valet it. $ 175 a month. However depending on if you’re Latin or not, a man or woman, you’ll get special pricing. The valet men don’t have a system in place to find out who paid and who didn’t. Every month I was harassed if I paid. And every month I had to tell them who I paid and when. There’s no book log. One month I was traveling to Europe and gave my money to my roommate to pay the Valet. They claimed they never got it. My roommate has been a friend of mine since we were children. I was put in an awkward position since these men don’t know how to book keep… It turns out, he did pay!
The amenities are nice, however all have rules. For example, the pool deck is closed at sunset. The deck has amazing views and I can’t enjoy them after sunset? You have to reserve the movie theater one day in advance with a check. Who knows that in 24 hours they’ll be in the mood for a movie? Even the gym on a Sunday closes early.
Lastly, the building has 849 units. Who in the right mind would want that many neighbors? It never felt like home.

Miami. This building typifies Miami — and that’s not a positive thing. It’s such a shame. There’s a ton of potential here but no one in charge seems to care one iota about making it a top-​tier experience. For as much as I paid to rent here (substantially more than my mortgage for my much bigger, much more awesome home), I am left in disbelief about the way things are done here. Actually, I’m not. This is Miami — and that’s too bad.
When I first moved in, I was sure this was going to be a 4 – 5 star experience. While pricey, my one-​bedroom faced south, overlooked the pools, had a view of Brickell, the park, the bay, and the ocean (depending on how you looked), had a nice kitchen, in-​unit washer/​dryer, a marble shower, and blackout curtains. Pretty great, right? I mean, this is the Miami experience one thinks about when he sees commercials about the city (note I said ‘Miami’, not ‘Miami Beach’). But, like much of Miami, all that glitters is not gold and much of what you see is a mess the closer you look at it.
It’s easier to break in to Fort Knox than to get in to this building. I have lived in 9 different American cities. I have lived in many high-​rises. I have never had to go through as much time-​consuming red tape as I did when attempting to move in here. Combined with the nightmarish rental situation I was going through (see other review), I moved in later than I’d planned — meaning my movers and former leasing situation were compromised… meaning more money out of my pocket. No apologies. It began.
With the exception of Stephanie in the front office and two of the security guys, my experience with management/​staff ranged from disinterested to incompetent to downright rude. I’ll get to the incompetence a bit later but I was in a near-​constant state of awe at the rudeness I witnessed and experienced living here. Doormen who wouldn’t open the door for me. Delivery room guys who would say rude things about me in Spanish (yep. The very dark woman I was with is a black LATINA; she understood — and reported to me – everything you said). Delivery room guys who would not look for my packages. Pool workers who greeted you with a scowl rather than a smile. Maintenance men who would walk by disasters in the hall. Cleaning staff who walked by messes in the hall (more on that). Management that would take months to resolved simple issues and weeks to return phone calls. No one cares. Yes, you see this problem throughout Miami but it’s excruciating to live with.
Remember the hall mess I spoke about? Residents gave nary a [redacted] either. Actually, I don’t know how many residents live here. Look up above: the building is listed as a vacation rental and not an apartment/​condo building. That’s part of the problem. Whilst living at Vizcayne I witnessed: people allowing their dogs to poop/​pee in the walkway and not pick up after them, people throwing objects from their balconies, people leaving piles of garbage by the trash chutes, people leaving piles of trash in the pool area, people screaming from their balconies at all hours of the night, people parking in spaces not assigned to them (eg my space). Speaking of parking, the grade to pull into the resident parking side is extremely steep and the gate opens extremely slowly. If you drive a stick, pray. All you can do is pray. As said above, no one cares and the rules aren’t enforced. The walls are paper thin, so if you have a rude neighbor to the side/​above, good luck to you. The random fire alarm announcements (terrifying) are intelligible. The wifi/​phone/​cable situation is a hot mess (I didn’t review them because after a ridiculously effed up experience with them, I received a multiple-​month credit; think about what had to happen in order for me to get that).
The straw that broke the camel’s back is that it took me six months (yep SIX months) to receive my security deposit (from the building; for what I received from my landlord, read the review). During that time, I spoke with multiple members of management, called, emailed and called some more, received excuse after excuse, received [I won’t call them ‘lies’ per se but multiple stories that turned out not to be true… later called ‘mistakes, ‘miscommunications’ and ‘clarifications’], didn’t have my calls returned, didn’t have my emails replied to, and resorted to phone stalking the office for months because, somehow, when I called in to the office, my call was never picked up. I had to call through a third party to actually reach a person. How does this make sense? The building took my money with a quickness but took 6 months to return what was mine? Huh? What?
Like most things in Miami, Vizcayne looks nice but is way too much effort for the return. It’s too bad. This is the reason you can’t have nice things, Miami.

So I am really not sure who to believe in my situation, but… We arrived in Miami and the two bedroom condo we rented for a week was nice. We got there late, someone met us in the lobby (even though there was a manned front desk) and walked us up to the room. Told us where we could get food and just a little bit about the area. Two days later a friend called us and she was very upset. The person at the front desk pulled them aside and told them they had to find another place to stay. Well it was during the Miami boat show and nothing was available, not that we were leaving. They expected us to leave with no refund. I am not sure if this person was just upset he was left out of the «process» and didn’t get his kickback, but I really wouldn’t stay here. We, and everyone with us, stayed as long as we rented, but others not in our party checked out. When we were leaving the same guy who harassed us, was harassing a new person. Not what I am used too, nor want to deal with. I told the check in guy and he fluffed it off. In any case, the employees at the establishment where in on it. Not worth the hassle for any price.

I live at vizcayne for one year on 17^th floor and it was mixed bag of emotions.
I feel in love with the unit on the tour and the great amenities thinking I was moving to a dream condo building. Then after that fantasy feeling dissolve and reality kick in this building wasn’t as crack up as you think.
* You are charges so many fees to move in, amenities etc that it is truly absurd.
* you are required to go to orientation like we are in college and it was extremely pointless.
* you are charge fees for getting lock out of your apartment even if your keys are in your apartment you have to go get a money order before you can go back in to your apartment!
* management office will give u different answers on different topics depending on who you talk to.
* I was moving from out of town to Miami and this building had unreal moving rules like a security guard must be present and u can’t move on weekends or after 5. I had furniture delivery and the security supervisor knock on my door and demanded that the furniture company leave! And it wasn’t 5 o’clock.
Some spoil entitled rich kids live above me and did nothing but scream and drink and be searching loud at late hours of the night.
Vizcayne sadly is located near bay front park where many events occurred like concerts and live events take place and it makes it impossible to get into our building or to sleep at night because of the noise piercing through our u it.
Don’t get me wrong vizcayne amenities (multiple pools) large gym and sauna are all great. Large apartment with killer views was good but the issues that came up and noise made it not worth it. I moved out as soon as my lease was up I don’t recommended this place if u are business professional and like peace and quiet

I am going to give the most honest review I’ve ever given in life. I called this place my home for the last three years. When I initially moved in, everyone was lovely. Very welcoming and helpful. From management straight to maintenance, they all were great! The front desk guy Ruben was THE BEST worker of all time. The building is always clean and the community areas were well taken care of. A dream come true to live in.
Fast forward three years later. The ENTIRE staff changed. Front front desk to valet attendant to management. Their turn over rate must be high. The new people are not trained properly. The people who manage the receiving dock are DIFFICULT to work with and rude as hell. The convenience of collecting packages are long gone. You have to literally walk down 4 halls to get to your packages. Located EXACTLY opposite to the disgusting trash bins. The DISGUSTING ‘administrative assistant’ as he would call himself is rude, unprofessional and a waste of time. His name is RJ Jimenez. He threatened my security deposit when I requested my movers use a side door instead of walking down 4 separate hallways to get to receiving. Instead of pay $ 400 for movers, I paid $ 860 because of the length of time it took to get to moving truck due to Vizcayne and their ‘new rules’. Instead of handling it properly, this fool threatened me.
Furthermore, the only company contracted to supply this building with cable and Internet is Hotwire. What a GHETTO company. Even the hotwire technician told me that Vizcayne refuses to update their contract with the new fire optics system that they have because it is more costly to them. Vizcayne is pathetic. All show and no substance. Hotwire’s old and outdated system is hard to deal with. It always sticks and the Internet and phone drops every other day. Don’t even talk about the ‘testing’ of the fire alarms. They test every other day and wake you up at 7am with their awful announcements from people who cannot speak English OR Spanish properly. They sound dumb.
Moving out, the entire game changed. They charged me $ 100 to reserve the elevator, but RUSHED me at 11:30am to finish because someone was moving in. Mind you, I booked the elevator from 9am-​12pm. The front desk attendants probably hate their job because they are always rude to my guests.
The building is beautiful, but the staff is what is wrong with this picture. They ruin the entire experience for the tenants with their constant policy changes. They only make the owner aware, not the actual tenants, so everything comes to a surprise to you. As RJ Jimenez said to me ‘You don’t make the decisions here. Your landlord does. We don’t have to tell you anything.’ Disgusting. I WILL be reporting him and his classlessness to the BBB.
All in all, they do what it takes to rope you in, but once you leave, you mean nothing to them. Also, everything in this building will cost you. From getting a new transponder to accidentally locking yourself out the apartment. You will be charged $ 50 for them to unlock the door.
I’m so happy that I left. I live in another high rise building now that has nothing but excellent service. I wish whoever rents or buys here the best of luck.
And THAT is the truth.

I am also stunned by the bad reviews. I own condos in 3 cities and have a point of comparison. The Vizcayne is so nice and well managed, that we elected to buy a unit here. I think the cleanliness is second to none. There are always people cleaning hallways, common areas, the gym and spa, pool area. The dog policy is tight and enforced. We do not see dogs on the elevators often and I do not see or smell urine or dog feces as I did at the Opera Tower. The dog policy was one reason we loved to the Vizcayne. Security is outstanding and ever present. Doormen are cheerful and helpful. Managment is very responsive to our needs. Tenants must go through a vigorous screening, vetting process and we have not experienced any noise issues, hot water issues or any issues at all. I think the Managment has made this a superb place to live and the amenities and views are spectacular. The location is great in the heart of downtown and on all public modes of transportation, bus, trolley, people mover, and metro. Living here is like being on a resort vacation every day.

I do not understand the bad reviews… it does not sound like they are talking about Vizcayne building at all! I’ve been living here for one year and I absolutely love it! Let me clear up some of the bad reviews:
— Never heard of cars being stolen in the parking lot
— elevators/​building/​pool area are ALWAYS clean
— I always see the cleaning crew everywhere, every day!
— I have never had a problem with hot water or Hotwire cable (I did hear it used to be bad and it’s gotten better… thankfully, I’ve gotten the «better» part)
— There’s always a doorman at the front desk of both towers and at the parking lot entrance.
— Management is very nice and responsive (I own the unit here, but I imagine they must treat everybody equally as they are very professional)
— The building is surprisingly quiet for the amount of apartments it has! I was expecting it to be a little more noisy
— If you want a quiet area with no events going on… go live in Doral, Kendall or any other family areas…

These bad reviewers have a bad case of delusions. Let me address a few of the negative reviewers before I speak to the building itself:
— If you don’t want to live in downtown, don’t. Ultra is coming. Get over it. Find a quiet place to live.
–If you don’t want there to be a chance your unit will be sold while you’re living there, live somewhere else. Read your lease and if you don’t like the terms, walk. Don’t read your lease, agree, and then sit her and complain like an idiot. Most buyers will let you stay in the unit anyway. They’re investors! They want your rent!
–Don’t make false complaints. I’ve lived here for two years and have never seen anything but a clean pool area. I wake up many mornings to cleaning ladies in the hallways. Also, the elevators are always clean and fast, but please forgive the occasional peepee. People own pets! OMG HOLY HELL. People own pets! Welcome to the world…
–Cars tailing people into the lot? Sorry, not the case. It’s not physically possible because of how quickly the gate goes up and down, but it’s ok, because if somebody tries, there are two security guards at the gate everyday/​nite! Missus F. and Mrs. L are delusional liars… Btw the pool is not 21 and over, and there’s always chairs available and it’s always laid back.
–Omar G. Nobody wants to hear your story about your stupid lease problems. Buildings with 850 apartments have protocol. Frankly, it means nothing to prospective tenants, because it sounds like you’re just whining about petty things… You complain about having to fill out checklists and forms and then end your bit complaining about how the building doesn’t filter its tenants well enough. A graduate of the esteemed UM law program like yourself should understand an argument that has holes and hypocrisy.
All that being said, here’s the pro/​con list:
Pros
–best pool deck out of all buildings in downtown miami/​brickell
–full spa is beautiful and clean
–access to tons of hidden gems of restaurants and access to every part of miami in the blink of an eye. Downtown has great restaurants and bars. It’s still not as bustling as Brickell but it has tremendous character. It’s 10 min to grove, 10 min to beach, walking distance to brickell, etc…
–responsive mgmt that has been incredibly fair with me. there was an AC problem for a week and they refunded me my prorated rent for that week.
–you get exactly what you pay for. Units are big, views are great, most tenants are nice people.
–communicative mgmt. all maintenance requests have been filled immediately, and offers/​news related to downtown and the building are constantly being sent out.
Cons
–Downtown has a million events going on at once so it’s hard to keep track of, for residents and mgmt alike.
–Hotwire communications is indeed not a very good cable/​internet service. for
lack of a better term, you are trapped. Many condos made deals with companies like hotwire during the condo boom of 2005 – 2007 so don’t expect it to be so great other places either. hotwire has improved though. I currently have no complaints with them.
–ultra. look, if you didnt know about it. it exists. deal with it.
The End
Vizcayne is a beautiful place that lights up at night. If it’s good enough for Dwyane Wade to own a unit, it should be good enough for you. Do your homework. If you like it, move in. THAT SIMPLE. Great place for young folks and families alike, so long as you’re interested in Downtown Miami.

Wife and I are looking for a new place and have been interested in Vizcayne so we went to check out the building. We live in Edgewater now, but want to be closer to the action in Downtown so the location is very convenient. We walked around the neighborhood and it’s a hop, skip and step away from the AAA, some really good hole in the wall restaurants and stores, and easy access to the 95. The units we saw were all very spacious with good layouts and pretty sick views of either the water or the city. Very nice lobby and gym too. So far it’s pretty high on our list. Will update post if we decide to sign the lease.

We call this place Viz-​Pain. Totally not what we signed up for — multiple families living in one unit, massive amounts of college kids, place is a nightmare during ultra and school breaks (security will not help with noise issues at 2am unless you tell them you have already called police). Plumbing is atrocious (we call it hot water roulette as you never know if you will have any) 2+ bedroom and u get one spot. All other spots are $ 175+ per month. Doormen? Maybe is south tower but rarely after 6pm in north tower. Churn at front desk means lost packages and unknown rules and regs. I don’t even go to management and leasing office any more as nothing is done.
The dog piss and hair in the elevators is gross — same with poo outside the doors, homeless and the wretched line of people for 100 Montaditos (who use our valet!!)
They are building a 30 000 sq ft gym in one of the towers, which means any and all available parking will be gone!
Also — if u are renting from building, be forewarned the u it can and will be sold mid lease. They will offer you another unit in one of the towers (not compatible) and no money for movers. You have 30 days to get out. Also — the old sales people used to like to sneak in during the day when they thought you’d be at work — needless to say the woman who walked in on me with her clients got a full blast of Jersey from me — all while I was half naked!
You are trapped with Hotwire for cable phone and Internet — you are better off with Dixie cups and strings — service is beyond horrid, sporadic and archaic
Needless to say — the pool is unusable for anyone over 21 on the weekends — and they allow small children In the quiet pool behind the south tower
Between the noise from traffic, bayside and events and Bayfront (we actually have to leave town for ultra as we have lost time from work because of it — we work from home and cannot hear anything but 11 stages of music)
Not worth the exorbitant rates they charge for such horrid service. Spend the same and get a nice quiet place in midtown, brickell or the beach

I don’t get the negative reviews. Just because someone had move issue one time doesn’t mean the building is 1 star lol. The dog peeing thing is very annoying though. Overall, I’ve been here for over a year and I love it. The non office staff here is great, knows you by name, and I really never had any issues with the office either. My neighbors are all friendly and respectful and i never have noise issues. However the lack of funding from the former project is definitely present in the plumbing. Have issues all the time but the overall fixtures are nice.. But the real reason this is 4 stars and not 5 is because they make you use the WORST cable company on the planet. Scratch that, they are the worst company on the planet — Hotwire communications. Unfortunately many of the developers of buildings in Midtown and downtown/​brickell signed an exclusive agreement that forces you to use this company. It’s offensive how much they don’t give a crap at all. They are horribly managed, overcharge you, service is awful and they don’t even care because they know you can’t use anyone else. The company structure is the most pathetic and inefficient thing I’ve ever seen in my life. God forbid you have to call customer service, expect a 2 hour ordeal with everyone telling you something different. Even the supervisors are incompetent. Hotwire employees should wear ski masks, because at least it’d be less surprising when they rob you.

The Vizcayne was love at first sight; the building has great curb appeal. Marble in the lobby, kitchens and bathrooms, a gorgeous pool and spa area, and a great location right across from Bayside Marketplace. The front desk staff, doorman and spa associates are sweet and attentive. What’s not to love?
Unfortunately, quite a bit. Although I generally do not like to give bad reviews, I have to agree with the other reviewers here, and I wish that their bad reviews had been posted when I was deciding whether or not to move in here. Had I known, I would have kept looking instead of moving into this property.
FYI — Vizcayne also doubles as a hotel. On the web it is called Residences at Bayside. There are tons of people in our lobby with suitcases and strangers at the pool.
According to the gossip of other residents in this building, the Vizcayne used to be Everglades on The Bay, but was rebranded. The service used to be terrible, got better for awhile, and now is terrible again.
The move in process was terrible. I made a reservation per their rules, and they lost it, threatening not to let us move in while our truck was waiting outside. It caused a headache and forced us to use the movers an extra day.
The building suffers from several cleanliness issues. The elevators and lobbies are often covered with puddles of urine from the thousands of small dogs that live here. The owners are not responsible enough to clean up after them, and the building does not have a cleaning crew come around on a regular basis.
The trash chutes often do not work, so residents sit their garbage inside the doors, making the hallways smell faintly of garbage. The cleaning crew does not come around often enough to empty them, and when they do, they neglect to clean up the trash drippings on the floor, which attracts silverfish into my apartment (which is by the trash chute). I called to have the complimentary pest control service stop by my apartment, and it took 3 weeks to get an appointment, and they never followed up the following month as promised.
The hot tub is filthy and the pool area is not heavily policed at all. It is often overrun by what I like to call the «Miami Shore» — young, crass party people, who often hot tub and swim in their underwear (guests of residents, I think) drinking in the hot-​tub and leaving beer bottles and cigarette butts on the ground. Every other time I go out to lounge peacefully at the pool, one of these kids will be blasting a crappy boom-​box with dance music and trying painfully hard to look cool by yelling obscenities.
Additionally, when the Ultra Music Festival came to Bayside across the street, the management instituted a policy which made all residents wait in line for two hours to get wristbands for access for our own pool area. If you refused to wait in line, you lost access to your own pool which you pay for. The space was filled by friends of other residents, many of whom were given 5 passes for each day while other tenants got none.
Despite the luxurious image, the building is actually fairly shoddily constructed. The sliding doors make tons of noise, and the security office does little to nothing, If you have a noise issue, you are on your own and have to call the police. Very low class to have police cars in front of the building, my opinion.
The management is nice when you approach them with an issue, and tells you what you want to hear. Then they forget about it. If you press the issue, they explain why it isn’t their problem or how you must be mistaken. It takes months to get the most basic things done.
I waited a very long time before posting this review, giving them the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to handle some ongoing pressing issues I am experiencing. If they somehow go above and beyond, solve the problem and compensate for the slow response time, then I will be happy to write an update to this review, and even remove this post. But I sincerely doubt that this will happen.
Bottom line — avoid the Vizcayne and spend a few extra bucks to live somewhere else.
UPDATE
The news just did a story about cars are being stolen from the parking garage. There is no security whatsoever. Unauthorized cars frequently tailgate my car into the parking lot, as the gate has a slow reaction time, and there is no guard on site. They really should hire a 24 hour guard to stand by the entrance gate, but I sincerely doubt that will happen. Also, on game nights, the valet parking is usually filled by outsiders, so if you have guests visiting that night, they are out of luck.
I think the management means well, but is young and inexperienced, with no concept as to what the word luxury means or how to execute high-​end customer service without making excuses, passing the buck or giving attitude. She has no experience overseeing a property of this magnitude, and is often overwhelmed, trying to play catch up on the most basic issues.

I feel I have a duty to warn others, and speak up for people who may not know how to handle this type of situation. My experience has been comical, and in a bad way. Why? Because the manager at this place, Paula Cardona, does not even know what goes into a lease application, and in my case showed further incompetence about the issue later which cost me at least an extra week of critical time. My lease will have to be redated a third time due to (in my opinion) her incompetence. What happened is laid out below.
I tried to come in on Wednesday last week to deliver my application, which is the most lengthy and convoluted lease app I have ever seen. I brought all the required docs on the lease app. checklist. Paula, the GM, was there and refused to accept my drivers license and extra checks/​money orders I was prepared to cut on the spot, saying not to worry and that I could bring those for orientation that the building requires. I asked twice if she would take them anyways and she said no. Then, I followed up a couple of days later. Secretary Andres (who supposedly is the only person there that knows what goes into a lease app — in my case even he didn’t get it right as you’ll see) answered and said they would not even begin to process my app. until I brought my elevator deposit and the security deposit for the building (checks I was prepared to cut before).
On Tuesday I was able to come by the building again with these checks, since they were closed on the weekend and Monday I could not make it as I’m a busy attorney and did not get a lunch break. I get a call Tuesday from Paula saying that all I needed to give them was the license, and not those other two checks. On Wednesday my app. was finally sent to get processed. Bear in mind that after your app. is processed they require an orientation and then a 72 hour waiting period before move in. The orientation checklist they have states to bring your license to the orientation. This building has more forms and checklists than I have ever seen; however the forms are inconsistent with each other and the manager of the building does not even know what is needed. To cover up for her incompetence (in my opinion) she even denied that I offered up all the docs when I came in the first time. She also denied that I came in Wednesday to drop them and I had to prove them via a prior email that I did do so. They made mistakes in my app., but rather than apologize, Paula attempted to discredit me, and though how this manager operates, I don’t stand for this type of behavior. She even cut me off on the phone when I told her to fix the forms, and more or less called me a liar, which I disproved.
This is a very real warning to anyone who attempts to rent or buy here based on my experiences. I hope these types of reviews get them to change their behavior but It is unlikely I think, since she continued to lie or selectively remember the facts in my case. If you do go in that office, make sure you record your conversation with them. In miami the bar for professionalism is lower than some other places; I’ve lived here ten years, but this experience is a new low in my opinion. There are many other buildings I’ve rented in locally and I have not dealt with this type of incompetence or lack of ethics. Again, these are my opinions, and I am a UM law grad. On a final note, I am not writing this based on any petty grievances. I told them from the start that my situation was urgent. I’m one week into a sixty day penalty period at my old building that will cost me 5k if they don’t rerent the unit. They can’t show it until I move. This advice to Vizcayne was met by callous indifference. Please avoid this place at all costs. I wouldn’t be shocked if they continue to misbehave with me after I move in; I will be sure to update for you if so. Further, be aware that other residents have stated that this building has Hotwire only for internet, which is known to be a total joke. Consider this carefully before you put down 300k on a unit or lease for 2k a month. AVOID! In my opinion, these people I have dealt with here are complete jerks and unprofessional based on my experience.
edit: I lived here for six months now, and the building itself is great. Still poorly managed though (for example, despite emails, one of the main elevators doesn’t go to my floor). Lots of people here are laid back. Perhaps they should focus the background check on the percentage of residents dealing weed based on the smell in the elevator. Other than that, great place — one of the benefits of weak management is that they don’t bother anyone it seems.