ellafiore (reviewer below), I also found a phantom charge from the Standard on my credit card. Disputed this through the credit card, and it has been removed.

What a shame the unique experience of that hotel was marred by service problems. Some hotel staff were gracious, efficient, helpful... and others clearly needed attitude adjustment, or perhaps were in the wrong business.

We stayed at The Standard over 4th of July weekend and actually extended our vacation there because we loved it so much. The property is beautiful, lots of tropical plants and flowers, great common space for breakfast and just lounging in the green and shade; the pool is big and has a fantastic view and scene day and night. There is also a hot waterfall and an artic plunge. Poolside drinks and food are served all day-long and the quality is very good (I am a picky eater and the food was always delicious). Even if it was a busy wekeend it never felt overwhelming and we were able to relax, swim and sunbathe undisturbed. The spa is gorgeous, the staff helpful and easy-going, very laid-back and the hotel is close enough to walk to South Beach but far enough so it feels far from the main "South Beach drag" and more like you are on a tropical island.
our room was large enough and so was the bathroom - the closet was huge and they have free DVD rental, so if you don't feel like going out and watch a cool movie you can do that. We felt like we were in this hip, beautiful home, we couldn't have asked for more!

They overcharged my credit card by 300 USD. When I saw that on my credit card bill, I wrote them a nice email stating all the details of my stay and my bill. Never got a reply to that email...

I stayed at the hotel with a group of friends for four nights. We left the hotel for dinner each night, but during the day we hung out at the pool and the hammam.

We all stayed in "wet" rooms with outdoor bathtubs on the patios right outside the rooms. These gravel and concrete patios were screened off from one another and from the exterior walkway by semi-transparent mesh fabric stretched on poles to create an open air enclosure around each patio. There was something exhilarating about walking around my little enclosure naked, even though it was just a quick dash to the bubble filled bathtub. And, for more bubbles, you can have champagne delivered to your tub, which is deluxe and wonderful.

Once you're soaking there for a while, though, you realize that there are mosquitos buzzing around your head, the patio gravel has cigarette butts in it, and your view is of yards of grayish mildewed mesh and the depressing apartment tower next door. Still, it's cool to bathe outside.

To say the rooms are tiny would be an understatement. I loved the clean design of the rooms, but they are miniscule, as are the bathrooms. The bedrooms do have extremely comfortable beds, with lots of pillows, crisp sheets, and fluffy duvets. The rooms also have a little daybed in front of the window, a little folding table that hangs on the wall when not in use, and a small flat screen TV mounted on an articulating arm. The TV is covered by an embroidered slipcover when you arrive.

The bathroom surfaces are all tile and mirror, and there are shower stalls rather than tubs. There is not much room for toiletries. The closets are large, as is the mini bar selection, with a giant basket of junk food snacks.

The pool scene is decadent day and night, and is filled with beautiful people. To get chairs and towels, we tipped the pool attendants generously and often. We did the same with the pool waiters, but it didn't always make a difference with the service. The people watching, needless to say, was excellent.

The much vaunted hammam was a little disappointing, although we all loved the hot stone benches of the warm room (the caldarium?). We waited too late to make appointments for massages and most treatments, so we settled for pedicures, herbal soaking baths, and outdoor mud baths. The pedicure was fine, but the soaking bathtub was really uncomfortable, and they were sold out of most of the herbal concoctions that you purchase to add to the water. Some of the showers in the round shower room were broken, and the whole hammam looked slightly worse for wear.

The outdoor mud bath was a funny experience that I think I recommend. The "mud" is kept in a cooler on a patio just off the main pool area. An attendant sells you a bowl of the bright turquoise color mud, and then helps you and your fellow bathers cover each other all over, and I do mean all over. After which you lounge on a potato chip shaped plastic chair until your mud dries. Then, the attendant sprays you down with a lawn hose, or you stand under one of the peeing boy fountains mounted on the wall of the patio and clean yourself off. All of this happens in full view of the pool and a dining area used for private parties, so be prepared to be a spectacle.

The food in the restaurant was pretty good. I had room service breakfast each morning, and liked the fresh fruit and good coffee.

We didn't find the hotel staff particularly helpful. Retreiving valet-parked cars took forever, but there seemed to be no other option.