I think the rest of the reviews are pretty spot on. The location is fantastic and I love Hollywood Beach.
To be fair at the outset of the review, I have stayed on this beach for several years now, and my past stays were at the Tides, Hyde, Sea Air, and the Doubletree. Those buildings cost more, and serve as the baseline for my expectations. This was my first time at the SIAN.
The building and the apartment are both pretty run down. It was probably beautiful thirty years ago. Now it smells mildewy, the elevators shake (kinda scary), and there was a clear plastic runner going the length of the hallway. If you stepped off the carpet squelched. The staff however are really nice and helpful. They were the most helpful and least intrusive. The building fees are also amongst the lowest.
Check in was a bit rough. Its self check in using a number pad. When you hit a button it lights up with a green check or red X. We had the correct number, but the green check for the third one in the sequence didn't light up. We thought it didn't register so we pushed it again, but the lock read that as the fourth entry. Anyways we tried several times and it set off an alarm and locked down. We contacted the host, but I get the feeling that he lives elsewhere in the country and the apartment is managed. He didn't seem sure what to do, aside from assure us that the code was correct. Eventually we figured out what the problem was and just entered the code ignoring the lights, but it was 45 minutes in the hallway.
The apartment:
The good: The porch is wonderful. It gives views of both the Intracoastal and the beach. Turn to the right and you get blasted by sea air, turn to the left and watch the cars go by on A1A and the sunset. There were plenty of towels, a couple of extra sheets, blankets, and pillows. Also there was toilet paper, a used sponge, and two hand soap dispensers.
The not to good: The apartment was bare. I use VRBO and AirBnB quite a bit and this was the most spartan of units. There were absolutely no amenities except for those mentioned. I am aware that I wasn't staying in a hotel, but I've always found things like sugar, a few tea bags, shampoo, just the pantry stuff that accumulates.
The apartment is furnished "Amazon sale." (I know because I bought the same futon being used as a couch for $89 in college). It just looks like no one put any effort into it. Its also dirty. Not in the sense of dust, it was definitely cleaned before we arrived, but its grimy. There are mold stains around the air condition vents and in the closet. The walls are stained from something. Someone needs to scrub the whole place down.
The kitchen was disturbing. There is a wrap around lighting effect that is pretty cool if you can past the fact that it shows off dead roaches. I couldn't. I spotted a live one the next morning and we ate out every meal. It was nice but not an expense we planned on. We kept everything in the fridge including paper goods. The utensils, toaster and oven also look like no one has used them in a while.
Overall I'd say, if you are a person who puts budget first and foremost, this place might be ideal. My vote is to spend a few more dollars and stay next door.