Rapper-actor DMX really needs his soon-to-be-released double CD to do well.

Check out his crib when he hangs loose in South Florida, which is more than six months a year. Unmistakably not the Ritz!

While his colleagues and other celebs prefer the flash-and-dash of $1,500-a-night rooms on Miami Beach, the troubled star prefers the White House Inn On The Bay in North Miami.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the joint. Its views on Biscayne Bay are unmatched. But the presidential suite, which costs DMX less than $150-a-night, is barely vice presidential.

“He just parks his silver Mercedes out front and disappears in there for days,” says a guest at the inn. “But people can’t believe it’s him. The hotel is really clean but not necessarily luxurious. I’ve seen a few hookers, but the managers kick them out.”

A clerk said the star of such action films as Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 The Grave left over the weekend and that the presidential suite is now empty.

Paramedics came to the inn for DMX, a.k.a. Earl Simmons, 37, in late September and took him to the nearby Aventura Hospital. He suffered the symptoms of a stroke.

“He stayed for three days but it wasn’t a stroke. He’s been operating under a lot of stress,” said his lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, Brad Cohen. “He’s doing much better. He just traveled to Phoenix for his court hearings.”

DMX is facing several charges in Arizona, including that he gave the billing department of a hospital there a phony name. He also has a history of drug arrests.

“He has financial problems,” said Cohen when asked about DMX’s favorite hotel. “His townhouse in New York was foreclosed on. He pays me, no problem, but I know he’s eligible for a public defender in Arizona.”

To climb back the ladder and, who knows, afford a night or two at the Four Seasons, DMX is pinning his hopes on double album to be released later this month. One of the CDs is - it’s no joke - a gospel album.