bhrubin

Introduction I was excited to try this Ritz-Carlton property for the first time, as I have regular business in Coconut Grove. Previously, I'd always stayed at the Westin Colonnade, now the Hotel Colonnade of the Tribute Portfolio. My stay was...good. I was letdown by poor air con, but that won't necessarily be an issue for most. I also was letdown by some service misses, even by some managers, as they supposedly were handling the issue related to the poor air con and concomitant move/downgrade. The good news as an Ambassador guest is that a good week prior to my arrival I noticed on my app that I'd been upgraded to a City View Suite. The morning of my flight to Miami, I noticed that I'd been upgraded again to a Partial Bay View Suite. Only the Ritz-Carlton Suite here is nicer. I was very impressed!The property is near the bay in Coconut Grove, a pretty tony enclave just south of Miami proper.Reception:Concierge:Restaurant outside deck off lobby:interior of the restaurant (from entrance, sorry): Check In On arrival, after mentioning only my last name, the parking attendant knoew my first name. Clearly, my Ambassador status meant I was highlighted at the morning staff meeting. Check in was quick and easy. I was thanked for being an elite, but no mention was made of my Ambassador status--even though it was quite obvious someone in the know already must know since I'd been recognized on arrival and already pre-upgraded to a suite! Room PARTIAL BAY VIEW SUITEMy first room was the Partial Bay View Suite. It was a very nicely appointed and spacious suite. Unfortunately, the living room got very cold (down to 67 F) but the bedroom never got colder than 70 F--as the second suite air con unit blew into both the living room and more poorly into the bedroom. It was a very unfortunate design for anyone who wants a cold bedroom!Otherwise, the suite was very comfortable. Shower pressure was weak, but otherwise it was a nice suite. I did find it odd that the frosted window between the shower and toilet areas allow one to see who might be on the toilet. Gross.A nice welcome amentiy and note:The single vanity was a surprise in a suite at a luxury hotel. That isn't luxury.I also noticed that you could hear flusing and water coursing down pipes from the toilet area in the shower...and that you could hear the TV in the next room to the suite from the living room side. Thankfully, those didn't really bother me in the bedroom or with the TV on, but they were very curious. I discovered noise was a bigger issue in the regular rooms. PARTIAL BAY VIEW DELUXE ROOMUltimately, I was just too warm in the suite bedroom. (I always confirm with every hotel in advance that they can guarantee 67 F in whatever room I'm assigned and to pre-cool the room before my arrival) Even with the fans, they brought--one of which didn't work after I turned off a light switch in the living room and inadvertently knocked off the fan power in the bedroom late at night. (I didn't even realize the cause until investigation the next day with an engineer!)After one very uncomfortable night, I downgraded to a Partial View Deluxe Room. More or less the same category I had booked. It was also a very comfortable room. Here, though, I really disccovered how thin the walls are and how easy it can be to hear your neighbors. The shower had the same see-through to the toilet area. The bath was remarkably similar in size to that of the suite, actually. And the single vanity was again disappointing. But the air con worked wonders in the regular room, cooling down to 65 F without issue. And another welcome amenity: Service Service was a combination of highs and lows. Overall, almost everyone tried very hard. But the execution was quite sloppy at times. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, since South Florida and the Caribbean are rife with subpar service even at luxury properties. This one was no different.The hotel clearly showed great elite recognition, pre-upgrading me to a suite, upgrading me further an even better view suite, and even trying to pre-cool the suite before my arrival. They also clearly highlighted me to the staff, as the parking valet knew my name even on arrival.But the hotel also knew that the suites had this bedroom air con issue causing poor air con. I had made it quite clear that air con was the most important priority for me, not a larger suite. They should have at least mentioned the known issue on my arrival. Instead, I had one very uncomfortable night.The service recovery for the bad night was pretty good--but I did have to ask. The manager did offer to comp the night, But I asked to get 50% off the room rate for the first 2 nights instead. After some other problems, the management knocked 50% off all of my nights.When moving rooms, the management was fantastic. They pre-cooled several rooms and let me check them all to see which was coolest. On the other hand, the housekeepng was a fiasco. Housekleeping never cleaned my suite the first morning before I had decided to move--even after speaking to a housekepeer and also calling housekeeping to ask for the suite to be cleaned. The day of my move, housekeeping kept me waiting almost 90 min before I could finally move to the new room--despite them telling me otherwise repeatedly. I must have tried to get into the new room 4 times! This pissed me off, and this was the reason the discounted all of my nights. They knew they'd screwed the pooch.One manager involved in that move was very uncaring and seemed happy to pawn me off to the circusmtances. I made sure to highlight his being a jerk to the senior management. But mangers like him are rife throughout South Florida. We had an experience with one of those even at the otherwise amazing St Regis Bal Harbour a few months preior. Overall, the service was mixed. The GM did eventually call me, but the management here needs more consistency to be considered a proper luxury hotel. This hotel service seemed more like a JW convention hotel. Dining Dining, though, was fantastic. I almost always do room service. It was quite good here. But the presentations were not remotely luxurious!After I moved to the new room, the manager comp'd me a lunch...and that presentation was more as I'd have expected for a luxury hotel brand: Location The location was perfect for me, just a 15 min walk to my client. It was only a 20 min drive from the airport, and maybe a 10 min drive to downtown Miami. Overall Overall, I might return--but I would absolutely request a regular room with very good air con! I alsoi would hope that the housekleeping gets its act together.