JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort and Spa
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Half an hour north of downtown Miami, the suburban city of Aventura is home to Turnberry Resort and Spa, a 1960s property that underwent a 21st-century modernisation in 2018 when it re-branded as a JW Marriott from an Autograph Collection. Previously managed by Mandarin Oriental and Fairmont, the property was developed by Donald Soffer and boasts two Robert Trent Jones-designed golf courses along with a water park. Last June I stayed for four nights whilst attending an event at the property’s extensive conference facilities.
The hotel’s long driveway is typically Floridian in landscaping – palm trees and manicured shrubs abound. There are two partially covered lanes for vehicle drop-off, and then a comparatively small lobby with reception located in an alcove directly ahead of the entrance doors. The interior design is elegant without being ostentatious, and I particularly liked the rainbow-coloured artwork above the reception desk. Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina is located to the right of the lobby, whilst to the left is the resort’s convenience store and golf shop.
Check in was relatively efficient with the property’s features fully explained with an accompanying map. My Marriott Bonvoy number kept dropping from the reservation for some reason and the reception team couldn’t work out why, although points credited after the stay without issue.
Soff’s lounge, named after the resort’s developer, is the property’s main bar, located directly to the left of reception. Whilst it’s a fairly small space, there are plenty of seating options, including a small outdoor terrace overlooking the Cascata pool. The mirrored walls are covered with black and white photos of famous previous guests.
As I was staying on a conference rate, the room type in the reservation was ‘run of house’ – I was allocated a Golf View room on the third floor of the Hibiscus building, the oldest of four accommodation blocks, straight ahead from reception on the opposite side of the pool to Soff’s lounge. You can’t choose which building your room will be in for lower room categories at the time of booking, although higher room categories are mostly in the newer buildings – and this is definitely where you’ll want to stay. The Hibiscus building is pokey and has poor sound and light-proofing, not helped by rooms having fairly significant gaps underneath main and connecting doors.
At 45 square metres, on paper my room should have been spacious, but in reality an awkward layout, low ceilings, small windows and harsh lighting combined to create quite an oppressive atmosphere. From the entrance lobby, a dressing and minibar area was immediately to the right, with the bathroom beyond. The bedroom itself was around the corner to the right, in just over half of the room’s overall space.
The interior design was modern and I appreciated the dual desk chairs either side of the central desk and the inclusion of a separated waste bin for recycling, but there were just too many random and annoying things to make for a comfortable stay. For example, there was no ability to independently control the built-in lights between the beds, which meant the super bright ceiling light had to be on (or off) at the same time. I ended up moving the table lamp on the sideboard (home to two bottles of complimentary water) to the bedside table. There was a random telephone on a stool in one corner of the room, above which were two sets of power sockets where clearly the desk had once been. To the right was a large electrical socket blanking plate covering goodness knows what, with more blanking plates dotted around the room – the mark of a light touch refurbishment focusing only on the easy-to-replace aspects of a room. Ironically, for all the electrical outlets, there was no master light switch. Around the corner in the dressing / minibar area, the safe didn’t work, although the minibar was stocked. Tea was by Taylors, and there was a Keurig coffee machine.
The marble bathroom was my favourite feature of the room – decently sized, with both a walk-in shower and a bath, and lovely Aromatherapy Associates amenities (a JW Marriott staple, in large bottles). Aside from soap bars and a shower cap, other amenities were available on request. There were no face cloths, only one bath robe and no slippers. I phoned housekeeping to request some slippers and a toothbrush, which never showed up – I then couldn’t get through to anyone on the phone, so ended up walking down to reception to request them again.
On a more positive note, the view from the room’s small balcony (which held a couple of chairs and a small table) was quite pleasant across the Soffer course.
The proximity of the room to Corsair Kitchen and Bar, the hotel’s main restaurant, proved to be very disruptive to my sleep – noise from the restaurant, including children playing on the adjacent artificial lawn until late, drifted through the ill-fitting balcony doors. When that finally quietened down around midnight, my room’s aircon intermittently ejected loud noises. To complete the night, the fire alarm sounded in the early hours of the morning – whist fire alarms can happen at any time, there was no communication from any member of hotel staff at any point during the alarm or after it. Bang on 06:00, maintenance buggies started driving up and down the path below the room, and shortly after, golf course maintenance with loud machinery commenced. Unsatisfactory to say the least.
The unsustainable noise issues saw me request a different room the next morning, and I was offered a room in the more modern Orchid building.
Whilst technically I think this new room was the same category as my previous room, the room felt far lighter and more spacious, partly a result of its ninth-floor location, but also due to the higher ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Contrary to the receptionist’s assertion that all rooms had connecting doors, mine thankfully didn’t. The interior design was almost identical to the previous room, but the layout was far more conventional, resulting in more space being dedicated to the bedroom area. Here, there was room for an armchair in addition to two desk chairs, and no silly ceiling light, although there was still no traditional bedside light or reading lights.
Housekeeping standards were generally high, although the bedside table had a dusty base and tea bags were not proactively replaced on one day of my stay. A request for additional bottled water took 25 minutes to be fulfilled.
The bathroom to this new room had two basins, a larger walk-in shower, but no bath. Demonstrating this property’s inconsistency, facecloths were present here. The door to the bathroom banged on the glass door to the inner toilet room. There were no robes or slippers (another oversight given they are advertised as being available in all room types), although I had brought my slippers from the previous room so didn’t request more on this occasion.
A larger balcony offered expansive corner views over the Miller course and practice golf facility, together with the adjacent Jasmine building and water park beyond that. Aircraft departing from and arriving at nearby Fort Lauderdale airport could also be spotted.
I enjoyed a couple of breakfasts and one lunch at Corsair Kitchen and Bar, accessed from the base of the Hibiscus building. With a multitude of bar, banquette and traditional dining seating and views over the Soffer course, this is a pleasant restaurant, with friendly and prompt service. The breakfast buffet is, as one would expect in the US, not expansive but perfectly adequate. Hot drinks were served to the table, although note that anything other than an Americano on the coffee front is not included in the buffet cost and will therefore be charged at the à la carte rate.
On the fitness front, the âme Spa is located in a separate building at the front of the resort, which it shares somewhat ironically with a Starbucks. In addition to treatment rooms and a beauty salon, there’s a large gym here on the first floor.
The heated Cascata pool at the centre of the resort is the property’s only swimming pool outside of the water park and is available to adults only. Flanked on one side by a historic banyan tree and overlooked by the Hibiscus building and Orchid tower, the roughly rectangular pool is large but ultimately unexciting. Loungers surround the pool and towels are provided, as you would expect.
For thrills, Tidal Cove water park is complimentary for hotel guests and features a freeform swimming pool, children’s pool, lazy river, seven water slides and two poolside restaurants. Cabanas (at additional cost) come with access to a dedicated pool.
JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort and Spa is a real mixed bag of a property. Staying in both the Hibiscus and Orchid buildings resulted in two different experiences – one downright unacceptable, and one really quite decent. Service was generally good throughout, and the property’s 2018 refurbishment still feels fresh, even if it wasn’t the most extensive it could have been. A greater focus on consistency of housekeeping and room setup and banishing those lower-floored Hibiscus rooms to the history books would be wise changes for this property to consider.