crazyhorse

Thanks for the update. $100 per day should suffice for us even if coffee/juice is charged extra.

jameswes

I believe it's $100/day, regardless of the # of people. I had both my family and a Guest of Honor, each room got $100.

I think it's so that they can have an easy system: With the maximum of 4 people, each person can have the buffet and come out right around $100. If you have fewer than 4 people, you've got quite a bit of leeway.

platbrownguy

I can't imagine coming here and doing the buffet! Heresy! The menu items are so well prepared (avocado toast, chicken & waffles, juices/smoothies, etc.) that it's a crying shame to waste the $100 credit on the buffet unless you're just in a rush or something.

truptravels

Stayed here last week using Free Hyatt Certificates. It was a great use of them! I have no status so cant speak to upgrades or free breakfast, but no resort fees on award stays! Our family had a great time during the week. Not sure if it gets louder over the weekends. Details linked below.
https://truptravels.com/2018/08/15/r...i-beach-hotel/

River in Sight

I booked a five-night stay at this hotel for the weekend before Thanksgiving; the hotel had an every-third-night free rate at $219 per night, so one of our five nights was free. Combined with the Citi fourth night free, I thought it was a really good deal. We confirmed into the Miami Suite with Balcony using a suite upgrade at booking. At the last minute (day of) we decided to arrive one night earlier, I booked a separate one night reservation through the Globalist desk, they called the hotel for me and they were able to accommodate us in the suite for all six nights even though we had originally applied the certificate just for 5. On our second day at the property we received a nice fruit and cheese plate along with a full bottle of red wine.

I think the breakfast has already been described here pretty well - I think it's a highlight. The buffet is 90% the same every day, our 3 year old had this every day (no charge for 3 year olds; 4 year olds and up get charged half price) and liked it but he's not too picky. The only changes I noticed were waffles and pancakes alternating each day and minor changes in the cheese selection. There is now an omelette maker who will also cook eggs to order - this is new from our previous stays. I think the a la carte menu is great, my wife loves the avocado toast and smoothies and I liked the eggs benedict and the breakfast sandwich. Our bills were around $100 each day and, as Globalists, were always waived except for one day where we were charged $2.70 or so which I didn't bother asking about.

We also had dinner at the hotel one night, there is an unpublished kids menu with a few kids entrees for $8 each.. my son had a cheeseburger with waffle fries which was similar to the adult hamburger except only 1 patty instead of 2, and not as many toppings. He liked it. Happy Hour continues to be 4-6PM at the bar and poolside facilities, beers are $3.50-$4 and they have other specials as well. There used to be a small sandy play area for kids near the children's pool, unfortunately this was eliminated and converted into additional seating. The staff continues to setup a ton of toys for kids on the beach itself, and there were various floating toys in the kids pool. It was warm enough to go swimming both in the ocean and the (heated) pool. One minor note, my laptop charger stopped working and Amazon saved me with a replacement next day, the hotel charges a nominal $2 fee for accepting a package.

This was my third visit to the hotel in the last year and I love it, I was never a beach vacation person before having a child but I find this a very convenient spot for a family getaway and already have my next visit booked for February. I wish there were more eating options right near the hotel but it's not too far to get to areas with more restaurants.

Biggie Fries

Not sure what it would be like for/with a child, but if you are looking for a place nearby, Cecconi's, in the Soho Beach House (3 blocks north) has a very cool ambiance and not-bad food.

I agree that The Confidante is a good deal and a good hotel. Just wish that traffic didn't make Miami Beach feel so confining.

joetro

Used my Hyatt visa certificate to book one night. Website says all room rates subject to resort fee, but I thought resort fees were waived for award bookings?

platbrownguy

it will be waived

sch_flyer

Just had a 1 night stay before a cruise - used a Cat 1-4 certificate. Very good service as a Globalist - welcome email from the property, and a text from GM. No suite upgrades were available, but there was a bottle of wine and some chocolates waiting in the room. The breakfast buffet is ok, definitely not worth its full price ($32) - no a la carte options for Globalists or so we were told by the front desk and restaurant host. Nice pool and beach across the boardwalk with chair service (and and app you can use to order food/drinks).

Now for the negatives:
- we had a room with a connecting door to the one next to us and due to a large gap at the bottom, we could hear everything that went on in that room.
- no coffee maker in the room, which would be a major deal breaker on a longer stay. Not sure if you can request one.
- toiletries are in big bottles, so shared across multiple stays I presume.

txhyattlvr

solewalker

You probably had an inexperienced server. I stayed weekend before last (also pre-cruise), and was told, $100 per room, ala carte allowed. According to our server, they have some new staff who are unfamiliar with the program rules. I had chicken and waffles for breakfast.

59Impala

As a globalist, I had a $100 breakfast credit per room (had booked 3 rooms, valid for all 3!!) could use for ŕ la carte or buffet. so this seems to have changed?
agree, no coffee maker in the room is a bummer... they serve free filter coffee down in the lobby for everyone.

sch_flyer

The buffet breakfast for 2 adults and 2 kids was $120 including a 20% service charge already on the check. All waived at check-out. No mention of $100 credit was made by either the front desk or restaurant host, so it's possible the benefit is different now.

All of the staff there were wonderful, and really did seem to go out of their way to be helpful. Interestingly, no Hyatt signage or promotional materials anywhere, not even the standard "Hyatt Elite Check-in" sign that is in every property I've been to (including other "unbound" hotels like the Driskill).

MarkOK

My review:

Used a TSU and got a "miami suite". I was given a high floor suite which had a great view of the city and a partial ocean view. True suite too -- spacious living area (even with a rollaway bed in it), decent sized bathroom, and nice bedroom. Very happy with the room.

I received some chocolates as a welcome amenity, but no wine with it. I was hoping for wine too. I even saw a couple of rooms with both the chocolate plate and used wine glasses left outside the door, Did they get wine with it and I got shafted?? Or did they order wine?? I don't know, I shouldn't overthink this it stuff...the free chocolates was nice enough as it is.

We ordered all sorts of variations for breakfast and just ordered whatever we want (tried the buffet -- it was decent but the list price is a bit much for it; ate the chicken and waffles more than once which was great too and as is stated by others above, is a must have item if you are here, the eggs benedict is good, but not as good as GH DFW, we tried most of their smoothies -- always very dense with various levels of like/dislike). We spent something like 120$ every morning, and never saw a dime from breakfast charged. Truly great breakfast benefit. We did overhear a conversation where someone asked their waiter about what they could get for the free breakfast benefit, who then explained that it comes with the buffet which they then opted for. I rolled my eyes hard but didn't feel kind enough to intercede on their behalf.

The restaurant I must say has some pretty terrible waiters. Worse example: We had dinner and only saw our waiter three times -- once to give us water and take our order, then with the food, and then with the check after we waived another waiter down to ask for it. And this was an evening where the restaurant was very empty. I don't even know where he could possible duck away to. He forgot my kids order altogether (we decided to make a fuss about this at the poolside bar and ordered our kids food there, since it seemed we couldn't get anyone to acknowledge our presence in the restaurant itself), and it then took more than half an hour more to get that fulfilled. We ended up getting that comped after complaining about how long that took, and the staff at the barside was very apologetic, in a genuine type of way, (but even then, it wasn't worth much dollar wise so felt it was maybe less than the least they could do). My daughter was practically at tears about getting forgotten at the restaurant and altogether waiting almost two hours to eat (after we got seated at the restuarant). I wish I got up at the restaurant to find someone as soon as it seemed obvious my daughter was forgotten. That line is always elusive for me between being patient, trusting, and polite, and when I need to get up and make a fuss (or release my feisty wife to do so). That was the frist and last time we ate there for dinner. At breakfast we had somewhat dismissive service too more than once from more than one waiter, other waiters were okay (at least they refilled water and coffee), but we had one great waiter too. It's one of those situations where I wonder if the 20% automatic tip added on is leading to some servers not given a crud.

The beach stuff was a bit off too I think. For one, they won't actively reserve for you more than 2 chairs. The front desk was specific at check in that the resort fees (which granted, I don't pay as globalist) cover two chair reservations at the beach. We moved a third chair over anyways whenever we were our there and the staff never blinked an eye about it at least, but I think the limit is kind of lame (a lot of kids like to have chairs too, and my kid, needless to say, is sensitive about being delegated second class status, especially after being forgotten about at dinner). The umbrellas aren't complementary at the beach either -- its a 22$ rental. From my (somewhat limited) experience at resort properties, I felt like this was bizarre. I've always gotten umbrellas free at other properties and 22$ is kind of high for a faded standard sized umbrella. It'd be nice to visit the beach more casually, but with the umbrella fee I felt like we either had to commit to a beach day or forget about it.

Otherwise, staff and service at the hotel was great. I think it is nice property all around, and the breakfast food quality and globalist treatment is great, the grounds are nice, I think I will probably stay again, but with the small gaps in quality service to be expected.

incognitoMD

Had a 5 night stay on points over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Stay was booked in October 2018, and 5 nights was the minimum to redeem points. TSU could not be applied at the time of booking, as not every night of the 5 nights had the base suite available. We ended up in a regular room with partial ocean view on the 10th floor. We did receive chocolates, a bottle of red wine, and a hand written welcome back note.

Re: breakfast- I specifically asked the associate at check in as well as the server as to what a Globalist with 3 registered guests were entitled to, and both confirmed to me only the buffet. We had breakfast at the restaurant 3 of the 5 mornings, and on one of the mornings, we all had the buffet and then ordered the fried chicken and waffles, and this (alone) did in fact end up on my bill. Maybe the item that surpasses the $100 pre tax limit (previously) is what would be left as an extra charge on the bill. I have no idea, and I didn't bother asking. On a side note, the chicken and waffles dish a few years ago, used to be (if I remember correctly) Korean Chicken and Waffles, which was quite literally soaked in hot sauce. They have toned that down quite a bit, for better or for worse. Also, I personally did not have issues with the restaurant staff- we had breakfast around 8am-9am normally, and the restaurant was not at capacity at that time. Coffees refilled, plates cleared, staff were easy to flag down. I did notice that later at 10am or so, there seemed to be a line for breakfast, and it didn't look like there were enough waiters to fully staff the entire restaurant. And this was during end of December, early January, probably the busiest time all year.

We valeted a car for all 5 nights, no charge at all.

All in all, a great stay over the holidays. Would happily return in the future.

Edit to add: On looking back on this thread, it seems like many people have had complaints with the service in the restaurant. Advice for future guests- skip the restaurant. There is NO shortage of restaurants in Miami Beach. Even for breakfast for us, the same stuff over and over again becomes quite boring very quickly. Really, don't feel the need to order the massive chicken and waffles here if you don't have breakfast included. Because 1) its ~$30, and 2) it is definitely NOT the selling point of this hotel.