Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove (Miami, FL) [Master Thread]
 

Has anyone else stayed here? I have business in the vicinity but have always stayed closer to downtown Miami. I'm booked for early February.

There is a note on reservations page indicating room renovations from July through Oct 2018:

Questions include:

(1) Does the air con work well in rooms/suites? I like 67 F or cooler.
(2) How tired were the rooms/suites before the current renovation?
(3) How is the food/beverage quality? Breakfast? Room service?
(4) How is service overall here?

Thanks!

Spent the weekend there with wife and daughter about two years ago. Nice hotel; our room was huge (I'm just a Gold). No issues with setting AC cold (we like it that way too). The room decor was fine, nothing obviously too dated or worn. Service was good. Don't recall food issues. We're going back in early October, I didn't know about the renovation issue.

The hotel is really a regular Marriott in a suburban part of Miami that calls itself a Ritz. The rooms need renovation and the hotel is fairly small with most of the property (there are two buildings) being residences.

It is not a horrible hotel just not great at all and definitely in need of fretting up.

It is apparently the public areas and not the room as I inquired the last time and they did not have funding for that renovation at the time. As it stands it is a classic RC look for the late 90's. This hotel is located in Coconut Grove which is a sleepy part of Miami especially where the hotel is located is especially quiet.

Pleasant stay with problematic A/C stay causing downgrade
 

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.

A recent blogger review for the hotel:

https://travelupdate.boardingarea.co...m=BoardingArea

Interesting points to consider:

(1) Noise issues remain with connecting rooms due to thin doors and hardwood floors. We're best to request non-connecting rooms unless you need a connecting room.

(2) Housekeeping issues still can be an issue here. I had similar issues with spurious housekeeping.

(3) Noise from nearby construction could be an issue. I didn't experience any of that during my Feb 2019 stay, however, even as there also was nearby construction.

(4) Service recovery still can be an issue here. The fact that the manager never called back reminds me of what it took to get senior management response during my Feb 2019 stay.

All that being said, I am scheduled to return in Feb 2020. The location is in walking distance to my client, and the F&B and hard product otherwise was excellent. I am confident that I can ask for a non-connecting room with great air con for my return stay so the noise issues won't be a factor. And I'll watch housekeeping like a hawk LOL.

Good points (from both your review and this fellow). Spent a couple weeks at this property for a project a few months ago and can provide some perspective:

1) Agree with this - in addition to the aforementioned, some rooms also have a phantom knocking sound that comes from outside or above - sounds like someone dribbling a basketball all night
2) I don't recall having housekeeping issues but I may just have stopped paying attention because housekeeping is bad everywhere :D
3) Never had an issue there even with the big project down on 27th and Bayshore ongoing; granted I was never in the hotel during "normal" working hours.
4) I had an issue with this as well. The root cause was billing problems and it took a long time to chase someone down. That being said, once I did, they were very good about making things right.


Agree with the first part. Their room service is fantastic IMO. They made probably the best salmon I've ever had, and a nice chimichurri steak as well.

A funny thing about the air con - when they did the big renovation apparently some of the dampers and routing got mixed up so some of the bedrooms had massive volumes of cold air being piped in by way of the closet registers. The closets would become like meat lockers and the bedrooms would get to be FREEZING. I think they'd fixed it by the end of my stays there but if it still persists you will be in heaven.

Any more recent experiences? Booked a 7-night stay here.. will be in Miami for vacation so tons of tanning, R&R.

Just an FYI: Buildings in the tropics aren't designed for that. Here's from a set of mechanical blueprints for a hotel in Florida which is now a Westin:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...40bf109402.jpg

...and for good reason. Once something gets below the temperature of the dewpoint, humidity will condense on it. Dewpoints in Florida run well into the mid-60F to 75F range at night. Thus, cooling a room down below the dewpoint is a recipe for mold growth on walls, in insulation, etc.

I am considering this hotel for a "resortpass" for a day that I have to kill post-cruise (8:30PM flight). Any experiences at this hotel with their pool area? We're looking for a "resort" type of pool with food and beverage service at the site. Also need a clean place to be able to change before heading to the airport.