A good choice with better than expected service
Written: Mar 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Service, good views, great concierge, nice pool, on the beach, reward points, quiet location
Cons: Smallish rooms, not centrally located
The Bottom Line: Pros definitely outweigh any cons to this South Beach hotel. Yes it is a chain hotel, but it raises the bar for Marriott service.
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| jeffkoontz's Full Review: Marriott Miami Beach at South Beach |
I combined a business trip with pleasure for a three night weekend, Thursday through Sunday in South Beach. I wanted to stay in a above average hotel on the beach. It was a tough decision made even more difficult by the fairly steep pricing involved by the upper echelon of hotels in South Beach. The Delano, Shore Club, Tides, Loews, all looked like beautiful places online, yet the pricing for a ocean view room was around $500+ a night. While I don't mind these once in a while extravagances, the online reviews of each of these came back mixed, and in the end the decision was made by my ability to earn Marriott points. If I could save a little on my room ($350 a night vs $500) and earn points toward free rooms somewhere else down the road, why not.
I was on a conference earlier in the week in Naples at the Ritz Carlton. After our meetings Monday, relaxing on the beach, I was surprised out of my chair by a call from the Marriott South Beach Concierge desk. The woman on the other end of the line indicated that they saw that I was a Silver Elite member scheduled for a stay later in the week, and asked if there was anything they could do to make my stay more enjoyable. This was a Marriott first. I've stayed at Marriott properties an average of 30 nights a year and have never been called ahead of my stay by the concierge.
Driving into the Marriott was a breeze as it is located at the southern end of South Beach and coming off the causeway was a very short distance to the hotel and did not require sitting in gridlocked traffic that made up both Ocean and Collins Avenues for the majority of our stay.
Everything was walking distance for me, I like to get out and walk when I am on vacation, and it was a reasonable walk to all the major attractions. The hotel is on Ocean Drive, (though on the far end) and it's string of non-stop restaurants, hotels, shopping, and the Versace residence, over about a 12 block distance. Next up, was a jog over to Collins Ave. a few blocks of bright bare fluorescent lighted stores, and then a turn to the left on Lincoln Ave and you will hit the pedestrian mall, a very happening area with tons of restaurants and shops. Straight ahead on Collins are the Ritz Carlton, Delano, and Shore Club. All in all, from the Marriott to the Lincoln Ave mall area was a pretty hefty walk 20 minutes, and if you load up on shopping bags, a $6 cab ride is what you will pay for the return to the hotel.
The valet at the hotel will charge you about $21 a night for parking, and that doesn't include taxes or tip, though you can come and go as you wish with the car. Our car never left the garage. The bell service took the bags up to the room as the registration desk was up a flight of steps. from the curb. There were a lot of areas that were up a flight of steps here, down four steps there - but it was amazing how they had the whole building equipped with wheel chair elevators everywhere.
The main lobby had a very modern feel with bright colors and innovative lighting. Fresh lemonade was available to the left of the check in counter. Check in was quick and efficient. They gave us access to the concierge lounge on the 11th floor, which I think was an Elite member perk and got us going to our room. We were on the 8th floor with an Ocean view room, which meant, in reality, that our room faced north east. The layout of the rooms in the hotel is that you have an Ocean Front - where the rooms face directly east at the Ocean, and the Ocean View, which are staggered and face diagonally out from the hotel. Being on the north side of the building facing out, there is a view from the balcony up Ocean Drive, over the city park that borders the north side of the hotel, and then looks out to the beach and ocean. I'm not sure why you would want an "ocean front" over an "ocean view" room. There's much more to see with the ocean view room as the ocean front rooms face directly east. I think it's an advantage to be higher up in the building, on the north side. There's not much to see south of the Marriott.
The room itself was a bit small, and the bathroom was oddly shaped. The toilet barely misses the bathroom door as it closes, and is adjacent to the door. The sink wraps around a corner and the shower is adjacent to the wall to the bedroom. The king room had enough room for the bed, a walk space between the bed and the wall adjacent the bathroom, a walk space between the wardrobe/tv cabinet and then some space for a lounge chair and light before reaching the sliding glass door to the balcony. The only drawers in the room were the 4 in the TV cabinet under the TV and to the left of the minibar/safe. The minibar was left unstocked - and if you wanted anything you had to fill out a form and/or phone it in to room service. It kind of misses the point of having a minibar. The room was cleaned daily with an evening turn down service. The noise level in the hotel seemed to me a little on the high side - It never was an issue, but there wasn't a lot of sound insulation to the hallways, or neighboring rooms. You could hear the elevator ding (even though we were 4 - 5 rooms away). The room itself looked much more modern with bright colors, and modern looking furnishings than the prototypical Marriott. The furniture hardware though new and modern looking, did not appear to be the highest build quality (though the fact that the doors on the wardrobe cabinet did not sit evenly is hardly a complaint to have of a hotel). The only other annoying aspect of our room was that our TV tended to humm at times.
The concierge level was nice to have access to, perched up on the top floor with eating areas on the roof of the building overlooking the city, cruise ship docks, and up Ocean Drive. There was a continental breakfast each morning and happy hour each evening with a selection of snacks (fruit, cheese, crackers)self service honor bar with decent spirits. It was also a good place to go when you wanted a bottle of water or soda, as it was complimentary.
The pool was a nice area and was extremely popular and could be difficult at times to find two chairs side by side next to the pool. The hammocks also were pretty popular. They had outside seating for their 'Deco Blue' restaurant, though I don't think they'd serve you in the pool area. The towel situation was kind of weird. If you went to the beach, there was a concession area for chair rentals ($10 a day), and then they'd give you all the towels you want by showing a room key. However in the pool area you had to fill out a card and in-effect, sign out the towels, and if you didn't return them with your copy of the slip, they could charge you $15 a towel. (minor annoyance) I don't know who the Boucher Brothers are, but they must be like the mafia arm of beach rentals because there do not seem to be many competitors up and down the beach. The Deco Blue restaurant offered beach food and drink service. Interestingly enough, there is a sign with beach rules (erected by the city) that includes no alcoholic beverages. However, the restaurant has no problem with bringing you a Margarita (thankfully), and a decent lunch can be put on your room tab without leaving your beach chair.
The beach is not as lively on the end the Marriott is, but that is as much of a good thing as not, and the action is only a brief walk on the beach away (if your desire is to be no more than three feet away from 1000's of other beach goers.) On the weekend though, it was pretty crowded still. It also seems to be the part of the beach popular with the surfing crowd.
There is an aviary in the hotel. It's more of a collection of plants with a few sparrows and finches flying around - maybe the collection is having an off-year - but I didn't see any value to this odd room off the upper patio.
The hotel also has direct access to Starbucks coffee if you can't live without your grande Americano (I know I can't).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jeffkoontz
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Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 1 member
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