Nice Hotel, Great Staff
Written: Nov 08 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderful, polite, nice, staff! Very clean, quiet, and relaxing.
Cons: Minimal food options and No shuttle service!
The Bottom Line: Great for the business traveler, but due to lack of transportation this hotel would not be good for the regular vacation traveler.
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| sskoshi's Full Review: Courtyard by Marriott Miami Downtown |
I recently had to take a business trip to Miami and the Courtyard Marriott Downtown Miami was the hotel my company preferred us to use.
Hotel Highlights
Locations and room features ~Complimentary wired internet access in the rooms, close to Miami Financial District, Close to government agencies; in-room mini refrigerator, in-room safe (free to use) and safety deposit box at front desk, 32in flat panel tv with free HBO service and pay-per-view movies; coffee maker in room and complimentary Starbucks coffee in the lobby, free newspapers in the lobby, and laundry on site (coin operated). The local area leaves a lot to be desired. We saw a lot of homeless on our walk to the metro mover and smelled what can only be described as someone tossing their cookies from the night before. We didn't dare venture out alone. Inside the hotel, however, felt very secure and safe.
Business services ~Copy and faxing services available, network and internet with printing available, messenger service available. There are meeting rooms on site with wireless internet access.
Property Information ~This Courtyard Marriott is located at 200 SE Second Ave in downtown Miami. It has 14 floors, 204 rooms, 27 suites, and 6 meeting rooms. Check in is 3p, check out is noon. No pets are allowed on the property and this hotel has a Smoke-Free policy. There is an on-site outdoor pool and fitness center with cardiovascular equipment.
Transportation and Parking ~On-site parking is available for $15 per day, off-site parking is available for $3.95 per hour. Miami Metro mover is just around the corner (0.4m) and the Greyhound terminal is 1.6m away. This hotel is 7 miles from the Miami International Airport and 24 miles from Ft. Lauderdale airport. This hotel does not offer any shuttle service to anywhere.
My Experience
Checking in, the Lobby Experience ~Upon my arrival to the Courtyard Marriott, I was greeted by a very nice gentleman who was polite, professional, and just a pleasure to deal with. He was very helpful and courteous. This was a business trip for myself and I was meeting up with approximately 10 other people for this business trip. Upon checking, in I asked about the other members of the party, and I was promptly informed that some have already checked in. The gentleman at the front desk was unable to give me room numbers for them for security reasons, but did promptly ring their rooms and let me speak with them.
The whole check-in process was very simple, uncomplicated, and the gentleman at the front desk made me feel very safe and welcomed.
There is a saltwater aquarium in the lobby that is absolutely Gorgeous! The fish tank separates the lobby from the dining room. There are several chairs and tables in the lobby, which worked wonderful for our party who ended up using them while meeting up in the mornings and before meals.
The Room / My Stay ~
My room was a balcony room located on the 10th floor. It was a very spacious 2 double bed room. It was very clean, and very cold. The air conditioner was set to 67 degrees. My first mission was to turn that off.The room had very comfy, plush pillows and soft, fluffy bed and linens. Each bed had around 4 pillows, I actually thought I had too many pillows!
The television was an LG flat panel tv with a swivel base. Almost all of the channels came in crystal clear; the only channel that was scratchy was CBS.
It took me a while to find the fridge; it was located in a cabinet underneath the tv. The room had an ironing board and iron in the closet and the in-room safe in the closet. The in-room safe operates with either a credit card or pin number. It is free to use. The closet door is full-size mirror-door, which was nice when putting on my uniform, but very distracting (more on this below).
The balcony door was very difficult to open, but that could be a good thing if you have children or have been drinking too much. The balcony is only about the size of a small walk-in closet.
The bathroom was very spacious and did offer shower and bathtub abilities. There was a lot of counter top space in the bathroom. There was also a face bar, body bar, small shampoo and small conditioner, as well as a hairdryer. The bathroom is located directly across from the mirror doors. Several times I became startled when I opened the bathroom door after my shower, not expecting anyone in my room and I saw me... The only drawbacks of this bathroom were that the bottom of the tub was peeling slightly and that housekeeping did not want to replenish the shampoo or conditioner for me; I was only here for 4 days and only packed a carry-on bag for the airplane, which means no decent quantity of shampoo or conditioner. I was relying on the hotel supply.
The room was, overall, very nice and I had no real complaints. The view was as nice as you can expect from a downtown hotel - view of high rise buildings, parking garage, construction sites, Metro Mover, etc...
The Food Service ~
This was one flaw I found on my visit. The room service and dining room menu are the exact same and do not offer a great variation.
They do offer breakfast buffet in the dining room, which was amazing. Wonderful breakfast spread. It was complimentary, but I am not sure if that was part of the room package that our meeting group had, or if it is complimentary to everyone as I could not find any information about it anywhere.
The lunch and dinner and room service menus are the same. Only about 4 or 5 choices for main entree. 2 or 3 salad options, a few appetizers. On a 4 day stay, the menu got old. The prices weren't too bad, for hotel food. The entrees were around $12 to $20.
There is a small bar in the hotel, part of the dining room. It is very pricey for mixed drinks that were very light - $ 6.50 for a gin and tonic with half a shot of gin, or for an almost clear scotch and water. The beer was average priced, about $2.50 a bottle/glass.
There is a "marketplace" in the lobby to purchase food for your room or to grab on your way out the door. You pick what you want, show it to the front desk and charge it to your room. The marketplace, however, is very, very small and minimal. There is a cooler with sodas, beer, water, and a very limited selection of snack foods. The elevator was bigger than the "marketplace." The prices seemed average here too, with a bottle of soda costing around $2.
Overall, the Goods and the Bads
We did experience a few bumps on this visit, one of which was getting around. First off, there is absolutely no shuttle service to or from the airport. I found this to be one of, if not the biggest, drawback to my visit. The Marriott boasts that it is designed for the business traveler, yet they don't offer the business traveler any transportation! I took a taxi from the airport, which will run you about $28 not including tip and takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
My business meetings were being held in one of the federal buildings in the financial district. The best method to get there was the very complicated Metro Mover. When we asked the front desk how to use the Metro Mover or how to get to the financial district, we were given less than helpful instructions. The guy at the front desk was getting lost giving us directions! Luckily, one of the people from our group sort of new how to get to the Metro Mover station, but we still ended up getting on the wrong Metro Mover...
We decided to go out for dinner one night, as the hotel food was getting old, and asked the front desk again for directions. It was very frustrating talking to them. They were very helpful and polite, but did not seem to know the area as well as a visitor would hope.
The Business Center in the hotel with the internet and printers was spotty at best. Several people from our group tried to print out their boarding passes and other airline information on different days, only to find that all the printers were either out of paper, ink, or jammed. The in-room internet appeared to work great for several of our people.
Overall, this hotel was great! It really did feel comfortable, safe, and welcoming. The very few setbacks did not take away from the overall satisfaction.
All real recreational actives (Seaquarium, Golfing, Beach, restaurants) are an average of 3 miles from the hotel. Since there is no shuttle service, transportation to these locations could be a real problem for families with children. I cannot see recommending this hotel for the regular vacation goer because of this. This hotel is much better situated as a business traveler hotel.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sskoshi
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Member: Tracy
Location: Florida Panhandle
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Busy, Busy, Busy - Does life ever slow down?
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