Residence Inn by Marriott Miami Aventura Mall — Hotel in Aventura

My family of four stayed at the Aventura hotel for five nights in February. The hotel was in good condition. Our one bedroom suite room was clean. Our room was quiet and on the side overlooking the pool. We had to ask for extra towels, for some reason we only had three bath towels even though we had 4 people on our reservation. Also, when they cleaned our room after a couple of days, we again didn't have enough towels. Housekeeping was quick in bringing extra towels though.

The pool area is nice, although it doesn't get sun until around 11 and then only partial sun, afternoon is best if you want some sun. There really need to be more chairs around the pool also, one afternoon there were no available chairs. One big bonus of this hotel is that they have a hot tub! It is difficult to find a hotel with a functional hot tub these days. The only downside to the pool is that smoking is allowed at the outdoor tables next to the pool, so when people are smoking there, it wafts over into the pool area. That is very annoying, especially when there are kids having to breathe the smoke at the pool. Also, there are not always towels at the pool, one night we had to go in dripping wet because there were no towels.

The location of the hotel is great, the Aventura Mall is a 5 minute walk from the hotel. It has tons of restaurants and stores. Be sure to check out the giant slide there! There is also a Publix within walking distance which was very convenient. It's about a 10 or 15 minute drive to Sunny Isles Beach and there are several other beaches within a reasonable drive also. The Everglades aren't terribly far also.

The breakfast buffet was good and what you normally see at a Residence Inn. I have never seen such a busy breakfast area at any hotel. It was packed every morning. They have oatmeal, waffle irons for make your own waffles, fruit, eggs and a variety of other items.

I wish the hotel had their tea and coffee bar open all day like many other hotels do, but theirs is locked up in the breakfast area after breakfast hours. Also, there is no water cooler in the gym, which I thought was odd. I wanted to use the laundry room to do laundry before we left, but all of the laundry rooms were out of service, which was rather inconvenient.

Overall, this was a nice hotel and mostly what one would expect of a Residence Inn. We enjoyed our stay.

Parking is $20 a day.

Pros Hot tub! Clean Quiet room Good breakfast Quick housekeeping Good location

Cons Smoking area by pool Crowded breakfast area Laundry was out of...

We had a disruption to our travel plans so had to spend a night near FLL as we couldn’t get a late flight home. Our cruise line made arrangements for us and about 30 others to stay at this hotel. When we arrived, the front desk staff did a great job of getting us quickly checked in & putting room keys in our hands. We got to the room and all looked good - the room looked well-appointed with kitchenware and towels. We were tired & happy that a potentially problematic situation had turned out well, so got dinner and crawled into bed.

When we woke up the next morning, I noticed blood on the edge of the comforter. I thought I had perhaps scratched myself during the night but couldn’t find anywhere I was bleeding. As I pulled the bedding back farther, I found red streaks on the sheet and realized it must be menstrual blood. Since I finished menopause years ago, I knew it couldn’t be mine nor could my husband have been the source. I quickly showered and went to the desk with pictures to advise them of the situation. The desk clerk sent up the Housekeeping Mgr, who assured me that it wasn’t possible that the sheets were left on the bed from the previous customer but she agreed that there was something seriously wrong. She took the sheet and told me she had to talk to the manager before any action could be taken.

When we checked out, we were told that the manager doesn’t work on Sunday & would call or email me the next day. I waited until 2:45 p.m. on Monday, then called since I hadn't heard anything. I was told the manager was 'in a meeting' & would call me back in an hour. Having not heard from her by 4:45 p.m., I called again and was put through. She said she was just getting ready to send me an email since she didn't have my phone number. She asked me to go through the story again, and then told me that there was no way their process for cleaning rooms could have missed a sheet with so much blood on it, and that she didn't know how it could have happened the way that I described it. Since the room was paid for by the cruise line, she offered 5,000 Marriott points. (Not sure that will do me much good, since I'm reconsidering using any of their brands.)

There’s one thing a respectable hotel needs to get right for every single guest - put clean sheets on the bed. No matter how nice the the room looks or how pleasant the staff, not being able to trust that you’re sleeping on clean sheets is a...

Awful Awful Awful!!! The front desk staff is a terrible representation of Marriott. The only person who did a good job was a nice African American young lady, Gloria the breakfast attendant, and Pablo. Everyone else especially the night audit staff (both the guys) and the front desk manager are AWFUL!! I asked for basic request, toothpaste, emergency hygiene products, directions to the beach...they offered NOTHING. I happen to ask a housekeeper about the beach, she told me about the van that leaves twice a day....thank goodness for the housekeeper. They blame everything on renovations but where is the basic hospitality spirit and standard Marriott amenities? They suck, they ruined the entire Marriott experience. They should either wipe the slate clean get new people or do a severe major training CAMP. THE AUDIT PEOPLE AND FRONT OFFICE MANAGER ARE THE WORST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET WITH THESE POSITIONS. The front office manager was getting breakfast with us. I asked her did she work at the front desk. She said she did. I asked her could I have a late check out. She told me to go ask someone at the front desk. I immediately apologized, because maybe I misunderstood, I thought she said she worked at the front desk. She said, "no I just got here," she was in a hurry to eat her food and asked me my room number. I said never mind,(I didn't want to bother her nor say my room number out loud around the other guest eating breakfast). I said, "I'll go to the front desk after I leave breakfast"...she the asked me over and over again. By this time I was over this entire place. She sent a young lady to get my information but I felt like I was bother. My initial room 510 smelled like cat pee, Pablo apologized and moved us with no problem. Otherwise I recommend ANY PLACE BUT THERE!!! Renovations may help the building but first they need to renovate the staff. The rooms were clean, condos to the housekeepers.(a little rude but they do...