The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami — Hotel in Key Biscayne

A Disappointing Stay at The Ritz-Carlton Biscayne Bay—Far Below Expectations||Our family has scaled back vacations to long weekends due to our daughter’s rigorous athletic practice schedule. So when we finally get the chance to travel, we like to make it special. We chose Miami for a quick getaway and, as longtime loyalists to The Ritz-Carlton and as Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite members, we booked a stay at The Ritz-Carlton Biscayne Bay. Unfortunately, this experience was a complete letdown from start to finish.||Bait-and-Switch on the Room||I booked an ocean-view suite on a high floor at $977 per night through the Ritz-Carlton app. Upon check-in, I was told that only low-floor ocean-view rooms were available. To my dismay, the “ocean view” was actually a partial view at best—requiring me to stand on a tiny, almost nonexistent balcony and strain to see the water.||Feeling misled, I checked the hotel’s site and confirmed my suspicion: the room I was given was a lower-tier, lower-priced category than what I had paid for. After speaking with three dismissive front desk staff who insisted I was mistaken, a manager finally acknowledged the issue and refunded the price difference—more than $300 per night. While I appreciate the adjustment, the dishonesty in the booking process is unacceptable.||Room Conditions—Far From Luxury||The room itself was nothing close to Ritz-Carlton standards. The carpets were filthy, stained in multiple places, and the furniture was visibly dirty. But perhaps the biggest issue was the mattresses—soft, lumpy, and completely worn out. Instead of the firm, supportive bedding expected at a luxury hotel, we were stuck with sagging mattresses that made for an uncomfortable night’s sleep. It was shocking that a Ritz-Carlton property would allow something like this. At least the sheets and towels were clean, but that’s the bare minimum.||Pool and Beach Experience—A Mess||We headed to the pool around noon, only to find most of the lounge chairs “reserved” with towels, yet completely unoccupied for hours. The staff made no effort to clear them for guests actually trying to enjoy the space. Worse, the pool itself was disgusting—visible residue, hair floating around, and a general lack of upkeep.||Poolside service was nonexistent. We sat for an hour before a server even acknowledged us, and even then, she never returned. Frustrated, we left for the beach, where service was equally terrible. The staff treated us like an inconvenience, taking over an hour to provide food and drinks—and only after I chased someone down.||Dining Failures and False Advertising||At 4 PM, we decided to order room service since, according to both the website and hotel materials, restaurants remained open until 6-10 PM. However, there was no menu in the room. When I called the front desk, they claimed there should be a QR code on the desk—there wasn’t. They promised to send a menu… no one ever did. After an hour of waiting, we gave up and ate elsewhere.||The next evening, we attempted to dine at Lightkeepers, which supposedly closed at 10 PM. We arrived at 8:45 PM, only to be turned away—the restaurant was already closed. Again, another blatant case of misleading information.||Customer Service? What Customer Service?||From valet to front desk to restaurant staff, the service at this property was shockingly poor. Employees were indifferent at best and outright rude at worst. No one moved with urgency, no one cared about guest experience, and no one seemed interested in doing their jobs.||Final Verdict: Not Worthy of the Ritz-Carlton Name||When you book a Ritz-Carlton, especially as a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member expecting exceptional service, attention to detail, and a seamless luxury experience, this hotel failed at every level. Between the deceptive room booking, unsanitary pool, terrible mattresses, poor service, and misleading dining hours, our stay was an absolute disappointment. If you’re looking for a true Ritz-Carlton experience, this is...

I am in the midst of planning my wedding and I have enjoyed it so much that I was thinking about starting a wedding planning business. The only thing that’s gone wrong is booking a hotel room at this Ritz and considering hosting an event with them.

I am getting married on key biscayne, on the beach, not at a hotel. I live about 45 mins away, but my fiancé decided to book us an ocean front room at the ritz Carlton for the weekend. I was planning on going to the spa the day before my wedding and dropping at least $1k because a short massage there is literally $350+ and I want a massage, facial, mani and pedi - to do a full spa day with my closest girls.

We went there to have dinner so we could try out the food and see if we want to have our reception there. The food and limited view of the ocean from the restaurant wasn’t impressive, but I thought maybe we could do a welcome dinner or next day brunch there.

The two receptionists when we walked in were wonderful, the hostess at the restaurant was lovely, and 2 different waiters chatted it up with us and made us feel right at home, then some unfortunate stuff happened:

Some women told me I couldn’t feed my service dog food I brought for him in my own container (after he had a long day of working). I am not even sure if they can legally do this, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue so I just put it away. A few weeks later I complained about this to the hostess and manager who were very apologetic and said that woman was wrong to do that.

My mom said they were going to charge her $250 per day for her 5 pound dog so my mom got upset and booked a room elsewhere.

Then, my photographer from my engagement shoot said they’re really crazy about photos there and he was there to take pics of a pretty famous comedian and the second he whipped out his camera they kicked him out. This was something I didn’t even think about…. I figured if my husband is spending $1k per night, no one is going to do anything to wreck our day. I didn’t plan on doing a huge shoot or anything with multiple photographers, I just thought we would do a couple of pics before we leave to go to the sunrise ceremony.

They don’t even have options to host a wedding as small as ours. We were planning on having about 30 people.

The manager calls me after I complained and instead of addressing any of the things I complained about, he’s says “hi, I heard you want to host a wedding with us”. Like ummmm… no I am currently thinking idk if I can trust your team to not destroy my wedding day if I stay with you.

The manager doesn’t follow up with me, he gives me his email and tells me to follow up with him and he will make sure his security team knows we plan to take photos. So I detail all of this in a follow up email and he has someone else respond to my follow up email trying to basically sell me on hosting my wedding with them still and in the email says “I understand you are also interested in learning about photography on site. I am sorry to share that we do not allow photography in the public spaces of the hotel. You are, of course, welcome to capture imagery in your guest room, but, regretfully, not around the resort. We reserve that right for guests hosting a wedding with us.”

I don’t know it this standard, but it’s in poor taste. Every ritz I’ve ever been to has been aesthetically and architecturally more impressive than this location. I looked around to see if there were any spots I might want to take pics and there were maybe 2 decent spots in the entire hotel. Every other ritz I’ve been to has been so generous, accommodating, and stunning. I can’t believe of all the things that could be a problem planning a wedding in 3 months, this is the problem I am having. They haven’t done anything impressive enough to make me want to stay with them let alone host an event with them. I am so...

NOTE: The Ritz KB is getting a $100mm renovation - by staff accounts, this will be done in May 2025 through November 2025. Some of these issues may be addressed in the upgrades, which is to include food and drink, guest rooms, and public spaces.

PROS: Location: Beautiful location with direct beach access. Check-in: Easy and the front desk offers water or Prosecco upon arrival, which is a nice touch. The bellhop/doormen (shout-out to Zaid) were also very quick and helpful with luggage. Lobby: Buddy the Golden Retriever’s house is a fantastic touch. Amenities: There are more amenities than advertised on their website - you can rent paddle boards and kayaks for one hour each day of your stay. Something fun that they have is a Moet vending machine and a variety of shops. There are hammocks, cabanas, two different pools, and a kids’ activities area. Crowds: I personally enjoy less crowds, so this space was excellent for me in early November, though I have to hope that the crowds pick up for business purposes. I was often one of five patrons in a restaurant at any given time, and even the pool had multiple beach chairs readily available. Animal welfare: There are noticeable signs around the property regarding sea turtle nesting areas and what to do. Value: $400-600 per weeknight was fair for the location and amenities.

CONS: Lobby: Lacked the grand entrance that most Ritz resorts have. A few flowers or tasteful beach decorations could add some vibrancy. Also, I never actually saw Buddy in the three days that I was there - maybe he only comes on the weekends? Business center/office space: This resort only has a small desk to the side of the FedEx business center onsite. This seems like a bit of an oversight when there are conferences held here in their vast number of ballrooms. There are tables in the lobby and outside the ballrooms to work if needed, but they lack privacy if you are on a call. Service: Though the staff was attentive, this resort lacked attention to detail. Staff in multiple areas were often seen on their phones, sometimes with AirPods in, while serving customers. Our room didn’t a privacy door hanger nor any shampoo but had two bottles of shower gel. When we called to change out one of the shower gels for shampoo, they said a replacement would be sent immediately. It never came, even when asked a second time. A comprehensive training in exceeding customer service, as is the standard for the Ritz brand, would be highly beneficial across all levels. Amenities: Though I was pleasantly surprised at the amenities that were made available upon check-in, I wished I had known about these sooner so that I could have planned accordingly. And while I applaud the use of recyclable materials from coffee cups to utensils, one would question why this location still uses branded plastic water bottles when other locations have switched to recyclable glass ones.

OVERALL: Though this is one of very few hotels on KB, the experience left much to be desired. I hesitate to recommend it prior to the renovations that are to be completed unless there is some discount that would make it worth the experience (and the guest is familiar on what to watch for regarding the...