Courtyard by Marriott Miami Beach South Beach — Hotel in Miami Beach

Hello Marriott team,

My name is Alain Frometa, I am a Marriott Gold member - who travels often for both business and pleasure - and in my travels I always look forward to lodging at a Marriott property. I am loyal to the brand and consistently seek out properties in whatever country/state I find myself in. I have come to expect a welcoming staff and a well maintained hotel however, this was not at all my experience during my February 14-19, 2023 stay at the Marriott Courtyard South Beach Miami hotel.

Poor planification On the third night of my stay, with less than 24 hours notice, I was told that the following day there would be a full working day of fire alarm testing. From 10am-5pm EST. This would include testing the blaring evacuation siren that goes off floor-wide. Since this was a remote working trip, you can imagine how disruptive this was. Even more so given your staff was unable to narrow down the 5th floor testing timeslot (the floor I was on) to a workable two-hour window. This in short meant that during my stay as a paying guest, I would have to work around your maintenance department’s impromptu work schedule?

Imagine my greater surprise the next morning, as I am about to start my first call at 9am EST, when someone knocks on my door to ask me to enter my room to check the smoke detector.

Showed a complete disregard to any guest services norm.

Lack of maintenance Upon our arrival, we noted that although there were two elevator banks in the 7-story hotel, only one elevator was working. This made for a lengthy wait period every time I needed to leave my room - it was workable though not convenient.

However, on Friday 2/17, as my partner and I were returning wet from the beach around 4pm EST, I arrived to find that the elevator was completely out of order. Given the alternative was to make my partner, who is recovering from foot surgery, climb five flights of stairs, we decided to wait out the fix as per your staff’s advice.

We ended up missing our dinner reservations and still, the elevator never revived until late that evening.

Showed complete disregard to non-able bodied individuals who depend on building facilities to accommodate mobility issues.

Unaccommodating / unhelpful staff Understandably, following the two above major complaints, I asked to speak to a manager and was told they were busy trying to find a solution to the elevator woes. I was assured I’d receive a call-back later that evening - this never happened.

The following morning, as a guest, I followed up with the front desk and after a 20 minute wait, Stefany Amador, the manager on shift, came to the front desk and after a 10 minute chat we landed on she only being authorized to offer me 10,000 points for the ‘inconveniences’ and some sage advice to opt for a lower hotel floor preference in the future, in case of any more maintenance problems occurred at Marriott properties.

Showed a complete lack of leadership but also lack of training from the Marriot management on how to approach difficult conversations with guests.

Overall, it really goes without saying - I am deeply disappointed in my Miami Beach experience and look forward to the Marriot team not only correcting these issues for future guests but also contacting me with compensation options for a ‘remote working trip’ ruined.

Attentively your loyal...

We stayed 2 nights at this property during the MLK long weekend. We redeemed a 35k free night and paid out of pocket for the 2nd night (~$250). We arrived around noon and the staff wanted to give us a nice room since I'm Platinum Elite. He mentioned we can wait in the lobby or eat lunch and come back while he checks whether the room is cleaned. We sat in the lobby and our room key was hand delivered to us within about 20 mins. It was amazing service.

Our room was 507, with a lot of natural lighting and a good view of planes landing/taking off. The windows can be opened slightly for some fresh air, too, which is great. I've read a lot of reviews saying they're stuck with no view, or a view of the wall, so this was a pleasant surprise.

The hotel and rooms are a bit dated, but better than other Courtyards we've been to. The bathroom was quite small, but our room was reasonably large with a good amount of storage, a large couch, a desk and chair for working, and ample walking space.

The bathroom amenities were very minimal. Our phone line to the front desk wasn't working, so I needed to ask for shower cap + tooth paste in person at the front desk, which is where the amenities were stored anyway. Combs are not available (oops, I've stayed in too many Luxury Collection properties).

The bed was typical, had no issues sleeping. Lighting and charging ports available at each side of the bed.

This hotel does attract a younger crowd since it's cheaper, but we stayed in a quieter corner. We could hear a bit of hallway noise, but it wasn't too bad after 1030-11pm.

The roof pool lounging area is decent, you can see a snippet of the ocean + beach, and have good views of the nearby buildings and unique architecture. Aside from the pool area, there is also a sep0arate space with outdoor seating and tables, great to eat a breakfast or lunch while enjoying the sunshine. The pool is not heated, so we didn't end up using it.

The gym is located at the basement and is very tiny, and during this time, you need to book an appointment ahead of time to use it. Only 1 hotel room can book it for each time slot. Time slots are apparently 30 mins, though one staff member said 1 hour the first time I tried to book it.

Location wise - it's very convenient. 5 mins walk to the beach, 2 mins walk from Esponola Way, 7 mins walk to Lincoln pedestrian shopping street. The actual area of the hotel though is a bit dirty with homeless people here & there.

We liked the hotel as it was convenient to see South Beach for the first time, and would recommend it for budget travelers, but would likely not stay in the future due to the area that it's in.

It was still pretty good value for a 35k redemption or $250/night given how expensive South Beach can be during a...

I wish I could give this place a 0, I truly do. They are inconsistent, play tip for tap, and do not give a care in the world when it comes to packages or people that are not regulars. My family arrived at 630 am after a long flight. We were told check-in does not start until 7, no problem, we went down the street to check out the park. At 7 check-in moved to 8 (you may see where this is going). At 8 we were told that housekeeping didn’t come until 11, and they had no rooms available. For clarity, our rooms were booked through Marriott, not through a third party, 3 months prior. Due to the flight, I was exhausted and decided to stay in the lobby and watch all this glory unfold. I saw housekeeping arrive around 10, and around 1015, a gentleman went to the front desk and got his keys in less than 5 minutes. I went to the front desk, and M** was very annoyed when he told me there were no available rooms until noon. During the hours of observation and people watching, it became clear that this is a place for business people, and I found that there is a priority level of guests. I must’ve missed the memo. I also noticed all the decor, which looks like it came from one of those warehouses where they have palettes and need inventory cleared at very low prices, and this hotel just bought some of those. I also saw a guest who asked for help getting to the elevator. What I didn’t expect was the employee rushing the guest and practically dragging them up the stairs instead of the ramp; that was wild. Another guest had a box delivered and came down from their room to retrieve it, despite it being in plain sight and delivered about 15 minutes prior, the front desk acted like they didn’t see it. At noon, someone else in our party asked if any rooms were available, and check-in moved to 4…yes, 4 pm. So corporate was called, and not much was done. We went back to the front desk, and the guy was over it and was trying to make a decision because at this point, I will admit I was fed up and just started loudly laughing at this nonsense. Once he realized that we had more than a dozen bags in the lobby, taking up a majority of the space, all of a sudden, the rooms were available. I will say this location is very close to the beach, and that is the nicest part about it. I will never...