The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach — Hotel in Miami Beach

Went into this vacation in Miami with the expectation of receiving stellar service, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case here at the Ritz Carlton.

Firstly, while our room offered a spacious layout and stunning oceanfront views, we encountered some significant design flaws. The phone located next to the toilet emitted a jarring screeching sound when the front desk called; it was far from the typical ringtone. Additionally, the outlet in the bathroom was awkwardly positioned behind the faucet, making it nearly impossible to use either of the room's two outlets effectively. It’s perplexing how such a design decision was made.

Secondly, housekeeping was atrocious. Our room was only made up once and when it was made up, they discarded my fiancés AirPod, our playing cards box, and some other valuables, but did leave an empty beer bottle and and a half eaten muffin on the table for us to find. So, they tossed our valuables, but not the trash we left behind. When I called the front desk to complain at 3pm, the phone rang and rang for an hour. When we finally reached someone and that housekeeping threw out my fiancés AirPod, they said we’ll launch an investigation and let you know what we find, and then hung up on me. They called two minutes later, exactly two minutes later, and said they can’t find it. No apologies or effort to try to attempt to track down a valuable of ours.

Thirdly, when we could comeback to the hotel late at night around 2am or so, we never saw someone working at the front desk. We stayed waiting 10-15 minutes at times waiting for the front desk attendant to appear, but no luck. We saw a worker who was cleaning the lobby and asked them if the hotel employs a night shift front desk worker and they told us “No, we don’t have that here.” So, I had wasted a half an hour waiting for someone to help us to be told there was nobody. So, I had to wait till tomorrow morning to ask for a toothbrush and again, was put on hold for 45 minutes till someone finally answered and accommodated my request for a toothbrush.

I saved the best part of my experience for last: My fiancé and I decided, after all the issues we encountered, to take a dip in the luxurious pool at the Ritz Carlton. The pool was pleasant and heated; however, our experience was completely ruined by an employee named Emmanuel.

After we requested drinks from the bartender, we made it clear that we wanted to pay with my debit card rather than charging it to our room. The bartender relayed this to Emmanuel, who then approached us in front of other guests and abruptly declared, “This pool is only for guests of the Ritz Carlton.” I was instantly embarrassed and mortified, especially after paying $2,000 a night for our suite, to be viewed as a trespasser at a place we had chosen for a special getaway.

I informed Emmanuel that we were guests of the hotel, but he demanded my room number, which I provided. He then walked away, returning moments later to inform me that the room was vacant. At this point, I was at a loss for words. I told him, "I don't know what to tell you, but we are guests here." To my shock, Emmanuel insisted that we had to leave the pool immediately and begin telling us how to exit the property.

It wasn’t until I managed to find our reservation on the Marriott app, displaying our room number and dates of stay, that he finally seemed satisfied and left us alone. No apology either for Emmanuel embarrassing us. I have never felt so humiliated in my life, especially at an establishment where we had paid so much for luxury and service. This incident overshadowed what should have been a relaxing moment, and it is something I hope the management will address to prevent others from experiencing the same embarrassment.

Overall, this five star establishment and well-known property failed to live up to its name. Outside of the room and the view we had, I would never spend $2,000 a night here again. If the Ritz Carlton would like to offer me some compensation for my embarrassment, that would go along ways to remedying...

Truly, the worst Ritz Carlton I've ever stayed at. Let me tell you it ain't the four seasons. None of this happens at the four seasons.

First off, the rooms at 385sq are at best adequate. Of course walking around the dirty room service dishes in the hallway always ads a nice homey touch. Really, I will never come back to a Ritz again.

It started at check-in when the front desk asked the bell person to show me to my room. He had me carry my own luggage until it fell and he says oh I'm sorry I should be assisting you.

Next morning, I went to ask concierge a quick question, and she was speaking to another woman. It appeared this was not a business related conversation, but even if it was, the concierge should've at least acknowledged my presence, and said I'll be with you in a moment sir, but that didn't happen.

Pool service was great until the server said because they were becoming slow. He been pulled off and told to go home and I never saw a server again in my section. I had to go to the bar myself to get my own drinks you think for two more hours of pool service at minimum wage the Ritz Carlton could afford $36 when they charge you $25 for a drink.

At check-in I advised the clerk that I had two reservations, and that they were combined he seemed confused and not sure as to what to do had to ask for help. OK fair enough. Come back from breakfast today and my door card won't open. I go down to the front desk speak to a nice person who says I'm sorry our software doesn't allow for that, we're terribly sorry. I said why didn't you let me know when I checked in or have somebody bring a second one up instead of making me run around like a chicken with my head, chopped off and wait 20 minutes in the check-in line.

They gave me a new key card and low on the behold the door wouldn't close. I waited a half an hour for engineering to come up and then I couldn't leave the room so I waited by the pool for two hours while they fixed it, until I could get back in.

As I was complaining to the front desk and nice guy next to me, looked at me and said this is the worst place he's ever stayed at. He said he booked 31 rooms and they have had nothing but trouble their entire stay.

I sent my laundry in for cleaning at 12 noon yesterday and at 5 PM I still haven't received it. I asked the operator and she said she doesn't see it on the list but will check with housekeeping. She calls me back 10 minutes later and said oh it'll be ready by 6 PM as in we're going to run out and get it cleaned for you right now. I talked to the manager and she advised that the laundry is received by the hotel by 6PM.... and I had to correct her by showing the laundry slip that it was to be in the room by 6PM... neither of which happened. Oh, and replacing the laundry bag for a new set of dirties... yeah... still waiting on that. WTH!

I wanted to call the spa, but didn't realize there was a separate button on the phone for it so I called the operator and was put on hold for it appeared to be three or four minutes. Now seeing a separate spa button, I called the spa directly and I'm told it would be a moment... Five minutes later, nothing just empty air.

I have three more days here. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

I am almost titanium tiered status with Marriott, and I will tell you I will never stay at a Ritz, Carlton, or other high-end property by Marriott again.

Update next day back door still won't lock completely unsecure room no way for to know it at the time, but anybody could've walked in. The only way I can get to the pool now is to go out to the lobby and back to the pool deck and back. I paid extra to have a pool deck room.

You can’t make this stuff up now. The front door won’t close without slamming it behind you. They come twice to fix it telling you both times it was fixed. I’m here to tell...

*---UPDATE--- I am adding this update to my review to be perfectly clear...while the manager has responded noting that he's happy that our billing concern was rectified, I'd like to make it clear that it was not rectified at all. We received a $146 credit, which is nowhere near the amount we should have received. I do not want anyone reading my review and the hotel's response to be confused with regards to that point. Our billing dispute was not ever resolved and we were not ever given anything other than the apology the hotel manager posted online in response to the negative review. *

I regret to say that our stay at this hotel was nothing short of disappointing. From the very start, we were greeted by a foul odor in our room, which turned out to be emanating from a cloth item left behind the toilet. The lack of attention to cleanliness was evident, as the linens on our bed were soiled on the first night, leaving us with an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. Someone brought up extra sheets, but there was no offer to make the bed or anything.

Adding to our dismay, the side table in the room remained dirty even after housekeeping had supposedly tended to it. The same negligence extended to the tub, which was far from clean, and the closet that was muggy and damp, rendering our clothes practically unusable.

Our dissatisfaction continued as we encountered a tray of food left in the hallway for well over 24 hours. The hotel's inability to promptly remove such items from the common areas raised questions about their commitment to maintaining a clean and inviting environment. To add insult to injury, we found our own room's cart abandoned in the hallway despite requesting its retrieval multiple times. We were compelled to place the tray in the hallway ourselves due to the lack of response from the staff.

The extent of our frustration peaked when we ordered food, only to face extensive delays. Despite informing the person taking our order about a medical condition and requesting some crackers for a diabetic guest, our concerns were blatantly ignored. The disregard for our well-being was alarming and disappointing.

I took photos of the receipts from tabs we had at the pool, and to my surprise the price of the drinks fluctuated repeatedly. For example, the price of a pina colada changed from $20 to $22 to $25 at the same exact bar depending on the bartender. It was really unacceptable, but I did not realize it until going over the receipts I photographed. Just ridiculous.

The hotel staff also could not refrain from acknowledging the fact that we booked the hotel using a discounted rate whenever an issue would arise. Not sure how that is relevant, but it surely seems that they believe people using a discounted rate are not deserving of a high level of service.

To make matters worse, as our stay came to an end, the hotel managers displayed a lack of remorse for the series of issues we faced. Their unapologetic attitude was matched only by their inefficient handling of our concerns. It took an exasperating two hours for them to deduct a mere $146 from our bill, a process that should have been swift and straightforward.

In conclusion, our experience at this hotel was marked by a distressing combination of uncleanliness, neglect, and a disregard for our well-being. The litany of issues we encountered, from foul odors to dirty linens and subpar service, painted a disheartening picture of the establishment's lack of commitment to quality. The unrepentant attitude of the management and their inefficient handling of our concerns only added to our frustration. Our stay was marred by a series of failures on the part of the hotel, and I would caution anyone seeking a comfortable and hassle-free experience to reconsider...