The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Miami — Local services in Miami

This review is for the liftin facial, specifically. Prior to this experience, I've visited the Mandarin in DC and it was excellent. The facility is also nice if you spend an hour relaxing the vitality pool or steam room. The tubs are nice to enjoy before treatment.

This was my first time at the Mandarin in Miami and I was disappointed. I was asked to arrive 45 minutes early before my appointment to have time to relax. Upon my arrival I was greeted by Sheila. She was courteous and very professional. She had me fill out a form, took my shoes and brought me a pair of slippers, with tea and a wet towel. She then proceeded to give a tour of the spa. Upon walking through the hallway there was strong smell of acetone. When we entered the locker room I noticed a stained towel on the floor. The facility is fairly small, two bathrooms, small locker rooms, two showers, regular sauna, a steam sauna and a relaxation area. The shower was dirty with hair from the previous person. After the use of the sauna I proceeded to the relaxation room. The relaxation room has approximately 8 beds with curtains. They were all full and the only bed available was wet from previous person who had just left. You could hear the person's next to you breath. It reminded me of a hospital. The attendants walk freely in and out of the relaxation room with noisy carts full of towels. This was a completely different experience from the Mandarin in DC.

Now onto the facial. I had the Liftin Facial with a facialist who was supposedly one of their popular staff members, for whatever that is worth. I was initially excited to learn more about the facial massage. But this facial was so utterly boring and disappointing. The facialist didn't share any specific information about my skin through the entire facial. I'll admit that my skin is in descent shape, but it's certainly not perfect and I was hoping that there would be at least "some" feedback, discussion around my routine, or recommendations. Nothing. She literally said nothing and did not ask any questions. The entire facial consisted of her placing products on my face an wiping it off. The facial "massage" was light stroking of products (that I could have done myself, honestly). Guys, the ENTIRE time I was thinking about the serums and face oils I could have purchased for the money I was spending on this facial. At the end I noticed that instead of an 90 minutes I only received 60 minutes of a facial massage. When I asked her about the time she apologized and explained she was booked with other appointments. I asked to speak with the Manager - Marbella. She also apologized and explained that they had last minute walk in appointments and they couldn't accommodate more than 60 minutes. After spending over $450 + 18% gratuity they added to the bill I will never visit this place again. This was an...

My wife made a reservation for us to celebrate our anniversary at Mandarin oriental, Miami. She made the reservation over the phone and during the call, she was promised a bottle of champagne, breakfast included, and a $50 credit to use in any additional consumption (which is a Bed and Breakfast bundle that they offer standardly plus a bottle of champagne that they said they would give us for our anniversary)

Upon arrival, we asked for a late check out and they offered 3 pm. We were charged $871 which included some additional charged for incidentals.

When we got to the room, there was no bottle of champagne. We called and after a while a front desk manager looked for us at the so called beach bar (there is no beach) and told us that everything had been taken care of. They fixed the mistake and gave us the bottle after asking for it.

The next day, we had our breakfast at the restaurant. No orders different that the buffet and coffee.

At 1 pm somebody knocked at our door checking if we were leaving or extending our stay. The guy did not know that we had asked for a late check out that had been granted up to 3 pm.

At 2:45 pm we checked out. When we got the bill, oh surprise!! There were some charges for the breakfast and a charge for $17 at the beach bar. They did not take into account the $50 credit that was part of the standard bundle.

In summary, they promised 4 things: Champagne, $50 credit, Breakfast included and 3 pm check out. None was delivered without having to ask for each one again.

After the complaint, they said they adjusted the bill according to offered promises.

Two days after leaving the hotel, we got a charge of $83 additional. I checked my credit card and found that the initial charge for $871 was still there. No adjustment was made for that initial charge to reflect the final bill. And now another mistake of the $83.

I called the hotel trying to understand where that charge came from and the lady at the front desk tells me that it is for minibar consumptions. We only consumed a bottle of Pellegrino ( that should have been offset by the initial $50 credit). They charged a bottle of wine and a beer that we did not consumed.

So in summary, everything went terrible! Every single interaction was problematic. There is a lot of miscommunication between everybody. Reservations did not communicate to the front desk, if we do not ask for the adjustment of the $50, the front desk would have not applied the credit, the charge for the breakfast, the late check out and finally the mini bar...

Today I had the package that included a 50 min massage, 50 min facial and mani pedi. What an amazing experience! The massage therapist who also did my facial was PHENOMENAL. The massage was the perfect amount of pressure with the right amount of attention to my areas of concern. My only complaint about the facial was no steam/extractions but otherwise it was fantastic. My skin was glowing all day- just the pick me up I needed.

Now for the nails- wow! Mayra was SOOO sweet and did the most incredible job. Probably one of the best mani pedis I have ever had!! Her attention to detail was impeccable and she didn't miss a beat accommodating me and making me feel great. She was polite and respectful and knew when I wanted to just read a magazine and relax. We had great conversation when I was ready (lol takes me a little to wake up after a massage and facial). If you just want someone who does a great job in Miami- go see her and you won't be disappointed.

Cleanliness: everything was managed perfectly and seemed very sterile and clean. There was always someone making sure the areas were tidy and spotless without being too much. There was never anyone really in your way at all, usually they were stealth like to clean LOL. I will say I noticed the waterfall in the relaxation room needed to be cleaned but who cares? Its a waterfall LOL. The showers, steamroom and sauna were impeccable.

Pricing: I thought the price was well worth it. You pay for the experience of having relaxing facilities, professional staff and excellent service. To be honest, once you're out the door in other salons with your mani pedi- you probably spend about $20 or 30 more by coming here. In my opinion the time, environment, and quality is well worth the extra money. Like I said before, it was the best mani pedi I think I have ever had (out of MANY- probably 1 every 2 weeks for the past several years). Overall, Id do this again a million times if I could. If you're stressed and need half a day off to recover from life- do yourself a favor...