The Strand at Carillon Miami — Restaurant in Miami Beach

Our experience here was interesting. It started out great and ended on a rather sour note. The greeter here needs to be trained on social etiquette, politeness and how not to be racist and racially profile people. I will say our negative experience only involves her, as the other employees at the hotel & the restaurant were all nice. Let’s get into it.

My Mom and I came here last week. It was not crowded at all as it was the middle of the afternoon, mid-week; there was only one other family in the entire restaurant by the time we left. The greeter was fine at first, a little stiff with a forced, fake smile but I didn’t think anything of it at the time. We were seated at the back of the restaurant so I could see the ocean from the windows. The ambiance was very nice.

Our waiter was very, very nice and made sure my Mom had extra avocado and nice, thick chunks of lobster on her tacos. He was talkative, friendly and gave good recommendations. She thoroughly enjoyed her meal. My ravioli dish was okay (they could’ve put more pieces but I suppose plating was more important to them) but delicious.

We paid for our meal, chatted for a bit and got up to leave. As we walked towards the front of the restaurant, the same greeter started shouting after us because she thought we didn’t pay. Our very nice waiter instantly defended us (even he sounded annoyed; I can’t imagine what it’s like working with someone like her) and she stopped talking. She didn’t explain herself, apologize or take any kind of accountability for her very rude actions.

To accuse us of not paying when there are cameras in the restaurant, it was not crowded at all, and it was broad daylight? The audacity. The irony of doing this in a wellness resort is not lost on me. A little less racist behavior and little more love and light please. The food was excellent but we’ll never be back. People go to restaurants to eat, not to be humiliated.

I don’t remember what she looked like and I don’t know her name. But you know who you are. And you know what you did....

Sadly, my experience wasn't great. The hostess was very friendly and recognized from my reservation that I was celebrating a birthday. The plan was to have breakfast gazing at the beach before the spa services I booked at the same location. The server was in a pretty bad mood apparently. But even worse she was inattentive. When the coffee and eggs arrived cold and I had questions of any sort, she could not be found. I eventually asked another server to send over a manager who was very apologetic and rectified the problems the best she could. She did however try to say that my reservation had been cancelled since I wasn't there at 9 am, but I was actually 10 minutes early to my 9:30 am reservation and showed her proof of my reservation time and the confirmation messages. So it didn't make sense for that excuse to have been offered. And the experience of frustration, poor treatment and wasted time could not be reversed. So it would have been nice had she offered to take off an appetizer or make any adjustment whatsoever but she did not and it was a missed opportunity to show excellent service and win over a guest. As I paid the bill, I asked if it would be presented to the manager to confirm she had an opportunity to do that if she so desired and she did not. It was only after I paid and shared my disappointment that she deducted $10. The view was beautiful and I enjoyed the meal after the issues were corrected more than an hour after my arrival. I made sure to enjoy my birthday in spite of the lack of good service. The lady working the valet was downright rude though. I mean very rude. To be in the hospitality industry, it takes a little more concern about the guest experience than what I witnessed here today from various staff persons...

Okay, first off, the atmosphere of this place was great for a Valentine's Day dinner. Very nice, romantic, intimate place. Our server was also friendly and attentive. The dinner available was a Valentine's Day special, that offered a starter, appetizer, main course, and dessert. For our starter, we got the oysters, and they tasted fresh, but the shrimp that came with the oysters was a little sandy for me. Next came the appetizer, which was a shrimp scampi, which was very good. For our entree, this is where things went slightly downhill. We ordered the beef tenderloin for our entree, and once our server took our shrimp scampi plates, we waited for the entree to come out. Cue the wait for nearly 1.5 hours. I understand that it was Valentine's Day and the wait was most likely going to be long, but 1.5 hours was a little ridiculous. The tables to our left and right ended up getting two of their next dishes before we got ours. Our server came 3 times to apologize for the long wait and assured us twice that the entree would be coming out right away, but it ended up taking almost an hour and a half. When it finally arrived, my partner's was slightly underdone, which was no problem, and mine was overdone. I asked for mine medium, but received it closer to medium well/well done. Not only that, but on top of it, it was lukewarm, not even warm. Our server came and apologized again and brought the manager who then said he would take off the cost of one entire meal which I appreciated. We then were offered free drinks as compensation and asked for Sprite. Finally, came the dessert, which was probably the best thing we received. All in all, great service, but not the best of food, and I personally would not return to have...