Swan — Restaurant in Miami

This was not at all what you’d expect from a so-called high-end restaurant in the Design District during an event as prestigious as Art Basel. Our dining experience yesterday was nothing short of appalling.

We had a reservation for four people at 4:30 PM. When booking, there were no indications of any restrictions, yet when we arrived, the hostess informed us they had just been “instructed to not seat anyone” because they were preparing for dinner. Our options? Return at 6 PM—an hour and a half past our original reservation—or sit at the bar. Reluctantly, we chose the bar. Big mistake.

The bar itself was filthy—sticky surfaces, fruit flies buzzing around, and no one bothering to clean between guests. It was disgusting. Despite there being only two other parties at the bar and two bartenders working, it took ages to get any attention. When we finally managed to order drinks, the bartender didn’t even know the items on the happy hour menu. He repeatedly asked us to point out what we wanted, then looked at the menu and followed the ingredients with his finger like he was reading a recipe for the first time. We ordered Tropical Storm and Smoking Bee, a part of their set happy hour menu, and should be standard for any competent bartender, but clearly, they weren’t here.

We had planned to dine but quickly decided against it after this poor start. Before leaving, we visited the restrooms, and the experience somehow managed to get worse. The ladies’ room was an outright disaster: sticky, wet floors; no toilet paper in any stall; no paper towels for drying hands; water everywhere on the sinks; an overflowing trash can; and a detached faucet. My boyfriend said the men’s restroom was just as bad—water all over the floor and paper towels strewn everywhere.

What was meant to be a special introduction to Miami for my boyfriend’s visiting family turned into a major embarrassment. Swan, with its renowned hospitality name and high-profile branding, utterly failed to live up to its reputation.

What was once considered a top-tier dining destination has become nothing more than a disappointing reflection of Miami’s shallow, surface-level culture. It’s all for show—pretty on the outside, hollow on the inside.

Highly disappointed. Big embarrassment to have such an experience in the GH’s portfolio of restaurants. Groot Hospitality should step up its game or risk being overtaken by the wave of better-run establishments and hospitality experts arriving...

For someone who loves to try new restaurants, this was hands down the worst dining experience I've ever had.

After being ignored without even a 'hello' at host stand, we were then asked to wait in a seperate area when inquiring about our table 20 mins into our reservation time. "I'll get you when the table is ready".

After another 40 mins we return to the hostess stand: "excuse me, when will we be seated? We had reservations an hour ago." Instead of being professional or kind to the customer, the brunette pony tail says "EVERYONE here has a reservation." The audacity to speak to a paying customer in that manner should've been enough hint to leave. Why offer reservations if they're not going to be honored?

The best part? After looking at her tablet, "oh, it says you were seated 15 mins ago." Clearly not ma'am -_- No apologies for the rude remarks, trash attitude, or time wasted with their mistake. But finally seated.

Noticing how busy it was and understanding they are likely low staffed, we patiently waited about 15 mins for the waiter to attend to us. When we order our cocktails, only 3 of 4 arrive. It takes nearly 30 mins for anyone to pay attention to us again. Drink was reordered, but instead of providing a fresh one he brings over the forgotten drink that was waiting at the bar, now watered down with half melted ice for $18. Either a fresh drink or a discount please.

At this point the crowd had died down, yet we still waited an unusually long time between courses with everyone receiving their dishes at different times, tables that arrived after us being served first, and not being asked if we needed anything else. For the entire meal, two of us had to SHARE A NAPKIN as the one given had a huge dirty stain in the middle.

Nothing was memorable about the food besides the long black hair found in our burrata. A quick apology and switch out from the waiter for that one. But no compensation on the bill.

Finally our desserts arrive, with the ice cream melting off the plate to the point it spills onto our friends' arm and dress, to no notice of the server. We used our now over-used, shared napkin to clean it up.

Three hours later, our party spent $250 for rude hostesses, terrible service and mediocre food. I'd love my time and money back on this one.

The large picture hanging nearby captured the experience perfectly. The one star is for the pretty foliage/decor and kind busboy that made sure we at least always had our...

I eat all over Miami, and at the best restaurants all over the world for that matter. To say my experience at Swan was a disappointment would be an understatement. I would never return to this restaurant and don’t recommend anybody visit as there are so many other options in which to choose from, especially in this area.

Last night was supposed to be one of those special occasion date nights at Swan. I had made the reservation for a table and we even arrived early to have a drink at the bar before we sat for dinner.

We were immediately warned of a time limitation on our table as we sat down. I understand this, but there is a proper way in which to enforce this.

This leads to the huge management issue, particularly led by Sergio, who did an extremely poor job in handling the situation last night. I had already heard that the service is subpar here and now I know why.

As we worked our way through dinner, we ordered some of the most expensive dishes, with multiple appetizers and entrées, with an expectation of going into dessert and an additional bottle of wine. Therefore, we were spending more than most, I would say.

Towards the end of our meal, Sergio approached the table with no salutation, but only a rude remark to say that we were not getting our second bottle of wine, and we needed to wrap up our dinner and release the table.

As we looked around 75% of the restaurant was still empty. We questioned why we would need to leave when others had obviously had not arrived for a subsequent seating. We also got online and found that immediate reservations for tables were still readily available. Sergio simply responded that was the rules and delivered our check to be paid.

As you can imagine, this ruined our special occasion. To have someone like Sergio in an important position and showing such poor leadership in how it was handled, would lead my recommendation that his employment be terminated or certainly these actions documented. At the most basic level this manager should be sent for better training of how to handle customers as we now all risk the extremely unpleasant experience Sergio may create...