Aloft by Marriott Miami Doral

We stayed seven nights with the whole family, and I’d definitely come back. The rooms were spacious, the beds comfortable, and the cleaning ladies did a great job each day. When I called about the shower door flap that was letting water spill out, maintenance came right away and fixed it. The kids had fun with the pool table, and we enjoyed the lobby events on Wednesday and Thursday nights, plus happy hour. I also used the washer on the 6th Fl and was surprised by how clean the laundry room was.

I’ve stayed at the Aloft more than six times, but usually go next door to the Element and couldn’t get a room this time. The location is convenient, though the hotel needs maintenance. The room was either cold or warm with no comfortable middle ground, and the air conditioner was very loud and ran more than it needed to. Saturday’s shower was warm, Sunday’s was cold. How does a modern hotel not have hot water? Room service was the bright spot, and they cleaned very well. The Element next door has a very nice breakfast, while at the Aloft you have to pay for food that’s crap, even though they have the same owners. On Friday night the lobby and hallway were extremely noisy, with no English being spoken. I won’t stay here again.

Both nights of my two-night business stay, music from the restaurant across the shared courtyard blasted until 2am. The first night was a Monday, the second a Tuesday. I’m usually not very sensitive to noise and can tune a lot out, but this was too loud to ignore. When I asked to change rooms, they said the rooms on the other side were all booked and there was nothing they could do. I asked the next day if this happened often, since that would mean not sleeping for two nights on a business trip. They seemed surprised and said they didn’t know because it wasn’t their venue. Other reviewers have mentioned it, though, so they should know and should have been honest. They could have offered to move me to the Aloft a few miles away. The shower doors also don’t sit flush against the wall, so the bathroom floods whenever you shower. There’s no way to avoid the gap. Good luck using the toilet afterward. I should have read the reviews before booking.

Parking and coffee were good, and the front desk staff were nice, but we haven’t had a great stay. We’ll be here seven days total, and today, the sixth day, was the first time we had hot water. Our room hasn’t been cleaned once. We’ve handled our own trash and even bought trash bags since there aren’t any in the room. We’ve had to find clean towels and toilet paper ourselves, and at one point washed our towels because we couldn’t find a housekeeper. Calls to the front desk go unanswered. We also have a room with a shared door, so we hear everything the neighbors say and do, even at 3 am. We usually stay in Alofts when we travel, but this time has been disappointing.