Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel by IHG

I paid over $2,000 USD for this stay, and having to use soaked towels with no replacement felt far below what I expect at this price. My room wasn’t cleaned for two days in a row, even after I raised it with the front desk multiple times and was assured it would be handled. The towel from the first day stayed completely wet, which was unpleasant and felt unhygienic. The rooms are small, and humidity builds up quickly after a shower. I was also concerned to learn housekeeping apparently finishes around 5:00 PM and doesn’t return to missed rooms. If there are staffing or scheduling problems, management needs a way to make sure basic standards are met. This seems like an issue with management and oversight, not the employees. I left quite disappointed with my stay at the Kimpton Surfcomber in Miami Beach.

We paid more than $600 a night for a bachelorette celebration, but the stay felt like a one-star experience. Between the poor service, room problems, misleading city view upgrade, and requests that weren’t handled, I wouldn’t return or recommend it. We arrived late on Feb 5. The front desk agent acted as if checking us in was a chore, and was unfriendly. We’d called a week earlier to ask for rooms near each other but were put in separate towers. When I asked to be in the same tower, she said no without checking. Only after I pressed did she look and find two rooms in one tower. We’d also paid extra for city views, but one room faced a courtyard and the other looked at a wall of another hotel. The next day we complained and were told we could change rooms at 2 PM, but the text didn’t arrive until 5 PM. The replacement rooms were close together on the 3rd floor of the North Tower, but had more serious problems. One shower was boiling hot and wouldn’t cool down, and repeated calls didn’t get it fixed. The other wouldn’t get hot, the room and bathroom were dirty, and the AC smelled like feces whenever it came on. We had to switch rooms again. At checkout, the front desk and floor manager dismissed our complaints and rolled their eyes. One employee did discount the bill by $250, but that wasn’t close to making up for the experience. This was shocking for the price and the four-star branding.

The pool was easily the best part of the property, and if that’s mainly what you’re after, you’ll probably enjoy it. The rest left a lot to be desired. We had to keep tracking down the pool server to place our order and pay the $200 bill. The TV streaming never worked, so we watched everything on our laptop, and the coffeemaker sprayed hot water everywhere when it malfunctioned. Staff weren’t particularly helpful. We were only there for two nights, so it wasn’t the end of the world. Any longer and I think we’d have been frustrated. If service, working equipment, and attention to detail matter to you, you might want to look elsewhere. It felt like they promised more than they delivered.

SUPERB. The rooms were so, so clean, and the whole hotel was immaculate. The shampoos, conditioner, and body wash smelled lovely and clean, and they didn’t irritate my skin. The grounds were breathtaking, and the location was incredible, steps from espangnola way, Lincoln, Washington, and lots to do on colins street. We stayed four days and had a great time. At the pool we always had chairs and umbrellas with service, and there were free chairs on the beach. They covered each chair with a large towel and left us another one to dry off with, so we didn’t need towel clips. There was always water with sliced oranges in the lobby or at the pool. Free coffee was available from 9:00-11:00 am, and the 5:00-6:00pm social club in the lobby offered wine, Persecco, and non-alcoholic drinks. The hotel restaurant was great. Breakfast-SICK. From check-in to checkout, the staff took amazing care of us. They offered mimosas, water bottles to take along, and colouring books with crayons. I travel a lot and have never seen a place this clean. We go to Miami once a year and will keep coming back to this hotel. Wow!!!