The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami

This is by far the worst Ritz-Carlton I have stayed at. Our experience at this hotel was disappointing enough that I feel compelled to warn others. While there were a few bright spots—housekeeping was fast, the privacy of having only two rooms per floor was appreciated, the view was lovely, and the drinks at the pool were actually quite good—those positives were quickly overshadowed by some serious issues. First and foremost, we had a medical emergency with someone in our party. Shockingly, we were not informed about this until after the hotel staff had them transported to the hospital. When we asked the front desk for details, no one could tell us anything about what happened. Worse, they refused to let us speak with a manager nor did they take any information from us about the events leading up to the emergency. It was beyond frustrating and incredibly distressing during an already tense situation. Prior to this situation happening, we were lounging at the pool near others who were not hotel guests or residents (they made this clear when talking to us). They were loud, disruptive, and ruined what could have been a relaxing afternoon especially given the medical emergency that happened shortly after. Apparently, the hotel does little to monitor who uses the facilities. On top of that, our room's air conditioning barely worked. It made a loud whistling noise all night and stayed stuffy even when set to 65 degrees. Sleeping comfortably was nearly impossible. The location, while seemingly convenient, is a logistical nightmare. If you're coming from or going north, be prepared for multiple u-turns and confusing access points. It's more hassle than it's worth. All in all, the lack of communication, poor management response, and overall guest experience were unacceptable. I won’t be returning and strongly recommend you look elsewhere. Read less

First, the positives-this is a beautiful property overlooking Haulover inlet (a treat if you're a fan of boats). Much quieter than South Beach but a close drive to restaurants and shopping. The room and bathroom were great, immaculate, pool was nice, and beach was pretty. Where this property lacks is service. This was our second time here for my birthday. We emailed ahead of time to let them know, hoping there would be some recognition of the special day. Upon check in, nothing was noted. We were also placed on the second floor (we asked for a higher floor when we booked), overlooking a metal roof. We also could not access the Wifi in the room. I went back downstairs to ask for a higher floor and let them know about the wifi. I was told no higher floor was available, but in the lobby using cell service I could see online there was. The person at the front desk said yes, she could see that but it really wasn't available... went back upstairs and still no wifi despite the front desk's instructions. I called down for an engineer, which they did promptly send. Meanwhile, my husband was not happy with the view and wanted to see about an upgrade. I spoke to the engineer who said yes, the wifi is working but perhaps there is a sign in problem and to go back to the front desk. I go back a third time and tell them the wifi is still not working, and to ask about an upgrade. At this point it had been about 45 min of my son and husband just sitting there, not unpacking to see if we were changing rooms, and not able to log on for work because the wifi didn't work. I was told no, they could not upgrade me despite there being higher floors available. I asked even though we're not able to log into work, this is my third visit down here and we've now wasted about an hour of our time? The answer was no. I told them we would pay for an upgrade then, and asked for some kind of dining voucher at least. I was told "we're already getting two complimentary drinks a day". What lousy customer service!!! The wifi problem was also because the front desk attendant kept telling us to put the 0 before our room number. It took 3 people to correct that. I also asked to make sure they knew it was my birthday as my husband had emailed ahead of time and nothing was waiting in the room upon arrival. (At many properties, there would be a welcome card, a bottle of wine, a sweet treat etc). One of the attendants said yes, they had it written down and she would be handling it personally. NOTHING ever arrived in our room, no treat, no nothing the entire stay. Anyway, we finally moved rooms to a higher floor (and paid the price for it despite it now being going on two hours trying to change rooms AND get working wifi). From then on, our stay was nice. The pool service was great. Beach service was inconsistent, ranging from someone promptly helping us one day to the beach guys literally just standing around talking as we waited for chairs and towels (we finally got our own). Check in was abysmal, and the fact they still did nothing to even recognize the birthday we were celebrating, despite many reminders, was really disappointing. Read less