We experienced this property as a great urban retreat and it far surpassed our expectations. The hotel shines for its excellent service, great room value for price, amazing rooftop pool area on par with a resort property, museum-quality art collection, and variety of solid dining options.

Overview

At-a-Glance

• Date of stay: November 2019

• Length of stay: Two 1 night / 2 day stays (international vacation bookends)

• Trip type: Family stopover on way to/from Italy

• Property type: Luxury city hotel catering primarily to business travelers and events, but welcoming to families

• Tailor-made for: Lazy days spent by the pool, brunch and art aficionados, those looking for the convenient location of a city hotel with the feel of an urban oasis

Highlights

• ​Staff service — attentive and warm

• Resort-style rooftop pool area with large pool and hot tub, small kids pool with kid-sized cabanas, and hammock lounging pool

• Room value for category / rate

• Complimentary Equinox fitness center access

• Museum-quality art collection, including three oversize statues by Fernando Botero

Good to Know

• While guests can get to the beach by car from the hotel, if you’re looking for a place with convenient beach access, this is not it (plus, no complimentary shuttle / house car)

• The crowd was a little rowdy and the influencer scene got a little risque in the pool area at times

• Food was okay, but nothing outstanding

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Location & Setting

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The Four Seasons Hotel Miami is located in the heart of downtown on Brickell Avenue, the city’s financial and cultural center, a block from Biscayne Bay. This hotel is the urban sister property to the beachside Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club located 30 minutes away in Surfside.

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Property & Grounds

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The Four Seasons Hotel Miami comprises 221 rooms and suites and 84 residences, 2-acre Pool Terrace, 5 dining options, Equinox fitness center and spa, conference/banquet facilities, shopping boutique, and a museum-quality art collection (three Botero bronze sculptures and the Dominguez de Haro Gallery). 

The modern design/art-focused hotel pays tribute to South Florida culture in its design touches, dining program, and music.

The 2-acre pool Terrace with multiple pools and whirlpool is a distinctive feature that sets this hotel apart from others as more of an “urban retreat.”

The main downside of the property was the crowd. Our first stay, there was a wedding crowd that was rowdy, rude and disruptive (nothing hotel could do, they apologized on behalf of guests in front of the kids). Our second stay, the influencers were out in full force: one woman spent (no exaggeration) 2 hours taking barely-there-bikini-selfies around the pool area assuming the most provocative poses you can imagine. Shortly thereafter, another woman walked around the pool with a giant light reflector disc posing intermittently while someone took pictures of her.

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Room

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We booked a Classic Room, city view, for both of our stays through the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program. Our first stay, we were upgraded to a Bay View Room. On our 2nd stay, no official upgrade but stayed in a corner room with partial Bay views.

The American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program rate included free daily breakfast credit of $35 per adult, 1-category room upgrade if available, $100 hotel food and beverage credit per stay, guaranteed 4pm checkout, 12pm check-in when available, and complimentary Wi-Fi.

The room consisted of two Double beds, a window seat, desk and chair, standard closet, and mini-bar. The bathroom had a separate tub and shower, toilet, single sink/vanity, and L’Occitane Amande bath amenities.

​There were cookies provided in the room as a welcome amenity.

The kids loved the window seat overlooking the bay/city, spent a solid hour each day monitoring and narrating to us everything they saw out the window.

Another nice touch was the list of local attractions/events provided in the room.

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Service

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Every member of staff went above and beyond to make our stay memorable.

For example, the member of housekeeping staff who brought the crib to the room voluntarily brought an extra manatee plush so each of the children could have one.

Another team member, Karla, tracked us down outside to personally apologize for our in-room dining cart not being taken away for hours after we had requested and offered free smoothies to make up for it.

We had 4pm late checkout with our stay, but the girls had late naps and the hotel let us check out at 5pm without incurring additional charges so they could sleep a little later.

The member of bell staff who stored our luggage before our transfer back to the airport accidentally left one of the kids' backpacks in the luggage storage room, which we didn't realize until we got to the airport. The hotel FedExed the backpack to our home with a gift of kids flashcards and a hand-written apology card.

​The morning of our second stay, we found a large shard of broken glass in baby pool area. We notified the pool attendant, and he and a manager personally checked everywhere for more glass (couldn’t find any), then they had pool area vacuumed out to be sure it was safe.

Despite Thanksgiving dinner being fully booked up, a member of hotel staff rearranged the dining area the night before Thanksgiving so we could eat Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel (even though we said we could easily go to another hotel nearby that had open reservations if it was any trouble).

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Dining

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The hotel offers five dining options:

• Edge Steak & Bar -- this is the hotel's main restaurant, which has an over-the-top Sunday and holiday brunch buffet, rated one of the best in America by Travel + Leisure magazine

• Edge Terrace

• Bahia, Pool restaurant -- framed by waterfall and pergolas

• Poolside dining

• In-room dining

We ate at all of these venues except Poolside dining and thought the food was solid.

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Family Services & Amenities

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The hotel offers a host of complimentary services for families/kids, including:

• Cribs and play pens in room, on request

• Crib comes with plush manatee, Four Seasons Hotel Miami branded cloth bib, and baby bath amenities

• Kids age-appropriate welcome amenities of plush dogs, coloring books, crayons, cookies and treats in room

• Kids bath amenities and kids names in styrofoam letters on bathroom mirror

• Step stools in bathrooms, both in room and in select public areas such as pool restroom

• Kids bathrobes and slippers

• Kids menu / coloring activities in Edge restaurant, Bahia pool restaurant, poolside dining, and in-room dining

• Books, DVDs and Board games

The hotel can arrange babysitting services, on request.

The Pool Terrace is ultra-family-friendly with:

• Heated full-size pool with rafts, noodles, pool toys, and kids flotation devices

• Whirlpool

• Palm Grove wading pool

• Gated kids (baby) pool with baby loungers/cabanas and giant Connect 4 in the baby pool area

• Bags lawn games set up

Concierge can arrange onsite kids activities such as cookie decorating, scavenger hunts, and behind-the-scenes hotel tours, as well as family-friendly activities in the area.

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Activities

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The hotel activities center on the 2-acre Pool Terrace on 7th floor overlooking Miami city skyline, open 24 hours:

• A large climate-controlled pool and whirlpool, with first-come/first-served cabanas and lounge chairs and tropical hideaway hedge cabanas (reserved-for-a-fee)

• Palm Grove wading pool with hammocks suspended between palm trees

• Gated kids (baby) pool with Giant Connect 4

• Residence-only pool

• Evian spritzes, chilled towels, and complimentary 30 SPF sunscreen and after-sun soothing gel

There were also lawn games (bags) set up on the Pool Terrace.

The hotel also shines due to its museum-quality art collection, including three bronze sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, and the "underwater" Dominguez de Haro Gallery on the 7th floor.

The Concierge can also arrange all types of activities based on guests' interests.

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Wellness

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The Pool Terrace has a large swimming pool and whirlpool. The Pool Terrace also has ample green spaces and walking paths.

There is an Equinox gym on 4th floor of the hotel to which hotel guests have full access.

The Spa​ at Equinox offers all types of treatments.

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Wow Factor

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The rooftop pool complex was the big “wow” of this property, with the art collection (the Botero statues in particular) adding another distinctive element. Unfortunately, guest behavior during both of our stays detracted significantly from the overall experience of this hotel.

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Value

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It is rare to find a city hotel with such a great rooftop pool complex and complimentary access to an Equinox-level-quality Fitness Center and Spa. Add in the art collection, and the value at this hotel becomes notable. Booking through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts got us lots of valuable perks for each of our 1-night stay bookings that added even more to the value equation for this stay.

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Overall

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This is a great "urban oasis" option for those looking for a downtown Miami location city hotel with a sprawling rooftop pool complex, especially for a weekend getaway. That said, this property is not well-suited to those who want to visit the beach.

Rating Legend*

💛💛💛💛💛 Exceptional

💛💛💛💛 Notable

💛💛💛 Standard

💛💛 Substandard

💛 Unsatisfactory

*All ratings are relative to similar-class properties