Ccm2024As people who travel regularly, we place a lot of emphasis on other reviews when booking. I was rather concerned reading previous reviews of this property, but having stayed at multiple other Ritz Carlton’s (Singapore, Koh Samui, Dalllas, Melbourne etc) we hoped the brand would live up to expectations and great experiences at other properties. IT DID NOT!
Strongly suggest avoiding this property at all costs. Look at the low ranked reviews, they all make sense to me after staying.
This property has us questioning if we would ever stay with this brand again. Amazing isn’t it, how one property can tarnish a brands reputation.
We have been overcharged after checkout after settling the bill when leaving (unresolved at this point but will get to that later).
The first room we checked into had air conditioning so loud you could not hear the TV. It was also dirty with marks and dust/grime on every surface and excess dog hair on the floor. I went to the front desk and the best they could do was “send someone up to check the A/C. The property was practically empty. This was not good enough!
I was fortunate enough to speak with the GM who remedied the room situation immediately. We then dealt with Daniel (who was on loan from Santa Barbara Ritz Carlton) he was a great reflection on the brand. He upgraded us, which was appreciated but not expected, just a room with a reasonable a/c would have been fine.
Rooms are very average, worn and not clean. Linen was stained, towels so old some had tears and holes in them.
The majority of the staff seemed like they would rather be anywhere else than at the Ritz Carlton South, can’t say I blame them but really let the place down.
When dining they would bring the bill before we had finished dining over and over, at times even advising their break was about to start so needed to provide bill, how about you get another staff member to do this…
Upon checkout I paid with an alternate card than I used for the security deposit (to avoid international transaction fees). I settled the bill of approx $450usd and away we went.
A few days later, a charge of $390usd (approx) appears on my original card used for security deposit (along with an international transaction fee). This charge is absolute rubbish and was not warranted, everything was settled and paid on check out.
I rang and rang and rang all day to the hotel and the phone was never answered. Finally I had to call and international call centre where the wind noise in the background was so loud I could hardly hear. I was then told the extra was for bar charges (not ours!) we had one whisky and a coke at the bar which was on my bill at checkout. I was then told they would try to contact hotel and hopefully in up to 2 weeks they would respond to the call centre, and sometime after to me. This from Ritz Carlton? Disgraceful.
We then got lucky and got the US call centre. This was much more helpful and the agent advised the hotel would call back the same day. Still no call back from Hotel, no explanation of why my card was charged… no invoice, no receipts.
Now I need to go through the process of disputing the transaction with my bank. Really?
The old saying one bad apple spoils the cart, couldn’t be more true of the Ritz Carlton South Beach. There were many other disappointing things that happened during the stay that isn’t even worth going into. Such an epic disappointment from this brand.
I am hoping this property reaches out as promised but it holding my breath.
Do better Ritz Carlton South Beach!
Not wanting to end on such a sour note. Daniel (from RC Santa Barbara) was a standout for guest service as was Noela at the Valet, both embody what guest expect from RC.
WWaiDriving up to the hotel it looked promising, lift up to our floor felt bit old but worked well with the style, rooms were ok but looked like it could do with some freshening up.
First thing we noticed was a stain on one of the pillowcases, this made us wonder whether the beds were properly changed or cleaned, we did see a single strand of hair in the bathtub but gave it the benefit of the doubt that could be the cleaner if they did clean it. Sadly on the website it states luxury toiletries- well these were disappointing and did not feel it. We were provided with one set for two people. That is one shampoo, one conditioner, one body lotion, no shower gel, (you get a shower in the room) one face soap, one hand soap.
The hot water kettle dispenser was not cleaned as when we went to do an initial clean there was a lot of black stuff coming out, we had no coffee in the room either. We had to go ask reception to give us a new one and that’s when we found out we should have had coffee provided with the kettles. So far very disappointing,
We found out during our stay that the hotel doesn’t clean your room on a daily basis and we weren’t aware of this so our bins were over filling, we had to ask for toilet roll, and new towels. When we received the towels in the bedroom whilst we were out they were left on top of the toilet. Not exactly the best or cleanest place to put if especially if we haven’t had the room cleaned for a good few days.
If you want your room cleaned I expect you will need to let reception know. I’ve stayed at Marriotts before and I’ve never experienced it where they don’t clean your room and I don’t mind if they don’t do it on a daily basis but they should inform you at reception when you check in.
We stayed during Hurricane Milton and we were very disappointed as international tourists not to have received any information from the hotel that it was coming and what to do/ how to stay safe/ whether there was going to be reduced restaurant opening times/ services.
This was our first hurricane. We instead received much more information and advice from our Uber drivers such as to stock up on food and water.
Our other information was from alerts we received on our phones and also by watching the news otherwise we would have been none the wiser. We are aware that other hotels received a note under their door as a minimum.
We were looking to hire a car but this hotel charges 27 dollars to park a day. So we decided to use Uber and actually turned out cheaper for us so bear this in mind.
The pros:
It’s very central and icon park is about 5 mins away, lots of bars and restaurants along the the drive in either direction. Close to the parks if that’s what you’re here for.
Reception staff are very nice and really get straight on to the case when you need something.
Two people who stood out for us was firstly Joe, who was standing outside one day as myself and my friend were deciding to visit a mall was so helpful. He even gave us some leaflets to hand it at our destination to get discounts and a free bag. He was really friendly and chatty and a great sense of humour.
The second person was Ryan, from housekeeping was also very helpful when my friend was after some items for our room. Very cheerful.
I’d only recommend this hotel if you just want somewhere to sleep for a few days. I wouldn’t come back here again not for a holiday as I feel the basic expectations of a hotel service was lacking. Can’t fault any of the staff we dealt with.