The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami

We recently stayed at the Ritz Carlton Bal Harbour to celebrate my birthday. This was our first time at this property but having stayed at other Ritz Carltons around the world, I was hopeful that this location would be just as amazing. I’d seen other reviews mentioning that this property didn’t compare to other RC’s & sadly now, I’d have to agree. Upon check in we were warmly greeted by the front desk but upon entering our “inlet view” room, realized that it was a handicap accessible room with a walk-in elevated tub and single sink, versus the soaking tub and double vanity that we had booked. The view was lovely, but the room wasn’t going to cut it. Why on earth would they give us this room, seeing 2 able bodied people?? For $700 a night, I’d like two sinks please! They offered to move us to another room but since we had lunch reservations at Artisan Beach House (the hotel restaurant), we told the front desk that we’d change rooms after we’d eaten. Lunch was pretty good. We shared the tuna tartare and then I enjoyed the chicken sandwich, and my husband had fish tacos. Since we were celebrating, we ordered mojitos but they were pretty pathetic. The mint wasn’t even muddled and there was barely any rum in them. Ridiculous for $24 apiece. The server asked how they were and we told her “not that great”. She had them re-made and while there was more alcohol in the second round, still no muddling. A mojito requires the mint to be muddled so evidentially, this bartender needs to review the basics. After lunch we moved to our new room, but it was further west of where we were originally and not only overlooked the inlet but also the Collins Ave overpass with such incredibly loud traffic noise that it could be heard in our room with the sliders closed! It was so loud; we couldn’t even take a nap. By this time our visions of a relaxing weekend were pretty much shot and we debated whether to complain and change rooms for the 3rd time or just deal with it. We chose the latter but the damage was done. The room itself was fine, with a balcony and a very nice spacious bathroom with toiletries from Diptique. I had to laugh as there was a sign posted in the bathroom alerting guests that the toiletries were there for our stay only and that we’d be charged $50 per bottle if they were taken home with us. I’ve never seen that at any hotel and thought that was a little ridiculous given the nightly rate that was being charged. Obviously, they were just filling the full-sized bottles so understanding that, who would want to take it home anyway? The next morning, we utilized the beach with the complimentary chairs and umbrellas which were nice & while we didn’t order any food or beverages, the attendants were constantly around in case we decided to. The hotel pool was nothing special and definitely not worthy of a resort pool. The patio bar was even more sad, so we didn’t spend any time there. The hotel restaurant, Artisan Beach House had been mostly good for the lunch that we had upon arrival and we also enjoyed a nice breakfast there our first morning, but on our last morning, whoever was in the kitchen let down the entire experience. I ordered the pork belly eggs benedict and specifically asked that the egg whites in the poached eggs be cooked as I have a sensitivity to raw egg whites. As a home-cook, I poach mine all the time like this so it’s not that difficult to get right. My breakfast came out with runny egg whites and while I understand pork belly has a lot of fat on it, I was disappointed to see that there was barely any meat on the cuts. I ended up sending my plate back, which they appropriately took off our bill. I also had to have them re-make my café latte (seriously, how does that get screwed up at a 5 star hotel??). Not a great experience and one that overshadowed our first two meals there. Overall, this property felt more like “residences” than a hotel. There are RC Residences in the building next door and the common areas are shared by both the residences and the hotel guests. The hotel seemed empty …there were barely any other guests in the restaurant or common areas and while we weren’t looking for the constant activity that we would have found a few miles south in the heart of Miami Bch, we would have appreciated a little more activity. It also didn’t explain why they couldn’t have gotten our room right the first time. My husband and I compared this experience to a Westin that we frequent quite often in central Florida when we visit family in that area and agreed that the level of service and amenities were pretty similar but that hotel charges $125 per night and this RC was $700 per night. It’s sad to have to equate a Ritz Carlton to that of a Westin, but that’s where we are and honestly, the food at the restaurant in that Westin is more consistent than the Artisan Beach House. It’s sad that paying more for a 5-star hotel doesn’t always mean a better experience. Upon checkout, we were asked by the Front Desk manager how our stay was? I was honest and she apologized & graciously tried to make it right by depositing more points into my Bonvy account. It was a gesture that was very much appreciated but it didn’t make up for the overall experience that we had. Read less