What is hotel used in Miami for pre cruise and review of it

[jjwoben1]

Any comments 

 

[LovesPurple]

We flew into Miami Dec 1 and Regent had us at the Trump National Doral.  We were originally told a different hotel (which I would have preferred) but a change was made a couple months ago.  As far as a hotel goes, the room was fine.  I didn’t really like the location though and would have preferred to be closer to downtown or South Beach.  The included breakfast was also reasonable, but the first two plates I picked up were dirty (including one with a significant amount of leftover egg on the bottom - enough I had to go wash my hands before continuing).

[jjwoben1]

Thanks…Not good…..I thought they used the Intercontinental.

[LovesPurple]

Just now, jjwoben1 said:

Thanks…Not good…..I thought they used the Intercontinental.

I think that is where we were originally booked, then got a notice of change.  I would have just taken the credit if I’d known.

[jjs217]

The hotels used change constantly depending upon availability and cost.  The last time we cruised on Regent out of Miami we were put in the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne.  It was lovely, as to be expected.  I've heard other hotels mentioned, some with good reviews, so not so much.

[hamasgirl]

Last year prior to a transatlantic cruise leaving out of Miami, Regent put us up at the Mandarin Oriental on Brickel Key.  It was lovely...perfect location overlooking the water, lovely bar and grounds.   We could see the ship (the Splendor) at dock from our hotel balcony. Next March we are taking another cruise leaving out of Miami and I expected the same pre-cruise hotel.  This time they assigned us the Biltmore Hotel which did not impress me based on the reviews that I read online.  So we took the hotel credit a booked ourselves into the Mandarin Oriental again.

[Grandma Gilly]

We are booked into The Biltmore, Coral Gables for our December 12th departure.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Grandma Gilly

[Mudhen]

We've been at both the Mandarin and the Biltmore. Much prefer the Mandarin. Biltmore was interesting as a historic property, so touring the hotel and grounds was fun but our room left a lot to be desired. We had friends stop in our suite with a bottle of wine. We called for extra glasses twice and they never appeared. Drank lovely wine from paper cups....Guess I could've (should've) gone down to the bar and asked for glasses myself....

Bathtub had been refinished, but was cracking around the drain with loose pieces of the repair material just left loose in the tub....hmmm.....

Mandarin was a class act all the way. Wonderful room with harbor view....even fireworks....probably because it was close to Xmas. I want to be buried in one of their bathrobes.....giggle!

[bookbabe]

We had the Intercontinental Miami pre-cruise Nov 24.  Next time we will take the credit.  Hotel was meh and the transfers were chaotic. 

[jjwoben1]

What time did the transfer to ship occur?

[bookbabe]

2 hours ago, jjwoben1 said:

What time did the transfer to ship occur?

What time was it scheduled for?  Or what time did it actually happen?

 

From surveying the crowd, people had transfer times booked for 11am, 11:15am and 11:30am.

The first bus finally arrived at 11:45am, the second at around 12:15pm (the one we managed to get on) and no idea if/when the third arrived.  The poor gal doing the organizing really didn't seem to know what to do, and most people just boarded whatever bus they could get on, or gave up and took a taxi/uber.

[jjwoben1]

Thanks.  Taxi or Uber may be the way to go

[cwn]

3 minutes ago, jjwoben1 said:

Thanks.  Taxi or Uber may be the way to go

It is! Why start your wonderful cruise standing in line for a seat on a bus. Leave for the ship when you want to.

[wcsdkqh]

As has been stated multiple times on this board, if you are using Regent transfers from the airport or the hotel to the ship, then the time you selected on the website is meaningless.

[ToxM]

The IC is so close to the port … it’s not an expensive cab to the port and very easy to get one. I don’t think I would ever use a transfer to get to the port from there. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 12/3/2023 at 12:33 PM, Grandma Gilly said:

We are booked into The Biltmore, Coral Gables for our December 12th departure.

We really enjoyed the Biltmore last January, lucky you.

[mnocket]

On 12/3/2023 at 10:33 AM, Grandma Gilly said:

We are booked into The Biltmore, Coral Gables for our December 12th departure.

I'm on the same cruise😃  I tried to book the Biltmore independently for the day we disembark (will fly home the next day), but it seems they don't accept single night bookings, at least not on the weekend🙁

[Xerxes10]

I was able to book one night, Sunday, prior to the included night on the Grandeur cruise leaving Miami on 3.25.24.

[Grandma Gilly]

We arrived yesterday for a few nights pre-cruise. Hotel (Biltmore) is nice but bathrooms could do with updating.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Interesting. Not our experience, so I guess that will vary.

[Mudhen]

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Interesting. Not our experience, so I guess that will vary.

I think you're probably right, but our bathroom was hardly luxurious....didn't really expect it to be, but

a clean, useable tub would've been good. I guess I could've complained, but for only 1 night, didn't seem worth the hassle. However, as I mentioned above, service was basically non existent.

For a highly rated hotel, I would've expected more.

Your milage may vary.......

[mrlevin]

I just checked into the JW Marriott for three nights prior to Mariner cruise; hotel seems pretty good and lots of dining and shopping options within a few blocks.

[SusieAV8R]

On 12/3/2023 at 11:33 AM, hamasgirl said:

Last year prior to a transatlantic cruise leaving out of Miami, Regent put us up at the Mandarin Oriental on Brickel Key.  It was lovely...perfect location overlooking the water, lovely bar and grounds.   We could see the ship (the Splendor) at dock from our hotel balcony. Next March we are taking another cruise leaving out of Miami and I expected the same pre-cruise hotel.  This time they assigned us the Biltmore Hotel which did not impress me based on the reviews that I read online.  So we took the hotel credit a booked ourselves into the Mandarin Oriental again.

From a newbie looking to cruise on Regent:  is it reasonably easy to get a credit if you decide to select your own hotel?  What can the credit be used for/. Thanks for any advice you can give.

[mrlevin]

The credit comes right off of the booking cost.  Just a cheaper cruise.

[flossie009]

We stayed at the Biltmore, Coral Gables last night after our BA flight from Heathrow.

We were given a large comfortable room with a nice outlook onto the golf course. Plenty of storage space in the room if on a longer stay.

 

 

The Biltmore is an iconic building in a lovely neighbourhood, with lots of facilities

 

 

However, for a hotel of this quality we were very surprised that there was no glassware in the room; only paper cups. However two wine glasses were delivered to our room promptly on request.

This morning a breakfast buffet was served for Regent guests in a galleried events room past the swimming pool.

Luggage has been collected and we will make our way to Mariner soon 😎