Clarion-Miami?

[fearless]

Anyone ever stay at the Clarion in Miami near the port? It's listed on Orbitz as a 3*. Please share the good, bad and ugly if you've stayed here before. How about their port shuttle? How early does it leave? We want to get to the port early and would take a taxi instead of the shuttle if it leaves too late. Can you see the Biscayne Bay from the hotel and see the cruise ships in port the morning of the cruise?

[new2cruizin]

Sorry, I can't help with your questions....we are staying there also for our upcoming October sailing on the Explorer......if you don't mind....when you return could you give me your review on the hotel and the shuttle??? That is the main reason we chose this particular hotel.

Maybe someone else will be able to answer your questions prior to your sailing....:rolleyes:

Have fun!!!:D :D

[thereuare]

If it's the Clarion on SE 4th St. the REVIEWS are not very good.

 

Most hotels in this area do not offer both hotel and port service, and i have found that the ones that do usually do so because they have poor reviews and free shuttle service is the only way for them to lure in customers.

 

Cab fare from the airport to the downtown hotels is less than $30 and cab fare from the hotel to the port is less then $10. Given that the Priceline 3* hotels in the downtown Miami area generally get great reviews and can often be had for under $40/nite, there seems little reason to go with a questionable hotel an account of free shuttle service. Unless your rate is substantially less than $80, i think you can do better.

[fearless]

new2cruizin---My nephew just moved to Miami and has offered to pick us up at airport and take us to port morning of cruise. So I won't be able to offer you any info afterwards regarding shuttle service hotel offers. Nephew's GF works at American Airlines Arena near port and says that none of the hotels near the port appear to be "dumpy" although reviews of the hotel may be better indicator of their service. I'll be glad to give you information when we return about the service the hotel provided. We booked via Orbitz instead of priceline for a specific reason this time (although have used priceline in the past), and got a fairly decent rate (less than $80).

[new2cruizin]

Hi Debbie,

 

 

The reviews look scary so I would greatly appreciate your opinion of the hotel when you return.......I don't expect much.....I just want a clean place to sleep.......we'll be out shopping and visiting with our meet and mingle group for our cruise and then up and out of there to be to the pier by 11am.....I just don't want a nasty place........you know what i mean??:eek:

 

If you happen to think about it...just ask them when their shuttle runs to the pier........that way we have an idea of when it runs or if it's by the customers request........

 

Have a great time on your cruise!!!!

 

Thanks again:)

[masq]

Debbie & Melissa,

I'd like to hear both of your reviews of the hotel as well. :)

We will be a large group of 16 trying to get from our hotel to the port on New Year's Day.

We wern't expecting anything fancy (but not nasty either), just a place to sleep. It looks like it's pretty close to the Bayside Market and Bayfront park areas?

 

Thanks,

Amy

[new2cruizin]

Hi Amy,

 

Sorry I won't be able to review the hotel at all.......we read some very disgusting reviews on the link posted above by another poster.........we chose to cancel and made a reservation at the Holiday Inn Marina Park......we have stayed there before and were very happy there....they are directly across the street from Bayside Marketplace and you can see the ships come in at the pier if you are on the front side........ I'm sure Debbie will be able to help though when she returns.

[masq]

Melissa - you big chicken. :D

I'm just kidding. :)

If we didn't already have 6 rooms booked at the Clarion and if it didn't cost $150 to get out of those six rooms, we may have considered changing.

We discussed it with the group and we are going to give the Clarion a whirl...:eek:

You can tolerate anything for one night right??

Of course we are going to have a backup plan if we are totally disgusted.

I'll have to post a review on this board and tripadvisor when we get back from our New Year's cruise.

 

Amy

[new2cruizin]

:p That's me a big chicken:D Can't ya hear me "bauck bauck bauck"...I didn't know if I could handle it for one night..........didn't want to be up all night . Hope that everything works out for you and please do a review when you return so that if things have changed then people can know about it. I'd hate for there to be a bunch of negative reviews when it isn't all that bad.

 

 

Have a great trip!!

[masq]

I think I may have heard from Fearless on another board.

This is what Fearless had to say about the Clarion Miami:

We stayed at the Clarion on 7/23/04. At the time we stayed, we found it to be clean and the staff hospitable. There was a small leak around our toilet in the bathroom, and the outlet in the bathroom was loose, but otherwise, no major problems. We were on the 11th floor and our room overlooked the river. One of the elevators was out of service at that time, but there still were not any major problems with the other one being slow or overly crowded. We did not use the hotel's shuttle to the port (I think it was kind of pricey)---we took a taxi instead. For one night, it is not a bad place to stay. There's a small grocery about a block away and within walking distance if you need something----I walked there to get pick up some juice the morning we left on our cruise.

 

~Masq

[fearless]

Ditto on the above post from Masq. It wasn't the greatest I'd stay in, but it was not as bad as some of the reviews I've read since staying there. If you are looking for a 4*, this isn't it, but it is indeed OK for just one night.