After staying 2 nights at The Tides on SOBE we decided to try 3 nights at the Mandarin. There was absolutely nothing wrong with The Tides however our move was due to the excessive weekend rates that are applied to Miami hotels. If you want the exclusivity the Mandarin Oriental is the place to stay.

Like other Mandarin Orinental hotels that we have stayed in the Miami hotel exceeds in customer service. The staff are helpful, friendly and are taught to make the guests feel welcomed. The conceirge service seem to have the answer and connections for everything! We stayed here for my husbands 30 Birthday and he was pleasantly surpised when the hotel delivered a Birthday cake to our room. The timing was impecable - the cake seemed to coincide with our perfectly with a short afternoon visit to our room.

We chose to stay in a ocean front room. The furninshing were solid and were in line with a 5 star rating. The bathroom was a decent size with a opening in the wall between the bathroom and room separated onlywith a blind. This did not bother us as a married couple, however just to highlight, the tolilet itself had it's own room with a door.

If I was to ever visit Miami again, I would definately choose this location over South beach. The Mandarin seems to have everything, including a man made beach for bathing, plus more!

A fantastic place to get away from it all!

I stayed at the resort for a business conference. I have stayed at many five star resorts throughout the united states, this was one of the best. Although at no cost to me because I attended for business purposes, the hotel is very very pricey. I'm not sure I would stay on my own because the rooms go for over $500 a night. My room was on the 7th floor; beautiful view, BOSE radio in the room, stall shower and a bathtub. Turndown service, perosnalized wake up calls, the whole nine yards. The rooms are decorated in an asian style with bambo shades and rich brown and white colors. The food was excellent. I also used the spa; this is where I thought they could have done better. I had a spa manicure and pedicure and it was over $125 dollars and I swear the nail salons in Manhattan do a much better job. It was really nothing special. Also, there is not proper gift or amenities shop. But that's no big deal. The pool ara is small and there is no beach. There is a faux beach area where they have it filled with sand. A beautiful serence retreat and visit the bar, they make great mojuitoes!!!!!! Oh, and there were star sightings as well; Colin Farrell, Lindsay Lohan, Penelope Cruz and Matthew McCaughneny ( I can't spell his name.)

Has everything you would expect from a good business hotel. Bathroom can also open up to the bedroom so you can watch TV from the tub. A bit tricky to find the turning to the hotel since it is not signposted off 8th. Check-in staff a bit teutonic. Concierge was more friendly, helpful. Nice gym, pool. Parking is USD24/night.

My husband and I decided to come to Miami two days prior to our Royal Caribbean cruise. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental from 5/11-5/13/05. It was a hefty price to pay for the two nights but it was so worth it. As soon as we arrived our bags were taken away immediately. When you walk in to the Mandarin it smells like aromatherapy. The oriental music is very soothing to the ears. Right when we first walked in, we were on vacation. The Mandarin sits right on the bay so as your walking in all you see is water. Our room was not ready when we arrived b/c normal check in time is 3pm. So like kids in a candy store we looked around. The pool area was beautiful.. There is a pool side bar for all your beverages needed to relax. They also serve lunch poolside also. We decided to have lunch at Cafe Sambal. There were no outside tables available so we had to take a table indoors. The food was more like Japanese, Thai and Chinese I guess. I really didn't care, I was just hungry. The staff was very friendly. We did wait longer than normal for our food. When it finally came out it wasn't worth the $67.00 we paid for our tab. The tea was good though. We managed to finish lunch right b/f 3pm and our room was available.

There was no wait on the elevators, very fast. The hallways are kept very dim. I guess that's a way to get you relaxed. Got in the room and awaited was complimentary chocolates and a welcome card. After being in the room less than 2 minutes the door bell rung. (Yes there is a door bell) It was our luggage. The linens were all in white. The furniture was white. The bathroom had an enormous soaking tub with a separate marble shower for two. The whole bathroom was marble. There are robes available and slippers. You can keep the slippers. The soaps and lotions given are not your average. All play a major part in smell. All aromatherapy! Yes! Finally a hotel that knows how to spoil you. We chose a Deluxe Skyline Bayview Room. Excellent choice. The view from the balcony was excellent. I couldn't submit all the pictures but you get the point.

Let's see there's a turn down service with a lovely flower everynight. We did order room service and it was not that good. Don't order the Turkey BLT. The bread is as hard as a rock. It was $52.00. I wasn't impressed at all with the sandwich.

Ladies.... The spa is out this world. I had a spa appointment at 5pm for a Luxury Facial and a 80 minute Swedish Massage. When you walk in to the spa the hallway is very dim. They ask you for your name and quickly seat you. As you wait they come and take your shoes and replace them with spa shoes. From there you are lead down a dim hallway with sounds of oriental music and water sounds. Very relaxing. Your given a keychain for a locker and you slip into a comfy robe. From there you go to a waiting room where you are greeted and asked if you would like tea or water. Again sounds of relaxing music and a water streaming down the wall. There are steam rooms also. I didn't wait that long b/f they called me.
The massage was good. If you don't have deep muscle tension, I would not recommend the swedish massage. There is pain associated with this massage b/c it deals with pressure points. The facial was ok. I thought that there would be extractions. So if you get the luxury facial it does not come with extractions. You do get a neck, scalp and shoulder massage though.

Oh did I mention that this hotel also has their own man made beach. It has many cabanas and hammocks to rest the day away. The breeze was amazing.

On our final night we decided to eat at Azul. This resturant is also located inside the hotel. Very pricey but worth it. We noticed that a lot of people spoke spanish. The money was worth it . The attire is casual. You can not wear shorts in this restuarant. My husband made a mistake and wore shorts and the attendant privately asked him if he would change to pants.

Check out was fast and easy. This hotel was so worth the money. I would stay here again. There were so many plus factors here. If we could have changed anything, we would have rented a car to see more of the city. Oh also there were not hardly any children at this hotel. So if your staying for a honeymoon great choice.

I LOVE THIS HOTEL!!!!!!!!!!!! Somebody loan me some money so I can go back!! lol