Spent a week in miami with the first 4 days spent in south beach while the last 2 spent in coconut grove (another miami neighborhood). We were actually glad we did not stay only in south beach because one gets a different perspective / flavor for Miami by staying in coconut grove. Anyways about the hotel:

Pros:
* very good location - 5 minutes away from all the bars / restaurants / happening places in coconut grove
* quite new property - good furniture and decorations
* we had a high room with a beautiful bay / city view
* in many instances extremely good service - we had a problem with the AC, called them at 10 pm and somebody showed up literally 5 minutes later and fixed it
* nice pool / terrace on the 8th floor with great bay view

Cons:
* we only had one snafu in services with the cab but other than this minor one not really anything on the cons side


General Coconut Grove comments:
* all the hotels in coconut grove are clustered around for a couple of blocks
* this is very different from south beach - no beaches available in coconut grove, generally a family / houses neighborhood

If we were in coconut grove again (i doubt it but ...) we would stay at Sonesta again.

I had no expectations but found that this hotel is clean, run efficiently, has a lovely pool and is in a perfect location for the marinas and town.The rooms seem to have newish furniture. The kitchens which are in some rooms are clean but but look slightly dated as are the bathrooms. Overall a very positive experience.

I recently stayed at this hotel for business. Whilst I can't comment on the price (Corporate billed room) I can comment on the hotel and its service. The hotel was very clean and the rooms were well appointed. I had a wonderful view from my front window. The service we recieved from the moment we arrived was nothing short of first class. All of the staff were there to help. I would ike to thank Frank Ruiz and John Abelino. They both went out of there way to help us and made our stay a great one. These two gentleman were a shining example of what excellent customer service looks like. Thank you.

My husband and I spent one night here on our way to our vacation in the Bahamas. While the location was great, we were disappointed with our nearly-$400 a night room.

Room 1204-2 was sold as a "Deluxe Bay View" room, but the "view" required leaning on the balcony rail and peeking around an opaque wind screen that divided the balcony in two. The room shared an entry hall and the balcony with the neighboring, connecting room, 1204-1. Our door didn't have a security latch or chain.

The room had a full kitchen, but the refrigerator was noisy, waking me several times at night with a high-pitched whine each time the compressor switched on. The walls were dingy and scratched, and the curtain was torn. There was hair in the bathtub.

We received slow, poor service both at the pool area restaurant & from room service. The bellman didn't show after more than 15 minutes. Housekeeping knocked @ 9 am.

Attention smokers: be prepared to smoke on the front porch or be re-directed all over the place at different times, as smoking is not allowed on the balconies and the areas on the 8th floor where it's permitted may be used for a private party or closed after 11 PM. One man said he'd accidentally been locked out of the building because the door allowed him to exit, but didn't allow re-entry. (He propped the door open with his shoe when I was there.)

We visited the pool restaurant twice, once for coffee and desert and then for morning coffee. After we'd looked at the menu and decided, we were told they didn't have our menu choice. It was very, very windy, so the sweetener packets flew all over. Perhaps that's why we weren't offered napkins either time.

Room service didn't bring part of our order or even coffee cups - we had to rinse and re-use the cups in the kitchen. I was told that the V8 juice I ordered wasn't available because it was Saturday and "supplies" were locked up.

We won't return to the Sonesta.