My standard hotel reviews include a breakdown by the following topics. Feel free to skip to whichever section you find most interesting.

  • Highlights
  • Lobby & Check-in
  • Room
  • Hotel Space / Ambiance
  • Food & Drink
  • Fitness
  • Miscellaneous

 

HIGHLIGHTS: Hotel Colonnade Coral Gables, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

The Hotel Colonnade is located in the comfortable heart of Coral Gables, directly south of Miami airport and about twenty minutes from downtown and Miami Beach. It’s a regal property, with several floors of businesses and offices. The decent breakfast and good service is offset by the compactness of their suites (I was seriously disappointed) and the quality or lack thereof of their internet.

 

LOBBY & CHECK-IN

The lobby is not entirely apparent. You’ll have to take the stairs or elevator to the second floor, and walk down a hallway to the checkin desk. As it was my last stay before losing my SPG Platinum status, I pressed and received points in addition to breakfast, as well as a welcome drink ticket that I ended up turning back in for another 500 points. They offered me a choice of a single floor or bi-level suite of the same size, and I chose the single floor suite.

 

ROOM

Big mistake. The suite was small, not much more than a bed area, workstation, and couch area. It was nice, and suited my needs, but when I asked for the largest room available, I was expecting better. Regardless, it was nice – very resort-y feel. Note that internet was down the first day – despite them telling me it would be back by 9pm, it was not. They recommended going to the restaurant on the ground floor (which would kick me out by 10:30) or the Barnes and Noble (which closes at 11). Not sure how any hotel functions without internet, so that’s quite unacceptable. No compensation was offered, too, making it all the more frustrating. Thankfully, I could LTE on my iPad so my client work that evening still happened.

 

HOTEL SPACE / AMBIANCE

We saw a collegiate basketball team here, and plenty of professionals milled about during breakfast and through the halls. It’s close enough to Miami proper. There is also a game room with shuffleboard and pool and a couple other things.

 

FOOD & DRINK

Breakfast was about average, for platinums, but I did enjoy the local cuisine, both in Coral Gables and Miami. Breakfast did have some charcuterie, so slightly better there than regular continental. Perhaps it’s a Tribute thing, or specific to the Hotel Colonnade.

 

FITNESS

Unfortunately, the fitness center was small, as befits this property, but sufficed for my needs.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

An interesting point of note – Hotel Colonnade will be downgraded in March to a category 4 property, costing 10,000 SPG/night. This is down from category 5 – 12,000-16,000 per night. I would agree with that, as while it is a Tribute-class hotel, it’s definitely not as nice as I expected. Perhaps I will come back to Miami soon, but, sadly, I would probably start by looking elsewhere. Lastly, I hope to come back to Miami – it’s such a nice place.

 

 

Featured Image is of the exterior, from the hotel website.  Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links which, should you click through and/or make a purchase, grant me a commission. Also, I only post in the best interest of my readers. Lastly, thank you for supporting my blog and my travels. 

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