The Hilton Miami Downtown is everything that a classic business hotel should be, and that applies to both the good and bad elements.
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Location
This hotel is positioned just two blocks back from the water and a short 10 minute drive to Miami Beach. A short distance from the airport, Port of Miami, and little Havana, visitors in town for meetings or pre-departure will find the property conveniently located.
Address: 1601 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33132
Phone: +1 305-374-0000
Property
The property is a traditional business hotel in downtown Miami and harkened back to childhood experiences traveling to tournaments out of town where entire teams could be lodged. It’s hard to put words to a feeling but that was exactly it with some present-day updates. Check-in is on the lobby floor, two above street level and one above the ballroom.
From the lobby, a separate bank of elevators will take guests to their rooms. A small gift shop in the lobby was put in one corner, baggage claim in the other. A well-attended sports bar shared space with a hotel-operated coffee shop selling Starbucks was busy during the morning hours. Opposite that was the 1601 restaurant set up for breakfast and closed upon our 7 PM arrival.
The pool is outdoor on the lobby floor up some stairs but was closed during our brief one-night stay.
Hilton Honors Benefits
Hilton Honors Gold members will be happy that the breakfast buffet is offered. For a full-service hotel, the buffet breakfast lacked one key thing, there was no omelet station. The eggs, a fluffed microwave-style that was worse than tasteless, it had a distinct flavor that didn’t taste of eggs at all. The rest of the buffet was fine but uninspired; I’m not sure if menu ordering was available included in the breakfast benefit.
We were able to utilize the priority Honors check-in at the front desk, and the service was excellent. The receptionist walked us through everything the property had to offer and we were offered a late check-out though we wouldn’t need it. I don’t believe we were given a preferential room but it was a very short stay and wasn’t important to us.
Room
Our room on the 7th floor was a standard US hotel rectangle, a bathroom to the left upon entry, the bed after that with a chair near the floor-to-ceiling windows.
On the right wall is first a closet with safe at the floor, then a long table with a desk at the end.
The view from the room of downtown was lovely once we looked past the parking lot, and the Port of Miami to the left with a departing Virgin Voyages vessel leaving for the night.
Bathroom
The bathroom was larger than expected but not particularly differentiating. The bright light behind the mirror made it feel clean and modern.
Value
The hotel runs between $200-300 through the spring, summer prices may be lower and festive season may be higher. Hilton Honors point prices varied between 60,000 and 70,000 per night. For a convenient downtown full service hotel, $200-230 is about right for this property. That said, at 60,000 for low cash price stays, the Honors rate is overpriced and below our average Hilton valuation of 0.4¢/point.
What do you think? Have you stayed at the Hilton Miami Downtown before?
Thanks for the review. Do you think it is an easy jaunt to the cruise line port?
No more than 15 minutes and we used the stay for just that purpose.
You mentioned the breakfast benefit, but of course Hilton eliminated that. Was the credit enough to cover breakfast, or does this hotel operate differently in that they actually give you breakfast vouchers?
Does this hotel still have the warning sign that says “do not jump in elevator”?
It does!
What a dump; that’s a $30-$40 a nite room here in Bangkok.