Resident Inn's are among the more reliable and consistent of the all-suite hotels and the Residence Inn Coconut Grove maintained that tradition. I was on a family vacation with my wife and two teenage daughters and booked a 2-bedroom suite. It was a typical RI with outside entrances into a Spartan, but appropriately furnished Living room with small dining area and a galley kitchen off to the side. The two bedrooms were almost equal in size. Beds and furniture were comfortable and had that RI touch of being utilitarian, but appealingly modern. Overall, space is a bit tight, but functional. Surprisingly, there was only one en suite bath, and that was very small with only one sink. There were three TVs, one in each bedroom and one in the living room with a large selection of channels including HBO. The free internet was fine, although they should consider going wireless since the ethernet provides for only one user at a time, and as I mentioned, I had two teenage daughters. There were two small, kidney-shaped pools in this fairly sprawling complex. The hotel has gated entrances to the parking area, although this security was defeated by a side entrance gate that was always open. This hotel has easy access to the main North-South Florida highways and is a few short blocks from main Coconut Grove areas including the touristy CocoWalk. RI served a free hot & cold breakfast although the steam-table scrambled eggs and sausage patties were usually overdone. The staff of the Coconut Grove Residence Inn, from the manager to the cleaning staff was exceptionally friendly and went out of their way to help you out. The Coconut Grove RI isn't the lap of luxury, but strikes a balance between comfort and price. We got it at $256, AAA rate.
Restaurant Recommendations: Do you self a favor and skip the generic, mall ubiquitous Hooters and Cheesecake Factory in CocoWalk. In the next two blocks are a couple of great restaurants. For great Latin American style seafood and ceviche, Jaguar. When that Residence Inn breakfast gets tired, which it will after two days, go to the Green Street Café. And go there again for lunch and dinner. Great vibe, and really good grill food

My husband and I stayed at the Residence Inn Coconut Grove for three nights with our daughter and son-in-law and grandaughter. I chose this hotel because it had a two bedroom/two bath suite which included a full kitchen and living and dining area. I had read all the reviews on Tripadvisor and tried to adjust my expectations accordingly. Our previous stays in Coconut Grove had always been at the Mayfair Hotel and Spa. We paid a AAA rate of $289 per night for the suite, which was far less expensive than two rooms at the Mayfair and gave us gathering room and space for the baby to play.

The hotel is located about three blocks from the Mayfair Shops and CocoWalk. We could see the Sofitel Hotel just off the entrance to the hotel and the Ritz Carlton was just a couple of blocks away. We very much liked the location, in a quieter semi-residential area. The Mayfair Hotel has the disadvantage of being in party central and with quite a bit of outside noise very late at night.

Our first impression of the hotel was somewhat unfavorable. It looks like a very old condo re-do, and though I expected the outdoor entrances to the suites, it looked a little "iffy" to me. Check-in was very nice and friendly, very efficient. We had requested a crib for the baby and it was delivered promptly. For those of you with infants, it was not an actual crib, but a "pack and play" crib/playpen combo. What was very nice is that they provide a pack of bedding for the crib that included fitted sheets for the mattress and extra blankets of crib size. We did have to set up the crib ourselves, which took only a few minutes.

The suite itself was relatively disappointing to me. Upon entering, you are in the dining/kitchen/living area. A small dining table pushed up against the window that could seat four if you moved it away from the window. The living area was tiny - a recliner chair and a sofa that could seat three, coffee table, one side table with a lamp and a small stand with a TV. Lighting was inadequate and would have made working here very difficult. The kitchen had a full size fridge, microwave, dishwasher, stove, sink (no disposal) with cabinetry. There were simple kitchen untensils, a toaster, dishes, etc. for four along with basic pots and pans. Everything was extremely clean. Paper towels, dishcloths, dishwasher and dish soap provided.

The two bedrooms and baths were just off the living area. Our bedroom was very tight - queen bed, two night stands, one small dresser with three drawers, TV, iron and ironing board in the closet. The second bedroom was a bit larger, more storage space, same furnishings. Both the bedrooms had the Marriott Revive beddng - good matresses, fine quality bedding. The two bathrooms were not en suite, but had to be accessed from the common hallway. One bathroom was completely contained behind closed doors, the other had the sink open to the hall with the toilet and shower behind a closed door. This was OK for us as a family, but if you had to share with another couple, privacy might be an issue. There were plentiful, good quality towels and shampoo, conditioner, soap and lotion provided. Hairdryers for both baths, extra TP and Kleenex under both sinks.

Housekeeping was attentive and efficient. They always honored the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and seemed to clean the room the moment we left. We did have a couple of room issues - one clogged sink and an outlet that didn't work. When we reported this to the front desk the repairs were made while we were out for a couple of hours and a message was left on the phone to confirm our satisfaction with the repairs.

The hotel rate included breakfast each morning (6:30 to 9:30 am weekdays, 7:00 to 10:00 am weekends) and an evening social from 5:00 to 7:00 pm Mon-Thurs. We weren't able to take advantage of these offerings, but thought that was a great added value to the room rate.

There are two small pools located on the property, but weather didn't permit our using this feature. Three of our group used the small gym and thought it was well maintained with an adequate array of equipment in excellent condition. There is a guest laundry on the premise.

This hotel didn't quite meet my expectations, but I rated it neutral/average for several reasons. The employees are great and the service provided is excellent. The property is very clean and well maintained. The biggest selling point is the value. We never intended to spend much time in the room (which was pretty disappointing to me, though not to my husband and daughter and son-in-law) and the rate proved to be an excellent value. Great location, great employees, excellent value in a very expensive part of Miami.

I would stay here again, I would recommend it to budget conscious family and friends. So much to see and do close by - University of Miami, Key Biscayne, South Beach, museums, shopping etc.

Do a better job of adjusting your expectations than I did and you will be surprised by the great employees and excellent value of this Residence Inn.

Very friendly and helpful front desk and housekeeping staff. We stayed 1 night prior to cruise. We stayed in a 1 bedroom suite. Room was spacious and clean. Breakfast was good.

From the exterior, this hotel doesn't look terribly impressive. However, the service, location, and room itself were great. First, the staff - very friendly, very helpful. Checking in and out was easy and we had no problems. We were even able to leave our rental car in the hotel garage on Sunday until it was time to head back to the airport, which was very convenient. The location is great - just a short walk to CocoWalk (Cheesecake Factory, Café Tu Tu Tango) and other shopping and restaurants. My husband and I had lunch at Jaguar, which was fun (good Sangria and ceviche). We also took a walk over to the marina to look at the boats, which was enjoyable. I'm not sure about some of the other reviewers saying this must be in a bad area, this hotel is directly across the street from the Ritz-Carlton and other upscale establishments -- I certainly didn't feel unsafe. We were also able to easily catch a cab to South Beach (around $30). The room, while not ultra luxurious (not sleek, new appliances, but a nicely appointed kitchen nonetheless), was perfectly fine in my opinion. Everything was very clean and the bed was really comfy. Complimentary breakfast in the lobby was terrific – wide variety of hot and cold foods and nothing ran out. So overall, this is just a nice, suitable hotel and I would recommend staying here.