This is the worst Ritz Carlton I have ever been too. I went with my Husband for my B-Day and we are greeted by the bellman who tells us he will take care of our luggage. I make sure to tell him that I have stuff in the backseat as well as the trunk. We check in and are showed to our room. The room was not impressive, we had an ocean view suite which was supposed to have 1.5 baths, this had only one bath and was apparently on the residence side. I decided it wasn't a huge deal and didnt say anything. Then the luggage comes and what do you know they have forgotten half of our luggage in the car. After that, we go down to the pool where we order the kobe beef sliders from dune and they come completely raw! Later that night we are trying to fall asleep and it literally sounded like someone was moving furniture back and forth above us. At that point I called down and spoke to the front desk to complain and also asked her why our room was not what was originally booked. She offered us to move but it was 1130 at night. I said we would revisit the idea in the morning. In the morning I spoke with the room controller and he apologized and upgraded us to an ocean view suite on the hotel side which was very nice. I was happy and we decided to go down to the pool for lunch. I ordered a ceasar salad from dune and as I was eating it I noticed a dead worm in the lettuce! That was the icing on the cake. We spoke to the manager and she apologized and attempted to rectify the situation. I will say that they did their best to make it up to us but I was already very turned off! I would not recomend this hotel at all. I have stayed at many Ritz Carlton's before and this was nothing like what I have experienced!

OK -- here's the deal. This is a great hotel overall. A brief summary of the pluses and minuses:

PRO
1. Very clean hotel
2. Very quiet at night - I'm a light sleeper
3. Location is perfect -- great beach to walk along
4. Family pool is perfect -- plenty of chairs. No need to rush down in the AM to reserve a chair
5. Food by the pool (Cabana) is extremely fresh and good -- and I am a picky eater
6. Lounge is nice -- very comfortable
7. Ocean is directly behind the pool; property is a nicely located
8. Go sit on the beach chairs at night and check out the stars!
9. Service was great at the beach and the pool
10. Many places to park you fanny and relax -- chairs set up all over the property to just relax.
11. Beds are perfect -- very comfortable

CON/ANNOYANCES
1. $30 Parking fee per night. PUHLEEZE. The fee should be $10 maybe. Big ripoff
2. Don't eat at the Rusty Pelican -- Consierge recommended it. They can do better than that. Try Joe's Stone Crabs in Miami Beach -- top notch.
3. Not a lot of places to eat in town (Key Biscayne)
4. Get this -- you pay an 18% "Serivce Charge" on EVERY meal you eat. That's ridiculous. Seriously, we had bad service on one meal and YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY THE SERVICE CHARGE!!! I normally tip more than 18% but refuse to when I am forced to pay a fee. It's insulting. Lose the mandatory service charge.
5. Went to Miami Beach -- rated PG-13. Saw an old lady in her 70s with no top on. Seriously, get a hold of yourself. Pretty silly. Plenty of bums also on the Miami Beach program. A real lack of police supervision over that situation. Caution.
6. Water pressure is horrible. Don't expect to rinse off well in the shower.
7. Did I mention that the daily $30 valet fee is a joke? No need to charge that much.

Nice get away for a couple. We enjoyed the beach, pool, and fitness center. Only downside was the adult pool was as warm as bath water, not at all refreshing when it's over 90 degrees out. Lovely spa, also. Be sure to eat the fish tacos at the Cantina. Also enjoyed two amazing dinners off site, Baleen's and Prime 112.

good pts : Beautiful grounds, lobby and beach. balcony view beautiful...turn down service nice...polite Staff

bad pts : $30 a day to park car...surcharges/tip automatically added on every purchase, if you go to the pool bar for beer, that will be $8 per can...one cup of coffee @ understaffed breakfest bar...$5.36... burger was $22...water at the beach was $8 per liter...beach umbrella is $20 per day....no drink or dinner specials..just because its the ritz doesnt mean they can't have drink and hors derv specials....

room was avg....bed was not comfortable, mattress seemed worn out, mini bar was full so there was no room for personal purchases....overall a $$$ value for $$$$$ price...I realize its the ritz so you will pay more but you dont get what you pay for