Joe and Jamie's Blog

The Fontainebleau resort in Miami Beach is absolutely fabulous. It truly lived up to its four and half stars rating. Everything is very luxurious and the service is exceptional. I highly recommend this place to anyone going to Miami.

Between he beach, pools, historic bars, famous night clubs, high class restaurants, and many shops, there really isn’t much need to leave the resort! We spent most of our vacation on the beach and in the pools and it was just great, enjoyed every minute of it. When we weren’t in the water or down in the main part of Miami Beach, we went to the restaurants in the hotel. We tried most of them, there were just too many.

Gotham Steak is a great steakhouse. We got a seat right next to the kitchen, which happens to have glass walls so you can watch them prepare and cook the meals. There is also Vida which cooks more of normal home-style dishes which was nice. One restaurant we didn’t try was Scarpetta, which is supposed to be the best Italian food restaurant down there, but we just simply ran out of days to eat food. There was an outside raw bar called La Cote which we also didn’t get to try, a sandwich shop called Fresh, a Japanese food place called Blade, a Chinese restaurant called Hakkasan.

A few nights we went down the the Bleau Bar, that famous bar in the famous hotel. Now drink prices in Miami are outrageous, but hey, at least you can say you had a drink there. Most nights we left the hotel to either get dinner or walk down Ocean Drive where everyone else in Miami Beach was. We never went to the club Liv, there was always some large party going on and long lines outside with waiting people, so we went off and did other things.

We were upgraded to a room with a balcony which was cool because we spent most early mornings out there watching the massive lightening storms over the ocean. There are four towers to the hotel, the all new suite towers Trésor and Sorrento, and the original but renovated Château and Versailles. We were in the Versailles tower, tenth floor, so the balcony view was really nice. Maybe one day we can go back and afford one of those suites :). There are also a ton of conference rooms and halls. I really don’t even know how many there are but there are two floors of them, and they were packed with massive company get-aways and conferences all week. All the rooms are equipped with iMac computers which connect you to their front desk for anything you need. No more dialing the front desk, just fill out a form online of what you need and twenty minutes later its at your door, I love technology.

If I had to rate this hotel I would give it a 5 all around. It was a great experience and I would definitely stay there again if we go back to Miami. If you wish to read more on the hotel, you can visit their website at www.fontainebleau.com. They also have a hotel in Las Vegas, which we are seriously considering for vacation next year. Enjoy the photos from the hotel and the surrounding resort property.

Jamie and I chose our vacation location early this year, due to the fact that we are traveling by plane. I don’t know why I started to look here, but it’s a spot you just can’t go wrong with.

We chose to go to Miami Beach this year. Ah yes, I cannot wait to be there. If only July can come sooner. I booked the hotel and the flight together on Hotels.com last night, got a great deal. Just for booking both we got $250 off the whole order, and two of the nights were free at the hotel. Our second choice was Ocean City, Maryland, but that was more expensive than Miami, even with us driving versus flying.

We are staying at the Fontainebleau Resort. From what I have been hearing it’s a pretty snazzy place. When it comes to hotels I go for location, not really amenities. I could care less if was a shack with a leaky roof, as long as it was right there on the beautiful beach. Who actually spends enough time in the hotel to care anyway right? Hey it’s not Poughkeepsie, its warm and on the beach, the rest is just extra really. When choosing this hotel, I did notice it was rated four and a half stars, so I think we are in for a big treat. There are four actual hotels that make up the place, including a bunch of restaurants, a spa, pools, and of course the beach for the backyard. Here is a blurb on what they offer right from their website:

Following a $1 billion renovation and expansion, Fontainebleau is a spectacular blend of Miami’s glamorous golden era and stylish modern luxury – 1,504 rooms and suites, 22 oceanfront acres, 11 restaurants and nightclubs including three signature name chef restaurants, 40,000-square-foot spa, and a sophisticated poolscape with private cabanas.

I was able to snag some birdseye photos of the hotel, courtesy of Microsoft Virtual Earth. Now one of the hotels isn’t shown yet on the map, it was still under construction the last time the satellite took a picture. It is completed now, you can see it if you watch their video on their website. Check it out.