Review - Ramada by Wyndham Miami Springs/Miami International Airport

[CrimsonCruiser]

Just wanted to share my feelings about this place because I said I would after looking for a hotel under $150/night in Miami.

Overall:
I'd give this hotel a 5.5/10. Not something I would recommend but if you've already booked it, don't despair.

 

The Room:
Because this 2-story hotel doesn't have an elevator (and we had 4 suitcases over 40 pounds each) I made sure to request a first floor room ahead of time. We got a room in the corner. On first impression it was tight. The two double beds leave barely a walking path from the door to the window and the only space to store suitcases was the entryway. We thought we had the short end of the stick but, after passing another room right across from the breakfast area, we realized it could get worse. That room, from what we saw in passing, opened directly against the bedside table and the person walking in had to squeeze in before the door could close.

The cleanliness of the room wasn't awful but I said something along the lines of "this is the dirtiest clean room" because there was mild staining on the duvet, a pillowcase, armchair, and curtains, and there were 4 strands of hair still stuck on the shower walls. Otherwise, it was dust free and smelled fine.

The beds were okay - the kind of soft that comes from being worn vs made that way - but the pillows were square like throw pillows and collapsed once I put my head on them. For reference, I prefer firm mattresses and pillows.

The bathroom was a good size for the room but we realized there was no toilet paper holder and (as seen in the photo) the roll is just housed on the shelf over the back of the toilet. Also, while the sink provided water pressure strong enough to overwhelm the drain, the shower pressure was pretty bad and I’m certain it was because the shower head had a strong buildup of calcium or lime. It served its purpose though and I felt thoroughly washed for boarding day.

The tv offered good channels, the lighting was good, the windows overlooked the sidewalk and parking lot but had good sheers and gave lots of sunlight. The AC was top notch.

Overall room rating: 4.5/10.

The Food:

We tried both the attached restaurant for dinner and the buffet breakfast.

Dinner: absolutely fantastic. We were thoroughly surprised a sports bar had such high quality offerings like red snapper and fajitas. Huge portions and extremely tasty. Our server was also very friendly, had a great sense of humor and made great recommendations on drinks and food.

Breakfast: Long story short, between the time I booked the hotel and the check-in date, management for the breakfast restaurant had changed and the “complimentary continental” listed with my reservation had increased to $12/person. Thankfully, the front desk staff provided us with vouchers so, for us at least, it remained complimentary. And for that I am glad. We assumed that with the price increase also came an increase in offerings - we were wrong. The breakfast was the same “hot continental” buffet we’re used to - scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, waffle maker, pastries and toast, cereals and a few beverages. And it wasn’t very good. The bacon was limp, the sausage cold and nasty, the eggs meh. The fruit, drinks, pastries and waffles were good. Yogurt was also offered but we didn’t try any. It is not worth $12/person. Wouldn’t even be worth $5.

Overall food rating: 6/10 with most points coming because of the fantastic dinner and our convenient location to the breakfast restaurant (literally 3 doors from our room).

 

The Location:

I was most excited by this hotel because it was surrounded by lots of food and Walgreens or the like were not too far to walk to. I still say it’s good for that. It’s also behind the airport so the shuttle ride was short. We didn’t do too much in the area because we ended up having to go to Ross and Walmart for additional clothing items and by the time we got back for dinner a storm was rolling in, but I would choose the area again.

Overall location rating: 8/10

 

The Shuttles:

Hotel offers free airport shuttles and a paid cruise shuttle through a 3rd party partnership. The hotel airport shuttle leaves the hotel every hour on the hour and hit arrivals about 20 minutes after the hour. Didn’t like that it’s such a long wait but we were fortunate in that we got our luggage close to the top of the hour and therefore waited ‘only’ 30 minutes.

The cruise shuttle was fine. Ended up being $20 total which was a little under what an uber would have cost.

Overall shuttles rating: 7/10

 

The pool we saw but didn’t use. Looked nice but I don’t want to give it any rating.

The lobby decor was fun and clean with lots of places to sit while waiting or checking in/out.

The staff were all very courteous and helpful.

 

[Gerre]

How did you locate the hotel airport shuttle 

[CrimsonCruiser]

On 8/19/2023 at 9:23 PM, Gerre said:

How did you locate the hotel airport shuttle 

The shuttle slowly drives around the pickup area (hotel shuttle area outside baggage claim) and is clearly marked "Ramada" red lettering on a white truck.