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The hotel is currently undergoing a multimillion dollar renovation to
update guest rooms and corridors. They'll also be tearing down the famous
trompe l'oeil mural of the hotel on the south side of the building (you
know -- the one you thought you could drive through) as part of the renovations,
so hurry and get a look at it before it's gone. --Jennifer Osorio
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Fontainebleau Hilton Resort- Review 2
This is, in many ways, the quintessential
Miami hotel. Designed by famed architect Morris Lapidus, who is overseeing
an expansion, this grand monolith has symbolized Miami decadence. Since
its opening in 1954, the Fountainebleau Hilton Resort has hosted presidents, pageants,
and movie productions, including the James Bond thriller Goldfinger.
This is where all the greats, including Sinatra and his buddies, performed
in their prime.
Adding to the Fontainebleaus'
opulence is the new 7,000-square-foot Octopus Pool designed to bring splashes
of fun-filled adventure to families and children. Eight huge tentacles stretch
across a children's wading pool and they rain, squirt, spray, and mist
water in every direction. There's also a river raft ride and a 24-foot
water slide. The waterfalls and fountains in the shape of dolphins, shells
and a seahorse will make you believe you've escaped to Splash Mountain.
The Bleau View serves dinner until 11pm. A mediteranean style restaurant
offers a lavish Sunday buffet brunch. There are five other cafes and coffee
shops (including two by the pool), as well as a number of cocktail lounges,
such as Stephen's, which offers a variety of brand name liquors and a fine
selection of wines. Another lounge features a Las Vegas-style floor show
with dozens of performers and two orchestras.
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Fontainebleau Hilton Resort- Review 3
I
can say without reservation that our visit to the Fontainebleau Hilton
Resort was unlike any vacation we have had thus far.
If your family has a
good-sized vacation budget and are looking for an elegant, extraordinary
and fantastic stay, the Fontainebleau is a great choice.
From the moment we arrived and
were greeted by the valet attendants, we knew this was not going to
be a run-of-the-mill vacation weekend. Walking into the lobby
of the Fontainebleau was absolutely breathtaking. From polished
marble floors to the exquisite chandeliers, the decor of the hotel
is glamorous.
Everything about the hotel was incredible.
From the wonderful guest rooms to the extravagant Sunday Brunch, everything
we encountered was top-notch. I can see why celebrities and presidents
choose to stay at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort.We
found the rooms to be comfortable, very clean, tastefully decorated
and the beds and pillows are to die for. Each room has robes
and slippers for use during your stay (they can also be purchased
if you just can't part with them.)
The complimentary toiletries were even fantastic (Neutrogena products,
French milled soap, etc.). The restroom was equipped with
a hair dryer, magnifying mirror, telephone and a plush bath rug.
All rooms have data ports and ours (in the Towers) had a facsimile
machine at our disposal. The mini-bar and in-room coffee pot
were very convenient as was the option of automated check out through
functions on the television.
I had been worried slightly
if we would be "dressed" enough, my mother cautioned me to take
my "best" outfits as "everyone dresses at the Fontainebleau."
Fortunately, Mom's information was outdated. We found the vacationers
to be dressed in a variety of attires, seemingly whatever they were comfortable.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't see anyone who looked like they belonged
on the corner asking for spare change. But what I did see were families
dressed in outfits suitable for touring the area, couples in bathing suits,
men and women in business suits, and even a senior or two with the stereotypical
plaid pants and white shoes. Talking later with Lisa Cole, Director
of Public Relations, she explained that the requirements for formal attire
have relaxed quite a bit in the last few years.
The food, oh goodness,
where to start? We enjoyed a Continental breakfast in the Towers
Lounge Saturday morning. When I think of hotel Continental breakfasts,
I generally think of a few pastries, cereal, juice, coffee and a bowl
of fruit. The Towers Lounge's Continental breakfast was nothing
like this view of typical Continental breakfasts. (Of course, there
is nothing typical about the Fontainebleau, so this should not be
surprising).
The fare for the
morning included about six different types of juice, bottled water,
coffee, several types of breads for toasting, bagels, fine jams and
jellies, outstanding fresh pastries (Fontainebleau is the only hotel
in Miami with its own in-house bakery) several different cream cheeses,
several cheeses, cereal, fresh fruits including all the standards
plus papaya and guava that melted in the mouth. The view during
breakfast was great, the Towers Lounge is a library (of several rooms)
overlooking the ocean and huge swimming pool.
Okay, enough about the excellent breakfast in the towers, on to
the out-of-this-world Sunday Brunch. Unless your Daddy is a multi-millionaire or
you stay in four star resorts as a matter of routine, you probably
have never seen anything quite like their buffet. The amount
of food first of all, is unbelievable.
The
number of choices is amazing. The quality of the food is unbeatable.
I tried foods that I had never had the opportunity of tasting before.
The staff behind the buffet was friendly, cordial and even quite funny
(the omelet chef told me they heard we were coming and had prepared all
of this stuff just for us!) The omelets were cooked to order with
any ingredients guests desired. There were traditional breakfast
foods (bagels, croissants, cereal, fruit, cheese, cream cheeses, quiche,
etc.) as well as spectacular lunch items such as roast beef, all sorts
of pasta and vegetables, salmon, shrimp, crab claws, and three types of
caviar. This doesn't even begin to get you towards the dessert table.
We're talking "sin city" for those of us over the age of 15!
Chocolate everywhere you look from fresh candies, puddings, pies (French
silk, oh man!), and pastries. Did I see something besides chocolate?
Oh yes, there were other pies, candies, pastries and even chilled gelatin
for the non-chocoholics. All in all, the Sunday Brunch was like
nothing I had ever encountered. Lisa Cole, Director of Public Relations
did us the honor of joining us, and we sat for about two hour and filled
our bellies as we talked about the hotel, its history, Miami, and travel
in general. We had a wonderful time. Oh, yeah, and there was
even live music for our listening pleasure!
Now
the pool...how unique! It is incredibly large, measuring
in at a half-acre. The free-style pool gives the feeling that
you are swimming in a tropical lagoon. A twenty-five foot
waterfall provides some extra fun for swimmers as well as adds to
the tropical feel. The girls had a wonderful time swimming in it
a few times, and Izzy gives it a big thumbs up.
Fontainebleau has so much to offer that we were unable to partake
of during our short stay. The shops on the Lower Level were
numerous and interesting. The sheer number of restaurants
would require more than a weekend stay just to visit each one once.
Their full-service fitness center has much to offer their guests
seeking a stress relieving workout.
As it is easy to see
by the descriptions above, I think that the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort
would make a fabulous destination for anyone seeking an elegant, upscale
vacation. The only downfall I can find is that it may be out of
the reach of some budgets, but hey, it's just money, right? If you
can scrape the money together, I suggest visiting the Fontainebleau.
I have found nothing comparable to this fabulous hotel. And if you
can't afford to stay there, be sure to stop by for their Sunday Brunch
while visiting Miami! We hope to visit again soon!!
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