I spent one night at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, located near Miami International Airport, after completing a cruise on Virgin Voyages. Unlike the older Hyatt Regency Miami, which is located right downtown, the Coral Gables property is more resort like and feels a bit more upscale. It is also a higher category (Category 4) but still can be booked with a Category 1-4 Free Night certificate.
I did indeed book with a free night certificate. The points cost was 18,000 for one night so it was an easy decision. Booking with cash means you’ll pay the $25 Destination Fee on top of pretty high rates.
Location
The Hyatt Regency Coral Gables is located 4 miles south of Miami International Airport and about 6 miles from Downtown Miami.
There is quite a bit within walking distance of the hotel including restaurants and shopping. The neighborhood is a suburban city center and feels very safe.
Check In
The lobby is located on the ground floor just off the entry. It is an open two story area with plenty of seating and a bar.
We arrived early — around 11am — after disembarking our cruise. My room was ready, while my mom and sister’s room was not.
I booked a standard King room and was upgraded as an Explorist to a King Bed with Balcony on the 5th floor. The desk agent explained that as part of the destination fee I would receive a credit of $15 for the lobby bar. You get this perk even if you don’t directly pay the destination fee (when booking with points or as a Globalist).
Room
I was assigned room 560. It is the last room down a long hallway on the same floor as the pool. The hotel property opened in 1987 but was last updated in 2019 and overall feels modern.
As you enter, the bathroom and closet are on the left and a bench is on the right.
The main room has the bed against one wall that faces the TV and dresser.
The bed has two side lights as well as a back light built into the headboard. There are outlets and USB plugs on both sides of the bed.
One side of the bed has an alarm clock that has the time on two sides so you can see it directly from bed as well as from the room. It was a clever design I haven’t seen before.
Under the TV is a dresser with drawers and a safe.
Next to the bed is the coffee station with a mini fridge.
The room has a set of French doors that leads out to the pool deck.
Most of the rooms have a barrier to partition off the room’s patio. Room 560 does not so it offers less privacy but more convenience to access the pool directly.
The room itself had very strong air conditioning (it seemed like it was either on full blast or off — no in-between). The curtains also did a good job of keeping out the light.
Back towards the entrance and bathroom is the closet.
The closet is stocked with a full size ironing board.
Bathroom
The bathroom has a raised single sink under a lighted mirror.
Across from the sink is a tub sized walk in shower with sliding glass door that you will find in many Regency properties. I do appreciate that the water control is on the wall opposite the shower head so you can turn it on without getting wet.
There is both a wall mounted shower and handheld wand. I found the water pressure to be very weak.
Pool & Gym
The pool is on floor 5. It is a large sized pool with plenty of seating around the edges. There are also two raised hot tubs. The pool deck is open from 7am to 10pm.
The gym is strangely located on floor 7 at the very end of the hall. It would be more fitting to have it on the ground floor or the same floor as the pool.
Overall
I left the property before breakfast for a morning flight, though breakfast is served in Two Sisters on the ground floor. There is also the lobby bar where I did use my $15 for an order of mac and cheese and a salad which were decent.
After check out, I was emailed a copy of my bill and a mysterious $84 charge from the Market (their convenience store) appeared. I called the property and they said they would refund the charge as I didn’t buy anything from there. I’m guessing someone else did and said my room number. It was especially annoying because the front desk agent told me that she needed to log in to her computer which would take a while but that she would email me a bill. So I wasn’t able to check as I usually do before leaving the property.
The Hyatt Regency Coral Gables is a nice property and a good use of a Category 1-4 Free Night Certificate. It isn’t your typical downtown Regency property. It reminded me a bit of the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington property near Seattle.
It is also pretty close to MIA if you need an airport stay but want a full service property. I would return to the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables in the future if I had a need for a hotel stay in the area.