Review: The Confidante Miami Beach, Hyatt Unbound Collection

After spending a week exploring South America, I decided to tack on a night in Florida to the trip. It worked out well with the return flights I’d chosen. I’d booked an award to Miami in American Airlines business class using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. A separate JetBlue award ticket would get us back to SFO. We’d spend almost two full days enjoying the beach. My choice of hotel: The Confidante Miami Beach.

I had two reasons for picking the hotel: first, it is right on the beach and would allow us a very relaxing time in Miami. Second, it would keep me moving toward my second 5-brand bonus, as it is an Unbound Collection propriety. Gotta work that award travel angle whenever possible.

When I checked the room rate for The Confidante the day we arrived, there were still rooms available for $305 before taxes. Previously, I’d seen rooms going for about $240 per night when I’d booked our stay. However, I used a free night certificate to stay for free at this award Category 4 hotel. Depending on the season, it is a solid value, and could easily get you over 2 cents per Hyatt point.

The Confidante Miami Beach also levies a $30 plus tax per night resort fee. This is waived on award stays and for Globalist members. Since we were using a free night, we were not billed this. All said and done, we definitely saved over $300 by using a certificate.

I did also consider the Hyatt Centric down the street. However, The Confidante Miami Beach was ultimately more appealing since it would help me move toward my second 5-brand bonus, as mentioned previously. We’d just stayed at a Hyatt Centric in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Arrival at The Confidante Miami Beach

We arrived in Miami at the ghastly hour of 4:15 AM from Montevideo. Luckily, it was a trip at the front of the plane, so I’d managed to get some decent rest (SEE: American Airlines 767 Business Class Review). Business class is nice, but I’m generally only willing to spring for it if it’s a long-haul night flight.

After a transfer to the hotel by bus (SEE: Cheapest and Best Way from MIA Airport to Miami Beach), we walked up to the desk at one minute till six. I’ve never arrived this early at a hotel. But I kindly asked the front desk to see if there might be a room available. I wanted a shower. My daughter wanted to sleep. And maybe, just maybe they could accommodate this ridiculously early check-in request.

The agent informed me normally they would not offer this, but as a World of Hyatt elite member, she was obligated to try to find me something. I’m not sure this if this is true or not. Its definitely not a published perk. Fortunately, she pulled up the only remaining queen-queen room for us. A few minutes later we were headed upstairs, key in hand. At this point I was already ecstatic about the service of the The Confidante.

This definitely broke my previous record for early check-in. I’d once checked into the Hyatt Place in Roanoke at 7:00 AM, dropped my bag in the room, and even grabbed something to eat per the front desk’s kind offer. But 6:00 AM shattered that by an hour. Hyatt has definitely impressed in this regard, as this is the third time I have checked in very early with no issue.

Queen-Queen Room

Our room was a slight upgrade from what I’d booked, as it featured a balcony. We were in room 522, facing the street toward the south. While not especially large, the room is comfortable, and a of very typical layout for a two queen room.

The room features a desk with its chair and a second chair. The desk chair is quite uncomfortable. When I was working and my daughter doing school, we sat on the beds most of the time. The beds are exactly the opposite, as they are quite comfortable. I slept great.

There is a power outlet available at the night stand, and ample USB ports for charging your devices. I appreciate hotels that keep up with the times. Trying to find an outlet for my phone charger can be a game at older properties.

Rooms at The Confidante also feature a minibar and a selection of snacks and other beverages on the counter-top. The snacks are almost all packaged with their own branded bags. Everything is priced as you might expect, ridiculously expensive. I guess they expect you to party it up and not care what things cost. Or this place is simply too bougie for the likes of us.

The bathroom in a queen-queen room at The Confidante is nice, but not especially large.

The shower is one of the modern “half door” designs which drive me nuts. This one is large enough that it functions well enough, but in general, I cannot stand the design. I still remember my first experience at the Hilton Dublin where we got water all over the floor every time we showered. It may have forever soured me to this type of shower.

The bath amenities are not the typical individual size items. The Confidante provides full size shampoo, conditioner and body wash that will be used by multiple guests. I have no issue with this and am happy that hotels are moving towards reducing waste and cost. But I know some may feel differently.

Room 522 has a small balcony. We had an obscured view of the ocean, if you look down the street.

There are two chairs and a small table for enjoying the outdoor space.

The Confidante Miami Beach Property Amenities

The Confidante Miami Beach has quite the array of property features. The pool area is the primary focus, and The Confidante has two: one for families, and one for adults. If you’re hoping for a time sans screaming kids, you’ll (sort of) get it. The two pools are in close proximity to each other. You can pick up towels at the kiosk, and also request chairs. I didn’t understand the chairs weren’t first-come first serve. Whoops. New to this resort thing.

But it made sense, given how crowded the place was. The pool was a popular place at noon. There was a waiting list of about 4 parties for chairs on the family side of the pool area. It took over an hour for us to get a set of two lounge chairs.

Note that only a set of two chairs at the pool and a set of two chairs at the beach are included as part of the room rate, plus towels. If you want one of the poolside cabanas or a beach umbrella, these would be an additional charge.

I wondered at the large number of kids here in the middle of the week, belatedly realizing it was the week of Spring Break. The family pool was generally packed. To enjoy the pool, you also need an appreciation for dance music. The playlist was entirely lyric-less and primarily bass.

My daughter enjoyed the pool, as crowded as it was. She generally enjoys meeting other kids and eventually started playing with a couple other kids. I napped, for the first time in ages. Truly a marvel.

Beach Access and Services

The Confidante Miami Beach abuts the boardwalk. The beach is literally a one minute walk away. After we tired of the pool full of children, we headed out to the beach and swam some more. The hotel operates a beach kiosk where you can obtain towels and rent chairs. The rental of chairs is included as part of the resort fee, as well as towels. If you need either more chairs or desire an umbrella, you’ll be charged. I didn’t even ask what this costs, either per day or per hour.

The Confidante offers food and beverage service both poolside and beachside, and staff will routinely come around asking if you’d like to order anything.

We had a lovely, relaxing couple hours out. Very glad I picked this hotel.

Dining and Breakfast

If you’re looking to dine on-property, The Confidante has you covered. The primary restaurant is Bird & Bone, southern style dining in a relaxed atmosphere. The most popular section is al fresco.

Bird & Bone is open 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM for breakfast and lunch, and then 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (11:00 PM on weekends) for dinner.

We did opt to eat breakfast our second morning, ordering from the a la carte menu since breakfast was not included for us Discoverist peons. The buffet comes at a cost of $32 per person. Bird & Bone does charge a 20% service charge on all tables. Keep that in mind before you add an additional tip.

There is also a coffee shop open in the morning near the entrance to the restaurant. If you’re just looking for straight coffee with cream or sugar, this is available in a small coffee nook, free of charge.

The poolside restaurant is called The Backyard. It runs from 11:00 AM through 8:00 PM most days. The hours are shifted out at the beach, where they open as early as 9:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM daily.

The Backyard also features a full bar.

Other Thoughts on The Confidante

In my opinion the WiFi was very slow at times. It was fine during the early morning hours, but by late morning when my daughter was catching up on her lessons, streaming and even loading many web pages became difficult. Not the best situation for a resort property.

I would also like to comment on the art. Some is a little risqué. Not a fan of a couple of the in-room pieces.

I requested late check-out, and The Confidante Miami Beach was able to accommodate a 1:00 p.m. checkout. This isn’t quite the 2:00 p.m. published benefit for Discoverist members, but I wasn’t going to complain. This let us have a relaxing morning without worrying about packing all our stuff.

We packed up at 12:30. Returning to the room, we found a pack and play set up, which surprised me. Guess the next guests have a baby. But it was still weird to see it before we were checked out. I definitely mentioned the issue to the front desk.

The line at the front desk was a bit of an issue on a couple occasions during this busy week. I rarely saw more than two people staffing it. We waited over 15 minutes for access to a hospitality room to change after swimming at the beach, which was a bit frustrating.

The Confidante had us covered for most of what we wanted, but we did take a couple walks around the beach. I headed down the boardwalk early the second morning, and my daughter and I also headed across the street to Primo Market and Café each day for lunch. Prices are decent, and their empanadas aren’t bad.

I did have some back and forth with the hotel over incidental charges. Someone had apparently billed their breakfast two days in a row to our room. This was partially solved at the desk, but since the poolside dining I expected had not hit the bill, I ended up still letting myself be billed for one of them by accident. Luckily, the hotel was able to straighten it out after the fact, but it did mean emailing them twice about it and calling once.

Conclusion

We had an enjoyable stay at The Confidante Miami Beach, and I hope you enjoyed the review. The pool and beach were the the highlights for us, and the accommodations themselves are plenty comfortable. Globalist benefits here would undoubtedly take things up a notch, with an excellent free breakfast, waived resort fees, and the potential for a suite and/or ocean view upgrade. It would be fun to return for a couple days if/when we are ever in Miami again.