Looking For a Pre-Cruise Hotel Not on the Beach
As soon as we booked a cruise out of the Miami Port, we decided to arrive in Miami a few days early.
Traffic in Miami is not bad, it’s horrendous! And equally as bad is the high room rates at most Miami hotels. We decided to find a Miami hotel that was not on the beach, as we would be setting sail for the weekend and have plenty of water views and beach time at ports.
To save some of our travel budget, we could have used our Marriott, Hyatt, or Hilton travel points to pay for a two-night stay at a hotel in Miami, but I wanted to stay somewhere more exciting. I have always wanted to stay at the iconic Biltmore Hotel in Greensborough, North Carolina so when I read there was a Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, I booked it for the Wednesday and Thursday prior to embarking on our weekend cruise.
Funny twist: The Biltmore Hotel Miami is NOT affiliated with any other Biltmore Hotels in the United States. So, you may say that I picked a hotel only by its name, but staying in a different “Biltmore hotel,” turned out to be a happy mistake.
Biltmore Hotel: Mediterranean Architecture in South Florida
Coral Gables is a popular city near Miami, known as “The City Beautiful.” The Biltmore Hotel is a five-minute drive to the famous Miracle Mile shopping center and near the University of Miami, Coral Gables museum, golf courses, tennis courts, water sports, art galleries, botanical gardens, live theater, and more.
And while I had never known this hotel even existed, I discovered it’s a National Historic Landmark and quite popular. This hotel offers an awe-inspiring blend of elegance, sophistication, and history. The Biltmore is a palatial resort built in the 1920s, sitting on 150 acres, also home to the legendary Biltmore Golf Course, originally designed in 1925 by architect Donald Ross.
When I think of a Florida hotel, I typically think of modern decor. However, the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables is a Mediterranean oasis. The architecture, landscapes, and interior décor is a mix of classic Italian, Moorish, and Spanish Influences.
The beautiful interior features hand-painted frescos on barrel-vaulted ceilings, travertine floors, fine marble columns, carved mahogany furnishings and lavish gardens. The architectural ceilings are breathtaking. Fancy furniture adorns the lobby as does a huge, ornate bird cage right in the center featuring live birds, a real showstopper among guests. Throughout the lobby, we continually stopped to admire the furniture including cool artifacts displayed inside glass top tables.
The grounds outside are equally as beautiful. A stunning stone fountain amidst the outdoor landscape is lovely as is the hotel’s impressive eye-catching tower. At one time in the early 1900’s, this spiraling Moorish Giralda Tower made this hotel the tallest building in Florida.
Accommodations at the Biltmore Hotel
There were many rooms and suites to choose from, each featuring the most elegant décor. The hotel has 271 guest rooms, including 173 suites. You can even choose to stay in the tower, but you’d pay a hefty room rate.
Because we were only staying for a 2-night stay leading up to our Miami cruise, we selected the Superior Room type featuring a king-sized bed. The décor was the fanciest hotel room that we ever stayed in, colors of plum, green, silver, and gold.
The ornate chandelier, mirrors, lamps, artwork, headboard … gorgeous! The bed was super luxurious and comfortable, definitely “fit for a king.” The room also had a very large, flatscreen television, a relaxing sitting area and a beautiful, shiny wood desk. The tiled bathroom had nicer fixtures than we have at home. The windows practically went up to the ceiling, offering us a lovely view of the town.
The HUGEST Swimming Pool Ever
Before I mention how much we enjoyed the pool at Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, I will tell you that the pools on cruise ships are small and do not interest us whatsoever. So, knowing that the pool at this hotel was humongous was a real attraction. And when I say a big pool, a historical fact is that this was the largest pool in the entire world when the hotel was built in 1926. Yes, that big. The pool measures approximately 23,000 square feet and holds 600,000 gallons of water.
While the hotel offers rentals of private cabanas and daybeds, they were expensive! We were quite happy sunbathing on regular (free!) chaises, enjoying the beautiful view of the 24-foot waterfall, palm trees, and tropical flowers and plants.
Expensive “Afternoon Tea”: A Priceless Experience
I’ll be right up front. Afternoon Tea cost $72 per person. Don’t even do the math about how many tea bags that money could buy. But the experience was worth every penny!
Here’s the setting: Seated in the grand lobby, a harpist playing soothing melodies, tables elegantly set with a lovely springtime motif. I felt like I was in the English countryside sipping classic English afternoon teas. The menu featured 15 fancy teas, along with selections from a 3-tiered tray of scones and other sweet treats.
We enjoyed the Darjeeling Grand Himalaya and Chai Imperial teas along with tiny goat cheese toasted pumpernickel finger sandwiches with toasted pine nuts. Our favorite desserts, equally delicious, were Cream Puffs and Chocolate Raspberry Crunch Petit Cake.
Onsite Restaurants and Bars
While the city of Coral Gables is recognized as part of “South Florida’s fine dining capital” with 100+ restaurants, we will have to save exploring Coral Gables for another time. Instead, we enjoyed the dining options at the Biltmore.
The Fontana Restaurant’s courtyard surrounds the beautiful outdoor fountain. We dined outside and it was a perfect setting while enjoying delicious bread, eggplant parmesan and spaghetti with meatballs.
The Cascade outdoor restaurant is where we enjoyed poolside dining for one breakfast … brioche French toast, a spinach omelet, and fresh fruit. Yum!
You can also dine at the hotel’s golf resort restaurant. Fairways overlook the championship golf-course, with both indoor and outdoor seating. We did not have time to eat at this venue.
The Biltmore Bar is a fancy, wood-paneled lounge featuring a huge selection of cocktails, wines, and beers. They feature live music every Friday and Saturday evening.
We picked up our favorite lunch at Posto DOLCE, referred to as Biltmore’s “sweet place.” There was a wonderful menu of sandwiches, salads, and wraps plus gourmet coffee. However, the star of our lunch was the chocolate gelato and cheese Danish.
It was nice to see room service available, especially on one morning when we preferred to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in our comfortable hotel room.
Fitness Center, Spa, and Hotel Shops
Shockingly, we did visit the Biltmore Fitness Center! The hotel staff mentioned that it had been named in the top 10 hotel fitness centers in the country. We had to see it for ourselves. It’s a large, 10,000 square foot gym offering 70+ pieces of fitness equipment. We used the treadmills but there were also stair climbers, bikes, cross training machines, free weights, and more. There is also a sauna and steam room.
I appreciated the elegant décor of the 12,000 square foot Biltmore Spa. If you like spas, you will love the eucalyptus infused steam rooms and Himalayan salt saunas. Treatments include facials, healing massages, and other skin care treatments.
If you need to do some shopping, there are shops in the hotel’s lower lobby offering everything from clothing and premium cigars to toiletries and gift items.
A few notes:
You can self-park and walk from the parking lot for FREE or you can valet park at $42 per day for overnight guests. Self-parking worked fine for us.
The Biltmore Hotel charges a $23 resort fee per room per day. The resort fee covers the fitness center, high speed internet, and a few other amenities that were not important to us.
The Biltmore is pet-friendly, but the pet must weigh less than 35 pounds, be fully trained and properly restrained by the owner. There is a steep $500 refundable deposit and pets must not be visible at any time in public areas of the hotel.
Feeling Like Royalty Before Boarding a Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship
Our short pre-cruise stay was not short on memories! This classic hotel is one for the books and I will continue to recommend the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables to all my family and friends that visit the area. It was a real treat with historic charm and impressive details blending Italian, Moorish, and Spanish architectural influences. We really felt like we were visiting Europe.
While the breathtaking surroundings were elegant, we still felt it was a nice, relaxed atmosphere. The Biltmore pool was magnificent in both size, cleanliness, and gorgeous views. We enjoyed eating dinner outdoors, where it reminded me of a Spanish courtyard. The staff was accommodating from check-in to checkout.
It was just a quick visit, but two words can sum up our stay at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables: “Wow” and “Impressive.”