After leaving the Esme Miami Beach Hotel, I caught a taxi to the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club, further up the beach in Mid-Beach. I was in Miami Beach for 4-nights for Miami Music Week, and as I hadn’t been to Miami before I wanted to test out a couple of different hotels and locations.
The Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club is an iconic Art Deco and Streamline Moderne-style hotel on Miami Beach’s oceanfront, having been constructed in 1940 in the signature Miami Beach architectural style.
For those of you who are new here, I’ve been obsessed with the Cadillac car brand since I was about 14-years-old, with a model of my dream car – a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz – sitting on my shelf at home. So staying at the Cadillac seemed an obvious choice…and then I discovered it was part of the Marriott brand, so it became even more of a no-brainer!
I had a bunch of Marriott points to use, so booked my two-night stay entirely with points.
Ready for my bumper review of Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club? Let’s go!
City View King Room
My stay didn’t get off to the best start. I got out of the taxi, and despite watching me struggle up the numerous stairs with all of my bags, the bell hops just stood and stared at me instead of helping. So that was nice of them.
I then reached the check-in desk all dishevelled, and stood there awkwardly while the staff on the check-in desk ignored me. It was one of those weird experiences where you have to pinch yourself to check that you’re actually alive and awake, and not dreaming or a ghost.
Eventually I was served, and finally managed to get into my room, which was located on the second floor at the back, on the corner of Collins and 39th. It was a little disappointing that I didn’t get an upgrade (which you often get with Gold Marriott Bonvoy status, which I have), but it was fully booked because of Miami Music Week!
However, the room itself (a City View King) was beautiful – I adored the nautical blue and white colour scheme and the nod to its Art Deco heritage and history with the gold accents and black & white photographs.
It was a fairly large room, and had a large desk with plenty of power points, a very comfortable king-sized bed, a chaise longue by the window, and a rather large mini bar (although I had to unplug this as it was so noisy I couldn’t sleep).
The bathroom was also modern and fresh, all white and marble with a navy blue wallpaper on the wall behind the vanity. I also liked how, like the Esme, they had the more sustainable, full-sized amenities. This time L’Occitane. And the high-quality Frette robes were lovely too.
Miami is noisy AF
I’m not sure what it was about Miami and noise, but this hotel was almost as bad as the Esme for noise 😂 Rather than a party though, it was more general noise. I could hear people talking in the rooms either side of me, people walking around in the room above me, and even workers who were standing on the street underneath my room.
I think the buildings are just old with thin walls and floors, but I had only maybe 3-4 hours of sleep a night because it was just so noisy constantly!
Pool & Beach Club
Where the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club really stands out, is with its pool areas. There’s a large family pool which is the focal point of the grounds, and a smaller adults-only pool further round the back.
I really, really loved the pool areas. The adults-only one was peaceful and serene – although I was very confused when I was only allowed to sit on the sun loungers on one side of the pool.
All of the other sun loungers on the opposite side by the cabanas were reserved with little signs on them…and even when I sat on one that didn’t have a reserved sign on it, I was quickly moved by the staff because you apparently have to *pay* to sit on those sun loungers, and they’d just forgotten to put a sign on that particular lounger.
Why you have to pay to sit no *that* side, I do not know (especially as that entire side of the pool was empty), and it left a slightly bad taste in my mouth and really reinforced the money-grabbing ways that I found to be common in Miami.
It was a similar situation at the Beach club – while it was lovely having direct beach access from the hotel, and you get two complimentary beach loungers, you had to *pay* an extra $20 for an umbrella. To me this is mad, and frankly dangerous.
Charging people to stay safe in the sun and heat (on a beach with no natural shade) is appaling behaviour, and was something every hotel on Miami Beach seems to do – despite them charging an extortionate ‘resort fee’ ($35 per night) that should be including this service.
Having very pale skin and a family history of skin cancer, I try and stay in the shade as much as possible, so I left the beach and retreated back to the pool where there was shade from the palm trees.
Location
For me, the location of the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club was the major downside. I found I really missed being in the thick of it at South Beach, and you also need to consider that if you’re not actively doing things in Mid-beach, the taxi and Uber costs to get around in Miami are very expensive.
Because most of the things I was doing were located in South Beach and over the water in Brickell, this meant much higher taxi costs than if I had remained staying in South Beach itself (especially as I could walk to most places in South Beach when I was staying at the Esme). Something I didn’t really think about when I was booking the hotels, and something I would definitely consider if I visit Miami again.
A beautiful hotel with major flaws
I did enjoy my stay at the Cadillac, mostly for the change of scenery and to see a different style of hotel to the Esme.
But I absolutely wouldn’t stay there again, and if you’re thinking of staying there, I would urge you to really consider other options first, unless you know you absolutely want to stay in Mid-beach.
Personally, I preferred the Esme Miami Beach. However, if I visit Miami again, I think I would try and stay at a more resort-style hotel in South beach, that was a mix of the Cadillac and the Esme (I have my eye on the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, and The Betsy).
For me, the Cadillac was just too noisy, had poor service, was too money-grabbing, and the location was too far out.
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
