When searching for a hotel to stay at the night before our cruise, I only had a few requirements.
Has free airport shuttle
Has free breakfast
Has shuttle to cruise port (for me it didn't need to be included)
*Had I come in earlier in the day a nice pool area would have been a must, but since we were not arriving until after 10:00PM, it didn't matter at all to me.
I chose the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Miami South because it checked off my requirements, had decent reviews, and was pretty inexpensive.
Upon arriving on the evening of April 8th, we didn't start off strong since we missed the last hotel shuttle of the night because the luggage took a ridiculous amount of time to get to the carousel. I could write a whole book on how inefficient and a cluster the Miami Airport is, but it will do me or you no good. Just know that it is a mess and expect nothing to make sense.
We finally made it to the Fairfield Inn & Suites around 11:00PM. Thankfully I had DoorDashed some dinner while still at the airport and it arrived the exact same time we did. Needless to say, I broke my own golden room of not getting any pictures of the hotel room because I had two very grumpy children that just wanted to go to bed. Our room looked exactly like the picture below though.
We had a good nights rest and nothing negative stood out about the hotel room (noise levels, smells, temperature, etc.).Since this was my first cruise in over a decade, I was not prepared for the madness the next morning would bring. We were scheduled for the first shuttle of the day at 10:00. The entire lobby was slammed full of people and their luggage. It was nothing short of overwhelming. I didn't realize until after our trip that probably half of those people had just gotten off of a ship and were waiting for their room to become available.
The breakfast buffet offered by the hotel was not great, having premade, prepackaged waffles and breakfast sandwiches. Some of the food in the heating stations were still cold and the bacon was so raw it looked like it had only been cooked a minute or so before transferring. I would have given them the benefit of the doubt because it was so crowded, but since the hotel is this crowded every Sunday due to cruises, I'm not going to give them any wiggle room as they should be prepared for this type of influx. I didn't end up eating anything and my kids turned up their noses to most of the offerings. My husband ate some and said it was just okay, but wasn't horrible.
The shuttle arrived on time and was a quick process. When booking over the phone they told me it would be $15 a person regardless of age and I would pay day of. I was prepared and when the guy got there, I asked when I could pay him; he said we would pay once on board. It was a short ride to the terminal and once we arrived he made an announcement that he accepted cash and card and would be back shortly. He unloaded all of our bags within 3-5 minutes and told us to exit the bus. Pretty much immediately after we exited, he drove off -- I hadn't paid and I asked around and no one else had paid either. Overall a good experience I do feel bad that I didn't pay (it was a 3rd party through the hotel but they didn't disclose the name of the company and they also aren't able to take payments for them so I dead-ended in trying to pay).
Closing thoughts: the Fairfield Inn wasn't bad and I think it was a good value for what we got. Would I stay again? No. There are SO many hotels in the area that I would try another comparable hotel to see if I had a better experience. Am I discouraging you from staying there? Also no! I didn't have a bad experience and if it wasn't such a busy morning, I feel that the food situation would not have been so disappointing. The staff was very friendly and helpful as well as the bus company they used. Try for yourself and let me know how it goes!
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