We stayed at the Tru by Hilton Miami Airport South Blue Lagoon in February 2023 prior to our cruise departing on the Carnival Celebration from the Port of Miami .
It's only 3 miles from Miami airport (MIA) and about 8 miles away from the Port of Miami - a short 13 minute drive with no traffic! It however took us 39 minutes with traffic to arrive on a busy Sunday morning...
The close proximity to the airport is super ideal after a long day of air travel. There's a free airport shuttle available until 11pm. You simply call the front desk after you collect your luggage and let them know how many people and your zone location in the shuttle pickup area. I called the hotel at 9:10pm and we were in the shuttle at 9:26pm. It then took 19 minutes to get to the hotel due to multiple stops for additional passengers at the airport (we were the first group to be picked up flying American Airlines).
This particular hotel is actually 2 in 1! You have the Tru hotel on the bottom 3 levels and the Home2Suites is on the levels above. The lobby definitely has a Miami vibe with its decor.
I booked a 2 Queen Lagoon View room on the "top" floor (3rd floor) - room 303.
Just like on some newer cruise ships, you need to put your room key in a card slot next to the light switches in order to turn the lights on (energy saving methods).
As soon as you walk in, you'll find the bathroom to your left featuring a fun blue wall, single vanity sink and shower.
The shower is quite modern with the frameless shower door and corner step to assist when shaving legs. The hand soap, lotion, body wash, shampoo and conditioner are from Not Soap Radio. I wasn't familiar with the brand prior to this stay. Let me tell you, these products smell AMAZING!!!! To my surprise, you can actually buy both the consumer and hotel versions of these products! (Guess what I did when I got home... 🤣) They're reasonably priced too!
Back to the hotel room... There's a coffee maker on a table next to the bathroom door with a mini fridge below. To the left, on the wall you'll find an ironing board and iron. Above is a red metal pipe with several hangers available to hang some clothes.
The room has a bench below the large flat screen Smart TV, 2 queen beds, one night stand between the two beds, a desk with chair, and several lights/lamps throughout the room.
The view at night is nice with the reflection of lights from surrounding buildings on the lagoon water...
Naturally, the view is even better during the day!
We only stayed here for 1 night as a pre-cruise stay. As previously mentioned, the location was super ideal with its proximity to the airport and cruise port. The beds were comfortable, it was quiet, and obviously I enjoyed the bathroom amenities!
My only complaint is the cruise package that I booked. I paid extra for transportation to the port with the understanding that it only covered 2 people and each additional person would be $15. I assumed my 1 year old daughter wouldn't be charged as she would sit in my lap. I also assumed that transportation was provided by the hotel just like their airport shuttle.
When we checked in, I asked about the transfer and was given several options. I picked the earliest pick up time which was 9:30am. We arrived in the lobby early, had breakfast, then just before 9:30am I asked the front desk about the transfer. I was then told that the arrival time is anywhere between 10:15-10:30am. The "shuttle" did not arrive until 10:49am; after I went to the front desk twice asking where it was! And this "shuttle" was actually a Lyft driver that the hotel apparently contracts with.... Then I got charged for my 1 year old as well. So I had to pay an extra $30 in cash (could not charge it to the room) before entering the car. The cruise package was an extra $40+ on top of the room rate. Had I known it was going to be a Lyft driver taking us to the port, I would have booked the regular room rate and called a taxi/Uber/Lyft myself the next morning.
Random fact: the "Do Not Disturb" sign is cute!
Overall, this was a decent pre-cruise hotel. Learn from my mistake though and do NOT book the cruise package and instead get your own transportation. It'll probably be cheaper and most certainly on time!
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