The Epic Hotel - The River Lounge Review

I spent two nights and everything was very good !! Clean and with an excellent smell.

ok while no hotel is perfect
this one is not too far off
i am a VERY detailed person i see what others don't and i know where to look (due to employment history St.Regis Bal Harbour ,Marriott etc)
i have only one complaint and that is the valet dept
so lets get that out of the way
while polite they are SLOOOOOWWWWW but polite and friendly
and I'm gonna give the benefit of the doubt and say that all they guys standing around
socializing and checking out the honeys are NOT on the clock but in uniform and highly visible not too far away from the crowd of folks waiting to get their vehicle its just not a good look while we are waiting up to 40 min for our car and yes 40 min
now on to the glowing shining brilliant service i have experienced on EVERY LEVEL here my housekeepers ISABEL and DONNA were the 2 i actually spoke 2 and witnessed at work
were exceptional and i have worked in the hotel industry for 2 years (it seemed like longer)
at the LACK LUSTER perfumed pig that is the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay just a few miles from here (which EXCELS @ employee turnover and not much else)
housekeeping is night and day different the EPIC gets it right
after 2 yrs of watching it fail its nice to see it done right
i even gone so far as to check for employment here....
there are some areas that could be improved but they are NOT in the effort or customer care dept.
room service staff ,door people,spa staff , pool staff , i have yet to encounter one single person didn't fit my description and we are here for 3 weeks with 2 rooms 2708 & 2733 i wish i could upload pics of the view and the room interior

This hotel deserve its 5 star title. Everything was top notch even got free wine in the lobby in the evening. It s in a great location downtown where u can walk to everything. The Miami Heat arena like a 12 min walk. The restaurant in the hotel amazing also. But if u rather save it s a whole food within a 2 min walk and a movie theater. I got 2 cons of this hotel 1) you pretty much have to do valet parking since the hotel don t offer self parking at all. You can park a couple blocks away for $20-25 a day but no in and out. I used the valet parking it was $40 a night 2) on weekends they have a pool DJ so if u want peace and quite don t get a room on the pool side. They play until 10:30p each night & pretty loud

By far the coolest and trendiest hotel in downtown Miami. Service is 5 star, views are unreal from the pool on the 16th floor of the Miami River, Brickell and the Bay. Rooms are sexy and you have the hottest sushi restaurant at your finger tips. We live in Miami and still end up coming here every few weeks for food, drinks or events.

Something you will notice right away are all the beautiful mega yachts on the side of the hotel and all the beautiful cars in the circular drive. Besides friendly and helpful employees be prepared to enjoy all sorts of pop art all through out the property

Exceptional service. The room and the balcony was clean. Enjoyed a nice view. Complimentary wine during certain times. Relaxed atmosphere.

Impeccable rooms and service, one of the best in Miami.

I stay at hotels all over the country, and this is one of my absolute favorites! Rooms are always great, and I highly recommend booking a water view as it has beautiful views of Biscayne Bay. Combined, I have stayed approximately 2 weeks total at this hotel and always have a great experience. The staff is also incredible, and I want to thank Spencer, Janive, Michael, Pascal, Gene, and many more for always taking great care of us while we stay there, and making our experience that much more incredible. Also, I recommend Lilt Lounge at night for some incredible cocktails created by Spencer who is the lead mixologist, and Area 31 during the day for one of the best lunches I have eaten in Miami (grilled octopus). Thanks again to everyone at EPIC, and we will always go back. Until next time!

Beautiful rooms with stunning views.

Great location!

@wanderlustmoonduo

Bed was very uncomfortable. There's no gift shop there, so I had to walk all the way to whole foods to get toothpaste and gum

Great Hotel staff was very professional I had a wonderful stay. Also you can go and sit and watch the yachts going in and out.

This hotel is the perfect hotel to stay in downtown Miami....it s convenient and close to everything and has amazing views of the water!!! If you valet park just know it s $42 a night so it s pricey but it expected that staying here....they have two pools to swim and relax and have amazing views overlooking the city!!! I love the rooms how clean they are and it has double sinks, big shower head, a jacuzzi in the bathroom and a balcony overlooking the pool and city!!! Also free WiFi

The only thing that this hotel is missing is the beach. Otherwise, it would be perfect! Great staff, great service, gorgeous spa (exhale spa) and a fantastic experience. We stayed there over a very busy weekend, and the service was just outstanding. I highly recommend this, especially if you would like to stay in downtown.

There is no better place to stay than the Kimpton Epic in Miami. Everyone is very friendly and accommodating. The rooms are fantastic. The club level is a definite must for anyone. The club level attendant Kevin made our stay extremely memorable and I have the utmost respect for him.

Miami Spice at Area 31 was a fantastic Friday lunch get away for the work team.

Great experience! Lovely room, excellent service at the front desk.

We went to a bridal expo at the epic hotel it was nice

Great hotel. We plan to go back next time we're in Miami. The location isn't perfect but the hotel itself makes up for that

Nice stylish building, decent service but not worth 5 or 4 stars. The pool area was closed and this fact was not disclosed at the time of checking in. Also, I had several rooms reserved and prepaid of which one was cancelled for a mysterious reasons, blamed on a software glitch.

The bathroom was also not very clean when I checked in. There was hair in the sink and the countertop clearly hasn't bene cleaned and wiped down in a very long time. It's unclear how the glassware in the room is being washed as I didn't see clean glasses on the carts used by the room service employees. I assumed they are cleaned by hand in the room which is not very sanitary.

The best feature of this hotel are the two restaurants on side which both serve great food. The gym is decent and the on-site spa is handy if you need a massage.

Overall it's a decent hotel but overpriced and focused more on style and appearance rather than substance and offering customers solid service, clean rooms and better prices.

After horrible flight cancellations, delays, and being bumped from first class to economy, we arrived at the Kimpton Epic. They went out of their way to try and make things right for everyone else. They are an amazing staff and crew. They took care of every need we had and made sure we made it to the ship the next morning.

It was in a good location, but the room wasn't big enough.

Nice people working there, took forever to get our car from the valet. Heard stories from other guests that it took them 1+ hours to get their car.

This is the first time for us actually staying downtown, most of our visits have been on beach front or Collins.

Pros: The property location is great, we had a premier room with a balcony and a view of the bay and downtown. The check in experience was nice because Alexandro actually remembered me when I spoke to him 3 night ago confirming the reservation. The lobby is small but cozy, the room has a large screen TV and most of the required amenities. The valet parking is not bad about $48 a night, much better than Chicago and NYC.

Cons: The hotel is dated, half of the outlets do not work in the room, the couch and ottoman are stained badly. The wall paper is peeling off, and there is a large shower with very low water pressure and no tub. The room is definitely not Five Star, probably barely Three Star. The hotel is part residence, the residence parking is on the same on ramp to the hotel lobby, it gets really busy sometimes when hotel guests and residents are coming and leaving at the same time. The hotel lobby is a bit hidden, it is just behind two little wooden doors. There was no doorman when we arrived so it was inconvenient carrying luggage and trying to open the doors. There was a doorman the next day around noon.

Update: First day left around 10am, put on the MAKE UP ROOM light, came back 430pm, the room has not been made up. Came down to the lobby and presented the issue to front desk, the answer received was "I will send someone to clean the room, but I have no idea when the room will be done". That was it, no apologies. We waited for 15 mins in the lobby, and they advised me that it is being cleaned. The entire thing took 40 minutes. Yes I was in 2109, for you so called management people reading this. And yes I took my bed tip back.

We will be here for 4 more days over Christmas, let's see what else we can find out. Restaurant and Spa are next. But so far my first visit to a Kimpton hotel has not been satisfactory and far from impressed. Anyone who said this location offers a Five Star service must have paid for a $1500/night room.

Now I am waiting for the hotel "owner" to reply to this post saying something like "Thanks for sharing your experience with us, we are sorry to hear about your disatisfatory to our hotel because this is not the way we normally operate, we are hoping that you will give us another chance when you return to the Miami next time...". Seriously, why bother to reply at all.

Reply to Kimpton Epic:

Hello Robert, thanks for the note and sending a bottle of Susana Balbo Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 and the cheese plate. I think that is the free wine offered during happy hour at the lobby, never part take since there is always a line.

We are not looking for comps, we just want to give a fair review of the property and it's actual condition and services. There are no issues except for the late room cleaning the day before. Oh plus the bath robes have holes on them. The rest are simply facts. I am sure this doesn't happen to everyone but as you know there is always room for improvement. This is why I never said "I will never stayed here again." As a matter of fact, I would come back to Epic in the near future to see if your prompt replies to all of the postings are not just generic responses. I added another star for your prompt response. As much I would like to try out Zuma, the restaurant is fully booked on my wife's birthday, so next time. Thanks again for the prompt reply.

Soooo, perhaps the view and bottle I brought initially clouded my judgment. I've thought long and hard( 1 week) and decided to review EPIC Decor was trendy, restaurant was tasty. The benefits stop there...all the look of tip top with none of the amenities, dirty/dusty room, toilet ran for two days, lots of unsavory characters visiting, lots of weed smoke, no microwave a dirty fridge, TV worked half the time. But because I was there for business I really could care less to mention my displeasure, now that I'm comfy at home I figured I would sound the alarm, dont go unless you brought your own weed to smoke

This hotel is average at best. I attended a conference there recently. Property has a good location, however request water view, otherwise you'll mostly be viewing the high rise next door. Comfortable rooms, not ready till 4:00 pm, with some rooms without balcony furniture, at least on side without view.

Overall, this is a nice place with a very good view, however things can be a little chaotic with parking and of course to be able to arrive and leave with your car. Other than that, this is is a very nice place, especially it's restaurants.

Awesome place to stay and "epic" views of the city! Try to get a room facing the canal and you won't be disappointed!

This hotel was fine. The window in the courtyard outside the room was very dirty. But the rest of the room was clean and comfortable.

The key cards would stop working if they were too close to your phone. Had to get rekeyed several times. Most of the staff was great, bar tenders were salty and the rooftop bar closed at 11 on Saturday.

Excellent bar AREA on the 16th floor. Beautiful view with reasonably priced drinks.

Great infrastructure but services sometimes service could improve a lot

I went to Area 31 restraunt for drinks after Christmas party. The drinks were excellent, and service was great. They had a dj playing and the view was awesome.

We really enjoyed our stay at this hotel. The rooms are very nice and comfortable. It is very close to the Brickell area and Downtown Miami. It has beautiful views of the city and the the restaurants are very nice. This is a very chic hotel. I recommend to go to the pool area and the lounge in the 16th floor.

Fair prices for a great service. Very good price-performance ratio. Gladly again. Thank you very much.

Nice hotel . Staff are very kind ,Rooms are not that great its ok

First off pulling up to the hotel is amazing with exotic cars parked right outside. The bellman are very helpful. The lobby was like a museum or art. The front desk staff where very pleasant. We had a room with a pull out bed, when we pulled out the bed there where no sheets on the bed nor in the closet. There where no garbage bags in the trash bins, we got a text message asking how our room was, we requested garbage bags through the text got a response stating yes they would bring some but never did, had room service come in to provide new towels and still no garbage bags. My over all experience was great it's a beautiful hotel!!

I love arriving and being greeted by the doormen dressed so nicely and the attention to detail throughout the entire building is incredible. This one of my favorite places to go.

4 star hotel in downtown Miami with 5 star service, we are really pleased to stay here. Welcoming front desk team, great view from balcony (thanks to Luca), friendly & professional staff, and walking distance from downtown attractions.

Already a classic in Miami.
Modern Japanese Food.
Tiradito truffled with yuzu and ikura (salmon roe).
Tartare of salmon and tuna.
Japanese risotto with mushrooms.
Japanese grilled corn Robata with lard
It can be noisy place to see and be seen I prefer the gallery outside.

Dinner was good but expensive and very loud. Expensive in general but great views and good music.

Exceeds expectations in every aspect !! Highly recommend. Exceptional

I stayed 6 nights at the hotel and everything was ok until after I checked out. I checked out at 8:30 am and was told by Mark they checked me out at 1:15pm. Furthermore, they did not check me out of the FEMA website. When I called to get the issue resolved I was getting the runaround. I was told that the hold on my card was released and that I would have to speak with my bank. I had to tell them that was not the reason for my call. When I told them to just let me speak to the supervisor Zack B. talked over me and sad I used profanity to his staff when I never did. Please review the calls for today and let Zack B. listen so he can see that his staff was clearly lying. Suddenly Zack gets access to the website and checked me out of the FEMA website and showed no sympathy for their mistake. I am disgusted on how I was treated and will never stay at this hotel.

After complaining, I received a call from my bank wanting to know if I authorized a payment for $13.08. I checked my account online and The Epic Hotel charged me a fee for 13.08 after I confirmed earlier that I had a zero balance. Thank God I took pictures before I left of everything in which I always do at every hotel I stay. I called the hotel to ask what was that charge for. I was told it was for the snack bar in which I never even used. Then I spoke to the famous Zack again. I told him if that charge is not removed off of my account I willl take this hotel to court. He gladly took the charge off and I made sure I received a receipt with a zero balance. Peolple this is the most scariest and worst experience ever. If anyone decides to stay at this hotel please check your account for charges they may place of things that you did not use. This hotel is the biggest thieves, very arrogant, and staff that lies.

The views of the hotel are wonderful. We were not staying at the hotel, but we tried to go to the pool party. The problem is that at 11pm it was over .. it was a shame but we will try to go next time. I leave the photos of the views so they know what I'm talking about ..

The rooms are large and the staff is friendly and accommodating. My wife and I had a great time at this hotel

This was our second stay in two months at the Epic. Location is great, the waterfront rooms have a beautiful view, and the bar is excellent. It is a quick cab ride from the airport or the cruise terminal. Room was spacious, clean, and well appointed. This will be our go to hotel in Miami. The only negative is the very loud music that comes up from the poolside parties on the weekends. It ends about 11:00 but we won't stay here during a weekend again.

Our second time staying and agian as the first time we stayed for 7 days during New Years, it was absolutely perfect for us, amazing views, spacious rooms and the staff is very accommodating. Great location to walk for shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

WE HAD A BLAST AWESOME STAFF AND NICE POOL DECK LOVED IT

Excellent Hotel, excellent staff. Valet parking only. Lots of activity especially on weekends

The best hotel period. Best views. Best staff. Best restaurants. Best bar of all time, Lilt lounge. With the best Mixologist Spencer, making the best drinks you will EVER have.

Great Restaurant and beautiful lounge bar area with a view of downtown and the Miami River.

I went for lunch and afternoon pool / spa. Great setting and affordable price at the restaurant and pool bar. Great view from the roof terrace.

Amazing view from the outside bar! A great place to chat and lounge around with a drink while enjoying the cityscape!

I ordered room service with an estimated wait time of 25 minutes and had to wait 2 hours... still haven t got my food and when room service came they didn t even take my food from 2 days prior so there was old food smelling up my room. The phone in my room doesn t work and when I came down to talk to the concierge no one was there to talk too and there were guys lounging around in the back while there are customers not being serviced...overall bad service for a high priced hotel

I had a great time just the other month at this hotel. What I love about is the location and the 5 star service. This is the same hotel that Pitbull filmed " Hotel Room Service".
The trick to this hotel is to book club level. What you get besides the usually club benefits is a special check in. While everyone is waiting to check in if you tell them you are at club level the whisk you up to the 17th floor and check you in up there. The other things I love is the pool and the balcony at club level. Book a room and have a cocktail and enjoy the pool , who knows you might be hanging with Pitbull.

Nice hotel in a great location in downtown Miami. The pool is located on the 16th floor and gives you great views of the bay and of Brickell.

Beautiful hotel, beautiful views, beautiful cars parked out front...

Reservations process was a nightmare! Tried to book for one night and reservation agent hung up! Terrible customer service!

My first experience in an intercontinental hotel in a while and what a surprise! The whole experience was great from beginning to end. Even checking in was surprisingly civilized: quick, and with a very gracious and competent woman (Claudia, I think) who, despite my room not being ready, convinced me she was doing everything possible to make it so. The room was beautiful, the restaurants were really worth going to, and everyone actually seemed to be enjoying their job. I ll definitely go back.

Getting your car from valet takes too long. But the hotel and exhale spa are nice.

Pros: walking distance to lots of
Shopping/restaurants, beautiful view from room, lots of amenities to enjoy
Cons: room could have been cleaner, valet was a mess!!!!! (Be ready to wait over 30 minutes for your vehicle)
Room service was only available in the afternoon on the weekends, I smelled weed smoke everywhere I went, customer service was mediocre, housekeeping was UNAVAILABLE. The stay was just OKAY overall.... definitely not worth the money we spent.

Service was excellent! The place was clean. All around lovely place to be in.

You definitely want to make reservations here! The Epic is THE experience!