The Confidante Miami Beach by Hyatt, the Hotel Review

This post is about our 4 night stay in Miami Beach, Florida at the oceanfront hotel The Confidante Miami Beach by Hyatt.

This Category 5 hotel is from the Unbound Collection by Hyatt, with 20,000 Hyatt Points per night on a standard night (17,000 Hyatt Points on off-peak nights, and 23,000 Hyatt Points on peak nights).

We were lucky enough to book our room before March 22, 2022 when it was still a Category 4 hotel, before Hyatt updated its award chart and bumped some of the properties to a higher category.

Booking

Since upon booking The Confidante Miami Beach was still a Category 4 hotel, we were able to use a Free Night Award Certificate, and paid only 15,000 Hyatt Points per night for the other 3 nights for a Standard Room (45,000 Hyatt Points total). The cash value at the moment of booking was averaging $437.76 per night including taxes and fees ($1,751.04 total).

Check-In

We arrived at the hotel late Monday evening and proceeded to check in. We asked if they had any room upgrades available for Globalists. The concierge informed us that they didn’t have any Standard suites available at the time but they would be happy to upgrade us to a Premium suite (Oceanfront Balcony Suite Deluxe) for just $90 per night before taxes and fees. That seemed like a great deal considering the value that we were already getting by booking the room with points and a Free Night Award Certificate, so we gladly accepted the offer.

Next, we were handed Globalist golden colored wristbands, so the hotel staff “would know who’s approaching them”, a greeting envelope, and a Globalist Goodies coupon that could be redeemed for free cocktails or other refreshments.

The Room

We got a corner suite on the 8th floor. This 639 sq. ft. suite was featuring a mid century modern decor inspired by the glamorous 1950th Miami Beach. We loved the attention to every little detail with warm wood furniture and vibrant colors of the stylish interior design. The suite had 1 King Bed in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room, and most importantly a balcony facing the Atlantic ocean ☺️.

The suite had 2 full roomy bathrooms with showers, stone sinks, waffle bathrobes, and toiletries.

The very next morning we woke up to a gorgeous ocean view that could be seen both from the bedroom and the living room. The girls rushed to the balcony to sit on the chairs and watch the ocean 👯‍♀️.

Breakfast

The dining at The Confidante Miami Beach included the restaurant called Ambersweet, a bar called the Lounge and The Backyard cafe. We were very exited to check out the property and to have our first Miami breakfast, so we went downstairs to the Ambersweet restaurant.

With an indoor and outdoor sitting option the breakfast was served in a buffet style and offered a whole varieties of food, starting with traditional pastries, eggs, sausage and bacon, oatmeal, cereals and ending with cream cheese & smoked salmon, charcuterie board, fresh fruits, and berries. You could also order eggs any style or made-to-order omelets from the waiter, that would be included with your buffet check without surcharges.

One of our favorite perks of being a Globalist is a complimentary full breakfast daily for four of us, so we weren’t charged a penny for it (it would have been $34 per adult and $17 per child before taxes and tips otherwise, and tips are automatically included in the check).

The Backyard & Ambersweet

Now about The Backyard, it is basically an outdoor patio style area where you can dine or have a drink, relax in a swing chair or a lounge sofa, it’s cozy and stylish. To set the proper vacation mood, the hotel blasts tasteful lounge music from large speakers incorporated into the surroundings 💃.

You can order food and drinks at the bar and eat at the dining tables placed all around The Backyard. The staff was friendly and helpful. We tried a few dishes from the lunch menu which turned out to be just okay-ish so we would DoorDash lunch for the rest of our stay.

The Backyard is gated from the pool area, so at least we didn’t have to worry about Zoe escaping and running away.

For dinner we decided to try the Ambersweet since the menu looked promising. We made a reservation just in case but it didn’t seem to be that busy at the time we were there. We had oysters, a branzino fish, tuna tartar and empanadas. Everything was delicious!

Have you ever seen a food from the kids menu that looked like this? We were pleasantly surprised to see healthy and hearty food options for the little ones and what is more the girls finished their dinner in a heartbeat.

Amenities

The hotel had two pools with one of them being adult only. Pools were located in the same area of the property facing each other, so you didn’t have to get somewhere else for a family pool.

Try spotting the difference between these two pools. Yep, you guessed it – the floating booze tray! It was for the parents in the kid friendly pool, nooot 😅.

We only went to the pool once since we usually prefer the beach and bathing in the ocean over a pool, but it was nice that there was a full poolside service from the bar at The Backyard.

The girls were happy to know that the hotel made their own popsicles in-house and were distributing them free-of-charge at The Backyard and pool area.

We got really excited when we saw wild iguanas walking around the pool. They were very nonchalant and seemed unbothered by the guests, just casually sunbathing and drinking water from the pool. We guessed they were regulars at The Backyard, since we stumbled upon two of the same ones several times.

We thought it was worth mentioning that not all of the exits and elevators were accessible. Below is the picture of the main elevators in the lobby with the stairs leading up to them. You had to get to the other side of the building if you wanted to use the single accessible elevator in the building which usually had a line to get in.

Furthermore, the exit from the pool and backyard area to the beach could easily accommodate a ramp instead of two short steps.

The Beach

Now to the most exciting part (at least for us) – the beach! The hotel had an access to the beach with chairs and towels provided for the hotel guests included with the resort fee (which is waived when you book an award stay with points). The beach had colorful lounge chairs (color coordinated with the main mid-century hotel’s theme) placed in rows ready for guests. You only get to pick the chair and the staff would help to tuck the towels in and open up the umbrellas. Beach umbrellas cost extra $22 per day but they were free for us due to the Globalist status with Hyatt.

The beach also had a full food service menu from The Backyard. An attendant could bring you a little table and you could order right there and dine on the beach, how cool is that!

Miami Beach is famous for its long stretching beach with white sand. Some days were windier than the others and the ocean was tumultuous, you know, when you had to jump with every incoming wave in order not to get swept away. However, on some days the water was like a mirror, so clear and calm that you could see your toes while being a neck deep. Sophia would go diving to find some “treasures” and Zoe would be just chilling in her float (the float is a must have on our beach vacations, you can read more about our travel essentials here).

The front row was always taken with the cabanas that were available for a daily rent of $125. Some days the cabana canopies were up and blocked the ocean view from lounge chairs 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Bottom line

The Confidante Miami Beach has a great location, away from the crowds of the South Beach but still within a proximity of it. Right when you exit the hotel from its backyard and go through, well, The Backyard, you are on a miles long Boardwalk stretching along the ocean.

You could walk all the way to the South Beach from the hotel (45 minutes walking or a 10 minute drive). So that’s what we would do in the evenings when the air cooled down a bit. We would make a reservation at one of the restaurants in the South Beach and stroll all the way to the Ocean Drive. The Confidante Miami Beach area didn’t have a lot of dining options, but we didn’t mind that since we wanted to spend some time in the South Beach anyway.

We spotted a few signs on the boardwalk noting that wild cats lived there. Obviously Sophia got thrilled to meet the cats, but we could never even catch a glimpse of those animals during a hot day, perhaps they were hiding in some place cool. Finally, one evening after the sunset we were lucky enough to see three cats (and a baby opossum) sneaking around the boardwalk! Sophia counted all the animals that she encountered on this trip: two iguanas, three feral cats, and one baby opossum 🤷🏻‍♀️.

The bottom line is that we enjoyed our stay in Miami Beach! It was nice to plunge into the tropical vibes, mid-century and bohemian atmosphere, metaphorically speaking and literally plunge into the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The Confidante Miami Beach is definitely one of the right places to experience all of those things and is worth of a stay. It is a relatively compact, stylish hotel with great clean and spacious suites with amazing ocean views.

When we got back home, we learned that Dua Lipa filmed her “New Rules” music video at this very hotel, oh what a time to be alive 😃.

On Points With Kids Summary

4 nights spent at The Confidante Miami Beach for 45,000 Hyatt Points + 1 Free Night Award Certificate. The cash rate for 4 nights was $1,751.04 which equals 2.78 cents per point. The premium suite upgrade was $102.60 per night which seemed like a great deal given its value.

You can apply for the following credit cards to earn Hyatt points that can be redeemed at The Confidante Miami Beach:

• Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card application
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card application (Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to the World of Hyatt program)