The honest review of Four Seasons Surf Club

I had an atrocious experience at 1 Hotel, but the Surf Club is the opposite — rooms are huge, beach and pool are quiet, and the staff are genuinely above and beyond.

The location in Surfside feels like a real escape — more sophisticated and relaxed than anything you'd find closer to South Beach. The food is excellent and the staff operate at a level that would be remarkable anywhere, let alone in Florida. If you're deciding between the Surf Club and a more scene-y Miami property, know that these are two completely different kinds of stays.

Despite being a Four Seasons — a brand that can feel corporate — this place felt genuinely serene and private, never flashy or chaotic.

The history of the property adds real character that you can't manufacture: the bones of a 1930 members club are still very much present, and that context makes everything feel more grounded. The behind-the-scenes kitchen tour was the kind of thoughtful extra you don't get at most luxury hotels, let alone ones in Miami. If you're looking for something refined and intimate rather than a scene-y hotel, this is exactly the right call.

The main pool is adults-only, they keep families well separated, the spa therapists are great, and there's a coed hammam — I send babymooners here specifically for this setup.

For adults-only stays, the property is essentially designed for you — the main pool keeps children entirely separate, the spa is genuinely excellent with strong therapists, and the hammam is a rare amenity for Miami. The kids club is also legitimate, with staff who actively play with children rather than just supervising, which matters if you're traveling with family but need actual adult time built in. The gelato cart by the pool daily from 11am to 4pm is the kind of small touch that tells you how seriously they take the kids-friendly dimension.

I'd stayed at The Setai and 1 Hotel before this, and honestly, neither of them comes close — Surf Club is in a different league entirely.

I booked a Bay View King and got upgraded to a Bay King Studio — over 700 square feet with a wraparound balcony where I could watch both the sunrise over the ocean and the sunset on the bay. Every meal was genuinely great: breakfast on the Lido terrace, casual bites at Winston's, and the Thomas Keller dinner, which is a non-negotiable. The beach staff were attentive without hovering, and the hotel felt almost private during my stay — two pools, acres of lounging space, and barely anyone around. The house car service within a 15-minute radius was a lovely touch that most hotels at this price point wouldn't bother with.

Checking out, I genuinely could not think of a single thing that wasn't perfectly handled — and I've stayed at a lot of Four Seasons.

We took our son and did a private cabana for one day, which was absolutely worth it — comfortable, well-serviced, and the right way to enjoy the pool environment. The room was spectacular: spacious, beautifully designed, and in-room dining was some of the best hotel food I've had — perfectly cooked and delivered with genuine promptness. The beach is on the smaller side and sees some seaweed by afternoon, but the staff rake it each morning and it didn't diminish the experience. What stood out most was the consistency — every single touchpoint from valet arrival to checkout operated at the same high level.

Grand archways, coffered ceilings, warm ambient lighting, lush greenery — this hotel doesn't try hard to impress, and that's exactly what makes it so impressive.

The open corridors and breezy walkways give the whole place a subtle resort feel, while the interiors lean into a Mediterranean elegance that's timeless rather than trendy. During the day natural light fills everything beautifully; by night the mood shifts into something more intimate and serene. Service matches the setting perfectly — professional and attentive without ever being intrusive. This is understated luxury done right.

We love the location away from the South Beach fray — and the elegance and service are exactly what you hope for at a Four Seasons.

This is our second time staying at Surfside and we'll keep coming back. The common areas are gorgeous, multiple pools and eating spots make it easy to structure the day however you want. One caveat worth knowing: the Surf Club restaurant next door operates independently — no room charging, no table priority as a hotel guest, and the bar there was harder to get into and less welcoming than the hotel itself. But Sophie at housekeeping resolved a small issue with the kind of proactive grace that's genuinely rare — no asking, no attitude, just swift and warm.

The $125 Sunday brunch at Lido doesn't include coffee or orange juice — at a five-star luxury hotel, that's not a pricing strategy, it's a lapse in basic dining etiquette.

If you're going to charge that much for brunch, the baseline expectation is that a hot beverage is included. Asking guests to pay extra for coffee on top of a $125 cover feels cheap in a way that undermines everything the hotel otherwise does so well. We also sat in a room that felt dark and drafty the entire time, with a pastry selection that was surprisingly thin. The hotel itself is beautiful, but the Lido brunch specifically was a significant disappointment.

Everything was wonderful — from Victor at valet to Emma at check-in sharing the history of the building while we sipped complimentary champagne.

The pool is beautiful with genuinely multiple options for seating, and Agustin behind the bar remembered our anniversary without being asked — small gestures like that matter. Our room was clean and spacious with hard shower pressure and a remarkably comfortable bed; the floor-to-ceiling windows turned the view into something you actively enjoy rather than just glance at. First-class service across every member of staff we encountered, which in Miami is not something I take for granted.

This is hands down the most elegant and beautiful property in Florida — the aesthetic and quality of finish are impeccable at every turn.

Yes, it's expensive and obviously for a specific clientele, but the level of elegance justifies the premium in a way few hotels actually manage. Both restaurants are fantastic, and Thomas Keller's ranks as a top-three dining experience in Miami without question. The refinement here doesn't feel manufactured — it feels intrinsic to the building, which has a history and soul that most luxury hotels simply can't replicate.

I've been three times and always given it five stars — this last visit was the first time I couldn't, and the food pricing is genuinely hard to justify.

The exquisite property and overall elegance are still very much intact, but I noticed a slight dip in the polished service that used to feel effortless. What really stung was breakfast: nearly $200 for three people, and the food was honestly mediocre. I don't mind spending money when I feel I'm getting what I paid for — but this wasn't that. The hotel deserves its reputation, and I'll likely return, but the dining value proposition needs to be fixed.

We would give the property itself five stars without hesitation — but housekeeping walking into our room unannounced at 9:30pm while we were in bed is not something I can overlook.

We reported it to the front desk the next morning and they acknowledged the incident, but we never received any follow-up whatsoever. The property deserves top marks on almost every dimension — rooms, atmosphere, service in general — but a luxury hotel should treat an unauthorized room entry as a priority, not a footnote. The lack of urgency from management was genuinely surprising given the standard this hotel otherwise operates at.