5 Things To Know About the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel

The Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel & Executive Meeting Center is the flagship Marriott property for the Miami International Airport. It’s popular for stays before or after flights and serves as a crew layover hotel for many airlines.

I had a good time during my 1-night stay in November 2024, though there are things I wished I’d known prior to booking that may have caused me to book somewhere else.

1. Take the Shuttle to the Hotel

The Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel‘s location is very deceiving. If you look at a map, you can see that the hotel is directly across from the Miami International Airport (MIA) car rental facility, and if you look at an aerial view, there is a sidewalk that leads directly to the front door. Wanting to verify this information, I called the front desk a few days before my stay to check if it was walkable, and I was told I could do so.

To do this, I thought, I’d have to take the MIA Mover tram to the rental car center, which is incredibly easy, and then from there, go downstairs and cross the street. Hotel shuttles, even if they’re frequent, can be a pain to navigate, and you often have to cram into a small bus with other people or wait for the next one to come around, so I wanted to get to the hotel on my own.

Once I got off at the rental car center, I tried to go downstairs but found it almost impossible. Eventually, I found a door that led into a row of rental cars, where an employee told me to go out a certain door to get outside. I followed that person’s instructions, and after hopping over a few small chain link ropes, I made my way outside. This was way more complicated than I had anticipated, and it only got worse.

Once outside, I found the sidewalk leading to the hotel was closed off, and it was impossible to go anywhere since all the doors locked behind me. After walking around the building looking fairly clueless, I found a police officer who told me that this problem happens often and the only solution was to run across the street and through the median with my bag, then follow a crosswalk on the other side of the street to get to the hotel. It was highly unsafe, but I essentially had no other option at that point.

Had I known and been properly informed by the hotel, I would’ve taken the escalator to get outside from the MIA Mover exit closest to the train station. This would’ve been a much easier walk to the hotel, but the hotel, online directions, and people I asked inside the rental car center led me wrong.

Long story short: Take the shuttle bus. This hotel is not as easy of a walk as it looks on a map.

2. There’s a Club Lounge

While many hotels have removed club lounges, the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel still has one. You can purchase a club-level room or get complimentary access as a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite or Titanium Elite member.

The lounge offers all-day access to complimentary water and sodas. In the morning, you’ll find a continental breakfast, and in the evening, light appetizers.

My flight was departing early in the morning, so I didn’t visit during breakfast, but I did visit during the evening. On offer was a selection of empanadas, crab cakes, cheese, vegetables, fruit, potato salad, and bagged snacks.

The empanadas and crab cakes both tasted like they were prepared from frozen products, and while it was nice to have something hot, they were rather disgusting because they clearly weren’t fresh.

It certainly wasn’t an extensive selection, but it was better than nothing and a place to sit and work during the day. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing a club access room considering the quality of food on offer, but thanks to my elite status, I didn’t have to pay.

3. No Fridge in the Room

For a city as hot and humid as Miami, I was hoping that each room would be equipped with a minifridge to keep bottled water cold. Unfortunately, the standard rooms at this property do not have refrigerators. Like I said, I had access to the club lounge down the hall and could get cold water there, but I wished these rooms had fridges.

During my visit, I went outside to walk around a little bit after checking in, and it was as muggy as could be. In a city like Miami, you dehydrate quite quickly, and the last thing I wanted was a warm bottle of water.

This hotel should renovate rooms and install minifridges. I understand that the hotel could bring a small fridge to the room upon request, but I didn’t want to do this because I was afraid I could be taking it from someone who really needed it for medication and the like.

4. No Other Places To Eat Nearby

Despite being near the airport and across from the rental car center, this hotel is in a horrible location for eating out. It is essentially a standalone property with nothing nearby. If you’re planning on staying here, your only options are to order delivery or dine in the hotel restaurant, which is what I did.

There are 4 places to eat at this hotel:

• The Rickenbacker Restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch, though if you’re eligible for club access, your included breakfast is in the club.
• River’s End Patio is open for late lunch and dinner and offers soul food. However, during my stay, the restaurant appeared closed for an unknown reason.
• MbarK is the hotel’s main bar and restaurant, directly off of the lobby.
• A lobby coffee shop and market offers light bites.

I had dinner at MbarK and ordered a French onion soup, which was just average, and the chef’s “famous” Cuban sandwich served with yucca fries. The sandwich was terrible and not reminiscent of any Cuban sandwich I’ve had before. While it filled me up, it was certainly an unmemorable meal.

Besides the sit-down restaurants, the lobby coffee shop and market had a few premade sandwiches you could take to your room. I investigated these before sitting at the restaurant, and they didn’t look too appealing (then again, neither was my meal).

If you are going to stay at this hotel, be prepared to grab food elsewhere.

5. Long Lines Abound

This hotel is frequented by airline crews as a layover property and guests who are provided hotel vouchers for airline cancellations. Because of this and the fact that it’s one of the closest hotels to the airport, the lines at the front desk seemed to be long and remained consistently so over the several hours I went down to the lobby.

Because the airline crews have a dedicated check-in process, the front desk staff constantly had to assist them, all while a line of regular customers built up. The hotel never seemed to have more than 2 front desk agents at a time, which slowed the process down.

If you can take advantage of mobile check-in on your phone, do that to speed up your check-in.

Final Thoughts

While the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel & Executive Meeting Center is certainly convenient to the airport, it lacks several key amenities, including refrigerators in the rooms and decent restaurants nearby. Next time I’m at Miami International Airport, I’ll stay at another property unless the price is right.