Review: Bonaventure Resort and Spa in Weston is a hard pass

The Bonaventure Resort and Spa is a resort you can skip when visiting Miami.

Located in Weston, Florida, a short drive from everything Miami has to offer, the Bonaventure Resort and Spa has enough wrong with it to avoid.

For six years in a row, the Bonaventure was my go-to stay when I was in Miami. It is located far enough away to give you some peace and quiet, yet close enough that you can get to the airport or anywhere else for that matter in an hour depending on traffic.

The Bonaventure sits right at the edge of the Alligator Alley corridor that will cross the southern state to Naples and Fort Meyers. Nestled back off the highway, the spacious resort should offer everything you would want but instead, they have let it all slip away.

There is no denying that the BSPR is a beautiful resort/hotel. The rooms are spacious but a little outdated, the swimming pool is huge and has a cascading waterfall and a tiki bar, there is also a hot tub sitting off the pool in its own little hidden area.

The pool and spa close as soon as the sun goes down in the winter and in the summer, it closes at 8 p.m. regardless of the light outside. This is a huge deal for anyone wanting to relax in the water after a long day doing touristy things in South Florida. Nothing like a nice glass of wine while you chill in a hot tub. Not anymore.

Security will run you out of the water and then out of the area no matter how loud you are not being. This is an attempt, in my opinion, to drive guests inside to the main bar where they remain open until later and serve both food and drink. It might have even worked if it weren’t for the bar staff.

The bar staff is not friendly and I have witnessed on several occasions two or more arguing with each other in a clear shot of the guests without a care that they are heard. If they are not arguing, they are complaining about their job. I would normally discount this as a bad night but sadly, it was repeated the last three years I was there.

The resort’s on-site steakhouse, Irelands, is supposed to be really good but a little overpriced for the quality I have been told by some who have eaten there.

As for the rooms, they are spacious and some have a living area with a bedroom off of it, these are the best rooms the hotel has to offer in my opinion and if you book through a travel site you could land one of them for as little as a $150.00.

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My last two trips to the Bonaventure included rooms without working televisions. A big problem for me considering I need information access and sports information to review. They offered to change my room but I was not guaranteed the same type or a reduction in my rate and definitely not an upgrade.

The beds are comfortable enough but I highly recommend checking them before you bet in. Last two years we found small wormlike bugs, almost like a hardshell caterpillar curled up beneath the sheets. They stripped the beds down and made them again but it was a big inconvenience. We also were moved to another room location only to find the same problem.

This resort caters to large booking parties. They want to keep the noise levels down but if you have several rooms booked by larger amounts of guests, or a wedding, or even a bachelor or bachelorette party you can be as loud as you want and they will never say anything to you. This is an experience I know first hand. It was so bad one night that after several calls to security and nothing being done, I slept in my car.

Simply put, the price is modest for a resort this size, and the beauty makes it feel like you are in luxury but overall, the policies of the hotel and more importantly the guest relations with service staff, make this a no-go for me. This is sad, it used to be my favorite hotel in Miami.

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