Four Seasons - Miami Rating: 4.5 Pearls

Downtown, Miami, Florida

A guest enjoys food delivered to the pool

The Four Seasons' 221 guest rooms occupy Floors 20 to 29 in a 70-story Downtown Miami high-rise. The glass and granite building also houses a law firm and the posh gym Sports Club/LA (where guests have free access) as well as a number of Four Seasons residences.

The hotel feels like equal parts upscale office building, art museum, and hotel. Guests enter on the ground floor, greeted by bulbous Fernando Botero sculptures, and have to take an elevator to the actual lobby on the seventh floor.

The pools themselves -- two for guests, plus a third for residents only -- are a lovely urban oasis. Located on a two-acre outdoor terrace off the seventh floor with dozens of palm trees, they're just as relaxing as anything by the beach. For something more lively, the hotel has a special nightlife concierge that can arrange "pretty much anything legal" to entertain guests.

Delivering its famous brand of personal yet discreet service, it's Miami's top choice for visiting politicians and dignitaries, even the occasional celebrity. It tops the Intercontinental on the cool and modern scale, but unlike some of South Beach's trendier luxury hotels, the Four Seasons doesn't try to be hip. It strives to be understated and elegant, and it succeeds.

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Surrounded by banks, office buildings, and high-rise condo towers, the hotel is at the center of Miami's business district. Both day and night, four-lane Brickell Avenue (outside the hotel) has plenty of car traffic but few pedestrians. Vehicles enter the hotel by turning off Brickwell Avenue onto a lane and then into a loading/ unloading area behind the hotel -- there's no grand hotel entrance right on Brickell. Other business hotels, like the Conrad and J.W. Marriott, are just a block or two away, and the Mandarin Oriental is on a small island, about a two-minute drive from the Four Seasons.

For the most part, guests looking for any action at night need to get in a car or taxi and drive, baby, drive. South Beach is 15 minutes and a $20-$25 cab ride away, as are Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. The Design District, an up-and-coming dining destination with notable restaurants like Pacific Time and Michael's Genuine Food and Drink (hailed by the New York Times in 2008 as one of the top new restaurants in the country) is a 20-minute, $20 cab ride away.

The closest beach is in South Beach, a 15-minute, $20-$25 cab ride away. For a slightly more low-key venutre, grab a cab and head to Crandon Park Beach on Key Biscayne. Ranked one of the country's top beaches, it's just a 20-minute, $25-$30 cab ride away.

The bathroom in the Deluxe City-View Room

Starting at 500 square feet, the standard rooms are pretty spacious, more than 100 square feet bigger than standard rooms at the Mandarin Oriental and slightly bigger than those at the Epic. There are three views available: city view, deluxe city view, and bay view. City view rooms feature vistas of the financial district's streets -- not too scenic. Deluxe city view rooms have views of Downtown skyscrapers -- fairly stunning. Views of the bay are quite stunning. Upgrades are common.

Rooms were renovated in early 2012 for updated decor, and now have a fresh look, with stylish furnishings and splashes of reds, dark grays and green. Like the Ritz-Carlton, the Four Seasons designs its rooms to stand the test of time, and they don't skimp on the luxury basics.

• Luxurious beds have down duvets and pillows
• Ample desk space (you can work on either side, and they're big enough to double as a dining table)
• Dehumidifiers are available in some rooms, which comes in handy in the warmer months
• L'Occitane toiletries
• An elegant minibar with top-shelf liquor
• Plush, 100 percent cotton bathrobes
• No rooms have balconies, but they all offer views of the city or the bay through large windows along the back wall
• Most rooms have a cozy window seat
• Wi-Fi is free for once device, but additional device cost a fee

The Palm Grove Pool

The hotel's gorgeous pools easily best the Mandarin Oriental's single infinity pool, but the Mandarin compensates with its Oasis Beach Club on Biscayne Bay.

• Heated main pool is located on a gorgeous, two-acre outdoor terrace off the seventh floor
• A poolside attendant station
• Guests can order food and drinks from the poolside restaurant Bahia without leaving their chaise longue
• Cabanas, which eschew flashy flat-screen TVs in favor of ceiling fans, are free -- a rarity in Miam
• The gorgeous Palm Grove Pool, behind the main pool, looks almost too pretty to swim in. The unheated water is knee-level at its deepest, making the pool a popular wading area, especially during the hot Miami summer.
• The spa offers a full range of luxurious treatments
• Hotel guests also have access to the beautiful Brickell Tennis Club, owned and operated by tennis legend Cliff Drysdale. It counts Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova among its members.

Restaurants feature a kids' menu

Though it's located Downtown and has a heavy business clientele, the hotel is also quite family friendly. Children get toys and edible welcome amenities tailored to their ages at check-in. Parents should let a reservationist know children's ages to ensure that the welcome amenities are age-appropriate. The hotel also has kid-size bathrobes. Cute. The concierge can also arrange baby-sitting services.

Rooms feature Disney OnDemand, and the hotel also has a DVD lending library of mostly animated films. Adjoining rooms are available between premier bay view rooms, and their availability can be guaranteed when reserving. Two-bedroom suites are also available. At 2,190 square feet, they're quite sizable -- and priced for those with sizable bank accounts.

Bahia and room service both have a children's menu.

Poolside dining at Bahia

Bahia serves food and drinksaround the pool from afternoon until evening hours. There's a lovely dining area next to a waterfall, or guests can order food from their chaise longues.

Edge Steak & Bar is a contemporary steakhouse feraturing a main dining area and two private events rooms. It's located off the main lobby on the 7th floor, and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The outdoor terrace boasts great views of the Biscayne Bay.

Bar 14-Thirty-Five serves drinks and small bites daily, and can be ordered through in-room dining.

24-hour room service is available.

One of the hotel's best features is free access to the Sports Club/LA. The ritzy, 50,000-square-foot gym is one of the city's best, with more than 80 fitness classes each week, stunning views of the city from the treadmills, and its own spa and salon. The space bustles with the city's buff and beautiful and the personal trainers who get them that way, not just hotel guests. Located in the same building as the hotel, it's easily accessed via the same elevator guests use to go from the ground level to the seventh-floor lobby.

While Tom Cruise and Britney Spears have reportedly been guests of the hotel, don't expect a celebrity-watching scene. High-profile guests choose the Four Seasons when they want to fly under the radar, not when they want to be gawked at by fans around the pool like at other nearby luxury stays.