Hyatt Regency Miami Rating: 4.0 Pearls

Downtown, Miami, Florida

With a huge convention center and a beehive of meeting rooms, it's no surprise that the Hyatt is filled with business folk rushing to meetings, chatting in the lobby and looking generally exhausted.

Everyone I encountered was bright and chirpy -- a stark contrast to the overwhelmed businessmen around us. To be fair, it was the middle of the 2008 fiscal crisis. The staff did its best to make everyone feel better. There were ample staff members handy to direct guests around the huge property and help print boarding passes and itineraries in the lobby.

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The Hyatt is at the banks of the Miami River, which cuts through the heart of Downtown. It draws the business crowd -- but few tourists -- to its colossal convention center. You'll have to walk several blocks to find any bars or restaurants outside the hotel. Fortunately, there's always a fleet of taxis by the entrance.

The Metromover, a monorail system, has a station at Knight Center, just outside the entrance. It goes directly to the Miami Art Museum and the Main Library.

The One King Bed Room

My King Bedroom was huge but weirdly shaped. A half wall behind the bed partially divided the bedroom from a large powder room with an enormous 50-square-foot closet -- space that might have been better used to expand the tiny bathroom)

The bed was very comfortable, and I spent much of my time in it browsing the Internet through the hotel's T Mobile Wi-Fi service. It's about $10 a day, but the connection speed was good and I got reception throughout the hotel. The 32-inch LG flat-screen TV was great, but it was placed at a weird angle and difficult to watch from the bed. There's also an option for hyperallergenic rooms. Called Respire by Hyatt, these rooms are installed with air purification systems, have had all surfaces treated for allergens and contain beds with hypo-allergenic mattress and pillow encasings.

The room had a great view of Downtown, but I couldn't open the sliding door to the small balcony to get a better look. I later realized that it had been welded shut. The receptionist excitedly asked me to guess why. "Suicides?" I ventured. "Yes!" she chirped!

The lower lobby has a tiny 24-hour gym with a couple of cardio and weight-training machines and a rack of free weights.

Down the hall is a small heated pool not quite large enough to swim in, but with plenty of space to lie in the sun.

The hotel was very, very clean, except for the grease-stained towel that housekeeping forgot in my bathroom. But that means the hotel has a cleaning crew, right?

The buffet at River Walk restaurant

Guests can chow down at Riverwalk Cafe or Pure Verde (both on-site). But the only other food in the area is several blocks down SE Second Avenue and across the Miami River.

Riverwalk Café is a cheery restaurant open from breakfast through dinner. The breakfast buffet includes a selection of fruit, eggs and freshly baked pastries. It serves Starbucks coffee, but don't miss out on the passion fruit smoothie! Our editor was floored! Right outside the cafe is the Riverwalk Deli which serves snacks, salads and sandwiches on the go.

Pure Verde is more of a lounge than a restaurant, but it has an excellent view of the Miami River. Despite the full bar and multiple flat-screens, it was filled with more businessmen on laptops than laid-back revelers.