Kelly "The Spice Girl" O.'s Profile

I discovered this place while staying at the Hyatt across the street. I love finding a great sushi place in a city where I do business on a regular basis. I will definitely be visiting Kanpai again. As some other reviewers commented, you won't find anything excessive here- no really crazy rolls or "Japanese Fusion" but just good traditional fresh sushi. It is a small, unassuming quiet restaurant with a friendly staff and the sushi is ready Fast- good to know when you are a business traveler with not a lot of time to spare. I'd  highly recommend Kanpai for great sushi.

I have eaten at the Francesca's in the north burbs and it was wonderful, so I was not surprised to have a fabulous experience this evening. The atmosphere here is nice- great black and white photography on the walls, white tablecloths, good lighting. Very nice bar when you walk in, and the staff is incredibly attentive. They do have valet for $8, which is nice. We didn't have wine this evening but they have an extensive wine selection. The food is superb, and presented with an artistic touch. I had a very simple Caprese salad; fabulous. My colleague had the tilapia which she said was amazing. We both had dessert- I had the lava cake and she had an apple dessert- both were unbelievably delicious. The coffee and cappuccino- PERFECT. Again- the service is impeccable- the provide service but don't bother you and don't push you to order anything. Highly recommend this restaurant for anyone interested in wonderful Italian cuisine. **It can tend to be a slight bit loud when the restaurant is full- I point this out only if you are looking for a quiet romantic dinner. This might not be the ideal place for that.**

OMG. This place is chocolate heaven on earth. Seriously. You have to go!! When you walk in, you are greeted with the scent of fine chocolate. They've set this place up as an ideal combo of a retail store, a little chocolate bistro, and a lounge. The first part of the store is more of the "store" part, there are candies (hand-painted, exquisite gems to ooh and ahh over), cookies, cupcakes (both mini and regular sized) and all kinds of bars, truffles, and chocolate candy for sale. They have some amazing and very unique gift accessories too~ honestly a fantastic spot for gift buying. They also have a wine bar here and ~ CHOCOLATE MARTINIS. Plus- you MUST MUST MUST order a hot chocolate, served in hand-painted mugs. TO DIE FOR. Really unreal. They have coffee, cappuccinos and lattes as well. The back half of the store is the lounge area complete with comfy couches, chairs, a beautiful floor to ceiling fireplace, hightop tables- complete with a huge window where you can watch the candies being made.

Anna Shea's is the total package. A chocolate EXPERIENCE. I went once for a girls night out type of deal but trust me, there were plenty of men there living it up and loving it. A great escape- complete with free Wi-Fi....plus you can reserve the couch areas for get-togethers.
This place is a dream. You simply MUST GO NOW!! ;-)

If you want to see some videos of the goodies, I took some - see them on my YouTube channel for Olexa17.

Truly, this was one of the worst hotel experiences of my entire life. I'm used to traveling (primarily for Biz) on a regular basis. I've stayed in boutique hotels & large brand hotels. I've had great experiences in both, some less than stellar but NOTHING can compare to this hotel experience. It was so bad- this was supposed to be a mini-vacation getaway for me, I cut my trip SHORT by 2 days just to get out of this hotel. What does that tell you?

As most of the other reviews here say, the website for the hotel will give you the impression that this is a very chic, spacious amazing property. Think again. Think- someone used some very creative angles to shoot these photos.
I chose the Clinton Hotel for one reason- I'm active in social media and my work is primarily focused on providing web marketing strategy/social media strategy for my clients. I chose the Clinton Hotel because at that time, it was the only Miami hotel that was engaged on Twitter. I contacted the Twitter account and attempted to make a reservation. I say ATTEMPTED because it took over 4-5 employees over a week to make ONE reservation for ONE person. Every day I had to follow up w/this person to get a reservation in place. I mean really, when you have a name and date, how difficult IS this?
Upon check in we were informed that there is a $10/day "resort fee" for  beach towels and chairs. The towels are big and nice- but you have to check them out~ and also the beach chairs are just that CHAIRS that unfold- not lounges like most people want for the beach. (Also note it's an easy 10 minute walk to the beach, but the hotel is not "on the beach" as the website will tell you.)

The hotel has ONE elevator that can probably hold a max of 4 people at one time. Hugely inconvenient. They also have a "fitness center" on the TOP FLOOR and it's essentially like a tented room- which- in Miami means intensely HOT and stuffy. No free weights and questionable quality equipment.

The rooms - as most others here have said- are VERY SMALL. The pictures on the website are totally misleading. They also messed up my reservation (like the other reviews I have seen here) and had my friend and I in a room with one bed = a mattress on a platform.

The bathroom LOOKS nice and modern, but ours- the shower was so powerful it was like getting pelted with rocks every time you showered. Additionally, it leaked so badly that the floor was filled with water overflow after each shower.

The maids clean the rooms VERY LATE. Quite often we'd return to the room by 5pm and they'd just be hitting one floor. I had one maid in my room with the door closed- I used my key to get in and she literally shoo-shoo-ed me out!! I had to wait in the hall. And then on the last day of our stay, they have the audacity to put an envelope for tips on our desk in the room. FAIL.

As other reviewers have stated, if you expect to sleep here, like you would in other - pretty much any other hotel with any sense of concern or service for their guests- think again. The walls are paper thin. I could hear every conversation from the guests in the rooms next to us and had to constantly call the front desk asking them to tell these people to talk quietly or turn down the TV.

Worse yet- the pool area- which is ODD because its more like a big hot tub instead of a 'pool'- is set up in the middle of the hotel, like a courtyard. It LOOKS very chic and cool- w/the Miami look of big couches, lounges, tents -but- the hotel plays LOUD THUMPING CLUB MUSIC LITERALLY 24/7. The first night, I was going to bed around 11:30pm and it sounded like we were at a nightclub. I called the front desk, asking if they could keep the music down and the guests in that pool area quiet. The man said, "We'll turn it down". 15 minutes later; I'm calling again. Every 15-20 minutes I was calling and NO CHANGE IN NOISE. Finally at 3:30a.m. I went to the front desk- I said, PLEASE IS THERE ANY WAY TO SHUT OFF THIS MUSIC?? He said they felt it was just as important to accommodate their guests that came here to Party as it was for the guests that want to sleep. FAIL. (are you running a hotel or a nightclub? Um yea...)

This noise situation continued unabated the entire time. This hotel is in the heart of Miami and no doubt- many visitors are here and want to go party and club it up. That's not a problem- but in my experience, 99.9% of hotels are focused on allowing their guests to SLEEP since that is what the room is FOR: a place to SLEEP. This hotel lets the guests run all over the place, screaming in the hallways, clubbing it up in the pool until wee hours of the morning. When I went to the front desk that morning at close to 4am, I returned to my room and BOOM. NO NOISE. They turned the music OFF. This could have been done at any time. Then at 8am- LOUD THUMPING CLUB MUSIC. Unreal.

I urge you to consider virtually any other hotel in Miami than this one. I'd rather sleep in a tent. I know I'd sleep at least.

I have really mixed feelings about this restaurant. We went for dinner on a Saturday night. Surprisingly at about 8pm it was not that crowded. The atmosphere is lovely and unique...we were seated in the very back room which has its own separate bar.
First odd thing-the lighting was SO dark, seriously, we could barely read the menu. When we finally could see with some candlelight, I was perplexed by the - rather limited menu? I'm used to Italian restaurants offering HUGE menus with the options of traditional dishes, maybe some fusion type dishes - but always myriad options. I'm a foodie....and an Italian food FANATIC; its hard for me to find an Italian dish that I DON'T like. I ordered what appeared to be as close to a Vodka sauce dish as possible. Nothing close. Don't get me wrong; nothing tasted BAD. The service was relatively good- although it was difficult for all four of us to understand our server, but he was courteous and prompt. But I felt as though I had that "head tilt" moment THE ENTIRE MEAL- it was just nothing to write home about. But of course it's a must share experience for Yelp right?
There are SO MANY great places to eat in Miami, next time, we will likely skip this one.
;-(

Although I haven't been here in AGES, this is by far, one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Chicago. A colleague of mine had taken us here for a business dinner and WOW. Yes, the location is small and can be a bit noisy- but - it just seems RIGHT when you are there. You feel like you are in a family 'joint' and everyone knows everyone. That is the vibe I get when I'm there. And the food is impeccable. My favorite is the vodka sauce, but I've tasted off the plates of my colleagues and everything was TO DIE FOR. Highly recommend stopping here for a dinner that will make you want to return again and again.

This is one of those places you'd probably never find or stop in to- unless someone told you to. But in my opinion, their food is really incredibly delicious. For Mexican fare, it's very VERY fresh and not greasy; not everything is slathered in too much sauce or crusty cheese. The portions are huge and I was just very very impressed. Drinks are good as well~ atmosphere is a bit tight but it works. I'd highly recommend checking it out.

Portillo's just rocks. Period. Their food is AMAZING. Always fresh. Always awesome. That chocolate cake? To die for and a great easy dessert to order for a big party you're having- also hello, check out their catering menu: I get their Italian Beef whenever I have a party and I have to beg people to leave my house it's sooo amazing. (and reasonable IMO). The staff is attentive and friendly. Sometimes the drive-through can be a wait...but that is a testament to how much the food will blow your mind. I simply cannot have a fast food burger after having Portillo's. And the meatballs- YUMMTASTIC.

I was so surprised on our recent trip to Miami to see that a new name was above one of my favorite old Jewish delis (Arnie & Richie's) but, after stepping inside and having a fabulous lunch....I'll be back! The new owners have REALLY updated the place and I'll agree that it is much cleaner. I always thought the food was incredible before the name change but it was rather old school, as far as the setting, and very cluttered. The staff was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, and not just out to jack up the tally of the bill. Our waitress suggested that we were ordering too much at first and she was right. We had a wonderful meal~ melt in your mouth fresh bagels with nova lox etc. MMMMM! My only wish is that they were open a bit later for some post-beach dinner!! ;-)

What a fabulous little joint! We stumbled across this gem - frankly because the deli we wanted to hit after a tough day at the beach was CLOSED (fail!). Wow. What a huge menu! Everything looks and sounds decadent and nothing dissappointed us. We were being "good-on-our-diet" girls and ordered salads with their dairy-free frozen yogurt for dessert. Wow. Wow. Very fresh ingredients, served on fabulous plates (very Pottery Barn-ish I might add) and nice portion sizes, very generous. The staff is VERY FRIENDLY and you can tell they are proud of the restaurant and the food that they serve. Indeed they should be. This will definitely be a go-to spot for us again while vacationing in Miami. Awesome.