The Westin Ft. Lauderdale. A Sweet Suite?
Written: Aug 17 '06 (Updated Aug 17 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Decent rates. Heavenly Beds. Clean rooms.
Cons: Location. Still showing some hurricane damage a year later.
The Bottom Line: I think this is one of the better business hotels in the area (and I've tried a bunch). Despite its lapses it's consistently good and they've earned my repeat business.
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| belynch's Full Review: The Westin Fort Lauderdale |
This review is based on two stays at the Westin Ft. Lauderdale during the Spring and Summer of 2006. Both trips were for business and rates paid were $129 and $109 + taxes and booked online through spg.com, one of the many Starwood Corporate sites which offers a “Best Rate Guarantee.”
Location
The location of the Westin Ft. Lauderdale is one of these famous Catch-22’s. It’s great for some and terrible for others. Just off the Cypress Creek exit of I-95 (make a left into Corporate Drive), it’s about 15 minutes north of the Ft. Lauderdale airport (FLL). I’ve never driven to the beach from the hotel, but I’d imagine it would take about 10 minutes by car. Although, I can’t comment on what parking is like around the beach.
The reason why I like the location is that it’s near 95, which is one of the main arteries through South Florida. It’s convenient and puts me in a central location to everywhere I need to be. Although there are closer hotels to a few placed I need to be (read my review on the Coral Springs Courtyard by Marriott) being in an outlying area puts me farther from other things – like the airport.
The reason why I don’t like the hotel is that it’s isolated. There’s really not much around the Westin Ft. Lauderdale except for the corporate park, where it’s located. On the other side of 95 you’ll find a Sheraton Suites (generally about the same rate as the Westin, if not $10/night cheaper) and a large Marriott. You’d think there would be a lot of restaurants in this area to cater to the hotel guests – but there aren’t (that I’ve found).
By the way, if you’re considering this Sheraton Suites or the Marriott I hope you like listening to trains all night, as they’re both right on the tracks. If the Sheraton Suites is appealing, check out the Sheraton Suites in Plantation, about 10 minutes West of this one (farther from the beach) but it’s newer and next to a mall.
If you’re staying at the Westin Ft. Lauderdale and are not stuck in meetings at an adjacent office building, you’re going to need to have a rental car. Remember to factor that cost into your over-all travel budget if you choose to stay here. Self-park is free however.
If you’re considering Ft. Lauderdale for a vacation keep the following facts in mind before selecting this hotel, even though you can generally get it at a great rate.
- You’re not near the beach (3 miles, so you’ll have to have a car)
- You’re not near South Beach (that’s Miami).
- You’re not near the port of Ft. Lauderdale (20 minutes)
- You’re not near any nightlife.
- This is a business hotel and there’s not a whole lot for the kids to do (although the pool isn’t bad for a business hotel).
If you’re a Starwood devotee and are looking for other properties in the area to take your family to on a vacation – consider the Sheraton Yankee Trader and the Westin Diplomat (the latter is further south of FLL, about halfway between FLL and MIA). Other chains offer plenty of other options in the area as well.
Property
The glass-façade of the 14 story building (they skip the 13th floor in the elevators) screams 1980’s construction. It’s built in a right angle shape with the interior area where you’ll find the pool, outdoor seating for the restaurant, and a lagoon area. Rooms either face 95 or this interior area (more desirable) although you still get a good view of 95 no matter where you are.
When you first enter you’re overwhelmed by the yellows of the lobby. Typical South Florida design, but it doesn’t mean I like it (personal). The floors are marble and there’s palm tress and tropical foliage everywhere – which helps balance out the yellows.
The front desk is to your immediate right and the ballrooms are back to your left. There is a bell desk, but I’ve never seen a bellman, except once – and he was talking to a Cabbie.
Straight ahead, after you walk in is the lobby bar area (which also serves food), the elevator bank (3) – up to the rooms – and the entrance to the restaurant. Behind that is the access to the outside pool deck.
The meeting rooms offer a nice feature of having private outdoor terraces.
The pool area is in a geometric 3 square type design (that really doesn’t adequately describe it, sorry). This design allows for people to do to laps the whole length of the pool, but allow for kids and families to play in other areas. There are plenty of loungers around the pool, but it’s not very relaxing as you’re very close to 95. Also, with the shape of the hotel, there are a lot of shadowy areas for much of the day. But, you’re in South Florida, so why would you want to sit by a pool near a highway all day anyway?
There is a workout room, branded by Reebok, has the typical Westin equipment, although it was a bit smaller than other Westin Workout rooms (the newer hotels have a much greater emphasis on their gyms – which is a nice feature of the brand.).
Compared to other Westins this hotel is not as trendy as the newer properties and is beginning to show its age. I think it suffered some pretty extensive damage from Hurricane Wilma and although 95% of it is cleaned up, you’ll still see little scars here and there. (This review is being written a full year after Hurricane Wilma passed through the area.)
Rooms
On my first stay I was given my confirmed king room non-smoking (all Westin rooms in North America are non-smoking and there’s a $200 cleaning charge if they find evidence you smoked). My second stay I also confirmed a king room, but was upgraded to one of their Executive Suites (I have status in the SPG program and it was a slow night).
I hate to sound ungrateful for the upgrade, but I found the standard room better for my needs. Although the suite was much larger (about double the size) the layout was rather goofy and the space was lost on myself as I was traveling by myself and had no need for a separate sitting room / parlor area or the bar.
Generally when I check into a hotel I boot up my computer, do some work and check email. Whilst that is going on I generally have the TV going so I can catch up on SportsCenter or watch some news. The layout of the suite prevented this as the TV (a CRT – no flat screens in this hotel) would not swivel around and the TV only faced the bed - even though there was a weird pass through area the TV, had it been on a rotating stand, could have turned to face the desk.
Because the hotel is without wi-fi in the guest rooms, it wasn’t an option for me to work from the bed (which I hate doing anyway) as I was tethered to the desk (Ethernet cable is provided). Speaking of the desk, in the suite, you don’t have the standard Westin furniture with the “pop-up” power strip, instead, there is a powerstrip under the desk.
Both rooms featured beige carpets, the Westin heavenly bed (why I’m a Westin brand loyalist), small pictures of flowers over the bed (it’s nice), beige furniture (microfiber?) and plenty of lamps. Rooms have alarm clocks (which are confusing the first time you use them, but are a brand standard, so I’m becoming an old pro) and irons and ironing boards are provided.
Both rooms had bright read black-out curtains which give a nice “pop” to the room, providing a startling contrast to the beige walls and furniture and the white bed.
Bathrooms feature the “heavenly” shower and bath, which is a dual-nozzle shower head. In all white-tile it would be easy to spot dirt and grime and there really wasn’t any, save for a bit of mildew. In the suite there was a separate vanity area and a larger tub.
In the suite, the water pressure was pretty bad and I had to run the tap for a bit as the water was discolored at first.
Rooms have individually controlled climate control. I found the suite to be impossibly muggy and the A/C couldn’t keep up with the SoFl humidity and warmth.
Despite the proximity to 95 I found both rooms to be very quiet.
As with all Westins, there is an in-room coffee maker and complimentary packets of Starbucks coffee. Except, in the suite, I didn’t have any coffee! (ahh, that was a crisis first thing in the a.m.)
Neither room featured the complimentary bottle of water, which is supposed to be available to preferred SPG guests. Oh well.
Rooms were both very clean and well maintained.
The suite was on the 15th floor (14th actually), which was the suite level and an SPG floor. The SPG lounge is on the 14th floor but I never once saw it staffed for either breakfast or evening apps. and drinks. Many hotels, if they decide not to open their lounges, will give you vouchers for a free breakfast and/or drinks. This hotel did not (I didn’t ask though).
Hallways leading to the rooms give a pretty bad impression, especially on the 15th floor, where you’d think they would want to impress their best guests. Carpets were stained, wall paper was peeling and walls were knicked. Some doors looked like they had been salvaged from downtown Baghdad. There was also a lot of water damage on the ceiling and spots on the walls. I think this is leftover damage from the hurricane.
Food and Beverage
I’m not really in a position to comment on either as I’ve always eaten outside the hotel when I’ve stayed here. However, room service is available and there is a restaurant, Alfiere’s, which bills itself as a Meditteranean bistro. It looks nice enough with columns and nice decorations and the menu has pretty standard faire for a hotel restaurant with seafood, steaks, and pastas. Prices are what you’d expect at an “upscale” Westin-like property restaurant.
The restaurant features a “lagoon view” and, also, a highway view! There are also tables outside on the patio which I’m sure are for table service at Alfiere’s.
The lobby bar also serves food. Typical bar stuff, plus more substantial meals. The area is pretty small though and I’ve only ever seen one person staff the entire bar so service might be sacrificed. That’s all conjecture though as I haven’t eaten there.
As I mentioned, the club level lounge was never staffed.
Service
My only service interactions have been with the front desk staff when I check-in. (Check-out is via TV for me.) Both times I’ve found the front desk staff to be nice, helpful, efficient, and cheery.
Check-out / Post stay
On the comment card after my second stay I mentioned the water pressure in the suite and the condition of the hallway on the 15th floor and I received a response from the guest satisfaction manager at the property the next day saying that would “have a team work on and address the problems I encountered” and thanking me for my feedback. Whether or not they actually do anything remains to be seen, but I was very impressed with this fast acknowledgement of my comments (and I rated the hotel pretty high).
As is becoming all too common these days, I was billed after my stay, an extra $2.50. When I called the Accounting department (they actually picked up and I didn’t have to leave a message, a first!) I was told it was for a can of Coke from the mini-bar, which I didn’t drink. She reversed the charge, as promised a couple days later.
Permit me to rant for a second. If hotels can’t keep track of their mini-bar inventory (which they can’t) can they please offer rooms that just don’t have mini-bars? It’s always a problem and it’s a big pain in my a*s to go chasing after people for a small charge. More often, it’s more trouble then it’s worth.
I always refuse the mini-bar key (if it’s an option) and have never once even opened one up. It’s just not my thing. So why can’t hotels offer rooms for people like me to avoid any potential confusion?
Bottom-line, reason for my rating
This hotel is pretty good. It’s my favorite in the area of the ones I’ve tried and it works for me well, despite its little problems. Yes, it needs a little overhaul in certain areas, but it’s not bad. Rooms are clean and comfortable. Their SPG recognition is spotty, giving me an upgrade, yet failing to deliver in other areas.
I’m giving this property 3 stars because 4 just seems a bit much given a few of the issues it has. Compared to, let’s say, the Westin DFW (see my review) it really isn’t as nice, so I don’t want to mislead folks by putting this hotel in that category. But, with a little work, there’s no reason why this hotel couldn’t get a bump up to 4 stars.
If you’re a member of SPG (free loyalty program) this property has been featuring several thousand bonus points per stay. Be sure to check out the Specials section of the website to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
Safe travels.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
belynch
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Location: Nyack, NY
Reviews written: 64
Trusted by: 17 members
About Me:
A full-time consultant, a part-time writer, and a volunteer EMT.
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