Kitschy Kitschy Koo
Written: Jul 13 '03 (Updated Jul 13 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice beach and cabana bar. Good service and clean rooms. Close to airport and port.
Cons: Boring exterior. Dark, interior public rooms. Expensive drinks on the beach.
The Bottom Line: I would not recommend this hotel for stays extending a couple of days, but for a weekend or overnight it was perfect.
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| kiminnc's Full Review: Sheraton Yankee Clipper Hotel |
Background: In June of this year, my husband and I decided to take my daughter and niece on a 7 day Celebrity cruise that would be leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In the past, we were nervous wrecks when leaving for the cruise the very morning that the ship sailed. We decided that with kids in tow we would spend the night before our cruise at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. I got on the internet and found that the Sheraton Yankee Clipper hotel was very close to Port Everglades and was located right on the beach. I’d read some reviews that said it was nice, so I booked our overnight stay.
**Side Note: For anyone interested in “kitschy” Florida stuff – this is the hotel where “Where the Boys Are” was filmed. You know – “shag” stuff
Expectations: My husband and I like “retro Florida”, but because we had kids with us, we wanted all the modern Fort Lauderdale amenities (i.e. nice beach, modern rooms, etc.). Our priorities were in this order:
1) Close proximity to Port Everglades
2) A price we could afford ($81/night, in this case)
3) Clean, modern rooms with decent service
4) A cocktail lounge on the grounds (could actually be moved up the priority list)
5) Beachfront location
Arriving: Our cab ride from the airport was only about 10 minutes long. Expectation #1 was already fulfilled as we could see our port from the hotel. The Yankee Clipper hotel is pretty boring from the outside. It is compromised of several blocky wings that stretch from the beach to across the street via skywalk. The lobby, while not huge, is marble tiled and the décor is pleasant. We didn’t have to wait in line and the reservationist was friendly and efficient. We had requested a “smoking” room and they had us down for a “non-smoking” room, but that was quickly adjusted. We had not requested a beach view, as it was only one night before a whole week chock-full of ocean view. The price the $81 a night offer, so no hitches there. Expectation number #2 had been accomplished. Our room was in the newer wing of the hotel. The original hotel wing was close to the beach. After finishing with check-in we proceeded to our room, which was across the skywalk on the other side of the street.
Room: Our room was nicely decorated. Someone reviewing this hotel described the colors as “crayola” loud and I’ll have to agree. But isn’t that what you want and expect in Florida? The room was nothing spectacular, but it was clean and we were happy to be there. The bathroom was white and very clean – and this is always important to me. The have hair dryer and coffee makers in the rooms. The room was pretty much what we expected and lacked any ugly surprises. Expectation #3 was “check”. Towels and linens were standard 2 star fare. Beds were a bit hard, but I like them like that. Parents need to make sure that your children don’t start playing Nintendo or watch movies without your supervision. There are charges for all those things. Standard cable is free. Our room was street side and overlooked a lot of older Ft. Lauderdale hotels. Not a bad view, but it was quite a hike to the beach, restaurant and bar from our location in the hotel.
Facilities: We didn’t investigate each and every corner of the hotel, but we did sneak a peek in most of it. The bar at the Yankee Clipper is famous for its windows to the outdoor swimming pool. In other words, you can view people swimming in the pool from a fish eye view. Kind of like a people aquarium. The cocktail lounge was VERY nautically themed. Lots of dark, varnished wood, hanging fish nets with seashells, brass porthole windows, rope, and loads of fish tanks. This room was dark, dark, dark.
The hotel had a souvenir shop and also a convenience-type store that carried snacks, sodas, and even a fairly extensive inventory of wine, beer and cocktail stuff. This store was open 24 hours – kind of a nice a perk! There were at least a couple of patios with tables and chairs. These patios all were surrounded by palms and tropical plants. Nice places to just sit and relax if you’d had enough beach action. There were some arcade games, and apparently somewhere, was an exercise room.
Beach area: At the very back of the hotel are a beach bar, tables and chairs, and an outdoor pool. This whole area is floored with wooden decking. The pool (the one you can view from the bar) isn’t huge. I picture this thing just teeming with people in high season. Fortunately, we were there in June and the hotel was fairly quiet. The beach bar was fairly large and cabana-ish and there were several people taking advantage of its services. The bartenders were humorous and enjoyed ribbing the clientele. It seemed beach bar drinks were pretty limited to tropical drinks and beer. I decided that a martini was probably a poor choice and went for a Pina Colada. My husband had one also and the round cost us about $10 (a lot for smallish plastic cups!). I got fleeced on a second round because the guy ended up talking me into a shot of Bacardi floating on top and charged me $19.50!!! I was outraged, but forked over anyway.
The beach was really nice – very wide and sprinkled with palm trees. Just what I’d hoped for! Expectation #4 is a definite “check”!! The girls swam and we looked around for chairs. Of course, wherever there are tourists, there are people happy to serve them – for a small fee. A beach guy informed us that the lounge chair rental was $5 chair. We coughed up the money and he ended up even throwing an extra one for the girls. We really enjoyed sitting on the beach and relaxing with our tropical drinks after a long day of flights, airports, taxis and luggage handling.
Dining: We went back to our room and cleaned up for dinner. We decided to eat outside at the café restaurant. The hotel has a little courtyard-type restaurant that has wooden glider booths. That part was hokey, but the dining experience was very good. The prices were a bit higher than I’d intended to pay (around $17 per entrée), but the inexpensive children’s menu made us feel a little better. The girls got their chicken nuggets and fries and scurried back to the room to watch TV. We lingered over our dinners, which were delicious. I got the encrusted salmon with dill sauce that was out of this world. My husband got the Grouper, which was also wonderful and very fresh. Our waiter was efficient, friendly, and didn’t hurry us along too much. The café is street-side, but surrounded by a hedge, palms and plants, making it a little more private. We were there after sunset and the whole courtyard lit up with little white Christmas lights wrapped around all the palms and plants. It was really very pretty.
Evening Activities: After dinner we went to the nautical bar (just for the campy effect), but it was almost too much even for OUR retro tastes. The waitress informed us that all the drinks are made with completely organic juices that are so good for you. My husband, thinking that she was kidding, ordered an organic martini. She didn’t seem to understand our humor, and got offended, thinking that we were making fun of her. We ended up going back down to the beach bar, grabbing a drink, and taking a romantic walk down the quiet moonlit beach. Ahhhh… perfect ending to a happy day.
Breakfast and Checkout: The Sheraton Yankee Clipper serves a breakfast buffet (not included with room rate) down in the restaurant. The restaurant was nice, but many of the tables are interior offering no view. We were fortunate enough to be seated in a sunny room with floor to ceiling windows. The buffet was pretty good – but the coffee and orange juice were out of this world!! The server was very attentive and friendly. We went to checkout, following breakfast, and it was swift and painless. Then off we went on a wonderful cruise!
Conclusion: Having all my priorities met for a one-night hotel stay, I’d have to say that I’m a happy customer. If we were to leave on another cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale, I would definitely book the Sheraton Yankee Clipper again.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kiminnc
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Location: North Carolina
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Too much of a good thing is wonderful!---Mae West
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