The Westin Ft. Lauderdale Hotel: Not the Most Precious Jewel in Westin’s Crown
Written: Jul 31 '08 (Updated Aug 06 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Heavenly bed, onsite amenities
Cons: Self parking charge, slightly rundown bones and decor, service not good
The Bottom Line: An upper end business hotel for the far north side of town.
|
|
|
| annalin's Full Review: The Westin Fort Lauderdale |
For business, I was ordered to stay at The Westin Ft. Lauderdale due to our corporate rate. Actually, it didn’t sound too bad as I do love Westins and an upper midscale property would certainly be better than a Courtyard by Marriott or Hampton Inn. I ended up spending two weeks at the hotel.
Getting There & Vibe:
The Westin Ft. Lauderdale Hotel is located inside a business park just to the east of I-95 in the far north side of Ft. Lauderdale. A car is definitely necessary to reach the area. It is only a few miles from the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, but I would not feel very comfortable here on a beach vacation or with kids as the hotel clientele vibe is too button-downed.
Structure & Amenities:
This 15 story dark blue glass hotel has just shy of 300 rooms. It looks like it was built in the 1980’s (from the outside and the interior corridors), and matches the business park in which it is located. There’s a gated outdoor parking lot outside the hotel. Though this is on the far north side of town in the suburbs where there is plenty of space, you still have to pay $10 per day for self parking or $14 for valet. Outrageous!
The hotel is next to a 3-acre lagoon with fountain. There is a heated outdoor pool and Jacuzzi which I would not want to use because the main restaurant has wall-length windows looking straight onto it. Would you want formal corporate business people watching you sunbathe or belly flop? I think not. There is a newish Reebok affiliated fitness center which you must access by walking outside around the pool deck and inserting your room card into the door. There are separate men’s and women’s saunas on either side of the fitness room. The fitness room itself is small but serviceable, with a few treadmills, elliptical machines, free weights, weight machines, and stretching area. There are clean towels, cold water, and apples provided free of charge in this area.
There is a small gift shop in the left side of the lobby. A bar sits to the right side, and the main restaurant is straight back. The main restaurant has a Mediterranean theme, but has a full American breakfast buffet every morning, a lunch buffet during the afternoon, and regular a la carte dinners. I had breakfast there several times and the food was good. Room service is available 24 hours per day, as well. It’s a good thing because there are no other food options within walking distance. You will have to pass back over I-95 and go west a bit to find fast food (Arby’s, McDonald’s, etc.) and chain restaurant options (Longhorn Steakhouse, Sweet Tomatoes, etc.)
There is free WiFi in the public areas, but the lobby is small and I wouldn’t want to bring my laptop down to the bar.
Rooms:
I spent quite a while at this property. One week was spent in a standard room, and after returning for the next week I stayed in a suite. The standard room was on the south side of the property and overlooked I-95 and the parking lot. The room was small and dark and made me feel claustrophobic. The carpet and bed linens were fresh, but something about the room seemed dingy. Maybe it was the dim lighting and cramped space. The bathroom was done in cream tile and had a cracked marble vanity. I spent as little time as possible in my room that week. The next week they upgraded me to a suite on the north side of the property, overlooking the lagoon. It was on a Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty club floor. The difference in rooms was like night and day. This suite was huge, had a nice king bed, full working desk, full sized dresser with wall-mounted flat screen tv, sofa, eating area, and plenty of free space to walk around. Unfortunately, the bathroom was the same as in the other room. The Westin Heavenly Beds were done in white linens, with a fluffy mattress pad and pillows. I slept great in them.
Service:
The front desk agent was very slow, and not particularly friendly. The concierge had a bad attitude and was not friendly or helpful. The valets liked to talk to each other rather than fetch cars. Luckily the food and beverage employees were nicer, probably because they relied on tips for their livelihoods. The service was not horrible but it definitely was not up to Westin standards.
Overall Thoughts:
The beds were nice, and the suite was not a bad place to stay for a week. However, the outdated public area décor and the surly service do not meet typical Westin standards. I would stay here again just because it is the nicest hotel in the area, however.
*Note that the picture associated with this product on epinions is inaccurate and is not a picture of this hotel.
~~~
Other Westin Hotel Reviews of Mine:
Atlanta:
The Westin Atlanta North at Perimeter http://www.epinions.com/content_191770955396
Boston:
The Westin Copley Place http://www.epinions.com/content_415135075972
Los Angeles:
The Westin Los Angeles Airport
http://www.epinions.com/content_142955744900
Orlando:
The Walt Disney World Swan (a Westin Hotel) http://www.epinions.com/content_185231445636
Savannah:
The Westin Savannah Harbor Resort http://www.epinions.com/content_177004777092
Macau, China:
The Westin Resort Macau http://www.epinions.com/content_185236229764
Shanghai, China:
The Westin Shanghai http://www.epinions.com/content_171598777988
~~~
Thanks for reading and rating!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
annalin
|
 in Hotels & Travel |
|
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Reviews written: 202
Trusted by: 66 members
About Me:
A generally happy and optimistic, yet opinionated gal...
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.