KENNECTED

One of these days......pow! Right in the kissa! Thanks BW

buckeyefanflyer

I stayed there during a weekend last summer. I got upgraded to an Ocean front room at no additional charge. I was only paying a $99.00 rate. The staffe was so nice and friendly. I like the Shula's resturaunt. I used to live in the area and was there alot. WN crews used to stay there and I met alot of nice flight crews.

craz

W/o having set foot into either this Hotel or the renov Sheraton down the beach. My feeling is is it will be no different then The Westin in Vegas

In that all 3 hotels were gutted but the size of the rooms didnt change so most will be on the small side, but with new furniture. Id prefer if the old buildings would have been torn down and then the new Hotels 1st built as Im sure that would have meant much better room sizes , but it would have cost alot more $$$ to do so.

Im sure that what exists is alot better then the former Yankee Trader and Clipper , just with a place like the Diplomat nearby why go elsewhere.

Or theres a couple of other *W hotels in FLL that would be cheaper pts or $$ wise only not on A1A but 15 mins away off the I-95, so its not for someone who wants to beable to walk 2 mins from their Hotel and be on the beach

linire

We stayed here recently or a few days before a cruise and enjoyed it very much. The staff was pleasant and our room was nice-not huge but plenty of room, although a little balcony would have been great, as we faced the beach.
The bathroom was decent sized, no door-hitting-anything issues. We had several excellent meals at Shula's and also enjoyed the cafe by the pool (which name escapes me at the moment!).
The only issue we had was that the elevator for the foot bridge to the beach was out of service the whole time we were there, so, as others have mentioned, we did a dash across the road to get to the beach.
We will definitely stay there again before our next cruise.

KENNECTED

I've been really bad at writing reviews, as of late, especially since a certain person thinks I make things up and/or I'm being compensated .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px_0l9TLYIk



I stayed at this property in 2007 when it was the Sheraton Yankee Trader and a complete dump! The property has been open about a year, since being completely gutted and renovated, so I thought I would check out!

Upon arrival several valet ascend on the car. That can be good and bad at the same time. Walking in the building, I’m met with the Westin White Candle scent and can tell they spent quite a bit of money in the lobby. It’s very HGTV cozy. LOL


I check in and I’m upgraded to a suite and make the long walk to the South Tower. The new Westin design scheme is in full affect here, but with an added beach motif. I found it very serene, refreshing and relaxing.

I arrive at my room and I am happy that the property has come out of the 70s.



The design scheme is carried over into the rooms and appropriate for the location. The Parlor portion of the suite is pretty sweet. Nice seating area and 42” TV with loads of HD channels. The furniture is casual and inviting. There is a desk in the corner with lots of space and outlets for mobile devices. The room has full ocean views.

In the bedroom also has full ocean view and an uber comfortable heavenly bed. The furniture is well taken care of.

At the end of the room is a large walk-in closet and the suites only bathroom. The closet is quite large but the bathroom is a bit small for a suite of this size.

The bathroom is open to the room and felt out of proportion. There is one sink and only a shower stall. The counter space was very limited and barely has enough space for one person. I found it odd that after a complete renovation there was no heavenly shower.

Internet connection in the lobby is free and $10 per day. The property has no lounge.

The Fitness Center has nice new cardio equipment and stationary bikes personal TVs.


The pool is heated and deck is large with a ton of loungers, cabanas and direct access to the beach.


The Valet parking was super quick and anytime I need my car there were 4 or 5 valet attendant available.

There is a Shulas restaurant on site, but if you’ve eaten at one, you’ve eaten at the all.


FINAL IMPRESSION
Overall hotel cleanliness:
Spotless. Well maintained.

Staff attitude, conduct & support:
Every staff member I encountered was professional, helpful and courteous.

Location:
Good location for beach access but, you will need to walk, drive or take a cab to get to the hub of restaurants or Las Olas.

Would I return?
Yes.

Would I recommend this as family friendly?
Yes.

Good for business travelers?
It’s a resort. You should be relaxing!

Good for a romantic get away?
Yes, nice rooms, views and resort services.

Would I recommend for someone looking for Dining/Nightlife?
Based on requestor as the hub of nightlife/dining is south of the property.

Would I recommend restaurant?
Nope

Value for price paid?
Good

Overall property rating on a scale from 1 to 10 = 8

beachfan

Excellent video C/E. I think we had the same suite.

I just finished a three night stay Friday. Overall, I'd say excellent value for the rate ($139) which was a meeting rate (my company held a large group meeting there).

Upgraded to a suite - Great bed, huge closet, nice views towards the ocean and out the shower, but the hotel corner rooms only have a small window in the bathroom instead of a big window that would look down the beach for a mile or so (I was on the 14th floor). Maybe it was due to hurricane concerns.

The two TVs were true HD, not just HD TVs without HD. The one in the living room is large, with DVD and surround sound (and the DVD is easy to use, unlike the hookups at some other hotels). As someone else reported, the couch is on the hard side.

The bathroom only has a shower. It was on the small side - the door didn't hit anything but to close it behind you required a little side stepping shuffle. Should have made the bathroom bigger and the closet smaller (as I mentioned, the closet was huge, could fit 4 luggage racks in there I think).

Beach and Beach access very nice (direct from the third floor pool via a covered walkway and an elevator across the street; elevator working until 8pm). Breakfast at Shula's also nice. Food at meetings very good. Two small bottles of water/day for Platinums. Wifi reasonably good.

They get overwhelmed with large numbers of check in /check outs. I'm not sure who brought my bags (maybe a valet guy), but after I called down a second time, he arrived with a bundle of energy, but little experience. He had one of those lead shot bags to keep the door open, but he left it on my big suitcase, which he carried (not wheeled) to the other end of the suite into the closet . Then the other bag (using a small carryon to keep the door open). I mentioned I wanted the bags on the racks.

Tthe real chuckle came when I went to the closet after he left, and there were two heavy bags on the racks, upright (i.e., wheels down), one of them still with the lead weight on it.

I would return. Someone mentioned upstream that a $100 differential between this and the Diplomat would be appropriate - that sounds right.

sfcaFLYER

Am wondering if anyone has booked or been upgraded to one of these and can comment on them (good/bad):

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin...assId=83100013

Thanks.

KENNECTED

Honestly, I dont recall seeing those. unless these are the rooms on the side side of the 3rd floor or whatever floor that would be.

I wouldn't want those and the "cabanas" are kind of tired, IMHO. When I was there, there we people sleeping in them overnight and they keep the door to the gym ajar so they could use bathroom. I went to the gym at 5 AM (after my picture taking round) and thought it was strange that someone would be coming out of the bathroom with a cup and smelled like a distillery. I watched him walk from the gym, right to the cabana. I informed security, who told me they were not guest of the hotel.

puchalskir

I've been upgraded 2x to the Lanai rooms in the past year.
I've booked traditional rooms and in the special request area online I've requested an upgrade to the Lania rooms, if possible. I'm 2 for 2.

The first time I got room 335, which is the one furthest away from the pool.
I liked it at the time except that people would smoke over there and throw their cigarettes on the ground right in front of the cabana. Also, your view straight ahead was of the other pool cabanas. The closest maybe 5 feet from the chain that's the boundry line.

I few weeks ago I got room 337 which is the middle of the 5 lanai rooms.
With the sliding doors shut, it's very quiet. You can barely hear the noise from the music at the pool bar. The pool bar closes early, 9pm?, so it's not an issue anyway.

An added feature is that they got rid of the mini bar so now you get a completely empty fridge to put your items in. I saved a lot of money not having to buy drinks at the pool bar.

I like being able to sit at the lounge chairs near the pool to get some sun. When I'm sufficiently crisp, I wander a few feet back to my cabana in the shade and lounge on the couch. It's also nice to have such easy beach access from there. Another big plus is easy access to private lavatory facilities, instead of the pool toilet. Also, at night, it's nice to sit outside in your cabana. Surpisingly, it's quite peaceful.

Occasionally, you get someone who thinks the loungers in your cabana area are for public use, I guess the chain with a sign with the room number on it isn't a big enough a deterrent.

Rich

sfcaFLYER

Has anyone stayed in both buildings to know if there are any differences that would make one request one over the other when checking in?

We have the Premium Deluxe Ocean View booked.

Thanks.

KENNECTED

The front building (closest to the street/beach) is the hotel and the rear building is the Condo. I don't really think you have a choice. My impression is they may upgrade you to a condo, but count on being placed in the hotel building.

bryanwallace

anyone advise cheapish restaurants in the area?

family of 5 with 3 small kids

Out of my Element

I'm sure your stay is in the past, but we ate dinner here.

Looks fancy from the outside, but quite comfortable inside.

Stayed at the property on the 15th, got out of Boston (3 degrees F when we left) very early on Saturday morning, arrived at the property before 10AM. No idea if we were upgraded (it was an accessible room, which meant an extra peephole on the door, and grab bars in the standard tub/shower), but the room had one of the best views we've ever had. Asked for 3PM checkout, the desk clerk hesitated, so I countered with 2PM, and that was agreed upon (we were planning to leave between 1 and 2 anyway, so no issue).

Stealing Ken's link, above:



our room was 4 floors under WESTIN, the last two windows. It's not a suite, just a long narrow room with a desk annoyingly placed in front of the cornermost window, making it hard to open the sliding doors. Those are what I'm told are "French balconies", so you can open the door all the way, but (in theory), you can't fall out. With the desk blocking the way, that window/door wasn't as wonderful as the other one. But what a great view of the water and the beach, and fresh, WARM, air for our senses.

Beach access is easy, across the bridge. You have to walk by the pool to get there, and you can get towels there. Attendant on the beach was very helpful with loungers and umbrellas as needed.

Starbucks for breakfast was fast and convenient (have to take the other bridge to the South Tower).

We were heading for a cruise, the bellman who helped us to our room tried to steer us towards a limo service the hotel contracts with, we told him we'd take a cab ("you may not find one on Sunday, they are very busy" he told us, but they were lined up when we left), and that was it for staff contact.

Very happy with our stay on C&P. Would have liked to try the Diplomat, based on reviews here, but this was just right for us, and better located for the cruiseport anyway.

Out of my Element

Adding some pictures of my own:

View from the door from the hallway to the room:



More of the room, including desk in front of left window



Pool/Beach from the right hand window

KENNECTED

My what big pictures you have! LOL They filled my entire screen and I have a 27" mac. Thanks.

I wish I was in FL right now instead of SnowPocalypse - Part 5