Can anyone comment as to whether this hotel has real HD or just stretch tv on the new hdtvs?

I have a stay over this weekend and am hoping they offer Sunday Ticket via pay-per-view (as many of the hd-upgraded *wood hotels now offer) so I can watch my team.

They didn't have it back in January when I was last there. In fact, the TV signal they did have was not the best. You should call or email them to see if they upgraded it.

When I was last there in March they didnt have HD. There is a sports bar across the street though.

I was there in July and they did not have HD.

If you already subscribe to Sunday Ticket on D*, you can watch it over the web. If not, Rivals across the street has a wide array of screens always tuned to the games on Sunday Ticket. Just get there early... ;)

Thank you for feedback & suggestions. It sounds like this hotel is (sadly) yet another *wood property to upgrade to hdtvs without actually getting HD. :(

I'm glad to hear there is a nearby sports bar, though. Thanks all!

(Personal note: this is one of my two major pet peeves with *wood properties, the other being painfully slow "high speed" internet)

I had a great 5 night award stay here in August. Upgraded to club level and had a oceanfront room on the 35th? floor. Club was great, a little annoying getting a check every time though. Last 2 days they closed the infinity pool for emergency repairs and was pretty loud so they offered to move me to the Country Club or give me back some of my points, gladly took the points. Will be heading back for sure.

I just returned from a stay at the Diplomat. I'll add my individual comments to the long list of great commentary on this property.

We were upgraded to a corner suite with a balcony, 3 of them, in fact (more on that later).

We were able to check in early (around noon), and immediately headed down to the pool. Our stay was supposed to be from Friday to Monday, leaving around noon on Monday. We were able to negotiate a rate of $125 per full day for the cabanas. The pool staff took EXCELLENT care of us, bringing water, iced tea and fruit platters (all complimentary with the cabana), while the bar staff took care of alcoholic beverages and food.

I found the bar prices to pretty reasonable, considering this is a resort property. A decent bottle of cava (sparkling wine) was $32. A very generous bucket of peel and eat shrimp was $18. Were some items overpriced? A bit. But, the service was great, and all the food was fairly high quality for poolside service.

The cabanas came with cable TV (NFL poolside!), two easy chairs, two regular chairs and a table inside, along with a refrigerator. Outside, we were able to get 5 lounge chairs for our entire party. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but we felt it was worth the price.

We had breakfast in the main restaurant one day, lounge the other two. The breakfast downstairs was okay, but a bit overpriced. The quality of the food was just average as Westin breakfasts go.

The lounge, on the other hand, was a major hit with us. For a free buffet, the breakfast was great. The staff was very attentive, rushing to get anything we needed. They offered us bottled water each time we went to leave. I wanted to wait and see the service myself before responding to earlier comments about tipping the staff. I didn't feel they were overbearing on filling out the slips at all. And, IMO, a $5/person tip for excellent service and good food is a great bargain.

My wife used the fitness center and found it to be in good shape and reasonably sized for the property.

We took a quick jaunt into the ocean one day, and rented jet skis another. The jet ski place in front of the hotel will negotiate if you're willing to pay cash.

The only real issue we had with the hotel had to do with reservations/accounts receivable. I spoke with a member of the reservations team before our trip. I wanted to see if I could pay for upgrades for the other two rooms I had (for family and friends). I also wanted to make sure the room charges all appeared on my bill, not those of the people staying with us. I had informed my guests that I was using points for their rooms, and didn't want them to feel like they had to pay the cash portion of the cash and points reservations.

Well, we were able to come to an agreement on an upgrade charge for the suites, and the hotel agreed to bill the room charges to my room, not those of my guests. I verified this upon check-in as well.

Upon check-out, all 3 rooms got separate bills slid under their door, with all room charges appearing on each room bill, not consolidated. I now had a bunch of guests trying to pay me for their room costs. To make the situation a bit more awkward, the hotel charged me the agree upon upgrade fee PER NIGHT instead of PER ROOM. This was a point I clarified with a second confirmation e-mail to make sure I understood the numbers correctly prior to my arrival.

When I went to the front desk to address the issue, the agent was able to get the individual that assisted me so we could discuss the matter. This individual stated they misunderstood my request to have all charges billed to one room. They went on to state that the upgrade fee we had agreed to was per night, not per room. I pulled out my blackberry, and we re-read the e-mails together.

The individual clarified again that wasn't what they had intended to offer, but then immediately directed the front desk agent to remove the charges I was contesting.

I do really feel like these were probably honest mistakes, hence the reason I'm not more upset about it. I can't fix the part where my guests thought there room was free and now want to pay me, but I feel like I got a pretty speedy and fair resolution on the upcharge discrepancy.

All in all, we had a thoroughly enjoyable stay. Everyone's correct when they say this property takes very good care of Plats.

This property looks great; thanks to those who have already shared pictures.

Thinking of staying here for two nights at the end of February, my first time in the FLL/Hollywood area. There is a choice between this property and the W Fort Lauderdale, both are about $300 a night for the lowest rate and neither are available on cash and points so no expenditure differences.

Given that we will have spent the preceding two nights at the W South Beach, I suspect we will have had quite enough of the W experience and a couple of nights at the Westin Diplomat seems a good way of calming down. However, is there much in the immediate area by way of bars and restaurants or stores? I see from earlier posts that there is a sports bar, but is there anything else? I just wonder about being 'trapped' on a resort property with the associated high costs for every single meal. Edit: I forgot to add that, as a Platinum, the existence of a lounge pushes me towards this property rather than the W.

Thanks for your advice :)

The lounge here is really nice. Well kept, good food offerings and nice outdoor patio. You will definitely get more value staying at the Diplomat and they are much more liberal on the platinum upgrades.

The Westin Diplomat is wonderful. The lounge is great, they have a great offering for breakfast as well as snacks before bed. Drinks are not free, but they have an adequate selection of wines, spirits, etc. and also have a bartender. The view from the lounge is breathtaking.

There are some other places to eat across the street in the parking structure but the hotel is right on A1A so there is lots of bars and restaurants in either direction.

Say Hello to Santiago, Chief Concierge, for me!

Really location-wise there's plenty around the hotel if you have a car, or don't mind walking long distances, but not a ton in the shopping center across the street or right next to the property.

Thank you very much for your advice - we're on our way to the Diplomat in Feb :)

I'll be there for a visit in February as well :)

No suite for this Platinum member :td: The hotel tells me they do not stock shower gel, nor mouthwash. Only after pointing out that most Westin's give SPG members a bottle of water did they offer to let me take one out of the minibar and they would credit it.

Beautiful hotel & beautiful beach though.