I was just down there the last week in August. Our corner suite had already been renovated and had new carpet, a Heavenly Bed and flat panel TV's in the living room and bedroom. They told me that they started the room renovations on the 28th floor and were working their way up to the 36th. They were renovating the rooms on the 33rd floor when I was there. The Club Lounge was closed for renovations the week I was there, but should be open by now. Here are some pictures:

http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1911se6.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1890bf8.jpg

http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1891hd2.jpg

http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1894dv5.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1899ve1.jpg

Thanks for the photos! ^

The rooms do look pretty much the same except for the flat panel TVs. I'll take your word on the carpet, hopefully in those rooms that needed at least reupholstery of stained couches got that :eek:

But on the whole the rooms looked quite similar, which is fine because I've always been very very happy at the Diploimat. I was last there in June, won't be back until November, glad I missed the club lounge's downtime. Any idea what they did up there?

Back from another Diplomat stay
 

Some of you might have read my previous visit to this property. Well, there has been some changes, both positive and negative.

Had a 4 night stay over this weekend, returned yesterday. 2 night paid stay (USD 219 a night) and 2 night on points. After my problems last time I was there, the guest relations manager had already secured a corner suite for us way in advance.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and parked our rent a car in the garage across the street (USD 18 a day).

We were greeted by a lobby filled with foreclosure real estate agents who had a convention till Friday :eek:

Check in was friendly, but no SPG amenity was offered. Was handed our keys to suite 3141 in a pink thing, not a platinum thing :D. Not a big deal, the guy was friendly, but definitely a newbie.

We managed to get to our suite without buying a house. :p Like reported earlier, the room had brand new carpet, 2 LCD TVs and most importantly, the Westin Heavenly Bed!!

Everything looked great. The bathroom had all the new Westin shampoo, soap stuff except mouthwash which was in the old bottles. Sewing kit, toothbrush kits etc. also in the bathroom

We had received a 15% off coupon for the hotels restaurants and decided to dine downstairs the first evening.

We took the stairs to the 33rd floor to check out the lounge. Absolutely nobody there, let me tell you why:

The price hikes on drinks is beyond rude and makes this lounge a joke.

They were offering Beringer wine and the prices have more than doubled since last time. A glass of a 2006 Beringer Chardonnay (4.99 a bottle at the store) was 13 bucks!!! A 3.99 bottle of Merlot was offered at 10 dollars a glass. Beer prices has also gone up. 8 bucks now for a Corona or Harp.

We had one drink and headed downstairs to Aisia. The real estate agents obviously ate elsewhere and there were only 3 tables occupied, bar was packed, though. Good menu and decent prices. We had beef skewers to start, I had the roasted duck, the wife had sushi, chocolate volcano cake for dessert. I drank Kirin, the wife had a couple of glasses of wine. It came out to 76 bucks with the discount, so great price. Good service, excellent food. PF Chang'ish type of place.

It had been a long week for both of us and we went to bed early, around 11.

On Friday morning we were woken up by a blasting Bose radio at 520AM. The person in the room next to us had his alarm on full blast and he/she was obviously not there. It was on the Rock and Roll station and believe me, these radios have quite a kick. I called down and they would take care of it. 30 minutes went by, nobody came, so I called again. They were puzzled since they were not busy at all. They would investigate and get back to us. Finally, after 45 minutes, a security guard came and started knocking softly on the door next door. I went out in the hall and said he might want to knock harder or just enter due to the high volume. He told me to stay out of it and kept knocking softly on a room door for over 10 minutes that had a 100+ decibel blasting from it. :rolleyes: He then finally entered the empty room and turn the radio off. After 5 minutes, what do you know, the alarm came back on at the same level. The moron had hit the snooze.. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

It then took another 15 minutes from a rather frustrated call to the MOD for the same security guard to come back up.

Frustrating.

The next day, Donald (Front Desk Manager) apologized for the long delay in getting the noise complaint fixed. He offered us 6K starpoints and 100 USD f&b credit. A good solution in my book.

Wireless Internet in the room has improved a bit, but there's still very poor reception in the bedroom in the suites. At 12.95 a day, that's not good enough.

Plenty of room by the pool, most guests were there for the real estate conference. Drinks were a lot cheaper than the Executive Lounge :p:rolleyes:

Service was good, had lunch there 2 days, food was good at resort prices, but not that bad. 40 bucks including a couple of alcoholic drinks is not horrible. PS! They add tips to the check..

The breakfast in the Executive Lounge is still good. Plenty of Laks and other goodies. We decided to come back the following night to check out the evening offerings. The lounge was again, empty..... The snacks has been cut substantially. 1 kind of cheese, ham and salami. That's it. They can do a lot better.. And with the RUDE drink prices, they should be ashamed of themselves to present this lame buffet.

We decided to check out the bar downstairs instead. A great Oregon Pinot that sells for over 25 bucks at the store was 9 dollars, a glass of real Champagne was 15. A glass of Chardonnay three times the price of the crap upstairs was 8 bucks :confused: Needless to say, we traded the beautiful sunset and the rudely overpriced crappy wine upstairs for the cool crowds and great priced, good quality wine downstairs.

The maids have improved substantially since the last time we were there. Everything was replenished every day and they came a lot earlier than last time. Room looked great. ^^

Turndown service was also 100%. Mints on the night stand every night, fresh towels as well. ^^

They forgot to refill th Preferred Guest water and when they did, they only refilled one bottle. I called down and after an hour, they came and gave us 2 bottles. The other days they refilled only 1 bottle. (Aqua Panna)

So all in all, the rooms have improved a lot, Heavenly bed is finally there.

The alarm clock incident could have happened anywhere, but taking 1 hour and 30 minutes to resolve it was too long. I think we were compensated well though.

The only big nono was the price hike in the Executive Club. It's absolutely unheard of that you can have great wine at the bar downstairs for a fraction of the price of the CRAP they serve upstairs. :mad::td::td:

Will go back to this property anytime though.

Outstanding addition to the long chronicled love/hate relationship between tommy777 and the westin diplomat. I hope CheapElite is not jealous :-)

:D:D

Here are some pics (sorry, only brought my Ixus)

http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture010.jpg
New LCD screens. Not the best quality and no HDTV. Heavenly bed
http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture007.jpg
Living room LCD
http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture008.jpg
New carpet

No balcony? Despite the space, I think I like the ocean view rooms better...

He he.. All suites has balconies. I just posted pictures of what's new: carpet, LCDs and WHB ;)

Here's balcony stuff and view from suite 3141

http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture001.jpg
http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture003.jpg
http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture004.jpg
http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/e...Picture005.jpg

Ha yes... I see... I look like a fool now :)

EXCELLENT photos that really speak to the quality of this place -- many thanks, Tommy777. Well done!

I'm disheartened to hear about the turn-for-the-worse in the club lounge. That's disappointing all around, but particularly the piece about prices being higher in the club lounge than the pool or the regular lounge. That's plain nutty. Out of curiousity, did you pass along your disappointment to anyone at the property? If so, did they make a note of it?

Actually, that's not correct. All the corner suites have balconies. But the one and only time I stayed here and was not in a suite (it was the week between Christmas and New Years...) I was offered a suite on the club floor with no balcony (a non-corner suite). I declined and took an oceanview room on the club floor instead.

Personally I've never really been impressed by the pre-dinner service in the club lounge. As long as they keep a nice breakfast, and ideally their wonderful after dinner treat selection, I'll be happy with the lounge. Though, sure, a nice pre-dinner presentation would be a plus, perhaps some decent cocktail service, but the lack of it isn't a deal killer for me. Just don't skimp elsewhere. And if they've improved on turndown service (I've never been anywhere that's historically been as inconsistent) that's a plus as well. I'll be back to the property next month to check on things... :)

Actually, that's not correct either. We had the southwest corner suite on the lounge floor (33?), and it did not have a balcony.

All the suites classified as corner suites has a balcony. The specialty suites (like the Club Suites) might not have balconies.

I totally agree, the breakfast is what's important and it's still great. But it's really nice to have a drink and watch the sunset from the club lounge balcony. I wish they could just adjust the alcohol prices to the same level as the bar downstairs.

And I let Donald, the manager who I interacted with, know about it. He was very surprised and promised to bring it up

I recognize that, during Christmas week (between the 24th and New Year's), bookings at this property should be high, making plat upgrades scarce.

However, what about the prior weekend (i.e., Dec. 20-22nd)? Does Christmas traffic begin this early, or would I stand a chance to snag an upgrade in a pre-holiday lull? ;)

I feel like I should know the answer to this question, but can't for the life of me remember:

I'm staying for one night at the Golf Club property, then the next night at the actual Diplomat. For the night at the Golf Club, will I have access to the Exec lounge at the Diplomat?

If my memory is correct there is no equivalent at the sister property, is there?

Sorry can't help on the last question, although I would presume it's questionable since the lounge isn't at the property you're staying at... just wanted to comment on a recent stay at the diplomat.

Got a ocean side corner suite on a middle floor which was pretty nice, old style TV's and the such though. Next time, I would request one facing south on a higher floor, as the view from the north side seems to be another building. The lounge was very nice, and the evening appetizers were very good. IIRC, there was a chicken salad and a lump crab meat salad with some various other snacks, veggies, fruits, etc. All in all a good stay, but I must admit the staff don't seem all that personable, at least to me. They also didn't have any idea when the shuttles to the golf property ran until, and I had to find out myself from the driver (the lady who was selling the golf packages, etc. even asked me to tell her once I found out!). The spa facilities there were great though!

Booked an AMAZING rate at the Diplomat over New Years and received the following email, which I think is a GREAT way of dealing with the expecation of upgrades over the holidays:

Greetings from the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa!

We are so pleased that you have chosen to visit us in South Florida! As a Platinum Starwood Preferred Guest, we know that you are our most discerning guests and we appreciate that you have chosen to stay with us!

I did want to reach out to you in advance of your arrival regarding the possibilities of upgrades over the dates of your stay. You have chosen to stay over an exceedingly busy time frame, where this resort receives more demand for our Suites than we can possibly accommodate. As a result, we are reaching out to our Platinum Starwood Preferred Guest's that have booked with us to let them know that the probability of a complimentary suite upgrade is very small. It is very important to us that the probable lack of a suite upgrade be communicated to you prior to your arrival, so that we won't in any way disappoint you when you arrive.

We know that staying in a suite can be very important to a guest's full enjoyment of their stay. If that is true for your visit with us, I urge you to please confirm a suite while we still have a few available over these dates, either by paying for it or by confirming it with points via the Platinum desk (1-888-625-4991).

Please note, the Resort's commitment to the Starwood Preferred Guest program, and the benefits of our Platinum guest's receive are a priority to us. If a suite is available for the entire length of your stay on your arrival date, we will of course be happy to upgrade you accordingly. I just feel a responsibility to let you know ahead of time that it is unlikely over these dates, so that you will have time to make arrangements if a suite is vital to your enjoyment.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, or if there is anything we can do for you in anticipation of your arrival!

Kind Regards,

4th Stay..Again no 500 Thank You Points Given
 

I have to report this every time through SPG.com Missing Stays.

Is it just me they always forget..I also agree with other posters that the exorbitant Club Lounge Wines Prices and new hassling for TIPs in the Lounge is starting to take the shine off my stay at this property.

Last year I booked two rooms and BOTH were upgraded the weekend before Christmas. I think it was the 20th'ish.

Does anyone know if the 24/25th are busy here? I live in Florida and will be booking here, but want to pick strategically to get a suite.

Just back from a seven night stay at the Diplomat - December 28 - Jan 4. Overall, a great experience!

We arrived at 9:30 AM on December 28 (off of a cruise) and were surprised to be given a room right away. The agent apologized for not having any suites available, but suggested calling the front desk in the afternoon to see if any had become available. We spent the day at the beach, and were then upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite facing west, south and east (NO balcony) on the 34th floor. The seperate bedroom meant more to us than a balcony, especially given that the lounge was only one floor away.

The lounge was great for breakfast and late afternoon snacks, but given the time of year, it was a complete zoo. There were security guards posted outside the doors on a couple of days, but they really didn't seem to be doing anything. I repeatedly saw a number of groups of children in the lounge alone, helping themselves to as much (or sometimes more!) food as they could pile onto their plates.

I agree that the constant badgering for tips was a bit much - most of the time I either left the receipt blank, or actually filled in $0 and signed it. One morning, I went back to grab a bottle of water about an hour after I had finished breakfast, and was promptly presented with the cheque again and was told that I had forgotten to sign it earlier.

We used the shuttle a couple of times to use the gym at the Diplomat Country Club. Much better, bigger, and quieter facilities that at the hotel.

We never received turndown service (didn't request it) and found that while housekeeping did a decent job, they would leave any dirty plates or cutlery in the room - wasn't a big problem, but just something that I've never experienced before.

Given New Years and the Orange Bowl, the lobby and driveway of the hotel were ALWAYS full of people, but we used self parking only, so didn't have to wait for the valet. While convenient, the self parking garage has to be one of the worst designed garages I've ever been in! We quickly learnt to drive up to the 4th floor, follow the exit signs, drive back down to the 2nd floor and park there!

Spent a couple of days on the beach in front of the hotel. 2 chairs and an umbrella cost $43 per day, but given the time of the year, the beach was mostly in the shade by 2:30 pm. We were pretty upset the first day as we only went out around 12:00 pm. Most of the pool area was in the shade by 2:00 pm each day.

All in all, a great stay and we'll definitely be returning.

Just reserved a 6 night stay at the Diplomat again for the end of February. Will report back how it turns out ^^

I'm a newbie here (lowly Gold member...) Just wanted to share my experiences. I had visited this property with my wife 3 years ago (used an award to book an executive club floor room) and was impressed with the hotel overall. We returned the next December with our 5 and 7 year old daughters and had booked 2 adjoining rooms for 2 nights again using the 12,000 point/night award. When we arrived to check in late Saturday night I was informed that due to my Gold status I was upgraded to a suite (nice!). However they did not have the second room adjoining to it ("same floor though" they told me). I was obviously disturbed at having my 5 year old booked in another room "somewhere else on the same floor". Being very gracious, the reservation agent disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a manager who apologized for the inconvenience and offered us the Governor's suite with room to sleep all of us (had a den with a pullout couch for the kids). It was a stunning 1,500 sq foot room with a large dining area, full bar with seating for 4, 2 bathrooms, wraparound balconey, etc. To top it off they threw in Executive club access. The room price was listed on the starwood website at $3,000 a night. If that wasn't good enough, the manager told me that due to the fact that I ended up only using one "room", she credited me back for one of the rooms I had booked, so I ended up just using the 12,000 points per night for the 2 nights I stayed there. Great experience!

This past December I stayed at the Atlantic in Ft. Lauderdale. Glad I got that in before the hotel leaves starwood. Really nice, trendy place. I booked a suite for 14,500 points (seemed very cheap for a suite) and was upgraded to a luxury suite upon arrival. I'm not sure what other privileges I would get being Platinum (I don't travel too much but spend plenty on my *wood amex card), but Gold does not seem to have done too bad for me! I only have positive things to say about starwood.

I'll be there with my family the 19th-24th...any chance we'll overlap?

I am very jealous of es21729, in perhaps a dozen stays I have never been given the Governors Suite. I did ask once, though. ;)

Sorry for the late reply... We are arriving on the 25th.. Too bad..

Tried to check my reservation today and this message came up:

We're Sorry
The system is temporarily unavailable. For assistance, please call 866-500-8320 in the U.S. or Canada. Residents of all other countries, please see our Worldwide Reservations Offices .

Thank you. We apologize for any inconvenience.

:D:D^^

Gotta love that message! ^^^^^

I mean, yeah, a better SPG.com would be nice -- one that showed current room types... But it's still a good message since the reservation has been altered by the property.

Plat concierge can tell you the current room type you're booked into when that message comes up :)

Sorry we're going to miss you...just checked my reservation and got the same message...SWEET! I hope this means what I think it means! :-)

I'm going to drive to ft. lauderdale and check out the new Westin and W properties to see what they are all about...

I'm lost here... What is it supposed to mean?

Generally when you can no longer access your reservation, it is because the hotel has upgraded you in advance. It's a very happy sign to platinums.

Last time that happened to me at the diplomat, they gave me the Diplomat suite which was very nice. Enjoy!

Diplomat Suites are nice. I usually get the Corner suites when I go there, they are AWSOME! There is Concierge that works there part time, Santiago, that is absolutely great. Very professional and goes well out of his way to take care of Plats.

The restaurants on site are pricey but good. I always take my wife to a place called Chima which is a Brazilian Steakhouse north of the hotel about 5-6 mi (http://www.chima.cc/). Awesome food, all you can eat salad bar, steak, etc. After dinner you can drive around and look at all the houses and massive boats of the people who are not affected much by the downturn in our economy.

Pools are great and the lounge is wonderful. Can't beat that hotel in my opinion for anywhere in FLL.

We also have an "in" at the hotel with our own FT'er Diplomatic Amy. Send her a PM with any requests and she or one of her staff will get back to you and let you know if it can be accommodated.

How do I contact "Diplomatic Amy"?

It's in the thread somewhere

Here is DiplomaticAmy's contact info - but for some reason, I thought she had moved on from the hotel. Is she still there? The last post from her was in 2007.

I am happy to report that she is still there. :)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Thanks, William, that's great to know.

Question re: car
 

Hi all -

I tried to search the thread, but got lost in all the great reviews!

Staying for one night on our way down to Colombia, just curious about parking and nearby restaurants.

As it looks like the hotel is pretty close to FLL we would prefer to just take a taxi and skip the parking/rental charges if possible. Are their any good restaurants that might be a walk (<20 minutes lets say) from the hotel? If not, then we might be better to rent a car when it all adds up, but just curious.

Just trying to figure out the most economic way with the least amount of hassle.


Thanks,

T.

The Diplomat is relatively close to FLL, but it will still likely cost you $25 - $30 each way for a cab. Even with paying for parking, you might be able to find a cheap rental car for one night which would then give you flexibility on dining options.

I believe that some of the restaurants in the hotel get decent reviews - it depends on how much you want to spend. The only viable dining options within walking distance would be on Hallandale Beach Boulevard - walk south from the hotel and then over the bridge. Never walked it, but could likely do it in about 20 minutes. There are some decent looking restaurants in the Diplomat Mall (which is now just a new strip plaza) on the north side of Hallandale Beach Blvd. However, the only one that we have tried is Siam Oishi Sushi (1719 E Hallandale Beach Blvd). It was pretty good.

On a side note, we found the concierge at The Diplomat very helpful when it came to dining options. They have the menus for lots of different restaurants. You might try emailing them before you arrive to ask what they suggest.

There are a number of restaurants to the north of the hotel, along the beach boardwalk. But you have to go some distance along the busy street (Ocean Boulevard) before the boardwalk starts. Turn on Magnolia Terrace. There is a sidewalk on the boulevard, but it is not particularly scenic.
Or you could just walk along the beach. It's about half a mile to the boardwalk and quite a bit further to most of the restaurants (there are dozens), so whether you consider this walkable depends on how much you like to walk and how hot it is. We enjoyed the Thai restaurant, which was one of the closer ones. None of them jumped out as fine dining locations, but you can watch the ocean.