I stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort with my wife and 3 year old son for two nights on January 19, 2008 and January 20, 2008. I used Hhonors points for both nights.
ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN:
We arrived at the hotel around 6:30 pm. The hotel was easy to find (via GPS), but I was little unsure of where to go once we found the hotel itself. The lobby entrance is actually on a side street, not on the main street by the beach. We pulled in and left the car with the valet and had a bellman take our bags on a cart. The valet parking is $29 + tax per night, and is the only option, as there is no self parking available. There was no line at the front desk and proceeded to check-in. Even though I was using points for my stay, they upgraded me to a one bedroom suite. I believe this is because of my Hhonors gold status. They also gave us coupons for free continental breakfast for both days, including for my son. This was unexpected and I am not sure if this is standard for all Hhonors members.
LOCATION:
The hotel is located at the beach. There is a road in between the beach and the hotel, but this is similar for the other hotels in this area. The road was not too difficult to cross, and there is a pedestrian bridge a couple of blocks down the street that could be used if necessary. There was construction happening on both sides of the hotel. We didn’t hear any construction noise that was bothersome. There really isn’t much in regards to restaurants or shops within walking distance of the hotel.
ROOM:
We stayed in room 1813, which was a one bedroom suite with 1.5 baths, and a small kitchen. It was very nicely decorated and looked & felt upscale. The kitchen was very nice with marble countertops and stainless appliances. There was a full size refrigerator, microwave, stove/oven, and dishwasher. There was also a coffeemaker with packaged coffee. There was no dining table, but there was a “bar” with stools that separated the kitchen and living area. The living had a little table, sofa, chair, ottomans and coffee table. There was a flat panel TV with PPP Movies. Internet Access was available for $15 per day. There was a great balcony that you could access from both the living room and bedroom. The balcony was on a slant and you had a view of the beach and ocean. There was a table and 2 chairs on the balcony. The bedroom was large and had its own flat panel television, and a large desk area. There also was a large closet that had a safe, as well as an umbrella, slippers and robes available for use.
BATHROOM:
The main bathroom was very nice and huge. There was a separate tub and shower, along with a double sink vanity. The toiletries were Crabtree & Evelyn, and consisted of; shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body wash and mouthwash. There was also a hair dryer and a scale. The scale didn’t work, I think it needed a new battery. The ½ bath helped out, but the exhaust fan in this bathroom was extremely loud and went on automatically with the light.
RECREATION:
There is an exercise room that looked pretty nice, but I didn’t use it. The beach is convenient and right across the street. When checking in, the bellman indicated that they had sand toys and such to lend for use on the beach. We hadn’t done this since the weather was a bit chilly and rainy while we were there. The pool area is very nice and located on the 6th floor.
DINING:
Since we arrived in the early evening, we decided to just order room service. The room service food was pretty good, and had a kids menu available (burgers, chicken fingers, mac & cheese). We were even able to order some cookies that weren’t on the menu. As with most room service, it was pricey and they added a service charge (around $3.00) and automatic tip (either 18% or 20%, I can’t recall). We used our coupons and ate in the restaurant for breakfast. They had a brunch on Sunday. There were options to upgrade our free continental breakfast to a more expanded continental breakfast ($4 more) or a hot breakfast buffet with omelet station ($11 more). Since our son is under 5, he was able to get any of the food with his coupon. On Monday, they still had a hot buffet option, but not the omelet station. The dining room staff was extremely friendly and helpful. On Monday they didn’t have any bananas, but the waitress went in the back and got one from somewhere, as well as gave us a little takeout container because our little one had eaten that much. We didn’t ask for any of this, they just took it upon themselves.
OTHER:
One problem we had was that our room had a partial view of the pool area. On Saturday night, there was some party or reception being held out at the pool and they had a band playing. The band was very loud and could be heard clearly with the balcony doors shut. They did stop at 10 pm, but our child goes to bed early and it was hard for him to fall asleep, as well as it did make watching the television a little difficult. There is no gift shop, but they were in the process of building a “gourmet shop” in the hotel. I am not sure what that will be, but they were very early in the construction process. On Sunday, they provide a Miami Herald and during the week it was USA Today. Every staff member we encountered at this hotel was very friendly and helpful.