We stayed in this hotel at the suggestion of the American Express Platinum agent who helped us book it. We arrived and were greeted by the valet who helped us with our bags into the lobby. Check-in was very easy. Took the elevator up to our spacious room with a big bed that had an iron style backboard. This had a very southern homey feel to the room that was decorated for a woman. We ordered room service and the food was very good. The bathroom was loaded with amenities, the shower was hot and had a powerful spray. I liked the lace shower curtain also. The balcony had a dual view of the ocean and the city. This is a very nice upscale area with lots of restaurants and a mall close by.

Overview: My wife and I went on a last minute romantic getaway and couldn't have been happier with our stay. I highly recommend the summer splash package with hotel transfers. We were taken to and from the hotel in an air conditioned van. The hotel gave us two welcoming drinks, breakfast each day of our stay, and complimentary chair and umbrella set-up on the beach for the duration of our stay as part of the package.

Airport: Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport was pretty standard by Florida aiports. Bright colors on the walls, random palm trees placed here and there. Really easy to get around.

Food: Food was great. I'd say it was better than your standard hotel restaurant food. The menu was varied enough so that everyone would be satisfied. It ranged from steaks and chops to salads and light sandwiches.

Drinks: There is a hotel bar near the pool & lazy river that serves popcorn and snacks. The bartenders were solid. Both were attentive and told good stories.

Room: Room was gorgeous. We booked an oceanview king suite which consisted of a king bed, two nightstands, an alarm clock, a television cupboard with a dvd player, a mini-fridge, a separate sitting room with ANOTHER TV and a couch a table and a deck that overlooked the ocean with white patio furniture. It was comfortable and clean and the shades and curtains did a more than ample job keeping out the blinding morning sun.

Staff: Very friendly and accomodating. The concierge was very friendly. We had a 20 minute conversation about SEC football in NCAA and he was more than willing to see if he could get tickets to UF if we wanted to come back down for a Gators game in the fall. Unfortunately, that's when I am coaching football so I couldn't take him up on the offer but what a friendly gesture anyway!

Pool: Clean. Lazy river looked good. Infested with young children with unattentive parents so be patient if you can deal with screaming 10 year olds. We spent most of our time at the very relaxing, kid-free beach.

Beach: Beautiful. Water was so warm it felt as if we were taking a bath. The sand was kept clean and there was no smell of any kind in the air other than sea breeze. It was excellent.

Conclusion: We wanted to go again for another August Romantic getaway this summer but couldn't find the time. Maybe after my football season ends. Pelican Grand provided us with happy memories and like all good hotels, caused to think about when we could possibly go back.

Upon arriving we received a very nice introduction to the hotel by the bellhop. I regret I did not get his name. The view and hotel room was wonderful!
However, we did encounter some problems with service and communication. At the bellhops advisement, we decided to try the the hotel restaurant. He informed us of a Prime Rib special on Monday evening so we wanted to try it out. We got seated immediately on the terrace, which had an amazing view of the ocean. The assitant brought over a bread basket right away. However, we waited a total of 20 minutes for a waiter to take our drink order. We watched waiters come in and out of the terrace hoping they would give us some attention. Finally, we walked out and told the hostess who seated us about the problem. She simply said, "I'm sorry". No offers to "make it up to us" or contact us later in our stay. The same evening the fire alarm went off at 3:40 a.m. on our floor telling us to evacuate. While we did appreciate the fact the hotel had this safetly feature, when we arrived out side in front of the hotel, no one at the desk knew what to say and what was going on. They were not in a panic though, they had more of a complacent attitude, saying just go back to you room there's some kind of malfunction. Didn't seem to care we were all woken up at this hour. It happened again at 8 a.m. Again, no real apologies or concerns to its patrons. Seems the hotel had problems in communication and were not concerned guests were inconvienced at the restaurant or by the malfunctioning fire alarm.
If one hotel staff person would have shown at least some sincere apology, we would have been satisfied. We weren't necessarily looking for any freebees.

The Pelican is a nice-looking property. My wife & I opted to pay a little extra for an oceanfront view (off-season ~$250/night on Expedia). We were not disappointed with our decision; the room was very large with 2 king beds, a sitting area with 2 couches, a table and chairs, and there was a very small balcony overlooking the beach, which provided the amazing view that we expected. The room was comfortable and clean. We stayed two nights (en route to the Keys). Upon arrival, our first impression of the “resort” was a good one, despite the mandatory valet service, $18/day parking fee, and the fact that our balcony railing needed minor repairs (see picture) and there was no light in the shower area.

Our impression dimmed: The first night we ate at the onsite hotel restaurant. The prices seemed a bit high (~$35-40/entree), though we figured since we were at a “resort” the food must be as amazing as the view; we sat by a window and watched a storm roll in over the ocean. A torrential downpour followed an extremely disappointing meal that cost upwards of $100 (w/o drinks). Prior to our trip, I read a TripAdvisor review that said the Pelican restaurant's food left MUCH to be desired; we should have heeded that advice, though our waiter was very helpful in explaining the ins/outs of how the “resort” functioned (ie, what time to arrive at the pool/beach to claim a good spot, and what time to arrive for breakfast, etc), which were things the front desk staff failed mention upon our check in.

The next day our impression dimmed even more: The pool is very small in comparison to the large number of rooms in the “resort”, although floating in the lazy river was relaxing. I read in another TripAdvisor review that said the pool area gets awfully congested; unfortunately, once again the TA review proved to be true. We arrived just after 10am and claimed a spot and by 11am every chair was occupied and the pool was overflowing with people to the point that we had to get out. It was too hot to sit on the beach, so the pool was our only option if we wanted to stay cool, plus there were several palm trees that provided shade. However, if you don’t like sitting extremely close to strangers in bathing suits (in the heat) then I suggest you don’t go to the pool. The chairs are Packed Tight around the pool; to get out of your chair you have to crawl to the end of it and stand up, and getting back in is no easy feat either. There’s not enough room to stand to the left or right sides of your chair – The chairs literally touch one another. Again, if you don’t like sitting extremely close to strangers in bathing suits (in the heat) then I suggest you don’t go to the pool! I’m all for sharing the pool and pool-side lounging, but this was ridiculous; in fact it was uncomfortable and, at times, disturbing!

The “resort” also boasts a beautiful porch that overlooks the ocean and is equipped with wicker couches, chairs and rocking chairs. After leaving the overly croweded pool area, frustrated and disappointed, we decided to sit and watch the ocean from a wicker couch while enjoying ice cream from the onsite ice cream parlor. The ability to sit on the porch, watch the ocean while eating ice cream is one of the reasons we booked a room at the Pelican in the first place. This was very relaxing! There is also a fitness center located on the 12th floor; this too overlooks the ocean. Along with the ice cream parlor, the gym was one of the nicer amenities since it was well kept and clean (kudos to the cleaning staff).

Our overall impression of the Pelican wasn't good. I’m not saying don’t stay at the Pelican; however, please beware for as nice as the place appears, there are enough little idiosyncrasies that when added up are what gives this “resort” a mediocre (borderline poor) review. They charge well over $250/night (off season); $18/day for parking; the pool is overcrowded; the restaurant isn’t very good (breakfast was ok); and it just seemed that the staff (except for our waiter & house keeping) just didn’t go that extra mile for a place marketed as a “resort” (we also experienced an isolated incident where our poolside server forgot to bring our lunch and the food services manager seemed lackadaisical about the entire issue when I approached her; she never actually apologized), not to mention the place seemed to lack the attention to detail that you would expect from a “resort” (eg, the busted-up railing; not offering to buy us lunch after we sat waiting an exorbitant amount of time to eat).

We could have stayed at a Marriott or a Hilton for a comparable price, but we wanted to give the Pelican a try. Our vacation was still really great, and were able to relax more once leaving the Pelican and arriving at our next destination.

Do yourself a favor, read all the TA reviews on the Pelican very carefully, especially the ones with bad ratings and then reassess your decision to stay. Pretty much all of the reviews I read on TA were right on. For us, it wasn't a terrible stay, just not "resort-like".

We wouldn’t stay at the Pelican again.…

Lastly, don't expect to be treated "special" while at the Pelican; this isn't a true "resort", it's merely marketed as one.