I stayed at this hotel pre-cruise for one night. Overall, the hotel was clean and nicely decorated but could use improvement in the service category.

The lobby staff could have been nicer. Maybe it was because I just stayed at Affinia Dumont, the #5 hotel in NY, and the service there was excellent, so I expected more. The service was courteous but nothing special.

The room was a good size and nicely decorated. The decor was very modern with flat screen t.v. I stayed at the cheapest room at under $100 a night, and it was a pretty good deal. The pool looked very nice although we did not use it. It was also pretty quiet, probably because we stayed at the end room in a corner.

The biggest complaint is I feel that the housekeeping staff did not pay attention to detail for a hotel of this caliber. The bottle of lotion in the bathroom had previously been opened and used and was not replaced. I noticed this when the seal was broken. Also, the cupholder mat by the coffee pot had a stain on it, and it was not replaced either. For a hotel ranked so high on trip advisor and for a hilton, I expected a bit more.

Overall, the hotel was a great value, but the service and housekeeping could be better.

We stayed four nights during the Labor Day holiday.
The upsides are the hotel is recently remodeled in all of the public areas as well as the guest rooms. The beds, bedding and bath linens were all first rate. We used the in-room coffee and tea maker every day as well as the provided mini fridge.
I thought the Grande offered sophisticated style for the price ($99 summer rate) we paid.
We stayed in a tower room and self parked. The location is good if you do not require beachfront; the Grande sits on the Intracoastal and is 1.5 miles to the beaches. The hotel provides a beach shuttle and the Water Taxi stops at this hotel.

Clean, modern and newly renovated is more important in my book than square footage. The room size was just adequate as well as the bath and balcony. That did not matter to us but it might to you. The parking rate chaps some folks but just figure it into your your room rate when shopping around and get over it. It is what it is.

This hotel is on my short list for my next Ft Lauderdale stay. I am curious to see what the rates are during the fall and winter.

We did not eat or drin

Checked in Fri afternoon 8/22/08 for the weekend. Little did we know we would find ourselves surrounded by such a beautiful environment. Everyone that we came in contact was positive and helpful. The rooms are truly lovely in every way. Not only are they clean, they are inviting. No detail was missed, from the bathroom to the bedroom. Very comfortable bed! The balcony is large, we highly suggest you get a room overlooking the water. So peaceful, just like everything else throughout the hotel. The pool area is like a tropical setting and "The G" serves great food and drinks. A must is a stop by Antea to see Carlos. Just like "The G", great food and drinks . He was so much a part of our pleasant stay. He was patient and attentive in every way. We hugged him goodbye as we left on Sunday! Needless to say we will be returning very soon, I'm looking at dates now! We have elected it our new "Home away from Home". Thanks to all for a great weekend. See ya soon Carlos!

Sincerly,
Kelly and Paul

We overall had a good experience with the Fort Lauderdale Grande. There are some very positive things about the hotel and few minor negatives....

Our first night there we were excited to be there, the location of the hotel was great and the rooms were nice and beds were comfy. We had a room on the ground floor with a baloncy facing the pool deck. We went to bed early the first night as the person I was travelling with had a red-eye flight coming in and the time change for her was a few hours. Anyways, 11pm rolled around, and all you could hear was the bass from the music at the pool deck. We called down to the front desk and they said, it would wrap up at 11:15pm, and it didn't. We called down again at close to midnight and they said they were going to call security. Nothing happened, so we moved rooms into the tower, which was very quiet. They were very nice about moving rooms, but being as it was late and due to our travels we were kind of cranky. Let me tell you though, the music wasn't unreasonably loud coming from the pool deck, it was just that for whatever reason, the glass doors to our balcony did not buffer the bass whatsoever.

Breakfast the next morning downstairs at the hotel was yummy and the staff was very friendly. They voluntarily compenstated us for our beverages because the service was slow. Breakfast was extremely pricey, but we tried a small french bakery across the street the next morning and it was just as pricey there too.

Anyways, the location of the hotel was great and the water taxi was right outside the hotel. The water taxi service doesn't start until around 11am or so and is $13.00 for the day per person. A nice ride to get around, as long as you are sightseeing at your leisure.

The second night we asked one of the bartenders in the lobby bar (Quentin) where to eat and recommended a few places close by. We ended up eating at an Italian place which was very delicious and more reasonably priced. When we got back, we sat down at the lobby bar and had a drink and talked to Quentin for a long time. He was supposed to be off duty at a certain time, but stuck around and chatted with us for awhile. He was very nice, helpful, courteous, and made our stay better.

Overall, the service was great. The hotel was nice and in a good location. The only major downfall is the price of food at the restauruants in the hotel.