We stayed at the Westin the night before our Christmas Bahamas cruise. It is a very large hotel/resort. The pools were very nice and the beachfront was kept spotless. There is an abundance of lounge chairs (though saving by one person for a group is allowed). The rooms were very clean and well appointed. They had a grab and go coffee shop within the hotel where you could also get pastries etc. which was nice to have. The only downside is that the restaurants in the hotel were quite expensive and there are no others within walking distance, and it was tough to get concierge assistance due to the large volume of people. Overall it was a very nice place to stay.

I stayed at the Diplomat for one night using SPG points and cash -- an amazing price of only 4800 points + 90 dollars. I stayed during the peak Xmas week so a regular room was listed at over $250 night.

The front desk check in would have been insane but for the fact that I am SPG Gold. They have a dedicated line for SPG Gold/Platinum holders which made check in way faster. The check in staff were very friendly and explained all of the amenities of the hotel -- and provided me with a bracelet that needed to be worn in the pool and gym areas.

As others have noted, self parking is available across the street for $20 a day. Kind of expensive but there really is no free parking available in the area. Note that there are two garage buildings... the one you enter requires you to drive to the top floor and then drive over a connecting bridge to the other garage which will then let you drive down to the exit. So, if you want to get out of the garage easily, the best option is to drive right through the entire garage as if you were going to exit and park near the last level of the exit. This will allow you to exit the garage rather easily.

I took a look at the gym (I am a gym rat so my requirements are very discerning) and it actually was not a bad gym -- for a hotel. The free weights did not go to high enough weights (but they rarely do at a hotel gym) but they had all the machines you'd need, a smith machine, and plenty of cardio equipment. There is a Crunch gym (recently under new management) at 163rd and Collins for those who are more hard core gym goers.

The room itself -- I had an "issue" with my first room. The front desk staff was very helpful in moving me to a new/upgraded room with a full ocean view room with a balcony. My original room had a partial view without a balcony. I would highly recommend spending the extra $$ (if you can) to get the full ocean view with a balcony. The view is spectacular and having a balcony to read on is amazing.

The room is very comfortable ... free starbucks coffee and a bottle of water too. The bathroom had a great stand alone shower (my favorite because it avoids the need for that nasty shower curtain) and a separate jacuzzi tub. The bathroom had massive shutters that opened to overlook the bedroom and/or the ocean.

As my 'SPG Gold' amenity, I chose free Wifi which worked very well during my stay.

Over all, this definitely a great hotel. Well worth the SPG Points + Cash I paid. Also, as a frequent traveller, no hotel is perfect -- the secret to their success has to be how they handle things when something goes wrong. At the Diplomat, they are clearly focused on guest satisfaction -- exactly what I would expect from a Westin hotel. The "issue" I had with the hotel was handled immediately and professionally -- exactly how I would expect a 5* hotel to deal with a guest complaint.

Staying for 10 days - terrible New Years Eve dinner.

Check-in time around 9:00 pm, dec/29.
Reserved a Grand Deluxe, received a room for handicaped, wich I only realized 3 days later, by seeing the big difference to other rooms. The room needed to be refurbished.

I complaint about the bad room I was on the jan/1st , the same guy that made my check-in, told me the hotel was full and I should check for a new room on the next day. He did'nt even apologized. Just told me there was a football team at the hotel and could not help.

Got my new room on the january/2nd. Better but not great. Just average, a bit small.

Until now I made 3 room service orders:
1º) Hamburguer: good
2º) Cesar Salad: bad sauce, artificial. Penne pasta grotesque and reazonable. Good caprese salad.
3º) Ordered service for two, came for one. Ordered a medium strip steak, came very welldone, and baked potato came raw. Reazonable caprese salad.

Bathroom amenities are weak. Just a shampoo, conditioner and lotion.
Towels are very good.
The bed is great, as always on Westin.

Wi-fi: signal quality was bad on both rooms.

Room make up service is weak. There is lots of dust on the furniture, and amenities are not provided daily as they should.

New years eve dinner at at the Landings: fix price of 275 per person+beverages+tax+tips.
We were in a party of 5 for the 9:30pm. The buffet was very very weak. Waiter service was terrible.

I completed a 6 day stay at the Westin Diplomat on Dec 29, 2012. I have stayed here many times so I am used to the typical holiday madness that takes place here.
I had a standard room with a king sized bed. The hotel has been open for roughly 10 years and to the best of my knowledge the rooms have not been renovated and it shows. The decor is old and tired and needs an update. The general condition of the rooms are good although they show 10 years of wear and tear. The bathrooms continue to be a hi light, they are very nice with separate bath and shower.
The Westin Heavenly bed is still good but most hotels offer some type of great bed so this is no longer a huge deal for me. The technology in the room is ok but not great with a minimal amount of power outlets. A particular pet peeve of mine is the $12.95 charge for Internet, at most hotels I stay at now this is a thing of the past. You can get around this by going to the lobby where the Internet is free, this makes the charge for Internet in the room even harder to understand.
The pool area is still beautiful but be prepared to fight for a chair at busy periods of the year especially on the top deck which is the most sought after area.
The food choices are limited to two restaurants within the hotel, the Cafe and Hollywood Prime. I tried both and Hollywood prime is excellent but very expensive and the Cafe is average. There is a restaurant by the pool called Splash which again is average and very expensive.
The service although passable is not great, it is very impersonal as this is a very large hotel and there is a lot for the staff to deal with. At times it feels very impersonal. Unfortunately we experienced it first hand when we encountered a security problem on our floor during our stay, in addition the maid service was quite poor as our room was not cleaned 2 days in a row. Both of these issues were dealt with by management in a very terse and impersonal manner.
All in all it is a good place to stay but there are other new holes in the area that are newer and will give you more bang for your buck.