On our way home from The Bahamas we had a short stay in Fort Lauderdale for one night before flying home. It was the last day/night of our vacation and wanted to finish it right. After reading reviews and comparing prices, we booked The Westin Beach Resort, right on Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. I used my hotels.com free night, accumulated from 10 nights stayed prior, and reduced the price of our hotel by about $110. We still paid close to $200 after taxes, but for a beautiful hotel right on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, a total price tag of $300 was expected. Hotels.com is one of my favorite sites to use because every 10 stays, you get a night free, there are also member discounts on several hotels each time you are booking. The free night is the average price of your 10 prior stays, and the night we earned was cheap because we stayed in some cheap hotels in the Philippines earlier in the year. But that doesn’t matter because if you book a more expensive hotel, you just pay the difference.
Anyways, back to the hotel. The hotel was in a great location, in a central spot right on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. They even have a skywalk across the street right to the beach if you don’t want to leave the hotel and cross the road. The hotel provides beach chairs and towels and has a rooftop pool. Unfortunately, our last day was spoiled by rain, but that can be expected with Florida’s August forecast. Despite the weather stopping us from using the pool or going to the beach, you could tell the pool was nice and the beach location was prime. There were lots of sunbeds around the pool, the view from the rooftop was phenomenal and there was a rooftop bar.
In addition to the rooftop bar, there is a café, a convenience store and a couple of restaurants in the hotel. The Westin Beach Resort truly feels like a luxury beach resort. And, for each night you stay you get two free drinks and a free dessert. I couldn’t spend time on the beach so I decided to have a few beers in the open air terrace with views of the beach. The music was good and the atmosphere was lively. We went for a good lunch and had some of the best (Honduran) chicken I’ve ever had earlier that day so decided to relax and have dinner at our hotel for the final night of our vacation. We ate at Lona, which is a Mexican American fusion restaurant. The service was good and the food was okay. I was still full from lunch and filled up on the free chips and salsa before dinner which was a big mistake so I couldn’t fully enjoy the tacos. But overall, I’d recommend eating or drinking at Lona.
And, not only were the restaurants and bars good, but the rooms were very nice. The bed was big and comfortable, and the rooms were clean and modern. The view from the room was of the beach and was beautiful. The only negative was that the faux balcony window/door was not openable, and I can imagine how much better it would have been if it was a real balcony.
Here is how I’d rate the hotel:
Price – reasonable
Customer service – good
Amenities – good
Restaurants/bars – great
Location – excellent
Rooms – excellent
Cleanliness – excellent
Atmosphere – great
Overall, the hotel was excellent and I wish we had more time to enjoy. If we return to Fort Lauderdale, The Westin Beach Resort will be at the top of our list of hotels to stay at.
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