The Resort at Singer Island, Florida

Elite '09

44

89

Nina F.

Long Beach, CA

7/25/2008

We all know what a big fan I am of Florida (oh, wait, is my sarcasm coming across via yelp?); however, I must admit that the Singer Island Resort is hands down one of the most impressive hotels I've been to in recent memory.  I'm convinced it's not really Florida.  

I was upgraded to a one-bedroom suite with ocean views (thank you Starwood) and upon stepping inside realized my room was bigger than my apartment, had more furniture than my apartment, and a fridge stocked with more fresh fruit and a larger variety of booze than my apartment.

Completely in awe of the room, I became determined to enjoy it as much as possible.  The problem with doing this when your plane is delayed and you don't arrive to the hotel until midnight is that it leaves you very little time to enjoy.  Unless, like me, you decide there is plenty of time to sleep when you're dead and spend the next four hours prying through every last inch of the "condo," relaxing on the balcony with some cocktails, taking a shower and a bath in the 500sqft bathroom, doing some work at the bar stools and perusing various reading materials.  

As nice as that evening was, waking up the next morning at 7 a.m. was a bitch.  Highly, highly recommend the hotel restaurant, Solu, and the adjoining Rum Lounge -- order the Flor de Cana, you won't be disappointed.

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6

17

Craig D.

Port Monmouth, NJ

5/23/2009

For approximately 5 days every year my family and I take a week long vacation. When a child is factored in, you typically limit your selection to Florida, Florida or Florida.

Tired of Orlando, I decided to take a gamble and make a reservation at the Resort at Singer Island. As a child I'd spend countless days in West Palm Beach so I was familiar with the area. With a great deal in tow (corporate rate) and an airfare voucher to turn in, I figured now was the best time to take a leap of faith and hope that the "lagoon pool with 2 story slide" was enough entertainment to keep the little one occupied.

So let's get right into it shall we? The resort is a hybrid of sorts - selling both permanent residence condominiums along side the actual hotel rooms. Upon arrival we unfortunately got off on the wrong foot, as we were told our room would not be ready on time. Check-in was 4 pm and we unfortunately stood around touring the grounds of the hotel for 25 minutes. I'd be more forgiving of this however on my way in, I noticed the hotel was a ghost town.

Soon we were lead to our room and I'll admit, the accommodations were nice. The kitchen was beautiful with all stainless steel appliances, a dishwasher and granite counter tops, This was incentive enough to make daily trips to the Publix grocery store and stock up. Our breakfasts and lunches were eaten in our rooms and I even cooked steaks for my family on the first night. We were missing plates however, and it was a disappointment to see they never replaced whatever was missing.

We also had our own washer/dryer in unit. Again such a great convenience! It's nice to know we're heading home with clean clothes in our suit cases.

When booking the trip, I paid for the lagoon view, which was ok, in retrospect I should've sprung for the beach view.

The bathroom was also a beauty, tiled and with gorgeous lighting along with a sunken tub with separate shower encased in glass.

The housekeeping staff was absolutely wonderful as were the valets who even went out of their way to bring us directions to a recommended Spanish restaurant. I even offered them the remaining 6 beers in our fridge I was so happy with them. The pool attendants were great as well, always smiling and offering assistance. Given we were probably 1 of 4 families using the lagoon pool for the week, it was sincerely appreciated that they went out of their way to get to know myself and my daughter.

So what was so bad about the resort? Not much but enough to leave my entire family disappointed.

First and foremost the sheets on the bed didn't fit. Every morning we woke up with them hanging from the bed. Additionally there was no variety in pillows. I know this sounds trivial but they pride themselves on being an ultra luxury resort. They sounded confused when I asked for a firmer pillow for the night.

As for critiques with a bit more substance I'd say one of the biggest was the restaurant, Solu. We decided we would enjoy breakfast with beach front views. Unfortunately we were never served. It wasn't due to a swarm of guests, but out of sheer laziness and inattentiveness. After almost 10 minutes of sitting at our booth and with hosts buzzing by us, I finally told my family it was time to get up and leave. On the way out the host actually had the nerve to say "have a great day!". Sarcasm doesn't get you far in my book and later that night I aired my displeasure with the front desk. All they did was shrug their shoulders. Giving them one more opportunity we walked down for dinner and were given "looks" for my decision to wear shorts with my collared shirt. Seriously? I walked away from the hostess wondering if she realized the impact of her judgment since I figure this review will be seen by quite a few people.

I'll leave my greatest critique for last however.  Upon arrival I provided the front desk with my gold membership with Starwood. I was assured that I would have a 4 pm checkout as "the hotel won't be that busy this week" and they pledged to going above and beyond for their guests. Given my 5 pm flight, I realistically just wanted access to the pool for a few extra hours before leaving. Given the weather being spotty all week we were in Florida, I knew my daughter would have appreciated it.

Unfortunately my request fell on deaf ears the day we were to check out. We were told we had to be out by 11 am!!! Additionally when I asked for access to a changing room so we could swim, we were told my family would have to pay a $25 fee per person to use the showers at the spa.

Sorry but that's a bunch of b.s. and not the type of treatment I'd have expected given the cost per night at the Resort At Singer Island.

So will I return? Doubtful. Given there's deals to be found everywhere and that pretentious hotel  employees leave lasting impressions. I'm not adverse to returning to West Palm Beach, but I'll be spending my money elsewhere and I encourage you to do the same.

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1

9

Aidan P.

Boulder, CO

8/13/2009

This was a perfect resort for our family's 10 day trip with 2 kids.  The pictures of the resort were good examples of the actual resort which is not always the case with hotel website pictures.  We picked the resort for several reasons, all of them based on us having a family vacation with 2 children ages 3 & 4.  The lagoon pool has a lovely water slide that the kids nearly lived on. There is a kids' club which is sort of like the resort's version of upscale babysitting. We stayed in a prime ocean view 2 bedroom and enjoyed that the kids' room was on the other end of the suite.  The views were as expected and the room service was almost always on time.  We decided to only eat room service a few times and ate most of our meals from the great kitchen in the room, or out in town.  There are several grocery stores within 15 min drive (we enjoyed Whole Foods) but realized after we bought the food that there was no oven in the room.  There is however a wonderful microwave, top stove and large refrigerator and freezer.  As a result, we didn't end up eating from Solu (other than room service).    We also purchased 2 beach chairs and used those on our beach day since the chairs are at a cost on the beach.  The staff was incredibly helpful including the housekeeping.  It seemed like we had to ask for a lot, but that is probably because we were there so long, but the person on the other end of our request was always a pleasure.  Our family had plenty to do as a result of bringing a computer and doing some homework from an indoor playground, to science museum and even a Lion Safari.  I suspect that we will be back!!

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