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The Westin Diplomat Resport & Spa, Hollywood, Florida
Rating Details »
11 reviews for The Westin Diplomat Resport & Spa, Hollywood, Florida
only 3 stars for a high end Westin, one might ask. But here is why. Ive stayed here on my last two trips, the rooms are fantastic. 5 stars for them. The second time I was here I got a fantastic executive king room that was really a pleasure. Now the bad. The service is awful. The room service in the morning was a joke. I set everything up the night before so I could get it delivered by 7. Yea right. 7 comes and goes and no room service. When i called to inquire, they could care less. They put me on hold for 10 min. finally i received my coffee, fruit, yogurt and muffin. At 7.30. And again no body seemed to care that I was a little upset by this. Also the restaurants in the place were crappy. Food was way overpriced and boring. THe sushi place was some of the worst sushi Ive ever had. Also they nickel and dime you for everything in the place.
Great rooms and a nice location are the only plus.
The awful service and price are huge downsides.
I think the Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale is much better.
I have been hanging out at the Diplomat since it opened sometime in 2001-02... They have a great outdorr bar area called the Diplomat Landing, which is actually across the street from the hotel, on the Intercoastal side. Great happy hour, great vibe, yuppi crowd - young, urban professionals... :) Awesome place to meet up with a crowd and start your night!
The hotel itself was designed very lavishly, but somehow in construction, they failed. Inside the hotel are palm trees that are frozed with liquid nitrogen running underneath at all time (to keep them frozen). So the palm trees you see are REAL, not fake. The concierge desk is hidden to one side, and not easily located. The front desk has ample space, however, most of the staff is snooty and rude.
My first time staying in the hotel itself was in 2004, where I stayed as part of a conference for my job at the time. I decided to make the weekend 2-part, by including play with work, so I invited a few girlfriends to stay with me. We were young at the time (I must have been 24 and looked 14!), and we were treated very rudely by all the staff. I even had an incident with the Front Desk Manager, who lost an envelope I left at the Front Desk for a coworker.
After our soured weekend experience, I wrote the GM a nice little letter, on company letterhead, and let me tell you what service I received after that! I was not only reimbursed for that weekend (both nights, right back to my credit card), but he also sent me a gift certificate for 2 more free nights!!! SCORE!!!
I used it the following summer (05) and went with my boyfriend. What a much better experience that time around. The staff was pleasant and courteous (were they pre-warned?!?!) and our experience was enjoyable...
The rooms are nice and roomy. The bathtub has a sliding door that opens up to the room, which trust me, comes in handy! ;-) The beds are very soft and sumptuous! Makes you want to stay in bed all day!
Some downsides... Everything is price. For being a Westin chain, I guess that's expected, however, I didn't find the prices worth the while... The outdoor pool restaurant (Splash) is very expensive. 4 sandwiches, a basket of fries and 3 drinks was $125!!! Really?!?!? C'mon now! That's a tad ridiculous. I don't mind spending a lot of money on food, but it better be worth it! I ordered a turkey club! Get real!
They used to have a night clubthere called Satine, but I have no idea if that still exists. Their lobby bar's happy hour used to be phenomenal, but again, it's been at least 2 years since I've been there...
However, based on other reviews, doesn't seem much has changed... :)
All in all - good place to relax, nice atmosphere, pretty views...
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The Diplomat is a mixed bag so I'll review things individually.
The Room: 5 Stars. My room was big and stylishly minimal with ample drawer and closet space. The bed was super comfortable. The balcony overlooked the two beautiful pools and the beach and ocean just beyond that. But, it was the bathroom that had me at hello. I love bathtubs. I have not lived in an apartment that had a bathtub in over five years. When I go to hotels (and sometimes even friends' places b/c I'm that much of a bathtub whore), I like to take baths. The bathtub in this room was huge but that wasn't the best part. The wall of the bathroom that seperated it from the room was actually made of sliding doors so you could slide the doors open and then you could see the ocean and hear the waves crashing from the bathtub. Bathtub+ocean view=heaven, in my obviously non-religious view of what's beyond the pearly gates.
Service: 2 Stars. So, the hotel was not that guest-friendly. A friend called ahead to have the concierge deliver a package of something relaxing along the tea/candle tip and it was quite a struggle for her to get them to do something like this. I lost my sunglasses and the security desk was none too pleased that I called a second time to see if anyone had turned them in. The computer system was broken when I went to check out so I couldn't go over my bill before checking out. They said they would email it to me within an hour but it was more like 12 hours later at which point I could no longer dispute my bill with the hotel as that has to be done on the same day and instead had to dispute this with a different office. The maid service never came to clean, which is fine with me but I'm guessing might not be fine with some of the other patrons of this hotel.
The Sushi Restaurant: 1 Star. This place (I can't remember the name) sucked. Literally, the worst sushi I have ever had. Maybe that serves me right because who orders sushi from a hotel restaurant? Well, I did but it was awful and I'm no sushi snob.
So, overall, I'm going to give it four stars because the room is the most important thing, right? And the beaches in south Florida cannot be beat. The sand is white and the water is like bath water (again, we go back to my love of the bath...). Florida spoiled me for life for ever going in the water elsewhere in the continental US so being steps away from the warm, tropical, turqoise waters of the Atlantic earns major points for me. I'm not sure I would stay at the Diplomat again but I'm glad I did this time.
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I've been to the Diplomat on several occasions over Thanksgiving weekends. I come form NYC looking to escape the chilly weather, sit my ass by a pool, drink, eat, and escape NY'ers. More often than not I come to a poolside full of NY'ers chatting away on their Crackberries ( I am also guilty of this) while their children jump in and out of the pool. Note to you the Gotti boys ( of Growing up Gotti "fame") have vacationed here and brought along their cameras.
I shouldn't be so negative. I am sure on non-holiday weekends, it's a little quieter. The hotel is actually really nice but sticks out like an art deco sore thumb in the sky line. The rooms are nice and spacious however and I love the bathrooms. It's worth it to get an ocean view high up if not for the cool breezes than to watch the sharks circle 5 ft from unknowing swimmers treading in the ocean below.
The restaurants are pretty good ( they put on a good turkey day feast) and the bar/lounge is comparable to that of a W hotel in Manhattan ( pretty people, expensive drinks, okay DJ's). There is also Nikki Marina (of the South Beach, multi- European, AC, and now midtown NYC Nikki's lounges) which is perched on the inter-coastal. This is a hot spot for those north of SoBe and East of Ft. Lauderdale partyers. The drinks are okay and the food is iffy. I would go late afternoon before sunset to hang with friends and grab a drink or two before heading out for the night.
If you plan on traveling anywhere off the premises, I would rent a car. South Beach is 25- 30 min away and Ft. Lauderdale is about 10-15.
The hotel has a shuttle van that will bring you to it's country club where golf, tennis, and spa is located.
As for the beach, I hear the town put a few million into rebuilding it and I hear it's really nice now.
As long as my padres are paying - I'm there!
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I had to stay here for a work conference. I'm giving the resort as a whole 3 stars...but here are the ratings for individual categories...
Room - 5 stars: The room was clean and big (larger than my studio apartment). The bathroom is great with the HUGE tub. In a word (or 2) - very comfy.
Overall staff/service - 4 stars: I had 1 bad front desk manager who not only wouldn't give me late checkout but was also a b*tch about it (when I explained that I wanted the room to be able to change after my tradeshow she said: "we have bathrooms". Really? I didn't think about that). But everyone else was very good. Especially the business center that handled the 4 different deliveries I had.
Room service - 3.5 stars: I hate room service. usually it's disappointing and really? If I'm spending that much of my company's money on food, I want it to be something that I'd want to spend MY money on. That said, 2 of my 3 room service meals were very good. The breakfast was meh, good hashbrowns, but if I wanted eggs and veggies swimming in oil, I wouldn't order an eggwhite omelet.
Restaurants - 1 star for service, 2 stars for food: So, my first experience with dining at the diplomat was a monday. note: the only restuarants open on mondays are the Cafe, Barsu, and Rivals. The Cafe was over extended (not over booked, it was practically empty, but the kitchen was backed up, according to the hostess. So I went to Barsu. Where I waited an HOUR at least for a waitress to even acknowledge me. Then I waited another hour for mediocre sushi. The wasabi pea roll tasted like rice (could that be because there was practically no fish in it) and the nori was chewy. The nigiri was decent, but at $3-5 per piece, not that good. I went upstairs that night still hungry and way too tipsy after 2 glasses of wine. In their defense, they were busy. Not *that* busy...come on, an hour?...but busy.
The next day - I had the same experience at the not busy Rivals. After nursing a drink and an order of fries for an hour, I finally flagged down a bartender to maybe get real food. However, after another 15-20 minutes of waiting (dring which time he had conversations with other patrons), I charged my drink and fries to my room and left to order room service. That siad - the blackberry martini was tasty, so were the fries.
So - all in all - 3 stars. I'd stay here again if I had a tradeshow here and if I had a rental car and could get away.
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The rooms get 4 stars, which is good for a generic chain. You get carpeted floors except for the bathroom (pooh), a not a well-kept closet, but if you're willing to overlook the two things, the rooms were spacious and the bathrooms as well. It was odd seeing that the bathroom was subdivided further - you even have your own glass stall for the toilet. There's a shower (separate stall), and an open spacious tub in which you can relax and open the window to face... well the bedroom.
Odd. Seriously odd. What kind of people like to see the bedroom for the view? Whatever the concept, it was neat, but at the same time, it showed that the hotel was trying too hard to impress - because that was probably the most useless and pointless feature of the room.
The two pools are sizable and interestingly, they overlap (there's a linear 2nd story pool with a glass bottom floor in the middle so you can see the spacious resort-like first floor pool - although I pretty much guarantee you, you'll just see a whole lot more water.
Again... they try too hard to impress.
The lobby is nice, but I only saw a cafe (it was closed at night when I was there but the menu did not seem promising) and a restaurant and a bar.
As for the pricey restaurant, Aizia (which is Zagat-rated) I had an opportunity to try a dish. I was debating between a duck and a steak, and I asked the waiter what he preferred of the two, and he didn't seem to have much of an opinion but suggested the sea bass wrapped in banana leaf.
I was a bit skeptical because this waiter for the whole while I was in the restaurant had NO opinion about anything except for the sea bass. He could not recommend a wine for the dish friends of mine ordered, could not recommend an appetizer, could not recommend a dessert. He could not name the ingredients, explain what some things are, and did not seem to be interested in the type of food the restaurant served. In fact, I thought he was a pretty unknowledgeable waiter, kind of surprising for such a high-priced restaurant. But... being new to the restaurant, I figured how much could the sea bass hurt, especially since it was the only thing he could suggest?
Anyways, the $28 dollars seabass was deliciously tender. I wouldn't mind ordering it, except for one thing. There were no sides. The seabass could fit in the palm of my hand. And mind you, I was starving. I looked over at my friends' plate - the churrasco was huge and cheaper, and it consisted of sides! The pad thai was even bigger than my dish, but cheaper.
Since the food was good, I would give it high marks, but for the price per ounce (which must have been like $8 an ounce, not a pound), I would totally avoid the dish unless if I clearly had money to spend. With the price upmark, I would give the restaurant a 3.5 star rating - otherwise it would be 4.5 based on one dish I had.
Overall though, taking into account the hotel, a solid 4 stars.
Stayed there for four days and it was an absolutely spectacular hotel. The room was really nice, the bed was so comfortable (although not as nice as Marriott's new feather duds), and the bathroom was fantastic - make sure to spend a night in their deep-soak tub.
The beach was very clean and not crowded, which surprised me. The pool is also nice, even without the lifeguards. Most of the kids stay in the top-level splash pool, so you're not bogged down with annoying splashers and kickers.
Restaurants were great, but super expensive.
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I was staying at this fabulous hotel for a geeked out science meeting, BUT all I can say is that with the sliding doors that reveal my bathtub to the beachfront view and easy visual access to the tv, I cannot complain!
The pillows were soft, the sheets quite lovely and the service friendly. The food is fantastic and the pool and beachside access to die for. I only wish I could've had my bikini, a cold stiff drink and a hot cabana boy to call my own.
Go on a off time, I can see this as being a bit of a tourist trap. Oh, and watch out, you will never see so much silicone, fake and bake tans, and big hair with hilarious Cuban accents in your life. I had more fun people watching than in the shallow waters of Los Angeles.
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It's right on the beach. The beach kind of sucks though because of erosion. That didn't bother me that much because the pool area is pretty awesome. They have a glass bottomed pool that flows into a larger pool underneath. Its pretty cool to both sit around and swim in. The pool area has a bar and hot tub and everything and it is pretty fancy. The food and drinks there are good, but just like any other hotel, overpriced. If you get a good room, you can get a view of both the city and the ocean. The bathroom is huge and the bed is comfortable. Location is good if you're just trying to chill, but its a long way from South Beach so not so good if you're there to party.
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A decent hotel and conference facility that if you have to be stuck in Hollywood, you might as be stuck here. There is free wi-fi in the lobby, but pretty spotty coverage elsewhere (even just outside the door by the pool), which by the way is nice and bathwater warm on top with a 'glass bottom' (more like a 4ft round circle of glass in the middle). You will have to take a taxi to get anywhere, but there is a stand of about a million cabs across the street. I would never chose to come here, but will probably return next year for the convention and would consider taking the missus to enjoy the pool and 80 degree rays in the middle of December.
If I weren't at 3:30AM yelping on infinity-water-lobby-bubble wifi watching those neck-tags and the whole young girl butt-cheek phenomenon with lots of perv guys admiring my vaio I would give it two stars, but I've got to say even if it's not South Beach it's not bad for a small to midsized Internet porn convention. The ocean is nice, ten to twelve-inch Atlantic waves all day despite storms offshore, the facilities are clean and squanky, housekeeping cool as always, convention services quite serious, and the much-advertized glass-bottom swim pool is both much less and much more than expected. Kind of cool, really. Staff is placid and grumpy, hate to see what little life there woudl be if we were a buch of plumbers or paint salesmen instead of online naked people. The small buff shirtless gay guys with baseball caps and tight jeans are kind of distracting, as are all the gum-chewing Asian-American porn girls who yell "hey sweetie" at them. Would never come here on vacation but for a tax write-off, not bad at all.
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