The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

August 20, 2016

Everything about the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort (except that heavenly fragrance) seems to have gone down the pits.

For starters, check-in was brutal. There weren’t enough clerks to handle all the individuals checking in and out. Not only was it a busy weekend, but there were two events in the ballrooms, they should have known better and staffed themselves accordingly. It took about 40 minutes to check-in just to be told that no rooms were available for early check-in. I had two rooms, one was ready within a few hours, but the second wasn’t ready until about 3:50pm, when check-in was guaranteed by 4pm. After my third trip to the check-in counter, I was given two keys that didn’t work. After I went back down to have them reactivated, they gave me an extra key and only one out of the three worked. Luckily, I didn’t need the extras, so I let it go.

Secondly, the pool is way too small and the elevator to the beach is faintishly hot and rundown. It honestly seems like a health hazard waiting to happen. They should really consider upgrading the elevator. Its only a matter of time before it gets stuck and someone suffers from a heat stroke in there. Save yourself a potential lawsuit and upgrade your elevator already.

Thirdly, the wifi isn’t totally free. After a couple of hours using the free wifi, I was prompted to pay for additional usage. Who doesn’t have free wifi these days? In today’s world, this isn’t ok.

The icing on the cake, upon check-out, I had charges for two large water bottles that I hadn’t even touched. Not to mention, no one had even been inside my room to confirm whether they have truly been consumed, so I was charged on an assumption that hopefully I consumed them or that hopefully I wouldn’t notice they charged me for them, since it was a small fee of $12. In addition, the valet was charged to the wrong room after I specifically told the clerk which room to place the charge on. This was consistent with all the negative comments I heard from other frustrated guests in line both during check-in and check-out. Apparently, discrepancies on invoices upon checking out is a common thing for the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort.

For a one night stay, I had several inconveniences. For this, I think you should save yourself the trouble related to this blacklist and head to the W Fort Lauderdale. The W Fort Lauderdale is only slightly more expensive, but service and ambiance are better, so I think it makes it worth the extra money.