W Fort Lauderdale

This place is less than okay. I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth since I arrived and it’s getting worse. For what I’m paying per night, most would expect a bit more. In fact, being that I’m staying here so long, I wish I splurged the extra hundred dollars and stayed at the Hilton or Ritz Carlton.
When I showed up, I was told my room would not be ready until 4:30 PM. They managed to get me in at 2:30, but really?! Who’s day starts that late?! I had a meeting with a client at 2 and I looked like hell because I had been traveling all morning and figured I’d have more than enough time to get ready.
Everything is ala carte here including the Internet and parking… To a tune of 7 dollars per day for Internet and 37 a day for parking. When I Asked about why my internet wasn’t included like it SAID it was on Travelocity, the woman at the front desk got bitchy with me and told me that I shouldn’t have booked my trip through a 3^rd party website because she can’t help me.
The people below me are constantly smoking weed on their balcony which drifts up and floods my room. This is definitely a party hotel, which is what I was trying to avoid. The «porno shower» and the Sucrets tin of «prophylactics» they leave out for sale along with the 7.50 dollar grab snacks is a nice touch too.
If you have the extra few bucks, treat yourself and stay somewhere else. You’ll pay less in the long run.

The shower smelt like urine. A very repulsive smell always, but especially when you want to clean your body.
The room was not cleaned during the day while we were out and so when we returned to get ready for dinner, the cleaning person knocked on the door at 5pm and gave us an attitude about being in the room at that time. The hotel should anticipate that people will be out of their rooms at the pool/​beach during the day and that’s when cleaning should be done. When you get back from a day at the pool, the last thing you want to do is wait 30 minutes for someone to begrudgingly bring you clean towels and toiletries after you call them so that you can start showering. For a luxury hotel, the service left a lot to be desired.

Not our favorite W hotel. Upon arriving, the scent of the Bliss spa was amazing and inviting. The sign on the door said «open daily 9am — 9pm». We decided to go at 8:15pm to purchase some products and they were closed. I asked the manager and he seemed surprised that they closed early but also didn’t appear to care either. Okay whatever. We enjoyed our time by the pool although $ 15 per cocktail really adds up for a couple who spends the entire day there! The last day we got back to our room at around 5 PM after being out since 9am and it still hadn’t been cleaned! We had to call for service and the housekeeping manager first tried to blame us for having the do not disturb sign up. Then when we said it wasn’t he excused it away because the housekeeper was pregnant. What?! So?! Really?! He was nice enough to give us a hotel credit for our troubles. We went out for an amazingly delicious dinner at steak 954. Then we went to the bar and started a tab. We ended up leaving because of an overcrowding of drunk A-​holes who were just obnoxious. The area was practically a nightclub which would be fine if there was order but with little to no security, it was a bit out of control and frankly annoying. This is supposed to be an upscale hotel, not a mini Can Cun during spring break! Moving on we try to go upstairs and see some obviously NOT hotel guests waiting at the elevators that are only accessible by room keycard. Feeling nervous that they might ask us to let them up, we simply walked away until someone else gave them what they wanted. Lastly when we got back to the room we realized we forgot to close the tab in our haste to get away from the bar area so I called down to the front desk to see if they could lock up our credit card until the morning. They called us back after 10 mins and said the card wasn’t there. What?! Why not?! Don’t make me come down there!!! Sure enough, we went back into the hell of that bar area and got the card with no problem. Come on. Did the girl on the phone even look? Ok so the last annoyance was when we finally attempted to get on the lift to retire to the room for the second time and the door opened with a car full of stoned, pot smelling jerks who appeared to have just smoked up in the lift! My spouse even sheltered a family with young children from entering for fear they might get a contact high. Ridiculous. Security please?! It’s safe to say we might only consider staying here again if we weren’t going to be here on a weekend. They seem to forget about their paying hotel guests when catering to the nightclub drunks. Priorities people!

For a W, I wasn’t that impressed just due to the lack of attention especially with cleanliness. Even though we didn’t mind, had no idea shower is wide open to rest of room so don’t bring kids there, at least if reserving a corner room. Hotel has weird entrance so it’s a bit confusing and dark. Cool but just feel like you expect top notch in every way from the W brand.

Attentive service, great location, cool hashtag happy hour. That’s all I needed. Room had a great view and it was clean. Pool area was nice with a live DJ.

First thing you’ll notice about the hotel is its grand architecture and great beachfront location. Next thing you’ll notice is that it’s valet parking only… not a surprise given its location, but a slight pain if you like parking your car by itself. However, once you get into the hotel proper (and up the elevator to check-​in on the 4^th floor), is the trendy w design and vibrant atmosphere. The check-​in process was quick, and the front desk staff was very helpful and recognized my platinum status immediately. I was in tower 2 which was on the west side, however, I was in a one-​bedroom residential suite with very limited ocean views, but some amazing intracostal rooms. The suite was nice, with a full featured kitchen with a blender, separate bathtub, and amazing bath products. Also, the rooms and hallway smelled amazing.
The pools on both the east and west side had great views, and the hot tubs were great. Even better, the pools are open 24 hours. On checkout, the valet’s were quick and efficient, but even better, they went above and beyond helping you get in and out of the property. An 18 wheeler was blocking part of the street, so the valet ended up running in front of the car, ensuring no cars were coming, and directed me out onto the street. Talk about service.

Overall I was very impressed with my stay. I’ve stayed at a lot of W’s across the country and am familiar with their prices (aka everything is very expensive and not included). Parking was a bit audacious at $ 38 a day. Staff was great and super welcoming. Everyone we met was really nice and went out of their way to be helpful.
The room itself was spacious and clean. The toilet and shower area were separated by a pane of glass so anyone in the room could watch you shower or use the restrooms. This is fine if you are into that kinda thing but I definitely am not. Also, though I’ve stayed in a lot of W’s, this one takes the cake for most «club» feel. Everyone is drinking and wearing club attire and there is a club downstairs/​the lobby becomes another club at 10pm. People in the next room were screaming and drinking until 2am. Definitely not a family friendly resort. The pool had a similar vibe the next day. Loud music, drinking, packed. I’m 25 years old so this was all great, but it definitely would not have been great if I wasn’t expecting it.
Overall it was a fun place to stay but know what you are getting into before you go.

This review is based solely on a fantastic customer service experience. My fiancé is staying at the W for a few days in Ft Lauderdale for his bachelor party, and we are from Boston. I wanted to surprise him with some drinks in his room to kick off the weekend. Oneika walked me through the process, told me what my options were, did some research for me, and called me back to check in with me. She was SO helpful. I just wanted to thank her, and that type of service would definitely make me want to stay at a W hotel in the future. Thanks Oneika!

When I arrived I was impressed. I thought this is going to be great. Enter the room… It was best western quality. Only best western does offer a coffee pot. You won’t find that in this room! What will you find is common snacks that you can get at cvs for under $ 1.00 for $ 7.50 so don’t touch them. Also don’t touch the booze as a small bottle of rum places in the room for $ 300, and $ 7.00 bottle of water. Since there was no coffee I decided to use room service. I ordered two scrambled egg platter with coffee. $ 50 for breakfast!!! Although my food was under $ 30 there is a mandatory 22% service fee (gratuity I suppose).
Further more, the carpets are nasty, the furniture is beat down, and the shower and toilets are see through with no curtains. Just glass! Now how is that for feeling like a cheap stripper!
The staff is friendly, and the view is nice, but defiantly not the high end trendy look that they think they are.

Nice but not worth the money. We rented this several months ago for a night away from our resort for our special honeymoon night. NOT worth the money. Our private bar was overpriced. Our garden tub was NOT a garden tub. It was just a standard bathtub. The end table was old and worn. The staff was friendly. The room was clean. The late checkout as promised when the booking was made almost didn’t happen. Thankfully the lady at the front desk understood that it was our honeymoon. The view from the balcony was amazing. I doubt that I would come back for that kind of money. Also the patio door had no screen. We would have loved to have the true ocean breeze but didn’t want to leave the door wide open.

W FLL — you have a few things going for you. Namely — location, and swanky hotel. Your food is also pretty amazing. Your meeting space was perfect for what I needed. I would love to come back. But.. .
You have a lot of things that need work. Your service for meetings. I assume you have done this before, but it’s kind of hard to tell once we’re in the middle of it. Everything seems like a surprise to you, despite the fact that we’ve discussed it numerous times.
Your linen reuse policy — it doesn’t exist. You replaced my sheets and towels, every. single. day. Every day. I’m telling Starwood on you. Your «Make a Green Choice» program was non-​existent, despite being advertised on your website. And sustainable meeting practices? We couldn’t even get a recycling bin in our office. Don’t even get me started on the fact that you only set out disposable cups for coffee and juice.
Your turn down service — 9:45 on a Tuesday, really? I get that you’re a hip, young hotel, but how many business travelers do you think are still out where that’s a convenient time to stop by and knock on the door for five minutes? I had JUST gotten out of the shower and didn’t want to open the door in my towel to let her know to go away, so I just tried to go about my business while she knocked away.
You took a USED tissue from the countertop, and folded it up and stuffed it back into the box of tissues. Good thing the next guest to pull that one out wasn’t a new one.
Overall, your service was just pretty bad. Every step of the way you seemed unprepared, unwilling to take responsibility for misses, untrained, and lacking in leadership.
You’re resting on the laurels of your pedigree and location — knock that off unless you’re okay with just being a weekend refuge for the party crowd (for whom you require the signing of a contract saying you won’t be a loud asshole after 10 pm).
And if that’s your target audience and you’re okay with that — my bad for booking a meeting with you. Lesson learned. We’ll try the Hilton next door next time.
If you’re looking for a nice spot to get away and live it up on the coast, this is probably still a great choice, just maybe not for a meeting.

Top-​notch from start to finish.
I’m a local & this place has a solid reputation — I can confirm that they deserve it. I stayed here over the weekend for the Fort Lauderdale Air Show & my expectations were exceeded. I was offered an early check-​in (REALLY EARLY!) and a late check out at no additional cost. The entire property is clean & modern, the rooms are decently sized & the views from the balconies are awesome. The Breitling Jet Team was staying there for the weekend (if that tells you anything) & they could be seen planning their flights in the lobby during the mornings — without huge crowds around them as their presence was not advertised. Kinda cool. I stayed on the top floor (24^th) and everything was perfect. Full views of the Atlantic Ocean, intracoastal & shoreline. Comfortable bed & nice shower… although it should be mentioned that privacy is nonexistent. You will be naked & visible to anybody else in the room with you… this can be good or bad depending on the purpose of your trip & who’s sharing your room!
The hotel was packed for the whole weekend & there was a lot going on. The crowd is mainly young (& sexy…) and there’s not much family activity — which is honestly really nice when you don’t have children, no offense. The pool deck is spacious & has a staircase coming up through the water, there’s a full service bar outside & W employees were abundant if you needed anything. Every person I dealt with gave me what I asked for & they were friendly about it. No attitudes from anyone. I ordered ice up to my room at least 5 times in one day & it always came quickly.
I can’t speak on the food but Steak 954 was crowded every time I walked by.
The valet is my only gripe (and it wasn’t a big enough deal to knock a star off the rating…) When I’m paying such a premium price for a hotel room I find it excessive to *also* pay $ 36/​night to park my one [1] vehicle. And despite calling down for your vehicle 10 mins prior to arrival, as instructed, it still takes more time standing around & waiting in the valet area. Averaged about 20 minutes. This was annoying but didn’t detract from the overall experience.
To sum it up, it was a luxury-​based experience that had all the key elements I was looking for. Nice room, great view, a balcony overlooking the ocean & attention to detail. I will be back.

I was only in town for a couple nights, but I wish I could have stayed much longer. This was one of the nicest and most relaxing hotel stays I’ve ever had and I was in town for work! I arrived super late after working an event about 30 mins away. I drove up and valeted my car (FYI — $ 38/​night and it’s the only option). The lobby is on the 4^th floor so I gathered my things and hopped on the elevator. As I was checking in, there was a drunk guy who couldn’t get into his room and was arguing with the front desk. They handled the situation flawlessly and offered to upgrade my room for my troubles. Not necessary, but more than welcomed. They also asked when I was leaving on Thursday, which was late in the afternoon and offered me a late check out so I wouldn’t be rushed. Great customer service so far.
Next I get upstairs. It’s about 1AM and all I care about is getting to sleep until I walk in and find out that I was upgraded to a two bedroom suite! I wasn’t expecting to walk into a beautiful full kitchen with top end appliances, royal blue lacquered cabinets, and granite counter-​tops. Off to the side was a dining area with a full size kitchen table and then a full living room as well. It was a split floor plan so the the bedrooms were on either side of the main area and both had full bathrooms. The bathroom in the master offered a giant tub with Jacuzzi jets that backed up to a vanity with lighting and mirrors. Behind that was a walk in shower with the standard W Hotel Kohler shower heads and my favorite lemon sage toiletries. There’s a separate frosted glass door next to the shower that’s for the toilet only plus a stack-​able washer and dryer with a full size closet. I was on the side of Tower II, but could still catch the beautiful ocean view from any one of the three balconies.
For the most part I was pretty self sufficient. I made my way to the beach, checked out the pool area, found delicious meals nearby and met up with a friend for dinner and drinks one night. Even though I didn’t need the staff for much more than getting my car a couple times and a quick question, they couldn’t have been more courteous and helpful during my stay. The manager even left me a personal message on my room phone to make sure I was having a great stay and was wondering if there was anything they could do to make it better. All in all, my two nights at the W were a wonderful experience.

I’ve stayed at W hotels before and I’ve always enjoyed their aesthetic. The little details in the rooms are nice and the hotel bar is always cool. But I loved this particular W hotel for their pool! Such a fun pool because of the way it’s set up. We had to snap pics of course!

Must hit the bar here at night, if you have z good buzz going find the jellies and just stare at them. The lounge is posh, dark, cool lighting and younger crowd. Drinks were good, not great…

I love a good W — and this place did a good job. The staff was great at the front desk, and they were great at the spa.
I just had a few things I didn’t love — the room service food was NOT good and seriously overpriced. again, I know we’re at a hotel, so I expect it to be a little expensive but it was really overpriced for mediocre food. The lobby bar was okay, kind of cool — but the food? meh. You’re better off going for a walk and eating anywhere else. Overpriced, not that great. Our room was okay, but the first thing I noticed (aside from the outdated décor and bizarre closet space/​drawers) was this film on the mirror. It was weird, I wiped it with my hand and it almost looked like a layer of soap that hadn’t been cleaned off. The housekeeping folks came regularly, but often forgot little things like putting a bag back in the garbage can. Just weird stuff — and the mirror never got cleaned.
Oh — and the bathroom is a little odd. The shower and tub are in the room behind a clear glass wall so if you’re there with friends, prepare to get a little closer.

So my husband lives in starwood properties (more than 200 nights a year) and we wanted to take my parents for a beach holiday for Christmas.
We booked ahead of time and used his suite night rewards (he is platinum VIP, one of a handful who is selected for that level of patronage). The hotel at first confirmed that a suite to comfortably accomodate our party would was, and would be available, for us and sent the confirmation by email and over the phone. Then, two days before our visit when it was too late to book elsewhere, we got an email saying that they were unable to use our suite night rewards.
So four of us are stuffed into a small rooom, with a single washroom that has no door.
Listening to one another’s bowel movements is not an ideal way to spend your holiday.
I hope the Marriott merger is not a sign of worse times to come. We stay in Ws, Regis’ and Westins all over the world on a very regular basis. This is definitely a «unique» experience. We tried several times to work with management to improve the experience but to no avail.
This is the negative review I think I’ve ever written. I guess our streak is broken.
Pictures to come.

I stayed here 3 nights in late November on a business trip. Upon check in I was upgraded to a two bedroom two bath residence in Tower Two. As a SPG gold member, this was an amazing upgrade! The room was ginormous and had three balconies (small balconies) with great «city» views and a partial beach view. Bliss products were all over the bathroom area. I was so excited to take a bath but was grossed out by the water color. Guess there is too much iron in the pipes?
Room service for breakfast in the morning was good except the egg white omelet was a little strange. I’m not sure of the type of eggs they use but they almost tasted fake. I ate at the Steak restaurant twice and loved the Lobster and crab ceviche.
Valet service was efficient and speedy. The workout facilities were good– top notch treadmill. I didn’t hang out in the pool area but did go out there to take photos and get a bottled water which was WAY overpriced! $ 7 for a small size Fiji water.

The W Fort Lauderdale Lounge Is A Beautiful Respite!
SITREP
There are so many things to enjoy in Ft. Lauderdale: gorgeous beaches, lovely sunny weather, scrumptious seafood dinners, amazing people-​watching, etc. etc. and SUN BURN.
THE SETUP
So let’s not forget those amazing rest spots where one can recuperate — on the inside — and sip exotic (I don’t know how the dam word is spelled) «foo-​foo /​fu-​fu» drinks to overcome the heat, such as inside the lovely, gorgeous AND amazing W Fort Lauderdale («W»). :D
MIXOLOGY
Our bartendress was outstanding and set us up with some pretty sweeeeet Mojitos, Gin & Tonics, and Rum & Cokes. And for an exceptional classy bar establishment — in a resort city — such as the «W», getting ANY drink for $ 6-​$ 7 is pretty awesome!
P-​A-​T-​I-​O !!!
This is definitely one of the most amazing beachside patios I’ve ever seen on either the East OR the West Coast! Beautiful firepits surrounded by exterior furnishings that provide for great areas for enclaves of friends, talking, catching up, and enjoying the sun, SO CLOSE to the «W“‘s bar.
THE LOWDOWN
A truly magnificent hotel & lounge experience!

The W Fort Lauderdale definitely has it’s hits and misses.
Before I get to the «misses» or the improvements, I’ll talk about the positives. First of all, the W is in a great location in regards to the beach. It is literally across the street from the beach, which is great. Also, it is roughly a five to 10 minute walk from many of the restaurants and a little shopping area, which contains a CVS, which comes in very handy for certain essentials you may need.
The room was pretty nice. We stayed in the «Wonderful Room,» which had a balcony with a view of the beach and the intercoastal, a comfortable king sized bed, peekaboo shower, and a lounge chair. The peekaboo shower may not be for everyone. The shower is literally in the middle of the room, between the toilet and the sink and the sleeping area. In addition, it is an entirely see through glass. The hotel staff can add curtains if you prefer a little more privacy.
Now, for the improvements or basically, the things we were not fond of. On our second day, while we were relaxing on the beach, apparently our room was cleaned, but they failed to add washcloths when they replaced our towels. I ran into one of the cleaning staff in the hallway and asked if she had any washcloths and she simply said, «no.» Ummm, okay. We figured, maybe another cleaning staff member would supply washcloths at a later time. We went back out on the beach and came back roughly three hours later; still no washcloths. I had to call the front desk. After about 20 minutes, we received a pair of washcloths. On the third day, our towels were changed and we received a towel with a stain on it. Nothing about this speaks «luxury.»
Another improvement involves the closet in our room. Trying to open the closet was like trying to push a car. It was a sliding closet and it was extremely tough to open.
The food at the W is overpriced. I highly recommend visiting the restaurants along the strip. In fact, the Hilton Café, which is next door, had decently priced sandwiches, pizza and they serve Starbucks.
The pool area is nice. We didn’t take a dip in the pool as we were much more interested in being on the beach. However, we did hang out by the pool at night and it can be very chill and relaxing. During the day, the pool is a little crowded with kids playing and having fun. If you’re traveling with little ones, they will enjoy it, but if you’re traveling as a couple or as a group of adults, keep in mind the pool is very kid friendly.
Overall, the hotel was not bad, but we will be staying elsewhere the next time we’re in Fort Lauderdale. The vibe is pretty cool and caters to a young, trendy crowd in my opinion. I was not very fond of the «pay for everything» vibe. For example, you have to pay $ 15 a day for internet. I guess this should be expected. There are snacks and a full mini bar that can be tempting, but you will pay double the retail price.

Das W Fort Lauderdale ist eine ziemlich große Enttäuschung.
Der Zustand des Hotels entspricht leider überhaupt nicht dem sonstigen Standard der W Hotels. Die Zimmer sind lange nicht, was die Fotos auf der Website versprechen. Mobiliar und Stoffe zeigen sehr deutliche Abnutzungserscheinungen. Die Sauberkeit in den Bädern lasst doch sehr zu wünschen übrig.
Das Haus ist extrem groß und entsprechend quirlig. Besonders zur Spring Brake Zeit ist das hier nichts für jemand, der ein ruhiges Hotel sucht. Die ganze Strandmeile von Fort Lauderdale hat obendrein auch noch den Charakter von Ballermann 6, was der Qualität des Hotels auch nicht zuträglich ist. Die Pool“Landschaft” in der 5. Etage ist so etwas von lieblos und zudem abgenutzt und dreckig, dass man sie besser meiden sollte. Die Hotel-​Lobby und der Bar Bereich sind okay aber irgendwie auch lieblos. So gut wie überall im Haus ist die Musik zu laut. Der Service ist teilweise sehr mittelmäßig; es wundert einen z.B. schon, wenn der Service nicht in der Lage ist, nach dem Essen einen Wechsel des Tisches von drinnen nach draußen für ein Glas Wein auf der Terrasse zu handhaben. Leider könnte ich die Liste der Enttäuschungen ziemlich lange fortsetzen.
Um auch mal etwas Positives zu sagen:
Das Steak 954 ist ein ordentliches Restaurant mit nettem und aufmerksamem Service und durchaus ganz anständigem Essen. Die Conciergerie ist sehr hilfsbereit und auch das übrige Personal zumeist sehr freundlich (aber oft eben auch nur freundlich bemüht — ohne das freundliche Bemühen in Service zu verwandeln).
Auch wenn das Hotel insgesamt von der Leistung her 3 Sterne verdient hätte, gibt es wegen des schlechten Zustands des Hauses, des teilweise sehr mittelmäßigen Services in Relation zu den sehr hohen Preisen als Gesamtwertung nur 2 Sterne.
Fazit: Das W Hotel Fort Lauderdale ist eins der heruntergekommensten Hotels, in denen ich in letzter Zeit war und bietet schlechten 3 Sterne Standard zu überteuerten 5 Sterne Preisen.

Fort Lauderdale Beach war super, viele Strandschönheiten die dort waren.
Der Boulevard war aber auch voll mit Autos, die ständig vorbeifuhren und mit hämmernden Bässen ihre Anlage ausprobiert haben, ging wohl drum, wer hat den grössten Basslautsprecher.
1989 war die Anfangszeit des Technos, hier habe ich zum ersten mal diese Musik gehört und bis heute weiterhin diese Richtung gehört.