Whiskey Blue

I had a great time with my friends dancing and having drinks. The DJ was really nice on the Saturday night. Drinks were small and pricy but good and we had fun. The outside area to smoke overlooking ocean was great !

Avoid. Fairly pretty space but with super expensive poorly made cocktails (way too much vermouth and a crappy cherry in my Manhattan), a poor mix of music (sounds like a poorly curated pandora station from 2012), and overall no vibe.

I’ve had my bday celebrations here two years in a row. First year we had a great time. DJ was great, I thought the pricing for bottles were excessive for such a small spot but it’s the W. It’s expected. But we had a great time. The second year was a total bust. DJ was not organized. When we arrived it was jazz, quiet music. We arrived around 11pm. Then after speaking to the DJ, he put 80s music, then closer to 2am, when it’s about to close, he played top 40s and house music. Although it’s a beautiful venue and ideal area on the water, sadly this year I will not be celebrating there. Beware when purchasing bottles they separately charge additional gratuity and after calling to complain abt the charge they said its a hold fee to assure payments clear and it’ll disappear in a few days. It did. But they don’t tell you that in advance. I paid with cash, fyi but in order to hold a table you need to reserve with a credit card.

Your typical run of the mill bar and lounge. Whiskey Blue bills itself as Manhattan style night club with all of the frills and first class flair. Unfortunately, the only thing that makes Whiskey Blue feel like a NYC club is the outrageous drink prices.
Whiskey Blue doubles as a bar and lounge. The bar area is small. The bartenders are slow and are inexperienced when it comes to mixing mixed drinks. Drinks would either be too weak or as strong as jet fuel. The bartenders lack skill and consistency.
The lounge area is nice with plenty of seating. Lighting is very dim so you may want to bring a torch to help you see inside. The music is loud and the DJ on that night mixed as well as the bartenders; poorly.
Whiskey Blue’s prices are expensive. Single drinks will cost you in the double digits and bottle service (which is painfully slow) will push you into triple digits.
Whiskey Blue gives me the blues. Avoid it.

Absolutely disgusted with the billing practices of Whiskey Blue lounge and its parent hotel, the W in Fort Lauderdale.
My sister got married next door at the Westin on 12÷20÷14. The groom had weeks ahead of time placed a pre-​authorization on his credit card for a table with bottle service at Whiskey Blue for the wedding after party. I was in charge of corralling our party together. Well, the bartender and manager both insisted that this pre-​auth was not enough, and that a second credit card would also be needed. The groom is in his elaborate Indian wedding outfit and does not have a wallet on him, so I pay instead. The table minimum is $ 300, which is what the groom had agreed as the max on his card from when he’d done the preauth. So instead, I put down my credit card after an extensive conversation with Craig to make sure the groom doesn’t get charged (which would be a double charge). I don’t leave it open, I sign and pay for the bottle which comes with table service. Because of how suspicious this interaction had been so far, I luckily photographed my receipt for $ 300 Grey Goose + 18% included gratuity = total $ 354 (see attached photo). This was charged to my Amex (see first part of statement).
The groom is away on honeymoon, so I haven’t checked whether he’s also been charged yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised. But that experience, and the 30 min delay for our bottle service, left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I checked my Amex statement today, four days later. Lo and Behold, a secret second charge placed just under the name «W hotel» rather than «Whiskey Blue.» And what does it amount to, but ANOTHER 18% ON TOP OF THE ALREADY INCLUDED SERVICE CHARGE! (see second part of statement).
Everyone who paid at this bar with credit card: check your statement carefully to make sure this grimy establishment does not double charge you. (Or triple charge you! I am eagerly awaiting the groom’s return to make sure his card wasn’t ALSO charged from the prior-​auth that ‘never went through.’) Never again.
UPDATE: AmEx has just written me a letter in which they CONFIRMED that the extra charge was fraudulent after their investigation, using the verbiage «We acknowledge your notification that you have been charged twice by to the merchant for the tip.» Whiskey Blue and W have been received multiple phone messages and emails from me and have yet to respond.

Just go upstairs to the Living Room… it’s better. MUCH BETTER.

Whisky Blue located on the first floor of the W hotel is a super glitzy and to me a somewhat overly decorated, as in «Decorators Gone Wild» bar with mirrored walls, blue ethereal hanging down lights, Noguchi tables and gold satin effects. It’s a rather pricey swank sort of place for any serious drinking and a real hit or miss of a place as to what may or may not be happening. Sometimes it swings but other times, dead as a proverbial doornail. If you decide to go over there for a fun evening, the big problem is finding out in advance whether it is going to be a fun party like night or a dead dull night. I’ve stopped by a number of times and have never been able to figure it out or discover a way to find out in advance. Much of what it is seems to happen with reference to the guests staying at the hotel as the bar doesn’t seem to have much of a local following. The drinks I’ve had there have been really good which, for the price you’re going to pay, darn well ought to be. It’s also a place in which it you can suddenly find yourself being out of place in as the set that seems to patronize may be fashionably dressed, other times more beach dressed, sometimes of the younger set yet at other times of the more mature or of the has been hipster types.

$ 5 for a Sprite. (the epitome of hotel BS)
Yes, $ 5 for an 8 ounce glass for Sprite for my wife who was not drinking. Not to mention that the first time the cocktail waitress brought the Sprite it was just soda water, because the mix was all gone. So 15 minutes later when she actually got what she ordered, we still had to pay for it.
I had an Old Fashioned (off the menu), which was actually pretty good. A few too many pieces of fruit in the bottom, but it wasn’t sickeningly sweet like you’ll sometimes find.
We were visiting some friends who stayed at The W for the weekend, and while they were having dinner with family we stopped in at this place to hang out and wait for them. Nice outdoor seating area that catches the breeze blowing from off the shore. The music was pretty good up until about 11, then it good loud, really bad music, and quite obnoxious (as in we were sitting outside and it was shaking the windows and we had to yell in order to be able to hear each other).
To each his own. I realize some people like that sort of thing. But I’ll pass.

Eeeww is not what I expect at the W. What is that smell at the bar? Ripe and so strong you can’t taste your drink. It was there in January and again last night. The people next to us thought they were the only ones that could smell it. When we raised it with the hostess in the restaurant she was indifferent. Gotta fix it.

Good trendy vibe fun place NO SERVICE! NO WAITRESS! So went to bar stood in line for 6 – 7 minutes 2 nice looking bartenders no eye-​contact… one walks right by and goes out on the floor taking orders… HELLO I’m right here… oh no, not anymore, cuz we walked out!

Did I have a good time? yes
But, here’s the BUT, only because I was with a big group and we made it fun.
The music was all over the place. The «DJ» and i use the word loosely, would start a song and switch it off without «mixing» it. It would just abruptly stop and another one would start before he would do it again. There was no rhyme or reason to how and why he was playing what he was. It was DJ Russian Roulette.
I wanted to order some food and ended up giving up because no one ever came by to take an order. The bartenders never looked up and went from one side to the other without looking up long enough to see who was next or needed something. I must have stood there to get my parking ticket stamped for close to 15 minutes. To get drinks we would send up one person to order a bunch because good luck getting them one at a time. You would think for the price they would give you better service.
The place is really nice and has some lounge seating on the sides. There is no entrance cover and no one at the door. Anyone can just walk in it seems.
The crowd was mixed. I am guessing most were tourists and not many locals.
I hope to never come here again. Disappointed.

Pre dinner drinks. Chill on deck facing a1a. No Service outside on the cozy couches! we had to go inside to the bar ourselves. and the service inside was sketch. rude much?
why is there the dichotomy between service when this is right next to an awesome restaurant?

I’ve been to several Whiskey Blue locations in W hotels, and I like the concept, it’s always a well-​designed, sexy lounge with interesting décor and lighting, a complex seasonal drink menu, and people-​watching. On the negative, it can be a bit pretentious with expensive undersized drinks.
Unfortunately a Monday-​night visit here at this location at the start of the off-​season (early Mary) was mediocre. Two attractive (one of each gender) bartenders didn’t seem very enthused to be there, didn’t recognize that the drink I was ordering was on the menu (one of about 15 – 18 named cocktails on the menu– memorizing them should be a requisite of working this kind of lounge), and had to repeatedly leave to fetch ingredients and liquor from other locations. They were also out of several ingredients, making their seasonal cocktail list a bit of a let-​down– nobody restocked at the start of the night?
The drinks were reasonably well-​executed, but didn’t seem as «crafted» as I’d expect. Size is as expected, small (with tax and tip, $ 13-​$ 14 drinks add up quickly, so diminutive sized portions are not ideal).
It did not help that it was Karaōke night (the karaōke dude was technically competent, but the quality of the singing ranged from bad to awful). The nights patrons seemed lowbrow and excessively drunk– what I expect to find in a regular bar, but not at an upscale lounge.
The space has potential and is easy on the eyes, but as a regular nightlife patron the setting was not enough to offset the service or clientele.
Valet guys outside were pleasant, and with a validation stamp from the bar, valet is discounted. There are also meters along the street near the W (no paystation, but coins and/​or pay by cellphone).

I came here on and Tuesday night and it was an absolute ghost town. Granted my date and I decided to stick out for one drink before moving on.
As we walked in, the décor shouts out classy. It reminds me of Midnights Summer Dream type theme. We sit at the bar and take a look at the menu. She settles for a raspberry, chocolate drink and i get the strawberry mojito. Both drinks were exquisite to the point every time I drive by the place I am tempted to stop by and get another drink.
The drawback of this place is it is crazy expensive. Those two drinks ran me $ 30. Sadly, with those prices, I will not be back any time soon unless someone besides myself is picking up my tab.

This place is OK, but nothing special. I came here on a Saturday night for a friend’s birthday, but I left thinking that this place was just blah. The DJ was not that great and kept on switching songs half way through. The bar area is always packed, so it is a mission to get overpriced drinks that are not that strong.
The bright side is that this place is spacious and usually has some good looking people. The crowd may be a bit older than what I like, but it is not too bad.
Only come here if you have to or to do something different. This is not a first option.

I expected a lot more from this place. Yes, the strawberry mojitos are really good but small and a little overpriced. The other bad thing is getting the drinks, the bar is usually packed and slow. We tried getting one of the girl servers to get our drinks, that too took about 20 + minutes.
Crowd was mixed, young and old, dressy to very casual. Music, the first time we went was good but this second time was bad, to the point we ended up sitting down several songs, hoping it would get better but since it didn’t we walked out. On top of that parking is $ 30.00 or you can meter park but good luck finding something close.
I do like their outside setting but can get crowded too, and surely too hot during the summer time.
Yes, it’s locate in a very mice hotel but there’s other places in the area with better music and better prices.

This place is a tiny bar in the lobby of the W hotel that plays decent music with expensive drinks. On my most recent outing to Whiskey Blue my friend ended up having his credit card overcharged. It’s one of those places that is so insignificant that its gone from your memory the minute you walk out the door. There are so many other places to go party in Ft. Lauderdale that I expect so much more… especially when its located in such a nice hotel as the W. I’m sorry Whiskey Blue… but I won’t be giving you any more of my time or money.

I have only been once — on a Monday night. I have to say that the décor is the best part. The drinks are pretty damn good, but I wouldn’t go here expecting amazing service.
Also based on my limited (Monday) experience with this place neither good music or any form of dancing are offered up.

My opinion of Whiskey Blue? Meh.
Maybe I’d like it more if there was more of it (or fewer people?). The place is small & although there is ample seating, there were so many bodies crammed into the place that I couldn’t see if the guy that was attempting to do the moon walk all night ever gave up & found a new dance move, or if the two «cougars» who were straddling each other with lap dances ever found a «boy toy» to take home with them. This place would be much better suited as a chill lounge bar rather than the packed dance club it turned out to be the night of my visit.

Same formula. Same attitude. Same clientele. If you like Whiskey Blue in Chicago, New York or anywhere else, you will like this place. If you enjoy the cleavage popping, drunken flirting, men past their prime but not accepting it, cougars prowling, waiting 30 minutes for a drink and not being able to talk or hear anything other than the high-​pitched voices of girls about to get laid and blame the alcohol … have at it!
Nice décor and good music, just like all Whiskey Blue’s. Love the lighting and after a few drinks everyone seems to enjoy themselves. It just takes a bit long to get the drink so come with a buzz if you really want to enjoy yourself.
Not good for couples but obviously built for groups of guys or girls trying to hook up or just hang out.
I give it a 3 because it would not be fair to ding it for being exactly what it intends to be. You just have to decide whether it’s for you!