Westin Hotel Fort Lauderdale

My stay at the Westin Hotel in Fort Lauderdale was awesome! One you arrive, you are "greeted" with a very large 3 or 4 story foyer, some couches and a small fountain that sits in the lobby. The hotel has a conference center (I think the night I arrived there was a wedding reception going on), a nice looking bar (which I never got a chance to visit), and a really cool pool with a waterfall.

The guestrooms are more or less your "typical" rooms. Large double beds that were seriously comfortable. There was a nice flat screen with local cable channels. The bathrooms were nice as well. The shower head was pretty nice too when you turned it to the "massage" setting. I think the best part about the room was the Starbucks coffee, Tazo tea and free bottled water that came everyday. There were also complimentary Wall Street Journals and local newspapers.

The location of the hotel isn't bad. I think the closest beach is about 15 minutes away (without traffic). Downtown Fort Lauderdale is about the same distance as the beach. The hotel is situated right next to I-95 so finding it isn't a problem.

I only found two things that I didn't like (but quickly got over). First, breakfast isn't free (unless you get it included in your room price). If you do want to eat breakfast there, the cost is $25.00. That seems a bit pricey for only breakfast (Don't worry.. there is a nice grocery store about 5 minutes from there where you can get some good food for much less!). The second thing that dissapointed me was the fact that is costs $10.00 a day to park your car there. If you are already paying that much for a hotel, I think the parking should be included!!

The price per night is around $188.00 We were fortunate enough to get the employee discount (Thanks Andrea!!!) and paid much less.

Overall the hotel is great. It's not for budget travellers because of the price and the fact that it isn't "close" to anything fun. However, if you want a really nice bed, good coffee, a sweet pool, and don't mind driving (and paying for it), it's a great place to stay!!