Reviews

The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa Reviews
3555 South Ocean Drive, Hollywood, FL

78%
families recommend
280 family reviews



chetnstephmama - May 17th, 2010
We stayed here with our two sons (ages 5 and 2) in March. My husband was attending a conference at the hotel. The hotel itself is beautiful. It has a gorgeous soaring atrium with palm trees and great fountains (hard to keep our younger son from more +touching!). The staff were very welcoming. Our room was about standard size, with two double beds, a desk and chair, and one upholstered chair. A bit small for us when you took in account the toys scattered about but fine for a couple days. The bathroom was very nice...good deep tub, toilet separate and a great shower. If you have small children, beware that the hotel is a high rise and rooms have balconies, so watch your kids closely!! Fortunately the doors lock easily and are heavy. The view was amazing!

The beach is great. Right where their beach access starts they have a sandbox shaped like a ship with lots of sand toys (many of which had seen a lot of use, but our kids didn't care. Hopefully they replace them frequently since we saw about four shovels broken in one day!). You can rent beach lounges and umbrellas, so I rented the one closest to the sandbox and read while my kids played for hours. They even took their nap on the lounge (which was the size of a double bed). The pools are huge and beautiful, although we didn't go in them. One of them is great for kids...only about 18 inches deep on one end and maybe four feet total. We saw lots of parents sitting in the shallow end with very young children between their knees having a great time. Older kids were playing at the other end. In addition they have a large free form pool with many lounge chairs around. You can rent cabanas around the pool if you want. The beach is beautiful, with lots of shells for collecting (we brought back one for every kid in my son's kindergarten). Lots of people, but not like you couldn't find a space for your towels.

They seemed to have a lot of kids' activities from what we saw on a board in the lobby, although we didn't participate. Movie night, water golf (whatever that is), and other daily things.

We ate at the breakfast buffet in the hotel every day; it was fabulous and kids five and under eat free which made it a great deal. We also ate lunch at the outdoor restaurant by the pool overlooking the beach. Food was fine, but beware the many bold birds...they literally come sit on any empty chair at your table and they are big! Would probably eat inside next time! The hotel owns or is affiliated with two restaurants that are across the street (accessed by a walkway over the street). The pan-Asian restaurant was pricey but fabulous. The sports bar was horrible! Some of the worst food we have ever had.

All in all, would definitely return if we wanted a nice family vacation in Fort Lauderdale area, although since we stayed for a conference and weren't paying the bill I don't know how it compares to other hotels in terms of price and value.

Date of Stay: 03/08/2010
Children in Party: 2


Tots (0-2)
Kids (3-6)
Accommodations
Dining
Kids Play Area
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