The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida

This is my second home, I love I here and I consider this one of the best hotels in South Florida. Be careful at the beach because there are always sharks here and you can see them from the view.

This review is for the spa only, as I was not a guest at the hotel. The spa is beautiful, and I had a great massage there. I am a frequent massage client at home, and trying this spa on vacation was a luxury for me that did not disappoint. The facilities are clean and well-​appointed, and my massage therapist, Shirley, gave me a great deep tissue massage and was thoroughly professional and well-​trained.

I absolutely love this hotel ! One of my favorites so far. My family always tries to get together and spend Fourth of July there!
From the second you walk in you notice the beautiful entrance and lobby. All very modern and spacious.
The staff is also extremely helpful and check you in very quickly. There’s a couple of elevators so you don’t have to wait around for them for too long.
The rooms are beautiful and SPACIOUS! Bathrooms all have a nice big tub And shower.
The balcony is also very big and neat. The bed is my favorite part of all it’s very white and fluffy almost like sleeping on a cloud !
The best part of all is staying in a luxurious hotel without having to pay for one, this hotel is extremely cheap for its worth.
The lobby does die down pretty early though. But both pools and jacuzzi are opened ²⁴⁄₇ which is rare and amazing!
The pools are beautiful both during the day time AND at night.
There’s also a restaurant inside the hotel and a little cafeteria. Another restaurant is located in the pool area by the beach with a beautiful view of the ocean while dining :-)
I recommend this hotel to EVERYONE !!! You can’t go wrong with it !!

I stayed 2 nights at the Hilton Diplomat (Dec 17 – 19 2014) and it was phenomenal! My flight landed earlier than expected and I reached the hotel at 5:20am, hoping that I would be able to check in or at least leave my luggage in their safe keeping. Of course there was noone at the front desk at that hour (which is completely understandable), but a bellman appeared as soon as we walked in, greeted us and ran to get a front desk agent which only took a few seconds. The agent (Ryma) was extremely helpful and friendly. She was able to check us into our room which was much appreciated as I was so tired from a red eye flight– thanks Ryma! Ryma also provided us helpful info about the area, amenities and what to check out while visiting– I think she was the most friendly and helpful agent I’ve dealt with to date (and I travel A LOT).
The room was a partial ocean view and was spacious and clean. I loved the comfortable bed and the washroom was awesome– It had a rain shower and soaker tub which I had to use. :)
The hotel grounds/​lobby was kept immaculate and plenty of Sun chairs around, as well as couches to sit in the evenings. I also liked that they had a café inside the lobby where they have: coffee, tea, muffins, cakes, smoothies, beer and wine. The smoothies were great!
The pools and Jacuzzi were great to use as there were jellyfish in the water at the beach, so I grabbed towels and hung out on the beach most of the time (they allow 2 towels per person at a time).
What I really want to highlight is the amazing service Aarika the concierge provided. As I have never been to Hollywood, FL she recommended amazing restaurants nearby and told us how to get around cheaply. We went to every place she recommended and LOVED each place. This was my birthday weekend and she was able to recommend and even have the hard copy restaurant menus to peruse. Once we chose a place that she short listed, she made reservations and mapped out how to get there. We also experienced some issues with our rental car booking which I booked online prior to visiting Florida. Aarika jumped right in to solve the issue and even called to smooth out our pick up time. She went above and beyond to make our stay comfortable and she honestly made me feel like I was talking to a friend. If you’re staying at the Diplomat, definitely ask Aarika for info, she’s a wealth of knowledge and a huge asset to the hotel.
Every staff member I interacted with was friendly and helpful. I will definitely be returning to this hotel very soon because of this experience… and the fact that I love Florida!

Stayed here just before Christmas while in town to watch the Memphis Tigers beat up on BYU! Perhaps the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. The amenities, well, they run amuck — 1 swimming pool cascades down to their private beach, part of this pool has a glass bottom. Why? So you can see the pool underneath it that runs the other way. Nice hot tub, good beach area, private gondolas, etc. Pricey steak house, even had a steak from Greg Norman’s ranch at +$ 100. AND, if you’re a Hilton frequent traveler, you have access to the Concierge’s lounge on the 33 floor. What a view, spectacular, and, the libations and snacks make it truly amazing.

I stayed here for four nights during a recent winter escape to South Florida. After reading all the positive reviews, I was very excited for my stay. As a treat, I requested a balcony room and to my surprise, the room was a corner room with a large balcony that wrapped and extended to both sides of the room: this is by far the largest balcony with the best view of any resort I’ve ever booked. Equipped with chairs and tables outside, the balcony makes for a perfect relaxing evening of watching the sunset. The resort is also located directly on the beach, so you can choose to lounge by their fantastic infinity pool and take in the views, or one of their two other pools, or venture to the beach where resort staff will set you up with rentals for lounge chairs, umbrellas, and jet skis.
Every single staff member of this resort was very nice and pleasantly accommodating, starting with granting my request for an earlier check-​in at 10am. I also enjoyed attentive service throughout the resort, from the café to the poolside restaurants and beach. In addition to the quality of service, I also enjoyed the quality of food at all the restaurants at the resort. Although a bit pricey, the resort makes sure its guests will not go hungry. The fitness center is also one of the more impressive hotel fitness centers I’ve stayed at, offering fresh clean towels, an abundance of workout equipment, and complimentary fruit.
Overall, I had a fantastic time at this resort and would gladly stay here again!

We stayed in this beautiful resort for one night. We arrived around 12 pm and has free early check in so we enjoyed the pools, music and restaurants on site. This hotel has it all! Gorgeous atmosphere with waterfalls and ocean everywhere. The hotel lobby bar was a little pricey, $ 30 for a red bull and a crown and coke. The nice thing for night owls is that the lobby is dead in the wee hours so it makes for a beautiful study environment. This hotel was alluring from the interstate I was sure it was a priviate condo, but lucky for me it was not. Am considering doing my honeymoon there since it was so luxurious and affordable.

I booked a room for the weekend strictly for some relaxation. I had a great experience. The hotel is beautiful and the view from my balcony was picture perfect. I received five-​star service (for the most part) and the breakfast (steak, eggs, and potatoes) was DELICIOUS.
The only area I think this hotel needs work on is at the main entrance. The valet guy wasn’t very nice and the bellmen didn’t offer to help me load or transport the hotel cart. I wasn’t too happy but once I saw my room I forgot about all of that. It was everything I wanted and needed: spacious, clean, lots of storage space, a coffeemaker (take notes Fountainbleau!!), quality stereo system, comfy bed, a large balcony facing the ocean, and a big tub. It was perfect.
I stepped out on Saturday night to Hollywood’s Downtown area and it just wasn’t my thing. I’m accustomed to South Beach so I guess I was expecting a livelier atmosphere. I would recommend others to research clubs and bars (on Unilocal) and find a spot to go to because the Downtown strip didn’t offer much. I heard the Boardwalk is good for nightlife so I’ll have to go during my next getaway.
I was able to check out late which was perfect because it was a rainy Sunday. I hadn’t slept that good in months. «Amanda» at the front desk helped me book the room and she was actually there the day I checked out. She was GREAT– very welcoming and helpful. I was glad to see her and get to thank her (again) on my way out.
I plan to revisit The Diplomat and I hope my next visit is as pleasant as my first.

Amazing hotel
Went there for a business conference.
Pros
— Amazing view of the beach
— Clean rooms
— great service
— amazing pool
Cons
— the gym is in a weird location next to a escalater with glass doors. Everyone can see inside the gym
I would definitely come back here for leisure only.

This hotel does not even deserve the 3 stars it has on Unilocal (nor the 4 stars on Hotwire). My husband and I made an impromptu trip to Miami (mainly to play poker at the Hard Rock) and decided to stay at a hotel on the beach. And I think it’s fair to say that we are very disappointed thus far, and we’ve barely been here 2 hours.
First, we pull up to the hotel and the valet guys are standing around looking COMPLETELY clueless. I motioned to them that we were getting out of the car and they literally looked at us, nodded and kept talking to each other. So, my husband and I got out of the car and started unpacking all by ourselves and only then, one of the men brought a cart over. Oh and they charge $ 25 per day-​wtf, this is NOT The Ritz.
Second, we make it up to our room on the 28^th floor and open the door to the TINIEST hotel room I’ve ever been in. We barely have enough room to put our bags on the ground, let alone stretch out and relax. Oh and did I mention that we have a ginormous window that literally faces a white wall and looks into other guests’ rooms? Extremely awkward.
Third, after an hour of waiting for our bags to arrive to our room (and two phone calls to the front desk inquiring as to their location) my husband went down to the front desk and picked up the bags himself. He tried to speak with the night manager and explain that we had been waiting for our bags (and called twice) and the manager looked at him and shrugged. I kid you not, if it wasn’t 1AM we would have just left this hotel and gone somewhere else.
If I wanted to stay at a Ramada inn, I would. So if I’m actually spending money at a place that had good reviews, I expect good service. Oh, and they charge for Internet but don’t actually have the price on their website? That is sketchy. I will definitely be checking my credit card statement to make sure they don’t charge random crap-​I don’t trust this place. This place has definitely been a HUGE letdown. We will NOT return to this hotel next time we visit the Miami area.

The customer service has deteriorated substantially over the past year or two. I’ve been a guest here many times as it is a beautiful property.
Unfortunately being an SPG Platinum no longer means much here any longer.
We invited family members to join us and we were embarrassed by the chaos in the Executive Club which is no longer anything more than a snack shop with a view. OK for a Four Points not a Westin.
Also
A Concierge was rude to my wife and a maid burst into our room to check the mini-​bar even after being told our two year old granddaughter was
napping. It looks like next time we’re in the area we’ll try the new W in Ft Lauderdale.

I’ve stayed here twice. My law school hosts their Barristers Ball at this hotel, and I’ve stayed overnight after each event.
Last year, service was an issue (slow check in, slow valet, was not offered help to my room with luggage, etc.) but my room was beautiful with a balcony and view of the ocean, so that made up for it. The rooms with ocean view balconies are beautiful.
This year, I experienced service issues again… and my room didn’t make up for it like last year. Check in was still slow. I waited in line for over 30 minutes to check in. My bags were left outside by the valet, and I’m guessing the bellmen are supposed to get them after you check in. Since I was there for an event, I had an expensive dress and jewelry in my garment bag. I didn’t feel comfortable with it unattended outside. I finally had to ask someone to save my spot in line so I could ask them to bring it inside for me while I waited to check in. Also, someone from the cleaning staff walked in on me after I hollered to wait a moment before coming in while I was changing. I was locked out of my bathroom when I first arrived because someone had locked it from the inside before I got to my room and it took 45 minutes and 3 phone calls for them to come open the door. Room service was also overpriced compared to other hotels of this star rating and with much slower delivery times. I also ended up with an awful room despite checking in early, and they were very unhelpful in trying to make things better. I booked a king room just like last year, but no view this year. I asked if I could wait for someone to checkout to get a better room (higher floor with balcony and open floor plan) or if I could pay more to upgrade– they dismissed me quickly and were not helpful at all. I understand that the hotel may be busy, but when I asked for other rooms that may become available or upgrades, they answered without even checking the system to see if they had anything. To top it off, everyone was just rude and dismissive. No one even tried to help me with any requests. I felt like asking for basic things in a 4 star hotel was a bother to them. I expect this from a Holiday Inn, but not from the Diplomat.
For the event in the ballroom, waiters and bartenders are fantastic. Some of the food was great, and other items were mediocre. Seems to be that most of the chicken dishes aren’t very good, but other dishes were tasty. Last year, their mushroom ravioli made me ill, but no issues this year with a simple salad and steak.
Overall, service for this hotel is not on par with their star rating and the caliber you should expect from this hotel. I would not recommend staying here. There are other hotels more north in Ft. Lauderdale or further south in Sunny Isles and Bal Harbour that are worth an extra drive.

This is a nice hotel. I mean look at it, it looks so gaudy. It’s almost trying too hard. The lobby area looks gaudy too. It’s just a gaudy hotel, until you get to your room. I thought the rooms looked basic. It was just a hotel room. You have your TV, bathroom, and beds. I felt disappointed at the lack of gaudiness of the rooms. Oh well.
The room itself isn’t bad. I don’t need it to be extravagant. The beds were firm and comfortable. The TV’s remote didn’t work too well, but at least it gave me cable. You also don’t get free WiFi in your rooms, only in the lobby. That sucks. I would think a category 5 hotel would at least give you free WiFi in the rooms.
You know what they give you for free? A bottle of water. When the maid cleans your rooms, she leave a free bottle of Dasani. I guess that’s nice.
The front desk was nice. They treated us well. I liked the staff.
The beach seemed nice. It costs extra to rent the parasol and beach chair. I’m still dumbfounded how a category 5 hotel keeps trying to nickel and dime you.
I loved their pool. It’s nice and large. They have two pools. I didn’t use the one on the top, but the bottom pool was awesome. If you go early in the morning, you don’t get little brats running around, peeing in the pool.
They also have a gym. The gym looks clean. It’s two stories, only because the actual square footage is small. They have a few dumbbells for free weights. They have a few weight machines too. One machine they missed was the seated row machine. For cardio, they offer several ellipticals, treadmills, and bikes.
Every day, they have a fitness class. The times we went, they had sunrise yoga. It was yoga on the beach at 6:30 AM. I guess it’s during sunrise to see the beautiful sun rising behind the ocean, and you’re suppose to feel connected to nature and all that hippy stuff. Waking up at 6 AM isn’t my top choice to do for a vacation, but I liked the yoga. It felt relaxing. Besides, I could take a nap later anyway.
The other fitness class they have is the neighborhood morning run. A trainer guides you as you run around the Hollywood streets. If you’re a runner, this is a good class to try.
They have ping pong tables too. I thought that was awesome. I didn’t play though. So if you like ping pong, bring your paddle.
They have a few restaurants in the hotel. They’re all overpriced. I would avoid them unless you’re too lazy to get out of the hotel. There are much cheaper and better options a few miles away.
Their parking deck is across the street. It costs $ 20 a day to park there. Make sure to ask for the parking pass at the front desk. You can valet if you want. But that’ll be $ 25 per day.
We opted to park at the deck. The deck is huge. It’s like a maze. It does have plenty of parking though. They also have a car wash. I didn’t take advantage of that though.
The hotel is always busy. They have something going on every day whether it be conferences, weddings, reunions, or whatever. So don’t expect a quiet, private vacation. You will see a lot of people all the time. But that’s to be expected. I mean, look at the hotel. It looks built for large amounts of people to congregate.
Overall, I liked my stay. Sure, I have my complaints, but it’s a great hotel. I mean the other hotels in the Miami/​Ft. Lauderdale area look like cesspools and they equally nickel and dime you on everything.

Here for the Leadership Blue Gala with mom (representing for Volusia Co DWC). Very impressive start, efficient valet, bell service, and beautiful Lobby (the only free wifi). I did not have to talk with the front desk as the room was already taken care of, so I cannot comment on that. However, I did find that a «pocket door» had come off its hinges. I quick call brought a very pleasant gentleman who quickly remedied the situation.
On the 26^th floor, the room is wonderful, with a generous and modern bathroom. Great westerly view, albeit very hot in the afternoon. I would ask for the ocean view if I was the one doing the asking.
The Spa — oh la la! — I have had the good fortune to visit several top line spas (just damn good luck) and this one holds it’s own with any of the 1^st class spas. Came in for an emergency mani/​pedi (I love saying that) after a week in the desert destroyed my hands and feet. ;) Yes! Very pricey compared to anything down the street. But this was a VIP experience without the expectation. Very cool. My hands and feet are very thankful for the experience. I took a few minutes to chill in the Relaxation room. Everything one would want, fresh mint water and gorgeous teas, fresh apples and a super cool beach view that is a total surprise.
BUT all hotels that charge for wifi loose a star!!! All! You don’t charge extra for lights or AC, why would you insult your tech savvy guest. Bad practice.

Then we finally came back. We were given a double bed room at first, then we went back and requested a one king bed so we were assigned to the north room 15^th floor. Things hasn’t changed that much except that the towels are dirty with stains on them and the white duvet has a blood stain on it.
The people above us is at their balcony as well and smoking weed on a rainy Friday afternoon so we had to go inside and close our balcony room for the rest of the day.
We still love this hotel though.

Came for a long weekend «staycation» first weekend in June. We booked a suite which was a corner room with a wrap around balcony that was ocean front and wrapped around so you could see the intracoastal and city area. It was the perfect spot to watch the sunrise with some coffee each morning.
We drove since we live in the area and when I made my reservation, they asked me if I wanted to prepay for parking. I said sure — I assumed this was valet parking but it wasn’t, it was self parking. It was slightly inconvenient as the lot was across the street but we weren’t planning to take the car out at all during our vacation so it was fine. The only thing I wish I knew in advance was that self parking was $ 20 and valet $ 25 (per day). I would’ve just opted for the valet. (yes, people, this is a rip off)
Check in was a little chaotic, although quick. They have a wonderful man who greets everyone waiting on line and tells little stories to keep you occupied while you wait. I think we were in line about 10 – 15 minutes and our room was ready at 3:00 when we got there. One thing I noticed is that the check in desk is VERY loud. For whatever reason, I could hardly hear the lady behind the front desk because there were like 8 other people checking in — it just seemed like it was extremely loud.
Our room number was 2671 — it was a corner suite that has a living room, dining table with 4 chairs and a separate bedroom with a king bed. It was beautifully acquainted with modern, clean furnishings and flooring. The bathroom has a shower with a frosted door, a Westin bath (ie deep soaker tub), sink, vanity and water closet. The room had a large walk in closet with a safe. The safe was up on the top shelf in the closet which was a pain to deal with. We had to pull a chair into the closet to access the safe to make sure we were getting everything out that we put in. This should be moved somewhere with easier access. The room also has an in room coffee maker and an empty mini fridge if you wanted to bring your own beverages etc. I like that a resort offers this.
The pools here are really nice. They are salt water which I could take or leave but it was nice not to smell like chlorine. We had drinks and lunch poolside both days we were at the pool. The service poolside is fantastic, the food pretty decent, the drinks delicious and expensive — everything expected from a deluxe resort like this.
You can rent a cabana for $ 300 a day. Cabanas are equipped with reserved chairs, umbrellas, tv inside with a fan and a fridge — plus the same service you get poolside for drinks/​food. I think this is a good option if you have little kids and are traveling with other families.
One thing to note, by 2pm, the pools are pretty much shaded by the giant hotel structure. This is a bummer but you can still head out to the beach which stays in the sun until about 4:30−5:00 (at least in June when we were there).
The beach here was fantastic. There’s a lot of seaweed when you first get in, but once you pass that point, it is pretty shallow for quite a way out and this particular weekend, the ocean was so calm, hardly any waves, absolutely perfect! We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for about $ 35 (the chairs were $ 12 each and the umbrella I think was $ 10). Negative on the beach — no drink service! It’s technically a public beach so they’re not able to offer.
One other thing to note on the pools — you’re not supposed to eat in a pool. They didn’t seem to have anyone here enforcing this rule. There were a bunch of families that went shopping to Publix, brought in their own food and then they were feeding their kids in the pool. It was grossing me out — I had to get out. Oh yeah, and the Spanish speaking guy next to us with the big necklace, he was smoking — IN THE POOL. We just laughed but seriously, this resort is supposed to be 100% non smoking — nobody there to enforce that either.
On Sunday afternoon, I decided to book a spa service with my daughter. She — a facial, me — a hot stone massage. The spa is AMAZING — so relaxing and beautiful. The services are about double what you pay at home but if you’re on vacation, just splurge for yourself! It was the perfect ending to our trip. Totally relaxed us.
We ate at Rebels sports restaurant — food was good and fresh — drinks good. Service a little slow. Splash! pool bar — we had drinks and a lite dinner here on Friday, lunch here on Saturday and Sunday (and drinks poolside from here) — food here fresh and good, drinks delish and service here impeccable. One night we went over to the Village at Gulfstream Park — an open air shopping mall with lots of restaurants to eat. It’s adjacent to the casino so a fun place to go for an evening.
This resort gave us the relaxation we were longing for. And truly, great customer service throughout. I highly recommend it if you are willing to splurge!

Schön gelegenes, klassisches Strand-​Hotel.
Oberes Niveau, viele Kinder und am Wochenende Familien.
Tolle Pool-​Landschaft und schöner Service, auch am Strand.
Bei so vielen (schönen und mit tollem Ausblick) Zimmern aber leider etwas unpersönlich. Kann man bei der Größe auch kaum erwarten.
Value for money? Kommt auf den Preis an;-)

Amazed by this hotel!!!
The staff was great, from the check in staff to the cleaning staff, everyone was nice and welcoming :)))))))
The hotel had an amazing view, the pools were beautiful. The rooms were clean and in great shape, they truly make you feel right at home !
The bar, the restaurant were top notch!!!
We will stay at this resort again.
By far best hotel I have ever stayed in!

I have been to this location several times for major events, and for my mini-​moon (The three nights after my wedding, but not the honeymoon).
Rooms: Immaculate and spectacular. You can ask specifically for a room that faces the ocean– or ask for an upgrade when you arrive and see if you get lucky. My brother stayed here for his mini-​moon, and I thought that the room was so spectacular I wanted to stay here myself. We both had suites. The suites are very luxurious and have modern furnishings. Each had a large living room with a big couch in front of a television. There is tub in the middle of the bedroom, and a large private bath. The beds are extremely comfortable, we even looked into the type of mattresses they have as well as the pillows (we were in the middle of purchasing a new house and a new bedroom set).
Rivals: We forgot to take home dinners from our wedding and ended up going to Rivals for a late night snack– We had a couple of beers and some appetizers– very fast and friendly service. The appetizers were delicious.
Café: The following morning was a Monday (we were married on Sunday night) — I had invited my out of town guests to a brunch, and Café was the perfect spot. My new husband and I didn’t have to drive anywhere. The dining room is beautiful. Also modern– and a very wide selection of food to choose from. They do not have a buffet on Monday, but the menu certainly sufficed– and all of my guests had a fantastic time and loved the food.

I went back to the Westin Diplomat in September for another week to just relax and soak up some sun. Again, I was treated like royalty, and if not for the few rain storms we had during my stay, it would have been a perfect vacation. Lynn assisted me at check-​in and was exceptionally professional and helpful.
My room was clean and very comfortable, and the oceanfront balcony gave me more incredible views. There were hot water issues on a couple of floors that forced me to move to a different room, but the manager was incredibly helpful (and patient) as I worked with him to find a similar room. Incredibly quiet during my stay except for my final night there with two unruly guests stumbling to their room at 3:15 am. The front desk was very helpful in dealing with this later that morning. Other than that one incident, it was nirvana!
The spa has relocated from the golf club location over to the main hotel. It is spectacular! I had two body scrubs with massage, as well as a facial, and was treated as their number one guest. The service there is five star!
I look forward to returning to this wonderful oasis.

Starwood never fails to impress everytime. The rooms here are gorgeous and there are plenty of elevators to move their guests quickly and effectively. Love the fact that there are two completely separate and two very different styled pools: the lazy river on the bottom and an infinity type pool on the top. We hung out at the bar/​restaurant in the lobby area that was always quick and friendly.
You can’t go wrong with this beachfront property!