A friend of mine works for Starwood Hotels & Resorts and when we told her we were on our way to Florida for a much needed rekindling of our marriage, time away from the kids, and from our jobs, she immediately told us about the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa on Hollywood Beach in Florida.

It was the perfect location since a couple days later we would be departing from Ft Lauderdale on a 7-day cruise around the Caribbean. It didn’t take long before we booked an ocean-view room, packed our bags and left the kids behind.

This whole trip was planned in a 2 week period… we like to wing it!

Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa

My vacation began the moment my feet stepped into their fantastic lobby {I spent a lot of time there… free WiFi}. The hotel check-in staff were friendly, we were able to get into our room early and our bell-hop was extremely courteous, helping me find the local shops to replace the bathing suit I’d also left behind.

Our room, albeit one of the few cluster of rooms without a balcony, had a breath-taking view of Hollywood Beach over top the hotels spectacular pools. The room was spacious and the bed was extremely comfortable.

Now… it is a busy hotel, boasting 1,000 rooms! You can imagine the constant stream of people coming and going, trying to find that illusive lounge chair by the pool, or all trying to get into one of their restaurants for dinner.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a great experience with one of the restaurants {Rivals} across the street but run by the hotel, where the service was appalling. After being seated for 30 minutes, I went to ask the hostess for service, she rolled her eyes at me as if I was bothering her.

Thankfully the front desk staff tried to make it right and gave us a credit towards our room.

I recommend taking a walk off-site to find a local restaurant. We found a great authentic Cuban restaurant a few blocks away {by Wal-Mart where I found a bathing suit} and a family owned and run pizzeria for the most incredible calzones just down the street. Because they were off the beach, they were far less crowded.

The bathing suit I bought at Wal-Mart

Having said that, we plan to return. The hotel location, price-point, and friendly resort staff is worth it. Next time we’ll stay longer and maybe we’ll even bring the kids… maybe. 😉

Room Tip: Ask for an ocean-view room with a balcony!

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We paid for this trip. See my original review of this property on Trip Advisor.