A girls weekend in Ft Lauderdale “W” style

It was a lonnnnng year. A cold, dreary, not-so-great winter before the start of a beautiful, albeit BUSY summer. So before the first bud sprouted on the tree outside my window, my sister proposed an all-girls weekend in sunny Florida. She didn’t have to ask me twice – I was sold.

After putting our resources together, we booked our flight (me: Jetblue – what else?) and our hotel room. This took more thought than the airline, but after some research and a tallying of Starwood points, we decided on the W Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale.

Leave the kids at home, the W is a luxurious pick without kid-friendly touches. Since this was an adults-only weekend, just the thought of staying there excited me. But like any hotel, the W had its pros and cons.

The Ft. Lauderdale “W”

The hotel, newly renovated in the last few years had a very modern, chic feel to it. The lobby and main areas are all done in grays and are very tailored. No overstuffed sofas here, but they do have very square chairs and “beds” to hang out on in the “Living Room” area. We loved that part of the hotel – a comfy spot to grab drinks and food, especially on a rainy afternoon. They also had a scaled down breakfast offering each morning there. This was awesome, since a sit-down $25 morning buffet not only breaks the bank, but entices me with a breakfast that otherwise I wouldn’t eat. So a bagel, some toast, or a small muffin can be found in this area every day.

The other option is a sit-down breakfast at the beautiful Steak 924 – the hotel’s in-house hotspot. It’s gorgeous, decorated with a jellyfish tank and lime green banquets and chairs. However, we were looking for something more low-key before heading to the pool.

Unwinding in the pool and gym

The staff was, for the most part, very courteous and eager to please.  The infinity pool was the perfect place to unwind, and the scantily-clad, bikini-wearing waitresses very nice.  The food at the pool, while expensive (about $14 for a salad), was DELICIOUS. Try the Thai chicken salad and the hummus plate.  Also the pina colada’s ($12) were incredible!

The gym is spotless and well-equipped with brand-new state-of-the-art machines and water bottles and towels.

Playing peekaboo in our room

Our room was comfortable in that it was exceptionally clean, had a nice king size bed, and featured  fabulous products from Bliss. It was slightly too small in the sense that it was a completely open concept room – including a glass shower partition between the bedroom and bathroom, and swinging, frosted bathroom door.  Good if you’re a voyeur who enjoys watching others in the shower, NOT good if you’re on a vacation early in a relationship or if you want ANY privacy at all.

Truth is, while the person who responded to my concern about the no-privacy thing referred to the glass bathroom as “fun and flirty,” my mind tried to make a list of the people I wouldn’t mind watching me shower and here’s who I came up with: NO ONE.

Hey, W Hotels, I know the rooms are small and a “fun and flirty” peekaboo bathroom makes it appear larger, but consider a frosted glass perhaps? Or privacy shutters in ALL rooms, not just rooms with double beds. This was just not OK for us, and there were no alternatives available.  But we made the best of it.

Getting around town

We appreciated the Acura “shuttle” which takes guests anywhere within five miles of the hotel free of charge .(Book in advance – there’s only one and it’s a popular ride.) We went to Las Olas using this service and tipped the driver $5.  You may also want to try YOLO on Las Olas for a fabulous and varied menu and for a hidden gem, Sushi Rock. (We were the only tourists there.)

The hotel is a mere 15 minutes from the Ft. Lauderdale airport, just a $24 cab ride. It’s also located just a couple of blocks from the boardwalk, a busy area with stores, restaurants, and very tanned people in teeny weeny bikinis.

Consider other hotels

When vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale, you have many hotel choices. Within a few blocks there’s a Ritz-Carlton, the Westin, and the Atlantic. The W is a good choice, but not the only choice, a concept that management and the folks at Starwood need to consider before leaving out pertinent details about the property.

All in all, I give the W in Ft. Lauderdale a 7.5 out of 10.  I’d stay there again – but perhaps I’d bring a privacy shade next time.

Jill Notkin blogs at The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom when she’s not tweeting @AlexCaseyBaby. She is also the Managing Director of MotherTalk division at Mom Central Consulting.

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