The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale

Staff were great

More like the Pitts Carlton. If you enjoy walking into a “Club Lounge” where the staff are the most uninviting, unengaging, unfriendly people, this is the place for you! When the only engagement is “room number” without even making eye contact is the standard, you need to remove the Ritz Carlton branding from your property! The slop they serve in here is almost inedible. If you enjoy listening to housekeeping yelling and arguing with each other in the hallways at all hours, this is the place for you! When you have to ask for your packages 5 f’in times before they bring it to you, this is the place for you. The hallways are like meat lockers! I would love to know what they are paying to keep them so cold. Perhaps thats why they are charging the insane rates they do for a Holiday Inn experience. Whoever is running this property should be embarrassed of themselves. Good riddance!!

Great location , clean, great service

Precio /calidad Hay hoteles iguales o mejores a mejor precio. El restaurante/lugar para Desayunar, flojito.

Ooooof. Lordy leave your expectations of Ritz behind. This one is a Marriott 3 star at best masquerading as a Ritz. Unceasing noise from room above but a frat party next door at 1:30 am. The Spring Break morons partying on Daddy and Mummy's dime. Front Desk was in no rush to close the party down. Housekeeping is a disaster - cleaned room and left behind NO tissues and NO toilet paper. Also ignored note for extra towels. Did leave behind 3 rags on the coffee bar though. Asked for some wine glasses and a cork screw - finally aerrived 45 mins later. The first floor bar looking out over the beach serves wine out of a carafe. The ONLY worthwhile thing at this "Ritz" is the pool staff - from set up guys to servers - everyone has a positive attitude and service is great. Much nicer Bar and they serve Cakebread Cab by the glass! I'm thinking this spot caters to the Ritz residents - but who in their right mind would EVER buy into a mediocre Ritz in Fort Lauderdale?

My husband and I are enjoying day 3 of our 5 day stay here at the Ritz-Carlton and we want to say how absolutely perfect our stay here has been. We are in a king bed, ocean view room and it is beautiful, clean, comfortable and elegant. The staff at the hotel - from the management to the wait staff, to the attendants at the beach (BeeGee and Dillon), to the attendants at the pool (Jimmy), to the maid staff, to room service - everyone has been so accommodating and polite and helpful. The amenities are excellent. The beach is easily accessible to the hotel and we have really appreciated the chairs and umbrellas and cabanas. The pool is beautiful and clean and the attendants immediately make sure that you are comfortable. We enjoyed using the gym this morning and my husband and I found everything that we could want and all of the equipment was in excellent shape. We are absolutely delighted and have no complaints at all.

**Bottom Line Up Front:** I would stay here again, but I would also consider other hotels in the area. **Check-in:** Normally when I check in early at a Ritz property, I’m accommodated without any issues. However, during this stay we had to wait until the designated check-in time. That took away a bit of the hospitality and flexibility I’ve come to expect. **Room:** We were upgraded, and the room itself was well appointed. However, the noise level was surprisingly high. We could clearly hear guests walking past our door as well as activity in the room next door—the walls seemed quite thin. This is the first Ritz property where I’ve experienced that. Additionally, the bathroom was not as clean as it could have been. **Gym:** The gym was well equipped and never overly crowded. **Pool Area and Food:** It appears the hotel offers day passes for the pool area, which made it very crowded for overnight guests. I encountered several people who either had day passes or were lingering after getting off a cruise. As a result, pool chairs were hard to come by. Even after we finally got chairs, the service was lacking. The food was also disappointing. We ordered tacos that arrived cold, and when we sent them back, it seemed they were simply reheated in a microwave and returned to us. The shells were hard—even though they were supposed to be soft tacos. Normally, I would expect the dish to be remade entirely. **Spa:** The spa has nice accommodations and great snacks. However, it’s quite small—there’s no dedicated whirlpool, though there is a steam room and sauna. **Overall:** I would stay here again, but I would also consider other hotels in the area. One highlight worth mentioning is the lovely aroma throughout the hotel. It’s a nice touch and reminds you how much thoughtful hotels pay attention to the full guest experience—sight, smell, and touch.

Nothing. It was awful and they would not refund our money as the pictures were not what it looked like.

Everything

The Ritz Carlton Ft. Lauderdale, FL/USA, seems less posh than the buzzing RC South Beach, and less cozy family-style elegant than the newly refurbished RC Key Biscayne, but I felt nevertheless welcome after a long long flight from BER/MUC to MIA and a long limo ride from the airport to my hotel. Check-in was smooth and friendly, plus: I got a nice upgrade, an oceanfront residential suite on the 16th floor: Two big rooms – living room and sleeping room, a huge bathroom with jacuzzi tub, shower, wc, and an extra wc, a dining table + chairs, 2 huge tv monitors, several couches and easy chairs, and a full kitchenette – with nespresso machine, smoothie maker, toaster, micro wave, oven, fridge, and all the equipment you’d need to cook and dine. But then, more than I needed or used during my short stay, especially since I had access to the club lounge, where I could enjoy breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and desserts. One of the best features of my grand and beautiful suite – which seemed to have at least 80 sqm – was the huge double balcony, with an extraordinary view to the Atlantic, the pool and the beach, and its deckchairs, chairs and table. I felt tempted to spend the next weeks here. I loved lying in the huge king bed (2.40 x 2.40 m), balcony doors open, and listen to the waves crashing on the sand. A beautiful sound, indeed. Another praise refers to the swimming pool – a huge deck on the 7th floor outdoors, with – again - a nice view to the beach (and beach access, of course), the fitness room, which is very well equipped, and the spa, which I did not try out, but which seemed nice and offers lots of services. Ritz Carlton hotels are – as far as the furniture style & bathrooms are concerned – a bit old-fashioned in their style, I’d say based on my experience of different properties of this chain in the USA, but I guess that this is meant to remember the elegance of another era. And different from other hotels or hotel chains, which try to preserve the aura of the past, Ritz Carlton offers enough sockets and USB connections in the room to charge the equipment we are all carrying with us these days. I am pretty sure that I will be back at the Ritz Carlton Ft Lauderdale, should the occasion arise. Although I was a bit disappointed by the Club Lounge, this time. The Club is an extra feat that the Ritz offers for a considerable extra amount of money. Whereas the Club in Fort Lauderdale has all those delicious meals five times a day plus snacks & non-alcoholic beverages all day (from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) you find at the other properties – I’ve stayed at Miami South Beach, Orlando Grande Lakes and Key Biscayne, among others – this one actually lacks the warmth and presence of the other lounges. I missed the warm welcome I received at the other lounges. In Fort Lauderdale all I got upon entering the club – the first day, but also the days after – was a polite nod in passing, and several times – especially in the morning – no club manager was present or reachable at all. So, if I book the Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale again, I’ll probably reserve without the Club extra.

Bottom Line Up Front: Would stay here again Check-in: Normally if I check-in ahead of the designated check-in time when staying at a Ritz property, I am always accommodated. However, we had to wait until the designated time to check in which did take away some of the hospitality that I normally expect. Room: we were upgraded and the room that we received was well appointed. However the noise level was surprisingly high! We were able to hear other guests walking past our door as well as in the next room. The walls are thin! First Ritz property that I have visited where this has been the case. Gym: Well equipped and was never overly crowded. Pool Area and Food: Evidently there are opportunities to purchase a one day pass to lounge at the pool. This makes the pool area very crowded for guests. I encountered a number of individuals that either had a one day pass or was just 'squatting' because they had just gotten off a cruise. This of course meant that pool chairs were not available and once we were able to get chairs, the service was definitely lacking!! Not to mention that the food was horrible. We sent back our tacos because they were cold and this is the first time that we could tell that they just put them in a microwave and sent the SAME tacos back to us. The shells were hard and they were soft tacos!! This was very disappointing! Normally the food item is remade completely. Spa: Overall, nice accommodations and great snacks! However, it is small so there is no dedicated whirlpool but there is a steam room and sauna. Overall, I would stay here again. I must say that there is a lovely aroma throughout the hotel. When you visit other hotels who don't pay as much attention to how guests comprehensively experience their accommodations (sight, smell and touch) you appreciate when a hotel makes sure to address each one.