FL Miramar Hilton Garden Inn

[Welldone Rumproast]

Note: I was not the person making this stay - but I went over to the hotel to have a look around and "inspect" it, so that I could post this review :)

To see the bid information for this stay, please click *HERE*

Hilton Garden Inns are another mid-level properties primarily aimed at the business traveler. This class of hotels focuses on individual guest needs and dispenses with things like grand ballrooms and concierge service, and typically only have one restaurant, but they can be very comfortable (often of recent construction) and also very nice values :). They are often (but not always) located in commercial/office areas, many times away from central city locations.

Hotel Location and Property

The hotel is in a rapidly-growing suburban commercial area in the southwestern suburbs of Broward County. Freeway access to the Weston, Sawgrass Mills/Sunrise areas is easy and fast - and sort of hidden is a fast link to the Miami Lakes area via I-75 south). The hotel is very new (about a year or so). Five or six stories, with an outdoor pool and nice lobby area with big-screen TV.

Airport Access

The hotel is 20 miles from FLL airport and 22 miles from MIA airport. As public transportation in South Florida is a sad joke (essentially nonexistent) a rental car ia a necessity.

Check-In and Check-Out

My friend reported no problems with Check-In.

Room

The modern room In fact it looked a lot like my room at the Doubletree Club in LAS that I reported on a few days ago.

King bed, alarm clock-radio, desk with ergonomic chair, chair with ottoman. 27" TV with web-tv style internet. Not sure aout Ninetendo. Pay movies. I saw a sign for HBO. Dataport-equipped phones were on the nightstand and also on the desk. Iron and board and coffee maker. Neutrogena stuff in the standard bathroom.

Good Things:

:D This hotel provides free high-speed wired internet access. My friend said that the desk lent her a Cat-5 cable for use during her stay. A good thing I noticed was that the RJ-45 jack and power plugs were mounted on the wall right next to the desk at desk-level. meaning that you wouldn't have to crawl on the floor to plug in your cable and your AC power supply. There is also a business center on the ground floor that has a PC, laser AND inkjet printer and copier. This is free for guests (you use your room key to get in).

:P The room had a small microwave and a dormitory-size refrigerator. Perfect for popcorn during a movie night :o

A sign next to the microwave said that there was a "pantry" that sold frozen dinners and snacks (I didn't check it out). There is a Publix supermarket a couple of blocks away that is open until 11:00 pm with all your microwave and beverage needs :)

Restaurant

There is a small lobby restaurant that was deserted when I was there. My guess is that they do most of their business during the breakfast hours. Go one freeway exit north to the PINES BOULEVARD exit for lots and lots of dining and fast food options (more upscale restaurants can be found in Weston, go notrth on I-75 aabout 6 miles to the ARIVDA PARKWAY exit). There's also a 24-plex movie theatre (with an impossible-to-miss Egyptian decor scheme) two exits north (SHERIDAN AVE).

Hotel webiste: Click *HERE*