Hotwire Hotel: FL Ft Lauderdale Doubletree Guest Suites Gallery One

[Double_Downon11]

I wanted to follow up with a review on the Doubletree Gallery One where my wife and I just returned from after three nights.

We decided on this hotel because of proximity to the beach, restaurants and decent ratings on TripAdvisor. Overall, I would give the hotel a 7.5 out of 10 and would likely go back unless there was a better deal offered at a hotel right on the main strip.

We arrived at about 11 am and after getting up around 4 am to fly out of Buffalo, we were hoping we could get an early check in. I don't think much effort was given and we had to wait till just before the regular check-in 3 pm to get a room. We asked for a room with a view of the water but were told that would be an additional $40 per night. We decided to stick with what we got. We were a little discouraged so far but the Manager on duty apologized to my wife and gave us a King Size Suite facing the West, which we ended up being very happy with. Here are the positives & negatives:

Positives

Room - King Suite was large with very comfortable bed, nice size kitchen, big balcony and good sized bathroom with an awesome shower. Although it wasn't required for our trip, the suite came with a microwave, two hotplate stove, fridge and dishwasher. (would seem great for small families who are travelling for an extended period). Didn't have any problems with housekeeping and my wife commented that she was impressed with products offered with the room.

Location -

• To Galleria Mall was great as it's only one block west. At the Mall we had some fantastic meals at Seasons 52 (great fresh food selection, focus is on healthy but delicious meals and very reasonably priced), The Capital Grill (very busy when we went and for good reason. Had one of the best steaks I've ever eaten and although it was pricey, it was worth it in our opinion, my wife had the pan seared tuna and enjoyed it very much as well) and we also ate the PF Changs (since we don't have them in Canada my wife and I always enjoy eating there). There is also a Blue Martini Bar in the same area which offers live music every night till 11:30 with a $5 cover. My wife and I went there for a few drinks on two nights and it was a very interesting mix of people (young, old, big, small, dressed up and dressed down).
  
• To other Attractions - It is a 10 minute cab ride to the Beach Place on Fort Lauderdale Beach where there is a mix of bars/restaurants, 25 minute drive to Sawgrass Factory Outlet Mall and took us about 90 minutes (accident on I-75) to get to South Beach on Saturday morning.
  

Water Taxi - Although my wife and I didn't use it, we noticed alot of people using the water taxi to travel around. It is $13 for the day and has many different stops throughout the area.

Negatives

Check in - We were a little disappointed that they couldn't get us an early check in on Friday when we arrived but were able to store our bags for us while we ventured out. Free cookies also help! :)

Parking - Only option is for valet parking and it's $21 per night (plus tip I assumed). I could understand if they were right on the beach and parking wasn't available but when you are sitting right next to a big empty parking lot, it makes you question the "only valet' option. That said, whenever we called down to have our car ready, it was there upon arrival and the valets were helpful with any directions or suggestions required.

Pool - Small pool. I guess one could argue that you could just venture over to the beach. One annoyance is that because of the large condo to the south of the hotel, alot of the pool area is in shade between 2 and 4 pm so if the pool area is busy, it makes it difficult to find any place to lay in the sun.

Pool Bar - Dion was very friendly and nice to chat with but we found the prices to be outrageously high. One day we had lunch and 2 drinks each and our bill came to $85 plus tip.

Location to the Beach - It's not that far (only two blocks) but if you are expecting it to be right on the beach, it isn't.

We never ate dinner at the hotel so can't comment on that.

Overall it may seem like I posted more negatives then positives but we really did enjoy our time at the Doubletree. We got a good rate on Hotwire so I will never complain about paying $115 for a Hilton - Doubletree but if I were to pay full price and expect to be on the beach, I may have had some issues.

Hope this helps and thanks again to the board for it's help in our booking.

-Chris