Views on The Pillars Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale?

[minner80]

I would love to hear from someone that has stayed at this hotel, it is very pricey. Is it worth the $$ They also have a pre cruise package, that includes pick up at the airport and drive to cruise port in a Lincoln Towncar. Has anyone done this. If so were they prompt in picking you up? Thanks so much. I am still trying to decide where to stay.

[Pootimer]

Am thinking of booking the Pillars for a late Sep '05 pre-cruise stay. Would love to hear any add'l info on this hotel - esp. want to know if it's walkable to the beach.

Thanks for your help.

[Archsister]

We stayed at the Pillars in Jan. before a cruise on Celebrity. We booked the pre-cruise package but had a few difficulties with it. We had booked six months ago when it was cheaper than their web site says now. Also, the web site said that you get both pick-up from airport and transportation to the cruise, but once we got their, they keep saying you only get one. They also charged us the higher current rate, even after I showed them the printed web site. We finally got it straightened out the way we thought it should have been but you could tell they were not happy. They use a car service that was very reliable transportation and very pleasant. We had a nice room on the first floor by the pool but is very smaller than I had expected for the price. However, it had its own dock on the Intercoastal Waterway which was very handy. Our safe didn't work either and it took them some time to fix it. We stayed two nights. The price was with it for use at the old rate with two transportations. At the current rate, I'm not so sure. And they really need to work on their service.

[Pootimer]

Thank you for the info - sorry to hear of the poor service. Another question, please....was the hotel in a convenient area for siteseeing (i.e. Los Olas Blvd) and the beach? Would it be worth requesting a higher-up room - or do you think those rooms would be much more expensive??

Thanks very much for your help.

[TrentS]

It's an easy walk to the beach, just a couple of blocks... If you want to go the shopping and dining area of Las Olas Blvd., it's a short cab ride away, or you could take the water taxi to the Riverside Hotel stop.