Sonesta Fort Lauderdale Beach

First time at the Sonesta, but probably will be back. Front desk employees where great, John did a great job in explaining the Covid rules and a quick update on the hotel. Great location within walking distant to parks, pubs, bars and restaurants. Rooms are very nice, large and clean, with Covid 19 rules you need to call the desk when you need fresh towels, coffee for the kurieg in your room, or any other items, it was never a problem and the items arrived quickly. They do charge a resort fee which included water daily, discount at the Steelpan restaurant, beach chairs, beach towels - Rafael at the beach was terrific, really great guy. Jackie, Andy and Jim at Steelpan were wonderful, treated you like family. My only complaint would be not enough chairs around the pool, but I think that is done because of social distancing and probably will improve as time goes on, plenty of chairs at the beach.

Rooms were clean and the beds comfy . Had blackout curtains and great view of the ocean . Right across from beach and had ports for the electric bikes which was fun... the hotel was a little too “family friendly” for me being a solo traveler. Lots of loud splashing kids. They charge a 40$ a day resort fee... which I feel was very unfair during covid. I asked for a lounge chair 3 different days which they couldn’t help with so i didn't even get to use the pool amenities. There are only about 14 pool chairs which are taken first thing for the 200+ rooms. The do offer chairs down by the beach. you are about 1.7 mi from the strip so its a bit of a walk but there are some nice low key places around back. Book your stay through a 3rd party site for $120+ a night savings.

The hotel is in a great location but has poor management. I stayed there for 3 nights both in January and February of 2021. In January, they management team there was jot enforcing social distancing and mask wearing. Also, they were not attending to the gym. It was dirty for a gym, no towels, disinfected wipes, or exercise mats and the seat on their only bike was broken. In February, while at the beach one of the cabana flew into our group because the winds picked up so we came back to the hotel pool area for safety and until the wind calmed down. We were asked to leave the pool area because we had food that wasn't purchased from there. Even after we explained what happened, they still asked us to leave. Then, on check out refused to extend our check out from 1pm to 2p even thought we offered to pay $50 for the a later check out like we did in January. On top of that the manager on duty, Ron, tried to get tough with me when I expressed my frustration over their inconsistency. Long story short I think they need an entirely new management team that puts guest first.

Stayed here for 5 nights with my friend and had an amazing experience. Hotel was clean and followed COVID protocol. Staff was absolutely exceptional from the front desk staff, managers in the lobby areas, and restaurant/pool staff. Andy and Jim with Steelpan were great hosts (we spent a lot of meals at Steelpan). Raphael on the beach was just the icing on the cake by bringing us our beach chairs whereever we wanted. 10/10 would recommend this hotel!

My friend and I had a really good experience staying here. Rafael at the beach was so polite and willing to help set our chairs up wherever we wanted. The hotel staff in general was incredibly kind and accommodating. We spent many meals at Steelpan and the pool bar and had great service every time.