Pelican Beach Resort: FLL: "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly"
 

Hello, Everyone! Just back from Pelican Beach Resort in Ft. Lauderdale. Here's "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly"!

The Good:
1. Beachfront location
2. Oceanfront balcony
3. Valet staff

The Bad:
1. Pool closes @ 5:00PM.
2. Food
3. Restaurant service very, very slow. Restaurant Staff over-worked & cranky.
4. Not enough beach chairs
5. Shower/Bath/Toilet area very small & dark
6. "Sofa Chair" instead of "Sofa Bed"...very small.

The Ugly (Not in terms of physical appearnce but attitude!!):
1. Front Desk Staff
2. Pool Staff

Wow, I could take a lesson from you in writing a precise report, lol! A sofa chair, huh?! Ouch.

I forget what they called the thing but it was something weird! We were expecting a "sofa bed" (i.e., a sofa that folded out into a bed). That's "normal". But, instead what they have @ Pelican is a chair(an armchair.....not as wide as a loveseat, slightly wider than a "normal" armchair)that folds out into a very small "single" bed. I forget what they called it...something like "sofa chair"!!! I am not making this up! LOL :) I will check & see what they called the thing!

I agree, I have never read a trip report that got to the basic so quick and in so few words.

wow, do not think I would want to stay at the pelican Beach Resort. I hope some parts of your trip were fun.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

wow-I thought you were staying at Lighthouse Cove-how did you end up at Pelican? I heard the restaurant just opened within the last 2 weeks,so hopefully it will get better.Luckily we'll only be eating breakfast there-we're going on Friday. Were you perhaps located in the old building of the hotel?

The "fold out" is called a "sleeper chair." If you go to their web site www.pelicanbeach.com you will see a green chair. That is the "sleeper chair". The rooms look exactly as shown on the site.

To jd: Yes, we were booked @ Lighthouse Cove. It was very bad & ugly!! (No "good"!). Unfortunately, our unit was directly over the tiki bar & we couldn't stand the constant noise late @ night. We also had a lot of noise from the indoor bar! And, the unit(very ugly!!!....) had a pervasive musty odor. We had to tough it out Friday & Saturday, forfeited what we paid, then moved to Pelican as soon as a suite became available which was Sunday afternoon.

We stayed in the "new part". You are right about Pelican's restaurant having opened recently so I hope that a lot of the kinks have been worked out by the time you arrive. Breakfast is served until 10:00AM. We ate breakfast there & sometimes lunch. The first day it took 2 hours to get lunch! So, we started doing "take out" from the dining room for lunch. Then we wld "Take" our "Take out" to the front porch. That worked a lot better but it was still vey slow & doing that did not improve the quality of the food!

We had a lot of great dinners. Went out every night. Some of our favorites:
1.Charlie's Crab (twice)on the IC (30th just South of Oakland.)
2.Blue Moon Fish Co. on the IC( Commercial I think)
3.Louie Louie on Las Olas
4.Seawatch on the ocean( North of Commercial)
5.Vesuvios(Atlantic just west of the bridge in Pompano)

Hope you have a great time, jd! The beach is beautiful. Great for long walks. The ocean was the perfect temperature! Gorgeous. If you "claim your chair" b/f 9:00AM you shd be ok. The first couple of days we did not realize "the system" of "Chair Claiming" but we learned! :)

Oh! And, thanks for your driving tips. I took US1 North from FLL airport to A1A (exit 17th St. Causeway) thereby avoiding I95.

Another place I just remembered that you may want to check out: Go North to Oakland Blvd. Turn left into the Walgreens Plaza. There ia an amazing pizza place there & also a Italian Bakery! Located on the south side of the plaza facing Oakland. Really, really good.

sorry for all the typos & letters left out....can't type....

Thanks for the report. You're right, the Tiki Bar at the Lighthouse is just too noisy-I don't think I will stay there again. Luckily,the inside bar was not open when we were there.
I'll be sure to get my beach chair by 9 am. Luckily I am an early riser! Thanks for the dinner recommendations-we have a reservation for the Sea Watch for Easter dinner.
Was the ice cream shop or the fitness room open yet at the Pelican?

The Ice Cream Shop & Fitness Centre @ Pelican were not open. And, the top 2 floors (10 & 11) are still in the midst of major construction. I wonder where they intend to locate the Ice Cream Shop & Fitness Centre. If you & your family like popcorn, jd, you will be happy @ Pelican! They have a popper going 24/7...smells like a theatre when you walk in the front lobby! :)Everyone walks around nibbling on popcorn!

Seawatch for Easter sounds great! Have you eaten there b/f? Now that I think about it, you may have been the one who recommended it to me! I made a list from recent postings & Seawatch was on it. If you have eaten there b/f then you know to reserve a table "right on the water". They take reservations for parties of 5+. The night we were there all the windows were open & it was beautiful! We sat right next to the open windows....nice light, "after-the-rain' breeze. Very nice. I had the "Mixed Seafood Grill" ( lobster Tail, shrimp & scallops) & it was very good.

Have a great trip, jd! Look fwd to your "report" when you return. I will check back here around March 30 as I think you are back on the 29th, right? All the best!

Yes, we have eaten at the Sea Watch before, and always enjoy a good meal there.
I wonder whats up with the front desk staff-I hope they're not too cranky-I want to ask for an upgrade when I get there! I have noticed they have an "attitide" when I have asked questions on the phone.
Popcorn is good, but not quite as good as an ice cream sundae.Its probably good that the ice cream shop isn't open yet-especially since the fitness center isn't open yet either.

Jd, when you check in, if you encounter "Sherri", walk away & come back later! That is Sherri Cruse. You will not get your upgrade. You will not get anything you want from Sherri. She gives "attitude" a whole new meaning. I do not understand why people like Sherri are working in the service industry. Pelican has developed this whole marketing campaign around "Our Family Taking Care of Your Family" & yet, you get the feeling that it is a bunch of Pelicans (i.e., the Cruse family) who have given jobs to other Cruse family members who really do not belong in the Hotel/Service industry.

Kruse (not Cruse)

wow- I'll stay away from Sheri-in fact, the name is familiar; I think she was the one that was so rude on the phone.

You guys should e-mail this thread to the hotel, maybe things could change for the better.

Judyrem, that is a very good idea! However, Pelican Beach Resort does not appear to be responsive to change. For example, many, many guests were not happy w/ the policy of closing the pool & lazy river @ 5:00PM. It is absolutely gorgeous around the pool area b/t 5:00 & 7:00PM @ this time of year. The sign posted beside the pool says "Pool open dawn to dusk". When asked why they were closing @ 5:00 when dusk is not until around 6:30, the pool attendant said "Well, when we opened this hotel it used to get dark @ 5:00"!!! The front desk & management staff were equally uninterested in extending the pool hours. In all of my travels, I have never been asked to "get out of the pool" anywhere & we have stayed @ many places w/ pools! The first night that we were @ Pelican the lifeguard started hosing down the tables, chairs & pool area while guests were still relaxing in the sunshine around 4:30!!! Can you believe it?? When I mentioned that, in addition to hosing down the tables & chairs, she was also hosing down the guests she replied "Sorry!" & kept on spraying that darn hose everywhere! When this was mentioned to the Front Desk Staff the response was "Well, the lifeguard goes home @ 5:00 & she has to clean the pool area b/f leaving. Do you want a dirty pool area?" I said "Of course not but I have never, ever seen anybody, anywhere hose down the pool area let alone while guests were still sitting around the pool! Somehow all the other resorts manage to keep their pool areas clean!" And so it goes...these are just a couple of examples. There are others & I am confident that jd will be able to add to the list upon returning from Pelican!

If its too bad, I'll bail out and go back to Lago Mar! I know what you mean about the pool-there is no excuse for that.Many resorts clean the area in the early morning before most guests are awake. 5:00 is way too early to close a pool in southern florida-I've never heard of such a thing!

jd, we tried to go to Lago Mar! In fact, that was our first choice when Lighthouse did not work out for us. Unfortunately, LM was fully booked. I had called there when we were planning this trip & they were fully booked @ that time. This trip was very "last minute". I was hoping for a cancellation @ LM. As I told you b/f, we always get the 2BR oceanfront @ LM but we wld have settled for a simple room facing the parking lot! But there was nothing. And, one night we had hoped to go to LM for a "poolside dinner" but we learned that they have a "Club/Guest Only" policy so you have to be a guest or a "Club Member" of LM to dine there!You sign for everything. No cash/no Credit Cards. You will be fine @ Pelican. I can't wait to hear from you upon your return! I have a feeling that your experience will be better than ours b/c Pelican will have had some time to work out the kinks. The beach is so beautiful along the Pelican stretch that you will forget about the little annoyances.
Are you all packed & ready to go?? Have a great trip & Happy Easter/Passover to you & your family!