Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale Review
Fort Lauderdale is a popular destination for many visiting South Florida, with a history of crazy Spring Break parties and now hosting the third busiest cruise port in the United States. I, too, was embarking on a cruise to the Bahamas, and needed a hotel for one night pre-embarkation that I could use a Hyatt Category 1-4 certificate before it expired. With several hotels moving categories in the Miami area recently, the Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale was the best choice for me. Plus, it was a new full-service Hyatt property to check out, as I'm trying to stay at every one in Florida over my frequent visits! In this Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale review I share my thoughts on the location, property, service and amenities. Let's get into it!
Hyatt Centric Las Olas Location
The Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale is not located on the beach – instead, it's a convenient downtown hotel. The location, and hotel, are aimed at both business and leisure travelers. It's a mixed-use building, so guests of the hotel will share public facilities, like the gym and outdoor pool, with owners at the property. While this may not be a great choice for those visiting solely for some sand and sun, the hotel does provide portable beach chairs and umbrellas as part of their destination fee. It reminded me of my visit to the Hyatt Centric Honolulu, which was off the beach as well, but still provided some items for a beach day.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale is about a 10 minute Uber from the Fort Lauderdale Airport. If you fly into the Miami airport instead you are looking at about a 45 minute ride. The hotel is walking distance from the fairly-new Brightline train station. That means you can visit downtown Miami, West Palm Beach, or even Orlando without driving a car. This is how I arrived at the hotel, as I was coming up from Miami, and wanted to check out the service. You can see my experience in my hotel review video at the bottom of my post!
Hyatt Centric Las Olas: Typical Booking Cost
The Hyatt Centric Las Olas has room rates that range from $150-$400 a night, depending on the events going on in South Florida. For my one-night stay, rates were sky-high at over $300, so using a Hyatt certificate or points was a great option.
As I mentioned, the hotel is a Category 4 in the World of Hyatt program, which has the following price structure:
- 12,000 points for off peak nights
- 15,000 points for standard nights
- 18,000 points for peak nights
Category 1-4 Free Night Certificates can be used at the hotel, which can be earned each year by holding the World of Hyatt Credit Card, the World of Hyatt Business card, or through several ways earning status in the Hyatt program.
Check In
After taking an Uber from the Brightline station, I arrived at the lobby late in the evening, around 11:00 PM. Before my stay, I had learned through the app that I was upgraded to a Balcony room. Sadly, as a World of Hyatt Globalist, I was entitled to a standard suite upgrade, but there were none available during my one-night stay.
The hotel's lobby had a cool look to it- very modern, but some nautical theming given its location close to the ocean and Intercoastal Waterway. The check-in agent was very attentive, and let me know all the inclusions in the destination fee at the hotel ($25), which I was not charged as a Globalist. Even without status, those redeeming points or certificates for their stays across Hyatt's program won't pay resort fees. That is a great perk of the World of Hyatt program that I wish everyone had (I'm looking at you, Marriott!).
One great feature of the destination fee are two free alcoholic drinks, which at least covers the price of the fee. There are also other perks like free bike rentals, beach chair rentals, and a discount for the art museum across the street from the hotel.
Hyatt Centric Las Olas King Balcony Review
While I did appreciate the balcony upgrade, I will say besides that feature, my room felt like any base-level room you'd find at hotels around the world. Entering the room, you have a bureau with some space for hanging clothes, though not behind a door. This keeps with the design aesthetic I've noticed across the Hyatt Centric brand, which is to say rooms are designed for usability rather than style.
Bathroom
Same can be said for the bathroom, which is accessed via a barn-style door. This is a feature I hate, and I find it in many hotels. These doors are never very sound proof, so if you're sharing a room, you won't have much privacy in the bathroom. Obviously, for my solo stay, it was a non-issue. The bathroom was laid out as one room, with a toilet to the left, sink counter in the middle, and shower to the right. There is a brand-standard Drybar hair dryer underneath the sink as well. This is always commented on positively by my wife when we happen to stay at the Hyatt Centric brand. The shower has a faux-waterfall showerhead, and beeKind products. As seen across most hotels in the U.S., bath products are now in giant reusable containers, rather than the mini-bottles of the past.
Two Queens
In the main bedroom, I had two queens (there were no kings available when I booked my free night award) underneath a fancy photo of rope covering the back wal. An oversized 55 inch flat screen tv faced the beds, which I felt was a good size for the 350 square foot room. Beneath it was the Keurig coffee maker, with six pods, as well as a mini fridge further below. There was a small lounge chair setup
For more views of the room, check out my walkthrough video below.
Moving onto the balcony, which overlooked a city park and the Fort Lauderdale skyline. It offered two canvas chairs as your seating options. Overall, I didn't feel like the balcony added much to the room. In fact, the soundproofing of the room was absolutely terrible. I could hear everything on the street, and even more from the hotel's hallway outside my door.
Hyatt Centric Las Olas Review: Property & Amenities
Let's take a look at what this mixed-use building had to offer in terms of amenities.
Pool Fitness Center
The Hyatt Centric Las Olas has a few amenities, despite being a city hotel. For one, there's a beautiful outdoor pool on their rooftop, complete with full bar. There are even some room categories that have a patio setup on the pool deck, making it a great choice for those looking for sun. The pool is set up nicely for both leisure and exercise, as there are two lanes for laps.
Fitness Center
On the same level is the hotel's fitness center, which was a great size compared to the number of rooms on property. Lifefitness treadmills, ellipticals, weight machines, and yoga equipment was in the room. They also offered fresh towels and chilled water for guests.
Restaurants and Bars
Downstairs in the lobby is the hotel's main restaurant Harborwood and the Harborwood Bar. This is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and serves as the restaurant for Globalists using their breakfast benefit. Deemed “modern American” cuisine, I found a lot of Caribbean and South American influence on the menu. While my avocado toast in the morning was tasty, the service was slow. I did enjoy a complimentary bloody mary with my check-in coupon, though!
There's also a reservations-only speakeasy called “Room Nine01,” but unfortunately I wasn't able to check it out on this trip. I assume it's on the 9th floor based on the name, and features small bites as well as cocktails.
Finally, there's the Elev8 pool bar located next to the pool and fitness center. It has a menu featuring pool staples like burgers and quesadillas, as well as more unique items like empanadas.
Service
The Hyatt Centric Las Olas service was hit and miss during my short stay. The front desk agent was very attentive and helpful, but the only other service I encountered on my trip was at breakfast, and it was quite slow despite not being overly busy. Overall, I'd probably chalk this up to a one-off miss and not indicative of every stay at the Hyatt Centric Las Olas.
Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale Review: ToP Thoughts
The Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale has a great location for business or leisure when visiting South Florida. While many will skip this due to its location downtown, I do feel like for a one or two-night stay as part of a larger vacation it's a great option. However, those that are light sleepers should heed my warning about soundproofing in the rooms. I truly did not have a restful sleep as a result of the hotel's construction and design choices.
Share your thoughts on this hotel after reading & watching my Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale review over in the ToP Facebook Group.
