The Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood, Curio Collection by Hilton

For the amount of money and points I spent on this vacation, I’m pretty disappointed. For context, I’m a public school teacher, so this is not a property that I would be able to normally afford. I saved up a ton of money and Hilton points to spend a couple days here over my holiday break away from work before visiting some loved ones down in FL. Teaching is a very stressful career, and I’ve been looking forward to this vacation for months. My father in-law also gifted me with about $1500 to help with expenses as well (just to emphasize how expensive this whole thing was). First, after about an exhausting twelve hour travel day, we finally arrive at the hotel and the receptionist isn’t even sure our room is ready yet, even though it’s well after 5:00pm. They tried to pressure us into a room that WAS ready but far more expensive. Staying here was already a financial stretch for my friend and I, so we insisted on keeping our original room. The entire time we were waiting in line and checking in, there were angry guests storming back and forth from the front desk making complaints and demanding that they be let into their rooms or that the staff find a room for them. It was definitely not a great vibe upon entering the resort. I assume many workers wanted off for the holiday and they were short staffed and a bunch of rich people were just getting huffy and puffy since they weren’t getting what they wanted when they wanted it, but it was still off-putting. Not a great start. We finally get up to our room and finally drop our bags when we immediately get a knock on the door. There were maintenance people who needed to fix something in our bathroom. After a really long day of traveling, our first hour in our room was shared with maintenance workers. We decided to grab some food and drinks that night down at the hotel bar/restaurant. It also seemed like they were short staffed because it took forever to get a clean table and a server. The service was just not great. I have to work as a server in the summers to make ends meet, so I understand the job isn’t easy. But we didn’t have water delivered to our table under after our meal was finished, which is something that I would get in huge trouble about at my job. So just not the best service. The meal took probably an hour longer than it needed to because we just spent so much time waiting for the server. Food and drinks weren’t bad though. The next day, we were super excited to use the amenities that the hotel boasted about. We’re from Michigan, so we were eager to get in the sun and pools and such. We walked out to the pools and beach area to an absolute nightmare. Turns out their main pool was closed, and so the remaining smaller infinity pool was overrun with small screaming children. There was absolutely no room at the pool to lay out as every single lounger was taken, not that we’d want to share a space with that many screaming kids anyway. We felt super blindsided. We had done a ton of research before choosing this property, and no where had we been alerted to the fact that most of their pool area was under construction. The area was full of construction workers and equipment, and relaxing was impossible between the screaming kids and the noise level of the construction sounds. We had narrowed our choices down to this property and another one, and had we known the extent of the construction, we would have definitely chosen the other property. Even all the hot tubs were closed, which was a huge bummer considering it was December. We both felt like we had been scammed. We had to go down to the beach in order to get far away from the noise level of the construction. The beach was an absolute zoo. It was difficult to find a spot, and my friend and I had to wait forever for an attendant to get a spot, chairs, and towels. All of their help was pretty reluctant, and pretty much every beach attendant made it pretty clear that they didn’t want to help us or anybody for that matter. One of the final days we were there, my friend asked an attendant for a chair, and the attendant actually asked his manager right in front of her if he had to help her. “Do I have to?” What? My friend and I are not wealthy nor entitled, and we were always very patient and thankful, so it’s not like we were being difficult or asking too much. People were acting crazy at this resort. Maybe it’s a rich people thing? I don’t know. But my friend I really wanted to try and get a spot at the pool one day, and so we got up before 8am and made our way down to the pool to secure a spot, but when we got down there, there were people’s personal belongings piled onto every single lounger. Nobody was out there, but people had gotten up even earlier than us and thrown their crap all over the loungers to “save” them even though who knows when they would be there. We were ready to be at the pool now! We couldn’t believe that the hotel staff would allow this. The pool was entirely empty, yet we coukd t get a spot. Everybody at the hotel was throwing their stuff onto indiscriminate pool chairs to try and take as many as they could for themselves. We never ended up being able to go to the pool at all during our stay, even though that was a big reason we booked. We found two chairs in the sun that were no where near any pool, and listened to relaxing noises of constant construction while rich vulture people claimed as many chairs as they could only to never come back and use them. The whole thing was just entirely ridiculous. I can see how this would be a nice location while not overbooked and under construction, but the property had put itself into a situation that it just couldn’t handle, and it really affected the quality of our time there. I just can’t believe all that money and all those Hilton points I put into this vacation only for it to be a below average experience. I’m super embarrassed to have taken my friend with me to this property. I felt really bad. If you’re ever considering staying here, definitely call first and ask if they’re under construction at all (since the website won’t be clear about it), and demand that they are incredibly specific about what amenities are usable and which are not. Will definitely not be staying here again. The little inn in the middle of nowhere Florida that we stayed at for the second half of our trip was a significantly better experience.

Mado at the front desk was absolutely wonderful during our stay at the Diplomat Hotel. He was friendly, professional, and always willing to help with a smile. His kindness and attention to detail truly made our experience more enjoyable. Thank you, Mado, for making us feel so welcome!

Fantastic service from concierge Joe and pool staff! Thank you for a memorable day at the pool. Concierge Joe is a wealth of information! Helped with local bars and restaurants and fishing boat trip!

Overall, I had a pleasant vacation with my family at the Diplomat. However, there were a few drawbacks, such as the construction noises and certain areas that were inaccessible. Due to the limited areas we did get bored since there was one small pool besides the beach. They’re doing a nice job with the overall remodel unfortunately it wasn’t completed during our stay. The staff was all very pleasant and wonderful and helpful, especially Corry and Mado & Thiago.

Melissa was very nice greeting me poolside and hooked me up with some points and great conversation. Positive vibes and brightened up my day a little bit more whilst enjoying this beautiful property of the diplomat hotel. Looking forward to my next visit here in the near future.