We’re living in hotels full-time at the moment. In a previous post I reviewed the Hyatt Centric Miami Brickell, and in this post I wanted to review the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Las Olas.
Booking the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale
Our rate at the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale was a very reasonable $130 per night. While we could have booked this through Hyatt Privé for extra perks, the World of Hyatt member rate ended up being the best value, given the overlap in benefits with Globalist status.
Redeeming points at the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale
For context, the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Las Olas is a Category 4 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night redemption costs 15,000 World of Hyatt points. I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, so redeeming points here would be the equivalent of paying ~$225 per night, by my valuation. In this case paying cash for the stay was the better value by far.
Even if you’re not a Hyatt loyalist, earning World of Hyatt points can be pretty easy. In addition to being able to earn World of Hyatt points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you can also transfer over points from Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale location
The Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale is in the Las Olas neighborhood. Rather than being on the beach, this is more inland, and it’s an area with a lot of apartment buildings and restaurants. It’s also near the New River, and there are some cute paths so that you can walk along the river.
If you’re in Fort Lauderdale for a beach vacation, this isn’t the place to stay. For us the location was a selling point, since we didn’t want to be in the party area (ignoring for a moment that all of Florida is the party area right now). 😉
The 238-room Hyatt Centric is in the “100 Las Olas” building, which is the tallest building in Fort Lauderdale, at roughly 500 feet. The hotel takes up the bottom portion of the building, while the top portion of the building is apartments. The hotel is still quite new, as it only opened in April 2020.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale exterior
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale entrance
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale check-in & lobby
The Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale has a fairly small lobby — reception is just inside the entrance, then there’s some seating, and then the hotel’s restaurant is around the corner.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale reception
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale lobby
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale lobby
The check-in process was efficient and friendly, and as is the norm with Hyatt, elite recognition was excellent. The front desk agent thanked me for being a Globalist member and proactively apologized that they didn’t have any suite upgrades available (which was accurate based on availability showing online). She said that they had assigned us a king room with a balcony, which was the best upgrade available.
The Hyatt Centric has a $22.60 destination fee, but that’s waived for Globalist members. Below you can see what’s included with this fee (as you can see there’s apparently usually a Tesla car service, but we were told it wasn’t available at the moment).
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale destination fee inclusions
Within a few minutes we were in an elevator headed up to our room on the 11th floor. There was a Laurent-Perrier champagne vending machine right by the elevators, which was a cute touch, but didn’t seem to be very popular.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale elevators
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale champagne vending machines
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room with balcony
We were assigned room 1104, located on the 11th floor. Once outside the elevator our room was to the left and down the hall.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale hallway
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale hallway
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale floorplan
At 350 square feet the room wasn’t particularly large, but I thought it was otherwise much nicer than the Miami property, as it actually had a bit of charm. There was an entryway with a closet to the left and the bathroom to the right, and then the rest of the room straight ahead.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale room entryway
The room had a comfortable king size bed — as you can see, the wallpaper and the leather trim above the bed added a lot to the design of the room.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room
In the corner of the room was a chair and table.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room seating
Then back towards the entrance was a larger table with high-top seating. I have a strong preference for a room with a “proper” desk, but all things considered this was a decent setup for our short stay.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale in-room high top seating
On this table was a Keurig coffee machine, as well as two bottles of water.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale in-room coffee machine
There was also a mini-fridge underneath the table.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale in-room mini fridge
It was lovely to have outdoor space, as there was a balcony with two chairs overlooking the area.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room balcony
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale view from room
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale view from room
The bathroom featured a walk-in shower, a sink, and a toilet. Water pressure wasn’t great, but otherwise the bathroom was well designed.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room bathroom
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale king room toilet
Toiletries were from BeeKind.
Hyatt Centric BeeKind toiletries
All things considered I liked our room, and thought it was nicely designed.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant
Harborwood Urban Kitchen is the Hyatt Centric’s all day dining restaurant, and it can be accessed through the lobby or from outside the hotel.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant exterior
The restaurant was pretty decent for a hotel restaurant — I can’t imagine many locals would go here, but if you’re staying here it’s a good option. The restaurant had a bar, a main indoor seating area, and a nice outdoor patio, where we sat.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant bar
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant inside seating
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant inside seating
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant outdoor seating
I had lunch here one afternoon because it was convenient. The lunch menu read as follows:
I ordered a chicken salad, and it was excellent.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Harborwood Restaurant lunch
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale Globalist breakfast
We received complimentary breakfast on account of my Globalist status. The breakfast benefit here includes one main course and one drink per person, with no further restrictions. The breakfast menu read as follows:
The cappuccinos here were pretty decent, as was the hot coffee.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale breakfast
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale breakfast
To eat we had the shakshuka, avocado toast, and ropa vieja, and all three were delicious.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale breakfast
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale breakfast
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale breakfast
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale gym
The Hyatt Centric’s gym is on the eighth floor, and it’s a solid gym. I was told that the hotel limits gym capacity to at most six guests. It didn’t seem like there was a mechanism for enforcing that (in the sense that no reservations were required), but I also never saw more people than that in the gym.
The gym was much better than at the Hyatt Centric Miami Brickell.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale gym
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale gym
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale gym
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale pool
The Hyatt Centric has a lap pool and large pool deck on the eighth floor, which is a nice space.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale pool
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale pool
There’s also a pool bar on the eighth floor, though I believe it may have been closed due to coronavirus.
Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale pool bar
Bottom line
We had a good stay at the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale. We got a great rate, and I quite liked the hotel — the rooms were tastefully decorated, the breakfast was great, and the gym and pool were nice too.
That being said, I’m not sure I’d ever have a reason to return here. I suppose it’s great if you’re doing business in the area or have a reason to visit, but if I were from outside of Florida I wouldn’t really make Las Olas my destination. Then again, as a nearly lifelong Floridian I’d also never make Florida my destination, so I’m probably the wrong person to ask about this.
If you’ve stayed at the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale, what was your experience like?
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