Review: Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale

We recently spent a couple of nights at the 189-room Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, which is one of Four Seasons’ newest properties, as it only opened in March 2022. We were looking for a quick South Florida getaway that was close by, as this was also the first hotel stay we made with our son, Miles. We even booked two rooms, and made it a bigger family getaway.

The Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale really impressed me — the hotel has gorgeously appointed rooms, excellent service, great amenities, and a phenomenal restaurant (which is worth visiting even if you don’t stay at the hotel). Let’s get into the review…

Booking the Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale

Florida is of course a highly seasonal hotel market, and rates vary significantly throughout the year. We were staying in September, and the rate for a base room was $525 per night, plus a $45 per night resort fee. Given how wild hotel prices have been in Florida since the start of the pandemic, that seemed reasonable (of course the hotel is much more expensive in winter).

The best way to book any Four Seasons hotel is through a travel advisor affiliated with the Four Seasons Preferred Partner program (this is how Ford booked us). When booking through Preferred Partner you pay the same rate you’ll find directly on Four Seasons’ website, but you’ll receive extra perks, including the following:

• A room upgrade, subject to availability
• Complimentary daily breakfast
• A hotel credit to use during your stay

Four Seasons Preferred Partner is generally combinable with promotions being offered directly through Four Seasons, including advance purchase rates, free night offers, and more. Note that booking Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner is better than booking through programs like Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. Why?

• With Preferred Partner you have the option of room service breakfast in place of restaurant breakfast
• Upgrades are prioritized for Preferred Partner bookings, given that it’s Four Seasons’ own proprietary program (and the value of an upgrade can be significant)
• You can combine Preferred Partner perks with virtually any rate on Four Seasons’ website (other programs don’t allow you to stack promotions in the same way)

You can’t beat getting all of these extra perks just for booking through an eligible travel advisor. Ford is happy to help book Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner, and can be reached at [email protected].

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale location

The Four Seasons is located on North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, which is one of the main streets along the water in Fort Lauderdale, with endless hotels, restaurants, and other entertainment. If you’re more familiar with Miami, think of it as Fort Lauderdale’s version of Collins Avenue.

The Four Seasons has a striking and modern exterior. The building has 22 floors, and that includes both the hotel and residences.

People will of course have vastly different opinions on the pros and cons of Fort Lauderdale vs. Miami. Some people love to visit Miami, others love to visit Fort Lauderdale, and others love both. The Miami area also has two Four Seasons properties — one in Miami Brickell, and the other in Surfside.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale lobby & check-in

The Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale has a gorgeous lobby. It has some elements that remind you that you’re at the beach (like the huge piece of art in the lobby), but I appreciate that the lobby is much more elegant than you’d usually find at a beach resort. The lobby has high ceilings, and plenty of seating.

As is standard at Four Seasons properties, there was complimentary coffee in the lobby each morning, which is a feature I really appreciate.

Our check-in experience was efficient and friendly. We were welcomed by Alexander, the front office manager, who couldn’t have been nicer. Within a few minutes we had keys to our rooms. We were also given a pamphlet highlighting the hours for many of the on-property outlets, plus some of the activities that the hotel offers.

Once check-in was complete, we were brought to the elevators. We were asked if we wanted to be brought to our rooms, but that wasn’t necessary.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale Prime Lauderdale-View Suite

We had requested two connecting rooms, since we were traveling as a family. We were generously upgraded to a Prime Lauderdale-View Suite for one room, and the other room was a standard Lauderdale-View King Room. We were assigned rooms 815 and 817, both located on the eighth floor. The hotel’s hallways are elegant, with a cool striped blue carpet, and nice wall treatments.

We appreciated that the two rooms were behind a second door, so we could keep the doors between the two rooms open.

The suite is marketed as being 708 square feet, and has a great layout. There’s a long entryway leading into the living room.

The living room featured a sofa, a chair, and a coffee table, plus a desk by the window, and a wall-mounted TV.

Also in the living room was the minibar, featuring a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase, plus a Nespresso coffee machine and kettle.

Waiting on the desk was a lovely welcome amenity, consisting of a bottle of Moet champagne, plus some chocolates.

There was a balcony off the living room, featuring a loveseat and table. The room had a gorgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean, and it was especially pretty in the mornings during sunrise.

There was then a door leading to the bedroom, which had a comfortable signature Four Seasons bed, which I find to be the best hotel bed out there.

The bedroom also had a TV on a stand in the corner of the room.

There was a second balcony off the bedroom, with a dining table that had two chairs. This balcony had more of a view inland.

The bathroom was off the bedroom, and had double sinks, a soaking tub, a huge walk-in shower, and a toilet in a partitioned off room.

Amenities were from Le Labo, and were in reusable bottles.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale Lauderdale-View Room

Our second room was a Lauderdale-View King Room, which is the hotel’s standard accommodation. Standard rooms here are generously sized, and range anywhere from 439 to 675 square feet. This room also had quite a long entryway, almost identical to the suite.

The room had a king size bed, a table with a chair, a desk with a chair, and then a wall-mounted TV.

Four Seasons has some pretty awesome amenities for babies!

The room also had an impressive bathroom, with double sinks, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.

This room had a balcony with a dining table and two chairs. From here there was a view looking inland.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale pools

Most of the Four Seasons’ amenities are on the third floor. First let’s take a look at the ocean sun deck, which is where the hotel’s two pools are located.

The hotel did a great job utilizing this space well. The deck has two pools. One pool is curved, while the other pool is rectangular, and probably better for those looking to swim laps.

There’s tons of seating on the pool deck, whether you want a daybed, couch, or cabana.

The pool also has great views of the beach and ocean, especially around sunrise. The entire pool deck is shaped like the bow of a ship, with the smallest portion facing the ocean — I thought that was pretty cool.

As is standard at Four Seasons, there was plenty of complimentary sunscreen available — I appreciate how Four Seasons doesn’t nickel-and-dime for that, unlike so many other hotels.

As you’d expect, there’s plenty of food & drink service at the pool. Drinks are served from 10AM until 5PM (menu here), while food is served from 11AM until 5PM (menu here).

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale beach

The Four Seasons is right across the street from the beach. No hotels on North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard are directly beachfront, since the street is what separates the beach from all the developments. If you’re a big beach person that’s something to keep in mind, and might be a reason to consider a hotel in Miami instead.

The Four Seasons still has a great beach setup, with chairs and umbrellas being included for hotel guests.

Unfortunately there was quite a bit of seaweed on the beach during our visit, which I’ve found to be a consistent issue just about everywhere I’ve visited recently.

The Four Seasons staff at the beach were incredibly friendly, and would distribute complimentary water, snacks, misting bottles, etc.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale gym

The Four Seasons has an excellent gym on the third floor. Four Seasons has a consistent emphasis on great gyms, and this property is no exception. From Pelotons, to StairMasters, to free weights, to a yoga room, this gym had it all.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale spa & salon

The Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale has a large spa on the third floor, open daily from 9:30AM until 7PM. The spa has beautiful treatment rooms, a sauna and steam room, a relaxation room, and more. You can find the spa services menu here.

The Four Seasons also has a salon that’s open daily from 10AM until 7PM, for hair and nail treatments.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale Evelyn’s Restaurant & Bar

Evelyn’s Fort Lauderdale is the Four Seasons’ signature restaurant, and it’s open daily for breakfast (7:30AM until 11AM), lunch (11:30AM until 2:30PM), and dinner (5:30PM until 9:30PM). I can’t state this clearly enough — this is an exceptionally good restaurant, and you should eat here if you’re in the area, regardless of whether or not you’re staying at the hotel (just make sure you make a reservation in advance).

Even weeks later I’m still thinking about the dining experience here, and it’s one of my top five Florida dining experiences ever (and I’ve lived in Florida for a long time). What makes this place so special is the food (which is beyond delicious), the presentation (which is imaginative), and the service (this is a restaurant where everyone is clearly passionate about what they do).

The restaurant itself is quite nice, with a lovely bar, and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating (I took the below pictures first thing in the morning, as this restaurant was packed during dinner, mostly with locals).

The food at Evelyn’s is described as being “coastal Florida cuisine meets Eastern Mediterranean flavors,” which piqued my interest. The menu here is constantly changing, but below is what the menu looked like during our visit.

It’s not just the food that’s imaginative, but also the cocktails.

To drink we ordered the 1919 and Planation Punch.

As far as food goes, to start we ordered some truffle hummus with mushrooms, as our server highly recommended it.

Next up we had the yellowfin tuna “nayeh,” with puffed bulgar, pickled vegetables, and gem lettuce.

We really went to town, and then had a za’atar kale caesar, with baby gem, croutons, pine nuts, and pecorino.

For our main course we shared the grilled whole branzino, which was prepared table side. This came with two sides, and we selected the batata harra and spiced cauliflower couscous.

While we were full at this point, the dessert options sounded good enough that I decided we had to order something. We decided on the cardamom donuts with rose syrup and vanilla diplomat.

Honestly, eat at Evelyn’s if you can. You won’t regret it. This was an indescribably good meal.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale breakfast

The Four Seasons serves breakfast at Evelyn’s, or if you booked with Preferred Partner you can also order room service at no extra cost. You can find the breakfast menu below.

The drink selection was excellent, ranging from matcha lattes, to cappuccinos, to cold brews.

I appreciate that the breakfast menu maintains some of the Middle Eastern flair of Evelyn’s. We tried the shakshuka, avocado toast, and omelet, and all were excellent.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale Honey Fitz

Honey Fitz is the Four Seasons’ all-day lounge, located just off the lobby. It almost feels like a little cafe, and it has both indoor and outdoor seating. It’s open daily from 7AM until 9:30PM, so it’s great whether you want to grab a cappuccino in the morning, or a cocktail in the evening. You can find the morning menu here, and find the all-day menu here.

We came here our first evening for a drink — I appreciated that the cocktails here were creative, yet different than at Evelyn’s.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale street-level restaurant

As of now, the Four Seasons’ dining options include Evelyn’s, Honey Fitz, in-room dining, and poolside dining. It’s worth noting that the hotel will be opening a second destination restaurant just off the lobby, and it’s expected to open in 2023. It’s anyone’s guess what this will be, but the space for this is already clearly allocated.

Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale service

I’ve lived in South Florida for years, and the reality is that good service can be tough to come by. Fortunately this is another area where Four Seasons nailed it — the service at the Fort Lauderdale property is phenomenal. Every single person we interacted with, from the front office staff, to the pool and beach attendants, to the servers in the restaurant, were genuinely eager to make sure every guest had a great stay.

Four Seasons consistently impresses me with hiring people with personality and keeping them happy, and this property is no exception.

Bottom line

The Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale is an excellent addition to the South Florida luxury hotel scene. The hotel is beautifully designed, has an exceptional signature restaurant, has friendly and professional service, and has solid amenities.

If you’re a fan of Fort Lauderdale and can swing it, I highly recommend the Four Seasons.

If you’ve stayed at Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, what was your experience like?

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