My Love Affair with Atriums:

Sheraton Suites – Ft. Lauderdale

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In April 2021, I took my first trip to Mobile, Alabama. In my article on the Battle House Hotel (read that article here), I talked about my soft spot for glass atriums. Well, fast-forward to winter 2021 and our stay in Ft. Lauderdale. We were trying a new hotel and weren’t sure what to expect. What we found the Sheraton Suites Ft. Lauderdale Cypress Creek is a property that was probably an Embassy Suites in another life. They are distinctive and you know them when you see them. They are distinguished by a giant atrium. In this case, it was an eight-story atrium, indoor courtyard and a waterfall.

The History of the Atrium

According to my research, American architects actually pioneered this style of building design. Who knew? Here is a fascinating article from Bloomberg (How the American Atrium Hotel Became a Global Icon – Bloomberg) on the good, the bad and the ugly of atrium building design. Even if you don’t read the whole thing, it is worth a few minutes of your time to read the first half.

First of all, at the Sheraton Suites, every room is a petite suite with a living room, microwave, fridge, small prep sink, and a separate bedroom. Since I work online at 4:30am, having a separate room to work in without having to go all the way to the lobby is huge for me. If a hotel can provide me that, I will be MUCH more likely to return.

Secondly, the other thing that makes me want to return to any hotel is competent, friendly, efficient staff. Sheraton Suites in Ft. Lauderdale has this too. His name is Edlyn L. and he is the Front Desk Manager. Incredibly, Edlyn never seemed to take a day off. I saw him in the mornings. I saw him at night. I saw him on weekends. I saw him on weekdays. He knew every answer to every question I asked. In fact, the only time I saw him leave the front desk was when he came over to the business center (without being asked) to help me with a printer issue when he saw me struggling. Thank you, Edlyn. You’re a rock star.

Parking

This hotel gets a smile from me because there is plenty of free parking onsite. There is no valet service, but the lot is not huge so that’s not necessary anyway (at least not for me). We never had a problem finding a space close to the building.

Lobby and Restaurant

While there is one small section of traditional lobby space with the registration desk, sofas, a television and a couple of computers of guests, I think of the entire atrium as the lobby too. This is a fabulous space day or night. During the day, you can feel like you are outside and still beat the tropical heat of South Florida. Stroll along the little pathways, pause by the waterfall, or cross the little footbridge and it is like visiting a miniature botanical gardens. At night, “streetlamps” light the way. There is something strangely relaxing about watching from an upper floor railing as the lighted glass elevators glide up and down.

Terrace 555 is their lobby restaurant. We only tried it for breakfast, so I can’t be very thorough with my review. This was one area where it appeared the pandemic has taken its toll. They were short-staffed and some of the food was intended for efficiency (frozen hash brown patties) rather than for impressing guests. There was a bit of inconsistency too. One morning we received two hash browns but, every other morning, we received one. The available juices weren’t always the same and that sort of thing. I should stress these are minor issues. First world problems, if you will. Our breakfasts functioned as fuel for our day and, though not gourmet, did the trick.

Fitness Center The Sheraton Suites fitness center was nice and roomy. In addition to five treadmills, four ellipticals and a couple of bikes, there was plenty of open space to stretch or do other floor exercises without worrying about someone stepping off a treadmill onto your head. There is also a set of dumbbells and a universal. A few extra bells and whistles would have been nice, for example, balls, bands or kettlebells, but what is there did the trick.

Pool Area

The pool area is quite beautiful. If a visitor isn’t from Florida, lounging at the pool will certainly remind them of where they are, as the deck is lushly landscaped with palm trees and tropical plants of all kinds. All visitors will love how the gentle curves of the serpentine pool seem to flow across the deck. It is shaped a bit like the body of a guitar. It’s not a boring rectangular pool, that’s for sure.

Wi-Fi

I was able to connect to my clients overseas every morning at 4:30am from the comfort of my suite’s living room. Our room was up on the eighth floor (I don’t know if this has any bearing on the situation) and the connection was just fine each day. I know it seems like in the 21st century this would be a given, but you’d be surprised, readers. One time in a major South Carolina city, I had to use my phone as a hotspot because the hotel wi-fi was such as disaster and one time in Georgia the hotel was changing their wi-fi system and had absolutely no wi-fi at all for 2 days during the upgrade process.

Note for my Event Planner Colleagues

For all my readers who still work in the event planning industry, I wanted you to be aware that this cool property also has six breakout rooms that together total over 13,000 square feet of event space. If planners combine the largest spaces for a standing reception the capacity is 300 people. However, there are lots of combinations for smaller events available too.

The property has a full complement of services available for event hosts, including a/v services, catering, a portable stage and more. Obviously, the international germs are keeping things in flux, so if there are specific services or elements that are critical to your program, I suggest you ask about those right up front to be sure they are something the Sheraton can currently accommodate.

Here’s the good news and the simultaneous bad news: I don’t have photos of their event spaces because the entire time I stayed there, the rooms were booked with events! I’m sorry. I know that’s bad news for readers, but that’s a great sign for the industry. This property is only 7 miles from Ft. Lauderdale airport, so as your organization begins to plan for future face-to-face events, here is a cool property for you to consider.

The Sheraton Suites Ft. Lauderdale Cypress Creek might not have been on your radar before for either business travel or leisure travel. However, lounging by that lovely pool or reading a book in the tropical eight-story atrium can make the world feel far away. Pandemic? What pandemic?