When looking at southern Florida at iconic places, The Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood, Curio Collection by Hilton must be considered. Even though the property has been remodeled and under a handful of names since the late 1950’s, it has been known as THE high end luxurious beach resort ever since its first iteration. The location is half way between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, but there’s no half way anything here when it comes to hospitality, thoughtful staff, dining, and resort amenities.

Why Here?

Voted a Top-10 Florida Resort by Condé Nast Traveler Readers, The Diplomat commands a presence on one of the most desirable spans of beach in South Florida. The indoor-outdoor lobby bar, its multiple culinary offerings, along with the outdoor space that will rival any Caribbean resort offering with its two sun-drenched pools, The Diplomat is a resort to experience. An ultramodern spa is there to pamper and there are some things for the younger guests / kids to enjoy as part of the Ocean Ambassador’s Kids’ Club along with the Dip+Slide water play area.

Some other great points about The Diplomat:

LGBT Chamber Member
Miles from FLL Airport = 9.8
Miles to Broward Convention Center = 10.5
Miles to the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk = 1
Total Number of Suites/Condos = 96
Total Number of Units = 1000

The First Bullet is the Best

It’s a massive resort and has a massive presence business-wise, too. The attached Convention Center and meeting space, it’s the largest beach front convention space in North America. So to have The Diplomat as a member of the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and it’s also a Corporate Partner (see www.gogayfortlauderdale.com), there’s no wonder many LGBTQ national conferences have been held here. Orbitz also recommends The Diplomat as one of its LGBTQ Welcoming Hotels in Hollywood, FL.

My Stay – Survey Says?

I’ll cut to the chase. I had such a mix of emotions while here and all of them good. What I loved about The Diplomat is that you could pick your passion.

Do you want an elite food experience that will have your mouth watering every time you think about it? CHECK. My meal at the Diplomat Prime was one I still think of often, the Carrot Bisque, Wagyu Filet, and the Beet Risotto, oh my, that Beet Risotto, I would eat that every day. The whole meal I would eat every day, but that risotto could go with anything. The staff was so pleasant to be around as I enjoyed my meal while sitting at the bar. The evening was a treat.

Do you want that poolside and beach experience that brings you back to that Caribbean getaway? Check. I forgot I was in the US at a resort as the chill environment poolside and beachside were just so relaxed and Caribbean resort like, I wanted to forget my laptop was up on the 33rd floor waiting for me to do some evening emails.

Do you desire the simplicity of stocking up on hotel room goodies? CHECK. When you get to the hotel room and raiding the minibar is not your thing and getting back into the car and going to some grocery store somewhere is just not appealing, The Diplomat helped you avoid that negativity as they have The Canteen and the Counter Point to offer a multitude of items to keep you from raiding or leaving.

Do you want a lobby experience that is elegant, unique, and still relaxed that transports you somewhere else? CHECK. Make sure to look at the freeze-dried palm trees and the Mexican hand crafted mermaid tiles as well as the other decorations, furniture pieces and art that came from 43 separate vendors to help curate the main lobby and internal boardwalk area.

Do you desire a staff that is fun, caring, and wonderfully accommodating? CHECK. Hospitality is full of the gays! I met so many great staff members (straight ones, too) that I just enjoyed chatting with about their careers, the respect The Diplomat gives them and how they are treated as employees.

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Why There – Another Reason

I live in southern Florida, and being here, we know which venues are ones that “our kind” can go to, feel welcome, and know that those businesses understand and support us. Thanks again Diplomat Beach Resort for being a great get away, staycation, recharging point. I shall return, if for anything, that Beet Risotto.

And as a Florida resident, I will be looking for more venues like this to highlight. We need to make sure businesses that are LGBTQ+ owned and ones that are supportive of our community are highlighted. We all need to make sure these businesses stay open and active and support the ones that support us and don’t forget about us. They as well need to be visible in their support and not “wait for this to all blow over.” Did we boycott NYC when Stonewall occurred? No, we marched and fought. We needed to have a presence, be seen, be visible, and that does not change in any battle ground state, city in 2023.

I’ll be visiting the Florida Out Coast Convention (FLOCC) at the beginning of August and hope to meet many more businesses that are not afraid to say they are LGBTQ+ owned or are a strong ally with out community.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA OUT COAST CONVENTION

The Florida Out Coast Convention (FLOCC) will launch in 2023 as the first and only conference focused on the Florida LGBTQ tourism industry.

There is no denying that it is a critical time in Florida for LGBTQ community members and travelers. Given that travel advisories are on the minds of tourism leaders throughout the country, especially in Florida, there is no better time to FLOCC together. Never before has there been a space for Florida’s tourism and LGBTQ leaders to come together to learn, network and collaborate.

If you’re in the business like I am, I hope to see you there.

Thanks again goes to all that were part of making my getaway to Hollywood and The Diplomat Beach Resort be flawless, carefree, relaxing, and very very memorable. Here’s some of the pics of the resort. If you want to get a better feel of the resort, head over to the resort’s Restaurant & Bars page and scroll down to the bottom to the interactive 360 Virtual Tour. I loved it!

After the Gallery below, I’ve also included some history of the beach resort I found fascinating.

History for you Buffs

The Diplomat is iconic. For those that desire some more history of the beach resort and how it helped to form Hollywood, here’s some fun timeline facts to ingest.

In the Middle of Nowhere? That’s Good!

Travelers to Miami in the early days of the city’s growth as a grand destination desired to have it all, luxury, opulence, excitement, but yet, something different, secluded, elite and private. Miami was a great destination, but something just outside the city limits but still possessing the amenities of a true luxury resort was what the stars desired.

The property had its first hotel built on it in 1953, the 150-room Envoy, and was erected by Samuel Friedland, the founder of the Food Fair / Pantry Pride supermarket chain. It was the only hotel in its time that was located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Its magnificent location right on the Atlantic coast helped it to thrive and in 1958, the hotel had grown to 370 rooms and by then renamed The Diplomat.

The resort is no longer in the middle of nowhere as it is situated just 25 minutes door-to-door from either Miami (MIA) or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) International Airports makes arriving at The Diplomat a breeze. And the hotel is in the middle of somewhere. It makes for a great location of staycationers from MIA or FLL or for someone looking to have a hub to explore the best of southern Florida.

Star Power

Stars like Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and other Rat Pack members, Bob Hope, Elvis, they all flew to southern Florida and stayed and even performed at The Diplomat. Sinatra actually came out of retirement in 1974 to do a New Year’s Eve show at The Diplomat (his take was $200,000 for an hour-long performance). Hollywood, California loved Hollywood, Florida and helped make the resort what it would become today. Others that helped put The Diplomat on the map were Bing Crosby, Xavier Cugat, Milton Berle, Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Lena Horne, Joan Rivers, Jay Leno, and Billy Crystal. Lawrence Welk and Jackie Gleason filmed episodes of their shows from the resort.

And yes, even the new stars come to The Diplomat. Rick Ross, Chris Evans, Seattle Kraken hockey team, Evander Hollyfield, Tom Brady. Film crews and foreign dignitaries will often rent out whole floors of The Diplomat as the vertically stacked design allows for easy flow control.

It wasn’t just Hollywood, CA that visited Hollywood, FL, but DC, too. Every president has been to The Diplomat since 1958 and since Harry Truman in 1974 has addressed labor unions at the hotel.

500 Pounds to Start Anew

The late 1990’s found the resort ready to start fresh. With 500 pounds of dynamite, the resort was imploded in April of 1998 and a fresh structure emerged just a few years later. In January 2002, the 39-story completely new structure opened as the tallest and most expensive building in Broward County. All rooms offer views of either the ocean or the Intracoastal Waterways.

But that was not the end of the redesign. 2016-2017 found the resort going through a complete redesign. Out of the $90 million redesign bill, $1 million was for art work / sculptures alone to help upgrade the hotel from the turn of the century design, which with its multiple lobby waterfalls, many described it to be “mall-like.” I was smiling as I touched the freeze-dried palm trees in the expansive lobby area. Every room has a shower and a high-end bathtub, the wallpaper and paint is anti-microbial and anti-bacterial) so needed in any Florida / Caribbean resort. Oceanview rooms are designed with sunrise color palettes and hues while the rooms facing the intracoastal have sunset hues throughout.

Never Done Evolving

There’s more in store for The Diplomat Beach Resort. From The Envoy to the present day flagship status of the Curio Collection by Hilton, this lodging offering has kept rolling with the changes while continuing to be at the top of the resort and hospitality game. We were told to stay tuned for some more exciting news coming soon. We will always keep this grand location on our list of places to enjoy in southern Florida

The Diplomat & Its Historic Hollywood Past Shines Thru In Present Day