B Ocean Fort Lauderdale, an affordable luxury hotel on the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and A1A has been open since January 2011 so lets just say they’ve had 60 days to work through and work out the kinks for their Grand Opening hoo-haa weekend, and what a party it has been. I was invited to be an overnight guest at the hotel and attend Thursday night’s Grand Opening party as well as take part in some of the other Grand Opening activities. The amusing ode about the continuous play on the first consonant B is that it really is a catchy little repartee everyone seems to get in on once immersed in the B culture, which by the way doesn’t take long; I wasn’t checked in five minutes and had already joined the B banter society, and by the way it gets even more amusing once you start sipping from the B bottle. B is anything you want it to be. B relaxed. B happy. B business. B chill. B away. B yourself. Just a quick 24 hour whirlwind visit to B Ocean and I’ll tell you I’ll B back for more (see what I mean??)
Now of course it was the Grand Opening and they spared what appeared to be no expense and rolled out the B blue ocean carpet for each and every guest. So yes it was pretty damn fantastic. Too good? Too spot on to be every day business? I don’t think so. You know when people are genuine or not, if the food is quality or not, if the service is consistent or not. Here’s the thing whenever I’m involved there’s always something. Always. I was late and didn’t have any cash. I couldn’t get the phone in the room to work (it’s very high tech, you need a Bachelor’s in computer science to figure it out) I wasn’t confirmed at a function. The hem on my dress fell, I could go on….and not with one mishap did a team member at B Ocean miss a beat in taking care of my situation with a “can-do” attitude and a smile even at 6:30am after working the Grand Opening party the night before. Jokingly, Christopher Tompkin Vice President of Branding for B Hotels & Resorts said, ”it’s B-washing”.
So much happened within the 24 hours I was there I cannot possibly put it all into words in one cohesive article or this post will drag on for days; so I’ve decided to write residual articles on SAIA, Chef Holli and my conversations with a few employees at a later time giving each their due.
The hotel lobby just B-fore the big event
The B-eautiful room with a view!
Everything about the guest rooms is white, light and bright with clean mod furnishings. But that bed…it’s called the Blissful Bed which is signature to B Ocean, it was like sleeping on a fluffy cloud. No one would ever mistake me for one with sloth-like tendencies but that Blissful Bed…I could have stayed there all day! I purposely did not close the drapes so the sun rising out of the ocean would be my wake up call. It was definitely something special.
The B Pool just before the party
the guests begin to arrive
B-eautiful models, just B-ing
B-licious food
Synchronized Swimmers were part of the unique entertainment at the Grand Opening
as was an accordian player
and what’s a party without B-eautiful flower arrangements
b’stro charcuterie
B’s b’stro.
I have an affinity for ocean/water view venues and you get exactly that at b’stro as well as an affordable menu, which quite frankly surprised me. One would think one would be price gouged at an ocean front hotel. The B Team has made quite an obvious effort to serve quality at reasonable prices. I indulged in breakfast, afternoon snack and wine bar, sampling pretty much every item on their charcuterie and cheese board and I’ll say they have a nice selection with equally good choices of wine housed in a temperature-controlled enomatic system and pretty great selection of craft beers. This casual eatery has amenable prices and a nice selection of casual fare.
How fun is this??
Chef Holli making her one of her Signature b’stro dishes
Warm Frisee Salad with Panko Crusted Egg
Celebrity Chef Holli Ugalde, winner of Season 7 of Hell’s Kitchen is the hotel’s Signature Chef and has created a collection of dishes unique to B Ocean Fort Lauderdale.
SAIA, B Ocean’s signature sushi teppanyaki restaurant
With a view like this how can you not just B.
B Ocean Fort Lauderdale 999 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard Fort Lauderdale 954.564.1000
