Pelican Grand Beach Resort

I got married here recently and I honestly cannot recommend the Pelican for your wedding. There were too many mistakes made for the price point these people want to sell it to you for. The location is stunning, especially if you get married on the beach. The new terrace and the ballroom were also nice. However, here are the mishaps and miscommunications that led up to our big day: We were never told that the cake tasting needed to be booked separately. We had to pay the vendors $150 to ship it out to us after traveling to Florida. We were never told that they do not provide the altars. I had to ask a few days before the wedding if the altar would be provided and they said no. I had told them months in advance that we were going to diy our florals and decorations and it was never mentioned then either. They also tried to charge us an additional $900 because they apparently didn't account for it when we finished paying everything off. They tried to charge us the $900 before even asking us as well. On the day of the wedding, all of our steaks were overcooked. My plate was entirely cold and my steak was not edible. My guests complained of the same issue. Our food was definitely sitting out for a while. My room was not up to par for the price they wanted to charge me for. Our toilet paper holder was falling off the wall and some of the furniture was rusting. They had the audacity to want to charge me and my guests $600 a night. Here comes the best part: our suite for the night of the wedding was NEVER CLEANED. We were allegedly supposed to have rose pedals leading to our bed, fresh sheets and towels and a bottle of champagne. We never got that and our room was a disgusting. The vendors ate in our room and left trash on our furniture and I had food stains on my sheets. I called the front desk at 12:30 am and they didn't even respond to me. My husband and I were so exhausted that we just went to bed anyway. Another wedding was booked on the day of our wedding and they wanted to do a beach ceremony right next to us. This wasn't disclosed to us when we had initially booked. It definitely felt like we were treated like an afterthought because our wedding wasn't large and extravagant like the other couples who book this venue. The wedding was still beautiful despite the mishaps and it could've been worse. But there are a ton of other hotels in the area that could do the same. For the price we paid, these mistakes should not have happened. For this reason, I do not recommend.

Pelican Grand has great potential, which is why we fell in love with it as our top wedding venue choice. However, an ideal wedding venue in South Florida during the August heat, includes air conditioning. The facility’s air conditioning was not equipped to stay below 78 degrees, including the guest rooms and ballrooms, which made the experience very uncomfortable for everyone involved. To add to the discomfort, the venue’s water was shut off from 10 am-3 pm on our wedding day. While these inconveniences seemed to be out of the venue’s control, we were disappointed to arrive to only one of the two guest elevators operating. When we had toured the venue three months prior, one of the elevators was out of order but we were assured that this was a rare incident. Thankfully our wedding was on a Tuesday so we did not have to deal with the overflow elevator traffic of weekend guests. When attempts were made to send complimentary items such as champagne, fruit, etc. they failed to be delivered to our correct room. Staff tried to put these reoccurring fires out, but needless to say this was not the experience that we invested tens of thousands of dollars on.

The venue is absolutely gorgeous! Shelley helped us out most the time, and then Alivia stepped in towards the end. Shelley is hard to get in contact with most the time. But Alivia was on top of her game and would always get back to us very quickly. Both Shelley and Alivia were so helpful and kind. Thank you again for everything! We were very happy with our venue choice. All the food came out amazing and the guests loved it!

My husband and I were married at the Pelican Grand Beach Resort on 2/5/22. This has to be the most beautiful and majestic venue in Fort Lauderdale. Our ceremony and cocktail hour were on the rooftop with breathtaking ocean views followed by our reception in the oceanview ballroom with floor to ceiling windows of the ocean. Everyone is still in awe with how beautiful the setting was. We were also extremely pleased with the food which was amazing. We had the pleasure to work with Shelley in booking the event and then Janira made it all happen. Both ladies were fantastic to work with and helped us execute the wedding day of our dreams. We were able to stay in an oceanview suite for a few days with our wedding night being complementary. Wow what a room with another amazing view. It was very hard to leave. Our guests enjoyed all the resort amenities and loved dining on the veranda. Can’t wait to return and hope to celebrate our anniversaries there moving forward!

I was so excited to start planning my wedding here. Unfortunately when we inquired about the planning process, the young lady who was in contact with us was extremely rude. She made us feel as if we were just “another wedding”. She was rude to my mother for asking questions. She was not accommodating at all nor did she care to be. I do wish we had a different experience, but unfortunately I do not want someone with that attitude handling my special day.

We were sold on the Pelican Grand as our wedding venue the first time we toured. We wanted to get married on the beach, cocktail hour on the terrace and brunch reception in the ballroom. It was exactly what we imagined for our wedding day. After a year and a half planning, a few different coordinators and COVID-19, we finally got our rescheduled dream wedding on 9/19/20. Janira was absolutely amazing. Extremely organized, prepared and always had a backup plan for any covid restrictions. Our wedding went off without a hitch and we stayed at the hotel for 3 days after the wedding and relaxed!

Ocean view ballroom and terrace at the Pelican Grand Beach Resort is the best place to have your wedding. It's right in front of the ocean and the ballrooms are so beautiful.

WARNING: DO NOT BOOK YOUR WEDDING HERE!!!! It is three weeks before my wedding and I just got off the phone with the wedding coordinator, Angie, who was not only a half hour late in calling me per our scheduled time, but also informed me that there is going to be a second wedding at 5:45PM on the beach as I am supposed to be taking my photos from my 5PM wedding. She wanted me to change my cocktail hour on the veranda to another space so that it didn't interrupt the other couple's wedding. At the original walk through sales pitch, I was told specifically that what made this venue so great was that since it was a boutique hotel, I would be the only bride there during the time when my guests where there. The original coordinator, Janeth, had told me that while the may book a second wedding for the morning of my wedding, they would not book one for the evening. Angie tried to gaslight me by saying that a veranda cocktail hour was not something they do, however, it is specifically in my contract. Once I pointed that out, she moved on to tell me that my vendors where not allowed to bring anything more than 2 hours before. During my original walk through, Janeth had told me that the minimum set up time was 2 hours, but to just book my vendors as usual and then she works with them to make sure they have adequate time. I chose a vendor off their list and booked as usual. When Angie informed me that what I booked would not be allowed, I told her that we can handle it, that worse case scenerio they can store the chairs in my room. As Angie told me I would probably get charged an extra fee that she can't authorize, I told her that I had enough and needed to call back with the other parties involved. This isn't the first time this has happened since Janeth left. During the interim, with no message to let me know that the coordinator had changed, Melanie informed me that I would not be able to do the tasting I had previously discussed with Janeth. We had specifically taken time off work to fly down to Florida for an extended Thanksgiving to try the menu and make choices. Melanie also tried to gaslight me by telling me that they do not do tastings that far in advanced and we would only be able to try one meal off the menu. This was off course the opposite of what was discussed with Janeth. I offered to even pay for the extra meals, but was told even that was impossible. Things ended up being worked out when we sat down with Heidi the GM. I wish I had cancelled having my wedding back at the menu tasting fiasco! I felt then that I couldn't trust the people in charge of the wedding and that negative seeds had been sown. Now, I am stuck, three weeks out from my wedding, all invitations have been sent and all RSVPs returned with people who flip the script and can't keep a calendar. If Angie had informed me of this conflict at any point prior to posting my invitations, I could have changed the time of my ceremony. Annoying, but only for a second.

I'd like to start by saying the Pelican Grand is a gorgeous venue, probably the best in Fort Lauderdale. I'm happy with the look and feel of the hotel, as well as the food. The service however, was horrible. To start, they charged us twice for our wedding. We submitted final payment for the venue 10 days before our wedding, and the morning after our wedding we woke up to see a second, five-figure charge on our credit card. They chalked it up to be an "administrative mistake," however this mistake took days to rectify, affected our credit score, and made it difficult for us to use our credit card on our honeymoon. It was a giant headache and we are not pleased with the way this was handled. Secondly, almost all of our guests who stayed at the hotel were overcharged as well. Some were charged for extra nights, and others had miscellaneous charges applied to their account for no reason. This resulted in many of our guests getting comped nights, which worked out in the end, but created such a hassle to start the weekend. This is all on top of the regular wedding stress, and it put a damper on our wedding as a whole. I was embarrassed to have chosen the Pelican Grand as it caused my family and close friends so many problems. I was so thankful for them to come to the wedding, and I was apologizing all weekend. Overall, really, really poor service.

The top two things we were looking for in a venue when we started planning were bar and food. Well, the Pelican Grand delivered all of that and MUCH more. First, the hotel and rooms are BEAUTIFUL. When I went for the venue tour I almost cried it was so gorgeous. Second, you don't need a planner at all. The staff there made sure every moment was PERFECT. Third, our guests LOVED the food so much! We are complete foodies and every course was phenomenal! Cooked and seasoned perfectly. I wish we could relive the day over and over again, it was so amazing. Thank you so much Janeth and Chaz, we loved every second!

Everything was absolutely gorgeous! What a great idea to have a brunch ceremony!! Janeth was great!

Janeth, Olivia, Chaz and their teams went over and above for us all weekend! We could not be happier with our wedding celebration and Pelican Grand Beach Resort was truly the perfect venue for our ceremony and reception. Our entire experience was 5-star, from start to finish, and we didn't want to leave!! Can't wait to be back to celebrate our 1st anniversary!

We are writing this review to tell everyone and anyone about how our wedding, at The Pelican Grand, was the most amazing and wonderful experience we could have ever asked for. It exceeded all our expectations. The venue was beautiful, the staff were incredible, the food was delicious and the guests just had so much fun. We were booked to have the ceremony outside on the Oceanview Terrace, but at the last minute had to change to inside. While you may find this hard to believe, the torrential rain gave us a gift. The change in locations actually added to the extraordinary experience we and our guests enjoyed. The intimate setting of the Atlantic ballroom allowed our guests to hear and be a part of everything. The lack of the gazebo brought in the use of the hand-held chuppa which added a whole emotional piece to the ceremony for both myself and my husband and our guests. It also further included members of the wedding party who were asked to support the chuppa and in essence support us. We would not change one thing and could not have asked for better. Thank you, Janeth Alvarez, from the bottom of our hearts for your attention, your ability, and most of all your kind spirit. Janeth, you brought our dreams to life and we will forever be grateful to you and the Pelican Grand. The Futtermans

We had a perfect wedding at The Pelican Grand in December. It was all that we dreamed and more. We researched approximately thirty other places from Florida to Jamaica and decided on The Pelican Grand which was the best choice. The hotel was beautiful and one of the only hotels in south Florida that is directly on the beach. It was an intimate hotel and wedding. All of the recent renovations made it even better, including the recent ballroom and rooftop remodeling which we used for our cocktail hour and reception. It was wonderful to have the views of water and city of fort Lauderdale. Excellent. Everyone of our guests were impressed with the hotel, the staff, food, and rooms and are already planning to come back. Janeth and her staff were professional, flexible, organized and willing to work with us from timing, to costs, to decorations and coordinating the big day and weekend. Janeth's experience and advise were most helpful and ensuring our day was perfect. We can't thank her and the staff enough. We would definitely recommend it to anyone and be back there again. Thank you Pelican Grand.

From the moment that I arrived I was so happy that we had chosen the pelican for our venue. The staff was professional in every way and the resort was gorgeous. When it rained most of our wedding day Janeth was very helpful at helping me decide where to have the ceremony. We ultimately decided to move the ceremony indoors which I was at first disappointed about. However, when I walked down the aisle I was so impressed. My florist, Noel @ Medallion Occasion made it gorgeous and the hotel helped make the transition easy and I did not have to worry about any of it. My guests were more than impressed with the resort and truly had a great time!

I booked the Pelican 18 months before my wedding. It was amazingly beautiful! Janeth was the best to work with. I emailed her and within 24 hrs I had a response, communication is huge and her quick response to me made me so comfortable! Every one was so nice and attentive!!!

Having the Pelican Grand as our venue we had to use their in house catering and couldn't have been happier! The food the was great. All the guest raved about the filet mignon and the cheesecake! Servers were very friendly and accommodating. Only thing was that the food was cold. I noticed it for the hot appetizers and my entree as well (although it was quite windy and we had it outside so this may have been inevitable lol). But overall great choice of venue/caterer:)

I couldnt ask for more! The Grand Pelican staff is wonderful, great service, everyone made it a point to be very courteous and geniunly sweet (Which you cannot buy and or force) so it was very comforting to me to have held our wedding someone where the people where just to nice! Im still smiling. Janeth Alvarez, coordinator of Catering services was extremely helpful and a real asset to us in helping us out with major details, she brought to our attention many questions and things that really helped us achieve at the end our dream wedding. We had a very laid back, mid day brunch , fun and cool beach wedding. The wedding was perfect in mid January and the food was outstanding! The hospitality and the rooms were very clean, and were beautiful,after the wedding we enjoyed the restaurant, bar,pool and beach area. The views and the backdrops to all our wedding pictures were amazing! I highly recommend this venue for any gathering. We will be spending there our anniversaries to come. Thank you Janeth and All the staff at The Pelican Grand for making our wedding day a day to treasure for the rest of our lives! Michelle and Richard Campbell.

fantastic venue with amazing food. The on-site wedding coordinator was phenomenal. The bridal suite is gorgeous, the ice cream parlor is cute, and the roof top seremony space is breath taking. All of these provided an added backdrop for amazing photos

i absolutely loved my venue. I had my ceremony on the beach and I could hear the waves while I was getting married, just how I had imagined. My reception was facing the ocean, beautiful view. The Pelican made my special day beautiful

We had an amazing wedding at the Pelican. It was the perfect setting and a beautiful venue. the food was amazing and everything was almost perfect. The only hiccup was the event coordinate for the Pelican, Janeth, was horrible to work with. We did not have a wedding coordinator, so we had a lot of questions on details we needed to cover (only questions about what the pelican offered and didnt offer). She would look at us like we were stupid and didnt even know half of the answers. On the day of the wedding, it was very windy on the 11th floor and my father had to move most of the chairs himself and she just complained he was being difficult. she was rude and inconsiderate of our wedding. She did a pretty good job at making us feel like our wedding was just another day/dollar for her. Other than her, the experience was great. Chaz was extremely helpful and nice at the reception and made sure everything went great. a great place to have a wedding, just dont expect a pleasant event coordinator!

THE HOTEL IS A BEAUTIFUL VENUE FOR A TROPICAL WEDDING. THE STAFF IS THE BEST, VERY PROFESSIONAL THE FOOD IS BEYOND AMAZING

If you're a local in Ft. Lauderdale then you may want to spend your wedding night here. I absolutely loved this hotel - unfortunately it was out of my budget to have the wedding here however I decided to spend the wedding night and it was worth it. I recommend getting the Oceanfront King Suite because you get an amazing balcony with a beautiful view of the ocean. The bed is ridiculously comfy ;) and if you are up for it try to wake up and watch the sunrise rise because it really is an amazing site. I may spend a weekend here just to relax!

We had small but elegant sunrise wedding on the sand for my daughter. A delicious breakfast reception: the food is excellent! Then spent the next day an night around the pool and enjoyed the LAZY RIVER with family and new friends. In the evening we gathered on the veranda overlooking the Ocean. Sat in the rocking chairs and drank cocktails and watched the tide roll in. It's the wedding PERFECT Location on the sands of Fort Lauderdale beach!!!

Our wedding was on June 23, 2012. We had 80 guests travel from MA, NJ, NC, Alaska, Ireland, and Costa Rica. Everyone that stayed at this resort kept telling my new husband and I how beautiful the venue was, the staff was incredibly friendly, attentive, and made them feel personally valued because they greeted them by name! The wedding coordinator, Janeth Alvarez, was very professional and conscience of every detail to ensure my day was perfect. We used their Atlantic Pavillion for our reception and despite Tropical Storm Debby coming through, the Banquet Manager, Chaz, had his staff act fast and furious to seal the tent so not a beat was missed during our toasts and dances. This venue and staff made my wedding memorable for everyone who attended!!! I highly recommend this location for any bride that wants to do a destination wedding, because they will treat your guests like gold and keep your mind at ease when your planning from so far away!!!

My husband and I chose the Pelican Grand the same day we visited. It was the exact feeling we wanted for our beach wedding. At first, we had a few hiccups because of their previous wedding coordinator, but once Janeth came in and handled everything, it was smooth sailing. Janeth was amazing and worked hand in hand with us to make our day the perfect day we imagined. We had alot of family that stayed at the resort and not a single person had a negative thing to say. Everyone was so happy with how the ceremony and reception went and everyone's same thought was "simple yet elegant" which was exactly what we were going for! THANKS A MILLION JANETH!!! Cameron and Tiffany Oster

I got married at Pelican Grand on April 27th. My wedding was perfect. The ceremony was a beautiful location on the rooftop. Amazing view! The reception I also had on the roof and the catering service was very organized and did a great job. The wedding coordinator, Janeth, is excellent to work with and she did a great job. She is so organized and very helpful The reason I only gave 4 stars to Pelican is because the hotel wasn't that great. The same weekend our wedding there was a air show going on and the hotel refused to give my guests any more rooms so I had most of my guests stay at Il Lugano (very nice hotel). They also messed a lot of payment issues with my family and charging the wrong thing on credit cards Overall I think Pelican is a great place for a wedding, but I don't recommend guests stay here because it is over priced for what they provide

Had our wedding on the gazebo at the top of the hotel. It was absolutely gorgeous. Catering director was very helpful prior to and the day of.

I have nothing but positive things to say about this venue. Janeth, the coordinator, was ABSOLUTELY fantastic and made sure that the entire day was a total breeze. We met with Janeth many times prior to our wedding, as well as emailed a gazillion times, with a side of numerous phone calls. She was extremely pleasant every single time. She also helped with tips and ideas for some things we had no idea on. My mother and I didn’t hire a wedding coordinator and we did it all ourselves, and Janeth actually thought we were the planners at first! Janeth was there on the Sunday of the wedding, all the way until Chaz took over at the reception. Chaz was outstanding and made sure everything was smooth and perfect for the reception. He even forced me and my husband to eat! Which is a very good thing bc brides and grooms never wind up eating and oh boy were we starving! Not a single thing went wrong during the entire day at the Pelican Grand, well actually, the ENTIRE weekend was perfect! We had a total of 35 rooms at the hotel, and not one guest had an issue. The entire hotel staff was so friendly and pleasant.

All my guests were blown away by this hotel. Their rooms were amazing, and service is top notch. They also have a delicious sunday brunch!

From the food, to the service, to the atmosphere, to the planning...I could go on but let's just say "Thank you". Wedding planning is no joke. I laughed, I cried, I complained, I was ready to elope but then I thought about the venue and couldn't resist the charm. I knew, thanks to my new hubby, that this resort was the place for us to exchange our "I do's". It was a wonderfully, exciting day and the place itself is so very beautiful. I loved the towers overlooking the ocean where our cocktail, reception and room was located. I look at our pictures and see exactly what I imagined our day to look like. And did I mention the food? My guests still talk about the steak, cornbread and mahi mahi. Double D-licious! Thanks to Pelican Grand staff.

We had a wonderful tasting to select our appetizers & meals and were satisfied with some things but disappointed with others. On our wedding day... The macadamia nut crusted chicken with coconut gravy & Island Marinated Skirt Steak was AWESOME! Unfortunately, the 18 Thai Chili Salmon dinners came out as a Mahi Mahi that we did not like at the tasting! We had the chicken & steak but a good percentage of our guests that were looking forward to salmon were sorely disappointed. I am still awaiting someone to contact me from the hotel with an explanation as to what happened to the salmon. When guests arrived for the cocktail hour there was no food available and when the bride & groom arrived at the cocktail hour there was hardly any to be found either. My guests ended up ordering pizza to the room after the reception was over.

It was a beautiful setting and a wonderful weekend for us all.

Very Responsive to questions, beautiful Venue for Beach Wedding or Destination Wedding.