I have stayed both in Dania beach & Hollywood FL instead of near the cruise port on several occasions. The hotels were not good and cost me under 300. I wont do it again. I want to start my vacay out on the right foot. I say splurge a bit if you can on this one. Your sleep will thank you and so will your mind. You will be in a cleaner, safer place and hopefully without too much filth and bugs and you wont be "stuck" and out of the nice area where tourist things like restaurants, liquor stores, coffee shops etc prevail. The others sound tempting as many offer shuttle services along with the stay. Dont be fooled. These places can be terrible in sketchy places with literally nothing to do and in a terrible run down condition. DOnt even get me started on that. Err on the side of safety & peace of mind. Traveled to FLL for years now. Embassy suites and Hilton Marina are decent (not terrific) hotels by the port. Terrific will cost you an arm and a leg. Still expensive though. Brace yourself. Been there and done that and learned valuable lessons. Good Luck!
