FLL in Feb - Hotel by beach or Las Olas Blvd?

[dance4fun]

One night pre-cruise in Ft Lauderdale near the end of Feb. Any feedback on whether to choose beach hotel or Las Olas blvd area? Willing to splurge, just got extra OBC. Will arrive mid morning and then depart noonish the following day. Mid 50s couple that likes to dance to 60-80s music. The draw for Las Olas seems to be a good restaurant / nightclub area. Seems interesting, we do like a lively crowd, wonder about rowdy street noise till daybreak on a Saturday night / Sunday am. Beach - upscale hotels, massages, walks on beach, is there a specific restaurant area on the beach where we can walk? Not planning on get a rental car.

 

Open for suggesting for nice restuarants (seafood or a good steak preferred)

 

Also, how available, reasonable are taxis or is there a beach trolley that operates in Feb?

 

Thanks for any feedback.

[manonreal]

I'm also cruising at the end of February so it would be nice to know....

[dance4fun]

I'm also cruising at the end of February so it would be nice to know....

 

According to weather.com average high in Feb is 77Deg F, average low is 60 deg F. Lowest low is 31; highest high is 94.

 

average 2.7 inches of rain.

[BlueHerons]

One night pre-cruise in Ft Lauderdale near the end of Feb. Any feedback on whether to choose beach hotel or Las Olas blvd area? Willing to splurge, just got extra OBC. Will arrive mid morning and then depart noonish the following day. Mid 50s couple that likes to dance to 60-80s music. The draw for Las Olas seems to be a good restaurant / nightclub area. Seems interesting, we do like a lively crowd, wonder about rowdy street noise till daybreak on a Saturday night / Sunday am. Beach - upscale hotels, massages, walks on beach, is there a specific restaurant area on the beach where we can walk? Not planning on get a rental car.

 

Open for suggesting for nice restuarants (seafood or a good steak preferred)

 

Also, how available, reasonable are taxis or is there a beach trolley that operates in Feb?

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

I would choose The Riverside Hotel on Las Olas. I think they have a beach shuttle and the location of the hotel is fantastic. February may or may not be beach weather.

[royalcruz]

Las Olas:The only full service Las Olas hotel is Riverside Hotel. Las Olas is not rowdy...it's pretty quiet after midnight. It is an upscale area with restaurants, but no nightclubs, and most of the patrons are 30s -50s. There are 2 bar/restaurants that have full bands for entertainment: Mangos and Smith & Jones. I'm not sure people dance there. A few other places have live entertainment, but quieter background music. I don't know anyplace where you can dance to 60s-80s music. Steak/seafood restaurants: Bova Prime, Timpano, Chima (1.5 miles east of the hotel), Morton's (a few blocks away on Broward Blvd), Johnny V's.

 

Beach:February can get chilly and windy. Lots of nice hotels: Westin, W, Ritz Carlton, Hilton, Atlantic, Marriott BeachPlace. Budget hotels: Marriott Courtyard, Bahia Mar. Marriott Harbor Beach (great restaurant 3030), and Lago Mar are taxi distance to anything. The hottest steakhouse is Steak954 in the W hotel, or you will find Truluck and Capital Grill at Galleria Mall less than 2 miles away. There is Shula's steakhouse in the Westin but I haven't heard anything about it.

 

Transport: usually people order taxis; if you stay in the local area figure under $10 each way. Trolleys run on weekends on Las Olas and beach.

 

I hope that helps.:)

[dance4fun]

I would choose The Riverside Hotel on Las Olas. I think they have a beach shuttle and the location of the hotel is fantastic. February may or may not be beach weather.

 

Riverside Hotel looks pretty nice. Should I stick with the tower or or the older and thus slightly less expensive rooms nice too? A whirlpool tub would be nice for my wife's back.

[dance4fun]

Las Olas:The only full service Las Olas hotel is Riverside Hotel. Las Olas is not rowdy...it's pretty quiet after midnight. It is an upscale area with restaurants, but no nightclubs, and most of the patrons are 30s -50s. There are 2 bar/restaurants that have full bands for entertainment: Mangos and Smith & Jones. I'm not sure people dance there. A few other places have live entertainment, but quieter background music. I don't know anyplace where you can dance to 60s-80s music. Steak/seafood restaurants: Bova Prime, Timpano, Chima (1.5 miles east of the hotel), Morton's (a few blocks away on Broward Blvd), Johnny V's.

 

Beach:February can get chilly and windy. Lots of nice hotels: Westin, W, Ritz Carlton, Hilton, Atlantic, Marriott BeachPlace. Budget hotels: Marriott Courtyard, Bahia Mar. Marriott Harbor Beach (great restaurant 3030), and Lago Mar are taxi distance to anything. The hottest steakhouse is Steak954 in the W hotel, or you will find Truluck and Capital Grill at Galleria Mall less than 2 miles away. There is Shula's steakhouse in the Westin but I haven't heard anything about it.

 

Transport: usually people order taxis; if you stay in the local area figure under $10 each way. Trolleys run on weekends on Las Olas and beach.

 

I hope that helps.:)

 

Both you and Blue Heron mentioned the Riverside Hotel. It does look nice. It's precruise package is about the same price as the Marriott Courtyard on Seabreeze (on the order of $230 for one night, different things included). Thanks for the info on the Trolley.

 

We have a sligth preference for Marriott (building those points). We might just keep watching the upper end hotels to see if they offer deals as we get closer to the trip date.

 

We were thinking about booking one of these two (Riverside or Courtyard) and spending more money on dinner vs booking the $300-400 rooms. If we stayed at the Courtyard, we were looking at lunch at Coconuts which appears to be across the street. Coconuts gets good ratings on TripAdvisor.

 

With respect to dining out, we are looking for places locals go. We can hit the chains like Morton's here.

 

Thnks for the suggestions above. If you want to give us more feedback, please do.

 

BTW RoyalCruz, we did Emerald Princess this summer and enjoyed her and are doing the Solstice the week after you. Our review of our Baltic Cruise on the Emerald is here

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=56851

[oncruisecontrol]

Riverside Hotel looks pretty nice. Should I stick with the tower or or the older and thus slightly less expensive rooms nice too? A whirlpool tub would be nice for my wife's back.

 

 

The Riverside hotel is a nice hotel, but it is an old hotel.....that is well maintained. I'd say that the building is at least 50 or 60 years old; but I'm sure there's been a few complete renovations since it was first built. The hotel is a sort of historic icon. The Las Olas company (which owns the hotel) owns practically everything (vacant land as well as commercial rentals) within a block radius of the hotel. I don't know if they have whirlpool tubs (especially in the older rooms) or not. That said, I would call the hotel 'somewhat upscale'. They do cater to a somewhat well-heeled clientele and it is located in a nice, scenic neighborhood with a few privately-owned boutiques and restaurants on the same street. The ambiance of Las Olas Blvd. is unique in Ft. Lauderdale. Your best bet would be to call and see if they have rooms with whirlpool tubs.

[royalcruz]

. If we stayed at the Courtyard, we were looking at lunch at Coconuts which appears to be across the street. Coconuts gets good ratings on TripAdvisor.

 

With respect to dining out, we are looking for places locals go. We can hit the chains like Morton's here.

 

BTW RoyalCruz, we did Emerald Princess this summer and enjoyed her and are doing the Solstice the week after you. Our review of our Baltic Cruise on the Emerald is here

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=56851

 

Coconuts is good, and yes, it is across the street from Courtyard. It is waterfront, and is mostly tourists and some locals. The menu is pretty limited but the food is good.

 

All of the places that I mentioned are places where locals go to eat. The only ones that are big chains are Morton's, Truluck, and Capital Grill. Las Olas is mostly locals, but there are visitors also. Anything on the beach is mostly tourists. If you are looking for a blue collar type of locals place, I can't help as much with that.

 

Thanks for the info on the Emerald.

[dance4fun]

Coconuts is good, and yes, it is across the street from Courtyard. It is waterfront, and is mostly tourists and some locals. The menu is pretty limited but the food is good.

 

All of the places that I mentioned are places where locals go to eat. The only ones that are big chains are Morton's, Truluck, and Capital Grill. Las Olas is mostly locals, but there are visitors also. Anything on the beach is mostly tourists. If you are looking for a blue collar type of locals place, I can't help as much with that.

 

Thanks for the info on the Emerald.

 

 

Seems to me that your picture changed....

 

No, not looking for blue collar places. But I probably will leave the tux packed for the ship's formal night :) My guess is that business casual or sports coat and slacks will get us into most places, if it is a tourist area.

[royalcruz]

Seems to me that your picture changed....

 

No, not looking for blue collar places. But I probably will leave the tux packed for the ship's formal night :) My guess is that business casual or sports coat and slacks will get us into most places, if it is a tourist area.

 

You can leave the sports coat home as well. There are very few places you can't wear jeans. But if you go to a steakhouse/decent restaurant on Las Olas Blvd, slacks and a nice shirt will be fine.

[dance4fun]

You can leave the sports coat home as well. There are very few places you can't wear jeans. But if you go to a steakhouse/decent restaurant on Las Olas Blvd, slacks and a nice shirt will be fine.

 

Sports coat will be along for the cruise anyway, might as well let it play in FLL.

 

"Decent" is the minimum bar for us. Tablecloths, candles, good food, some romantic music - now that's the sweet spot.

[BlueHerons]

Sports coat will be along for the cruise anyway, might as well let it play in FLL.

 

"Decent" is the minimum bar for us. Tablecloths, candles, good food, some romantic music - now that's the sweet spot.

 

For women you'll see a lot of jeans, heels, and dressy tops. For men, premium denim, a nice shirt, and good shoes.

 

Cafe Martorano, not on Las Olas but Oakland Park and A1A is my most favorite in FLL but $$$$ and packed.

 

I think we are going tonight!

[royalcruz]

Sports coat will be along for the cruise anyway, might as well let it play in FLL.

 

"Decent" is the minimum bar for us. Tablecloths, candles, good food, some romantic music - now that's the sweet spot.

 

If that is your minimum bar, I don't think you will like Coconuts. Better stick to Las Olas restaurants. The nice restaurants by the beach will be in the hotels: 3030, Steak 954, Cero, Trina.

[Gathina]

My facorite place for THAT is SeaWatch in Pompano Beach, but not real close to where you will be...I find that place to be more upscale, food excelent, and when you are in the dining room you think you are on the beach..very old place..they do have a website.

 

Sports coat will be along for the cruise anyway, might as well let it play in FLL.

 

"Decent" is the minimum bar for us. Tablecloths, candles, good food, some romantic music - now that's the sweet spot.

[Suzanne123]

Any idea of taxi fare for FLL airport to the Riverside and from the hotel to the pier?

 

Thanks.

[royalcruz]

About $20 for each trip.

[royalcruz]

Sports coat will be along for the cruise anyway, might as well let it play in FLL.

 

"Decent" is the minimum bar for us. Tablecloths, candles, good food, some romantic music - now that's the sweet spot.

 

You know, I just reread this post, and I think I misinterpreted it to mean that "decent" means tablecloth, etc. But now I think you meant that "decent" is the minimum, and tablecloths, etc, would be even better. So I didn't mean to say that Coconuts isn't decent, because it is quite decent by most standards. It is just really casual.

[Huey]

Just returned from Los Olas area - stayed at the Ritz Ft. Lauderdale. We loved Coconuts. It's casual, right on the intercoastal and the seafood is wonderful. Also fun is taking the water taxi to the 15th Street Fisheries. They have a casual outdoor/indoor restaurant with great seafood and live music, or a more upscale restaurant upstairs with tables at the windows. Yum.