Need Hotel Recommendation for FLL

[berbet]

Hi, this is my first post here on the boards. We will be taking our 1st cruise this winter, leaving from Fort Lauderdale. We plan to fly down the day before, probably arriving early afternoon. We've never been to Ft. Lauderdale before. I would like recommendations for a nice, clean hotel in a safe area. Preferably it would have an airport and Port Everglades shuttle. I would love to be on the beach, but don't want to spend a fortune. I don't want to use Priceline. I do have AAA. Any suggestions? :confused: I did read some positive posts about the Sleep Inn in Dania. AAA rate is $89.95 per night. I know it's closer to the airport than the beach. Will I be happy or disappointed there? Thanks in advance for helping this landlubber.

[sauvichick]

I am staying in downtown Fort Lauderdale 12/24 and 12/25 at Amerisuites. I friend of mine usually stays there or at the Oceanside Inn (Best Western). He recommended either. The BW wanted significantly more $ than Amerisuites but it is within a short walking distance to the beach. The AAA rate is not much less than the standard rate. Both offer breakfast and a shuttle. I booked Amerisuites on tripvalue.com for $79 (not incl 11% hotel tax) each a night. The BW wanted $147 (rack rate) AAA was a bit less. Check out the other threads-you'll get a lot of info re hotels in FL. I hope this helps

[cathyoo]

Hi Bicster, welcome to one of the friendliest boards around and welcome to the WONDERFUL world of cruising. Can't help with your hotel question as I too am looking for a decent hotel in Ft Lauderdale for a winter cruise.

 

My cruise is 2-12 on the Liberty. Where are you headed? Enjoy the anticipation, it is half the fun. You will find lots of helpful folks and gain very useful knowledge on this board.

[doone]

In the past few years, I have used priceline for my hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. Here are two web sites to read before using priceline: http://www.biddingforfun.com and http://www.biddingfortravel.com great web sites. Priceline is a site where you bid on hotel rooms. A hotel will accept your bid, once it does, your charge card is charged immediately, you cannot cancel your hotel reservation or change it. Now I know this sounds intimidating, but its great. If your bid is not accepted, you need to wait 72 hours before bidding again and don't worry, my bid has never been accepted the first time, so please don't be discouraged.

 

This is how I bid: 3* downtown Ft. Lauderdale and so far I have received the Marriott Hotel and Marina, once for $52 and this past March for $75, plus tax. I have also added the Beach Zone and received the Radisson, which was a nice hotel, a bit on the older side, but still very nice, for $100.

 

Don't be concerned with shuttles on hotels, everything in Ft. Lauderdale is very close and a cab ride is never more than $10 - $15. I would suggest you bid 3* downtown.

 

If you are too leary to use priceline, then check this web site out: http://www.valuetrips.com this will give you the Amerisuites, which I hear is a great spot for one night.

 

Hope this helps, any questions, please ask away.

[sharonb511]

I checked with Amerisuties through Valuetrips for a one night stay next January and got a reply that they were not taking reservations for 2006 until September. Anybody else have the same experience? :)

[Jim B]

We have a group staying at the Holiday Inn Express Convention Center

the night before our 12/27/05 cruise on Radisson Voyager.

they have free shuttle service from the airport, and it is right in the middle of some great places to eat.

[TheWog]

I, like you, was a little skeptical of Priceline. I researched using this board and the two suggested by Doone, as well as betterbidding.com, and ended up doing very well. Got a great property for a great price. www.pier66.com. Internet rate was $325.00 per night in January 05 and got it on PL for $95.00 (4* beach). You should at least explore the PL option. FLL is an easy city to learn PL for.

[cawhite]

I've been looking around for hotels for 2006 as well (only ours is Spring Break week). It's funny... Some hotels are not accepting reservations for next year until Aug. or Sept.... and other hotels are already completely booked for the dates we are interested in!! It seems there is very little "middle ground" with the popular hotels.

[Gala62]

There are a lot of threads regarding hotels in FLL, check those out first. If you are not interested in trying Priceline, but still need some other real travellers' opinions, try:

http://www.tripadvisor.com

 

You can get honest opinions on hotels, restaurants, resorts, etc. There are forums also.

 

The Sleep Inn in Dania has pretty good prices directly through its corporate site:

http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/html/SleepHome

 

We booked the Ramada Inn Airport/Cruiseport through

YouPriceIt.com

This is the first time we've used this site (DH found it) so I can't vouch as to how the prices compare but we paid $77 plus tax for 9/9/05. Not bargain basement but within our budget. Not to go into detail but we did not have a great experience with Priceline (sorry doone!). Tried reading up on it on the other sites, but unless you're trying to save big bucks, I don't think its worth the hassle (my personal opinion, of course!! ) :D

 

 

Good Luck!

Gail

[cruiselili]

I was also skeptical about using Priceline, however, after getting advise on this board, I got the Renaissance (4*) for $75 and on my first bid. Even with all my frequent business traveler's discounts and memberships, I never would get a 4* hotel for this price. The only disadvantage is that you cannot cancel, but since I booked 11 days before sailing, I figured that there was very little I chance I would cancel.

 

It certainly worth a try!

 

Eliane

[Britt23]

Can you tell me what area the Renaissance is in? Thanks.

[Flip2cruise]

Can you tell me what area the Renaissance is in? Thanks.

 

Dowtown FLL

 

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/fllbr?WT_Ref=mi_left

[Lois R]

The Renassiance is in a prime location:) right on 17th Street. Near shops,

restaurants, and the best thing of all.....near the PORT:D

[petlover]

I've been bidding for a hotel room for January '06 on Priceline (4 star Beach = Hyatt Pier 66) with no success. Has anyone gotten an accepted bid on Priceline yet for '06? I suspect I'm bidding too early and the rooms haven't been released to Priceline yet. I have a reservation that I'll cancel if Priceline pulls through for us.

[Packing Light]

The Renaissance is a good choice. We stayed there last November pre-cruise and obtained it through Priceline as well. It was a bargain. It is close to the port and a short walk from the water taxi which for $5 will take you through the intercoastal all day. You can get on and off and see several areas of Ft. Lauderdale as well as the homes on the intercoastal. There is a good (not great) Italian Restaurant in a shopping center directly across the parking lot from the hotel and is an acceptable place for dinner. Overall it is a very good choice of hotels.

[petlover]

The Renaissance and the Marriott Marina are both listed in the "Downtown" section of Priceline. They both sound like a great location. Although the Renaissance is more expensive than the Marriott Marina, it seems that more people have won the Renaissance for a good nightly rate on Priceline than the Marriott. I would actually prefer the Marriott over the Renaissance (just my quirk because the Renaissance windows are inoperable and there's no balcony as there are for many of the FLL hotels). The Renaissance gets great reveiws.

 

Hopefully, we will all be successful on Priceline....we just need to give it time. Priceline really offers a HUGE savings. I'm afraid the winter '06 prices will be much higher than the '05 though.

[Gala62]

just a quick update on our booking through YouPriceIt.com....it actually bills through hotels.com, so it is a reputable site. Although I do NOT recommend using hotels.com for searching for low rates...unless you're doing some serious comparison shopping!! Their rates are generally pretty high! :(

 

Maybe YouPriceIt.com is their entry into competitive rates??? Anyway, I thought I'd let you know!

 

Gail

[beachlovergirl]

Gala62 -

Looking at the Ramada Inn Airport/Cruiseport's website for your date of 9/9/05 you could have just booked it there for $76.99 per night and it looks like that includes the taxes.

 

We always check the hotel's website first since a lot of the time you can get the room directly from them cheaper than the hotel discounters.

 

We've always had excellent results with Priceline though. Last year we got the Renaissance for $75, and I just got the Hyatt Pier 66 for $110 for November. In May I got the Hilton Key West Resort and Marina for $100 on Priceline while the hotel's website wanted $278 per night for the pool view room. That's a big savings, plus at check-in they upgraded us to an oceanfront room. :)

[petlover]

Just curious if anyone knows if one day of the week is busier for ships leaving/returning to Port Everglades or are they pretty well distributed through out all 7 days of the week??

[beachlovergirl]

Weekends are the busiest for ships coming and going in FLL and of course that also makes the airport a zoo !

[doone]

Petlover, I would venture to guess both Saturday's and Sunday's are the busiest days for the ships. I have sailed from Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday's and Sunday's and it seems the piers are full. I have also sailed during the week for 10-day cruises and, while there are ships in, there are also empty berths.

[Bequia]

We booked the Ramada Inn Airport/Cruiseport

See if you can get out of it. Do a search on this board you'll see quite a few BAD reviews for this property. Rooms in that area rent by the hour, the only shops nearby are bail bondsman and pawn shops. Every town has a bad neighborhood, unfortunately you booked a room in one.

[Gala62]

oh dear, we did check it out on tripadvisor.com and it received pretty good reviews <sigh>, I'm going to check with DH when he gets home tonight. I tend to doubt this can be cancelled (paid in advance). Worse case scenario, its one night, and we'll get a cab for dinner if need be.

 

If we're able, I'm booking the Sleep Inn in Dania or the AmeriSuites. As for the price, well, LOL....I thought I'd covered every possible base...thanks for the heads up though.:rolleyes: When I'm not so completely engrossed in the whole new cruise excitement, I'm going to sit down and MAKE myself learn the Priceline procedure in detail!

 

Thanks everyone!

Gail

[coiran]

Thinking of booking the Hyatt pier 66 nfor a post cruise in November for three people - Is ther any parasailing or scuba dive operators nearby - also restaurants?

 

Ron

[Bequia]

If we're able, I'm booking the Sleep Inn in Dania or the AmeriSuites.

Gail

The Sleep Inn is actually a pretty nice property. Brand new, about 2 miles from Hollywood Beach. A Publix supermarket adjacent shopping plaza as well a chinese restaurant, pizzeria and a liquor store among others. A lot of people on these boards enjoy Amerisuites, close to the port, plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. Either hotel is a good bet for a night. ;)