Fort Lauderdale: Hotel and itinerary for 5 nights?

[olya1972]

I am planning to stay in Fort Lauderdale third week of August this summer, most likely fly in Saturday afternoon/evening and check out of the hotel on Thursday, so four full days. This will be first time I am going by myself with my three teenage kids. I will not be renting a car. I stayed in FLL 01/2014 for three nights pre Allure cruise in Atlantic Hotel. We had a car at the time, drove to Miami, to Hollywood broadwalk, some nice breakfast places by the water. Now I am looking for the hotel in safe area, nice pool, easy beach access and in the location easily walkable to attractions. I would definitely spend a day on Las Olas BLVD and do water taxi tour. What else should we do this time of the year? I wanted to do tour of Everglades, but read on these boards that it's not good in a summer ( hot, humid, mosquitoes and not good animal encounter). What about Flamingo Gardens? Would it be a pleasant place to visit in August and how to do so without a car? Advise on hotels and area to stay is greatly appreciated. Looking forward to advice.

[capriccio]

For

 

 

• tourist info (hotels, attractions, etc.) in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County: www.sunny.org.
  
• Las Olas Blvd: www.lasolasboulevard.com
  
• Water Taxi: www.watertaxi.com
  
• Sun Trolley (cheap - $1/ride or $3/day pass - transportation): www.suntrolley.com
  

[SteerageJoe]

Did you enjoy the Lauderdale Beach area? If so, I would return there but perhaps pick a hotel a bit further south closer to the action. Any of the hotels south of the Ritz perhaps?

[olya1972]

Thank you for responses. Fort Lauderdale Beach area was nice but I would prefer to stay in a place with more things to see at a walking distance, such as parks, restaurants, museums and nice houses/ neighborhoods, marinas. At the same time I would like proximity to the beach and water taxi or sun trolley stops. Is the area around Ritz meets that criteria? There is Bahía Mar and Marriot Towers in the vicinity and are more or less reasonably priced. There is also Courtyard by Marriot near by. My priority is safe areas where I would feel comfortable walking at night with kids ( in the evening returning from dinner and such). Also, what about Flamingo Gardens? Anyone can advise whether that would be a good place to visit in August? Thank you.

[capriccio]

Check out the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Blvd. It has a water taxi stop, you can walk to museums, restaurants and galleries and is on the Sun Trolley route to the beach. Another popular attraction, the Carrie B excursion boat, docks about 2 blocks away.

 

 

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[olya1972]

Check out the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Blvd. It has a water taxi stop, you can walk to museums, restaurants and galleries and is on the Sun Trolley route to the beach. Another popular attraction, the Carrie B excursion boat, docks about 2 blocks aw

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Thank you. Will do.

[SteerageJoe]

In term of Beach I think you will be more happy with hotel locations further down such as the Courtyard and south towards Marriott Harbor. The area offers more things to do than up where you were staying at the Atlantic.

 

The Riverside is an excellent suggestion I agree. Using the Water Trolley near Las Olas you can explore the many parks and museums nearby and with the Water Taxi and Carrie B you can ride down to the waterway to see mansions and more.

 

So now you two have options at least!

 

Here is the only map I am aware of that shows both Water Taxi and Water Trolley Routes as well as the hotels and restaurants nearby: http://cruiseporteverglades.us/maps/

 

You can find hotels near the water taxi stops at the beach on the map and at Las Olas.