Fort Lauderdale Hotels

[EvilMuffins]

On Dec. 29 we're going to Fort Lauderdale a day before the cruise and we would like to stay overnight. Is there a good hotel that can accomidate 4 people comfortably around Port Everglades?

[TrentS]

SE 17th Street hotels (closest to Port Everglades and FLL)...

 

Renaissance... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/FLLBR

 

Embassy Suites... http://www.embassysuites.com/en/es/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=FLLSOES

 

Marina Marriott... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/FLLFL

 

Extended Stay America (nicest budget hotel)... http://www.extendedstayamerica.com/hotels/fort-lauderdale-convention-center-marina.html

 

Holiday Inn Express "Convention Center" (nice budget hotel)... http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hd/fllcc

 

AmeriSuites (for the budget minded)... http://amerisuites.com/reservations/locationdetail.asp?facid=3929

AmeriSuites is cheaper on Valuetrips... http://www.valuetrips.com/AMS/FL/F17.htm

[EvilMuffins]

We're not looing for value, we're looking for a real nice hotel. Its just a day, I think we'll look at the Embassy Suites.

[Bequia]

Great choice. ES can easily accomodate 4 people.

[TrentS]

Excellent choice, it will be all newly remodeled by the time you come and the rooms are true 2 room suites... You'll have plenty of room, and it's in the best location there is for cruisers. Very nice, safe neighborhood, and everything you could possibly want is right there.

[tutak]

Excellent choice, it will be all newly remodeled by the time you come and the rooms are true 2 room suites... You'll have plenty of room, and it's in the best location there is for cruisers. Very nice, safe neighborhood, and everything you could possibly want is right there.

 

Not to mention the manager's hospitality hours and breakfast in the morning.

[EvilMuffins]

I also have another question, is it worth booking transfers from the hotel to the port provided by the cruise line, or should we just take a taxi?

[TrentS]

Oh no... In Fort Lauderdale the airport & port are adjacent and the SE 17th Street hotels are just outside the northern entrance to the port (the entrance closest to Princess). Just grab taxis, they're cheaper and much quicker and easier than dealing with shuttles.

 

Embassy Suites is less than 10 minutes from the airport, only about 3 blocks from the normal Princess terminal, and upon your return it's 5-10 minutes from the port to airport.

[EvilMuffins]

Ok, thanks:D

[YooperGale]

I haven't seen any mention of the Ramada Airport in Fort Lauderdale. Has anyone had any experience with that one?

Thanks

[TrentS]

I haven't seen any mention of the Ramada Airport in Fort Lauderdale. Has anyone had any experience with that one?

Thanks

Oh that's been mentioned, quite a bit actually, and most have the same conclusion... RUN!... RUN AWAY and RUN AWAY FAST!!!

 

It's a dump in a bad neighborhood. It's a long way from both the airport and port, and not in an area you want to be in for a number of reasons! :eek:

 

You'll want to avoid all of the State Road 84 motels.

[Sanz]

Trent, what are the dangers of staying in a State Road 84 motel as an overnight before a cruise? What makes it a dangerous area? Is the Holiday Inn Express a bad idea if you're taking a taxi or the shuttle from the motel to arrive, ordering in dinner, having breakfast at the motel and taking a taxi or shuttle to the port? Perhaps going to the supermarket the next day. This is a fairly new motel. I picked it with the hope that the mattress would not sag, etc. We're staying at "the family condo" after the cruise. I don't want to rent a car at the FFL airport, drive to the condo, clean the night before a cruise, drive for 1/2 an hour the next day and wait for the Alamo shuttle to take me to the port.

[TrentS]

Well yes, that HIX is newer and I'm sure it's fine and safe in itself. However there's little to walk to from there and it's not very safe to do so anyway. It's simply a rather high crime neighborhood with little to offer. There's no restaurant IN that HIX and nothing around it I'd feel comfortable telling someone to go to for dinner. It's an industrial area by day, with a lot of heavy truck traffic, but it's the "creatures of the night" that frequent that area that you have to be especially careful of.

 

I'd go with the OTHER Holiday Inn Express "Convention Center" on SE 17th Street, OR the Extended Stay America on SE 17th Street if you're looking for a budget hotel. Both of those are also MUCH closer to both the airport and port than the one on SR84. From the mattress sagging comment I assume you may have read the complaints about the SE 17th Street Holiday Inn Express' mattresses being worn, but that's no longer the case. They've been replaced with new ones in all the rooms less than a month ago.

[margauxNH]

Thanks Trent, for all your help to us on CC. I just switched my Feb pre-cruise reservation from Amerisuites to Embassy Suites, it cost me another $100, but it looks like a MUCH better option, especially for 3 women sharing a room.

[EvilMuffins]

I found the location of the Embassy Suites and it is almost adjacent to the port on the north side near the Princess port. It looked very nice.

[TrentS]

Embassy Suites is an excellent choice. It's 2 blocks from the north entrance to Port Everglades, less than 10 minutes from FLL, and is in a very safe area surrounded by dozens of restaurants, shops, grocery, drug & liquor stores. The very popular Water Taxi is also within easy walking distance.

[SherriZ366]

Just stayed at Embassy a few weeks ago -- everything posters say is true. They are renovating but it did not affect us. Free breakfast and happy hour. The area has lots of shops and restaurants including the new Publix shopping center. You can see most ships from the hotel especially if you are in a high floor (could not see the Jewel of the Sea) from the 12th floor as too many ships were blocking her). you can either walk to restaurants or have the hotel van take you or pick you. Favorite place for dinner is 15th street fisheries (take van). Also like Bimini Boatyard.

 

In addtion to Ramada on SR 84, avoid the Best Western Marina -- another dirty dump.

 

If someone is looking for value and the 17th Street hotels are too expensive, try the Spring Hill Suites in Dania which is a nice hotel and fairly safe area.

[HappyDancer]

After looking at the hotels in the port area, I chose Embassy Suites, too. The renovations should be done by the middle of March.....when our cruise ship sails. Hopefully, it will be as nice as the brochures say it is.

 

I do have a question regarding the Embassy suites shuttle from the airport to the cruise terminal, and the return from the port to the airport. I know it's supposed to be included in the price of the room, but I have to wonder if a shuttle really shows up post cruise just to take you back to the airport....Does anyone have any direct experience with this?

[TrentS]

In addtion to Ramada on SR 84, avoid the Best Western Marina -- another dirty dump.

 

If someone is looking for value and the 17th Street hotels are too expensive, try the Spring Hill Suites in Dania which is a nice hotel and fairly safe area.

Yes, in addition to the Ramadas, BW Marina and BW Oceanside are both nasty places that should be avoided. In fact, avoid ALL BW's in South Florida except for the NEW tower at Pelican Beach Resort. You'll also want to avoid all Days Inns and most of the Choice Hotels/Comfort Inn's & Suites in South Florida as well.

 

Sorry, but times change... Spring Hill Suites in Dania is not a "Spring Hill Suites" any longer, and it's become yet another nasty run down dump. It's now called "Stirling Suites" however the building doesn't say that, it's just said "Suites" for I guess about it must be close to a year now since they took down the "Spring Hill" part of the sign... http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34168-d87228-Reviews-Stirling_Suites_Ft_Lauderdale_Airport-Dania_Florida.html

[GroupCruiser]

Hey there TrentS, another question regarding taxis. We're going to have about 48-50 people in our group next March (2007). We've always used shuttles in the past, but we've never been this close to the pier. Are there going to be enough taxis available at whatever hotel we pick? Figure we'll need 20-25 taxis to get the group to the ship, not to mention other people using taxis as well. Usually the hotel shuttles can't begin to hold that many either, they usually have small vans, and dozens of other people needing a ride as well. We want to get the whole group there at about the same time.

 

On another note, which shuttle company would you recommend if you had to use one? The airport site only lists a few, and they say they are "certified" to enter Port Everglades. Are only certain shuttle companies allowed? Does Port Canaveral prevent busses from entering until certain times like Port Canaveral does?

 

Our local paper mentioned a few weeks ago too that the Fort Lauderdale airport is so small that they will not let anyone go through security and out to your gate until 2 hours before the flight. They recommend doing a shore tour. What do you do with your luggage in the meantime?

 

I'm starting to wonder whether it was a good idea picking Fort Lauderdale as a debarkation point or not. I find it hard to believe that so many hotels in the area are really that bad, where are the government inspectors and agencies that control them? I would like to think the major chains (Comfort, Ramada, Best Western), and so on, would have corporate guidelines they had to adhere to or loose their franchise. If they were that bad you'd think they would have been shut down by now.

 

Any help would be appreciated,

 

Thanks, GC

[iowaoly]

We are looking for day/night stay in Ft. Lauderdale on 3/26 post cruise. We have stayed at the Embassy Suites before and the Mariana Marriott...I'm not sure of the exact name....but right by the docks and by a bridge... and were happy with both of those. Embassy is booked. We don't want to go too high, but don't want dumpy either. A nice pool for the day would be a plus and shuttle to the airport....we could always get a taxi if needed. What do you know about the Yankee Clipper?

[Randyk47]

TrentS is the obvious and very helpful expert on hotels in Ft Lauderdale but I did want to say that the Marina Marriott has been sold and is leaving the Marriott system in late February this year. We were going to stay there on the backside of our upcoming Volendam cruise and go to the King Tut exhibit under a special Marriott package. The new Marina management kind of waffled on whether or not they'd honor or fulfill the King Tut package so Marriott moved us to another property in Ft Lauderdale to preserve our package. Couldn't be more pleased with Marriott's handling of the situation. :)

[Dalabar]

TrentS,

 

We are looking at Extended Stay or HIX Conv Ctr for December FLL and were wondering if restaurants/shops, etc. are within walking distance? Thanks

[TrentS]

Hey there TrentS, another question regarding taxis. We're going to have about 48-50 people in our group next March (2007). We've always used shuttles in the past, but we've never been this close to the pier. Are there going to be enough taxis available at whatever hotel we pick? Figure we'll need 20-25 taxis to get the group to the ship, not to mention other people using taxis as well. Usually the hotel shuttles can't begin to hold that many either, they usually have small vans, and dozens of other people needing a ride as well. We want to get the whole group there at about the same time.

 

On another note, which shuttle company would you recommend if you had to use one? The airport site only lists a few, and they say they are "certified" to enter Port Everglades. Are only certain shuttle companies allowed? Does Port Canaveral prevent busses from entering until certain times like Port Canaveral does?

 

Our local paper mentioned a few weeks ago too that the Fort Lauderdale airport is so small that they will not let anyone go through security and out to your gate until 2 hours before the flight. They recommend doing a shore tour. What do you do with your luggage in the meantime?

 

I'm starting to wonder whether it was a good idea picking Fort Lauderdale as a debarkation point or not. I find it hard to believe that so many hotels in the area are really that bad, where are the government inspectors and agencies that control them? I would like to think the major chains (Comfort, Ramada, Best Western), and so on, would have corporate guidelines they had to adhere to or loose their franchise. If they were that bad you'd think they would have been shut down by now.

 

Any help would be appreciated,

 

Thanks, GC

For 48-50 people I'd hire a bus. We use Tri-County/Airport Express... http://www.floridalimo.com/

 

Or Larry's Limo... http://larryslimo.com/

 

I think either one can help you with a bus, but I don't have any personal experience with a group of that size, and have only used them for limos or vans. Yes, limo/shuttle/bus companies have to have the proper permits to enter Port Everglades.

 

The problem with FLL airport is that on winter/spring weekends it's simply overwhelmed with the number of people off the Port Everglades ships, plus all those on the Miami ships who use it, plus the normal tourists. During those peak times they won't let you through security until 2 hours before your flight. The check-in and security lines can both be very long at the peak times, however if you're flying later in the day or not on a weekend it's not quite so bad.

 

If you're flying later in the day, usually 3pm or later, you can take an Everglades excursion that can be purchased from your cruise line's shore excursion office. You and your luggage both go on the bus together, and then after the excursion you're dropped at the airport. For a group of your size however you may want to again hire a bus and arrange your own tour of some sort.

 

It would be nice to think that the cheaper chains such as those you mentioned would take some interest and see that the places are brought up to standards, however in South Florida those chains are NOT nice places. Spend some time on here, or read some of the Trip Advisor reviews. The majority of those places are simply horrible, run down dumps here, and there are countless reviews from victims who say never again, to those that found them so bad they paid whatever it took to get out of them and into a nice hotel.

[TrentS]

TrentS is the obvious and very helpful expert on hotels in Ft Lauderdale but I did want to say that the Marina Marriott has been sold and is leaving the Marriott system in late February this year. We were going to stay there on the backside of our upcoming Volendam cruise and go to the King Tut exhibit under a special Marriott package. The new Marina management kind of waffled on whether or not they'd honor or fulfill the King Tut package so Marriott moved us to another property in Ft Lauderdale to preserve our package. Couldn't be more pleased with Marriott's handling of the situation. :)

 

Yes, I started a thread a couple of weeks ago regarding the sale. Marina Marriott will be leaving the Marriott system on February 24.