Sleep Inn & Suites at Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Airport

[twoatsea]

We are sailing from Port Everglades on 4/28/06 & will stay overnite on 4/27. We will fly in late afternoon on 4/27, so only want a place to sleep, but as everyone else, we want safe & clean.

 

Sooo, found a bargain at Sleep Inn & Suites at Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Airport. Is this hotel safe & clean? Any other issues I should consider regarding this hotel?

 

Is there any place to eat around there (we will not have a car & don't want to rent one)? Tripadvisor review said it was across from a strip mall with a good Italian restaurant - anyone know if that is true?

 

Thanks in advance. This is a very helpful thread with some very giving locals!

[booze brothers]

We also have resevervations at the Sleep Inn, Oct. 27. Sounds like it got "ok" reports. I was told they have pick up at the airport, breakfast and transportation to the port. What kind of price did you get? We're paying $89. but I think with AA you get a discount. I hope you'll post a report when you return.

[twoatsea]

Haven't booked yet. Waiting for some responses to my post. There are several locals who are giving advice & I'm hoping they will help.

 

Online I found $80.99 for AAA & senior. However, I think $89.99 appears to be a good price for Ft. L. Prices seem to be high!

 

If we stay there, I will definitely post a review for you (& anyone else interested, of course).

[imacruizer]

We have stayed at the Sleep Inn Fort Lauderdale twice. The last time was January 2006. It is clean and safe. There is an Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel. There is also a Walgreens next door and a Publix grocery store in the same shopping center as the Italian restaurant. The Sleep Inn offers free transportation from the airport and to the pier. It is a good choice if you are just looking for a clean safe place for one night. I believe the hotel was built in 2004 so it is fairly new.

[twoatsea]

Thanks for the report, Imacruizer. I have booked the Sleep Inn. Got senior/AAA rate of $80.99 plus tax = $87.99. We got a non-smoking king suite (no regular rooms available). I booked with the 800 #. Then I called the local hotel # to be sure I got the best price. The hotel wanted $98.99.

 

In other places I have read this about the hotel - only one elevator & it is very slow; the comp transp to the port is not reliable because it gets overbooked & a "rush & push" goes on - sooo, one may or may not get on the shuttle - in that case, cab fare is only about $12, so no big deal; the comp breakfast is better than most & yummy with self-prep waffles; the staff is friendly & helpful.

 

Don't know if the above is what you experienced. I'll give a review when we return.

[imacruizer]

Our experience with the complementary shuttle has been very good. We have waited between 15 and 25 minutes at the airport for the shuttle after we called. When we called, they gave us very detailed directions about where to wait. We thought the shuttles to the ship were very organized. We always go as early as possible. We usually choose the 10 AM or 11 AM shuttle. They put names on a list and it seemed they only allowed a certain number on each time slot. When we went to the shuttle, they were checking the names to make sure we were on the correct shuttle. Perhaps if we had waited for a later shuttle, things might have been more hectic. I hope you are pleased with your stay there.

[FunCruiser56]

We have also stayed at this hotel, staff very pleasent. Rooms clean and well maintained. Breakfast was very good. Pool very small but our son had it to himself both times we were in it- he was happy.

Pick up from the airport was very prompt and the driver was friendly. We did not use the port transportation since we were going to Miami and booked a limo service for that. But from what we observed the shuttle for the port looked well organized, fair size bus plus a trailer for the luggage.

 

Not much in the area as far as resturants, we ended up getting pretty good deli food from the grocery store. They had both cold and hot food, plus we were able to get soda/water for the cruise. There were several takeout menues in the room that would deliver.

 

We would stay at this hotel again if we left from Ft. Lauderdale, we paid $0 by using free stay points for choice hotels.

 

Funcruiser