Marriott North Ft. Lauderdale

[shofer]

I posted this on the East Coast Departures board and never got a response. We booked this hotel through Princess for a pre-day stay for our trip on the Grand on 2/2/08. I checked out tripadvisor.com but it had mixed reviews.

 

We are Marriott rewards members and have always been satisfied by the properties where we have stayed in the past.

 

One fellow from the UK even said they offered a dinner buffet special for cruise passengers. Anyone know anything about this hotel? Thanks for your input.

[Another Cruise]

Is this the one on North Ocean Drive in Hollywood? If so we stayed there before our cruise last March. We really liked it. The rest. was awesome. would go back there and stay again in a heartbeat. We are also Rewards members and used our points to stay there.

[shofer]

Yes I believe the address is North Ocean drive. I heard there was a mall and theater across the street, is it true? We are traveling w/our adult children and their spouses and figure the "young people" would like something to do.

[Luvsprincess]

NO...Marriott North is not on the beach. It is on Cypress Creek and Andrews. I live about 5 minutes from there and it is a very nice hotel. Minutes from movies and food.

[tequilasunrise]

I posted this on the East Coast Departures board and never got a response. We booked this hotel through Princess for a pre-day stay for our trip on the Grand on 2/2/08. I checked out tripadvisor.com but it had mixed reviews.

 

We are Marriott rewards members and have always been satisfied by the properties where we have stayed in the past.

 

One fellow from the UK even said they offered a dinner buffet special for cruise passengers. Anyone know anything about this hotel? Thanks for your input.

 

It's a nice place, a little older but well kept up. Friendly staff, clean, comfy beds, good food, good service, nice amenities. The "buffet" for cruise passengers was overpirced hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob etc that sits out all evening. It's claim to fame was volume; if you eat like a normal person it was cheaper to simply buy what you wanted (you'd have to eat 2 burgers and a dog to break even as of the price when I was there). But, the regular menu was reasonably priced. Good free mimosas at happy hour.

 

It's a good walk to anything, nothing is very close and easy unless I didn't notice it--the "street" was a freeway. It's a cheap short cab ride to many places and they will happily call one for you. There is a pretty nature path right there on the property, it's on a preserve. And a huge beautiful cypress tree is just outside the window near the restaurant.

 

This is a nice place to spend the night before a cruise. I probably wouldn't book a week there just because the location is a bit ackward.

 

Luvsprincess is correct, no beach.

 

Hope that helps!

[cruiserbryce]

one thing to keep in mind as it pertains to sites like trip advisor is that in most cases the only people who post there have had negative experiences, so it can give you a skewed image of the hotel

[sailinsal]

This hotel is ok as far as being a Marriott but I wanted to see something other than buildings..............wished it was near the waterway and it is not; a few restaurants in the area but mostly an office complex area................we took the Princess package and I will not do it again,,,,,,,,as waiting for the buses was taxing with several hundred people waiting to board to get to the ship..........this was a Panama Canal trip on Regal to Los Angeles,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,sailinsal

[NHCruisr]

We've stayed there twice on precruise Princess packages. In both cases we booked the package rather than making reservations on our own because the cruises were planned a bit close to sailing and it was difficult to get reservations on our own.

 

The hotel is a way away from both the airport and the cruise port. It's a clean, well run hotel. It certainly had what we needed for a one night stay. There's not much in the area. There is a small shopping area a moderate walk away across a busy roadway. It did not seem safe to do much walking in the area after dark. I would take a cab after dark.

 

There is a cocktail lounge and a restaurant at the Marriott. On one of our visits the food was okay. On our other visit the food was not good. The next morning, when checking out we were asked if everything was okay with our stay. We said the hotel was nice but we were disappointed with the restaurant. Without our asking, and without missing a beat, the desk clerk took the restaurant charge off our bill. I suspect there were a lot of complaints about the restaurant.

 

The pick up at the airport was easy as was the transport to the ship.

[travlin housewife]

I have stayed multiple times at Marriott Harbor Beach asa vacation and loved it.Its in FT Lauderdale on great beach & i could see cruise ships in & out of prt everglades from hotel. You can even walk down beach to mouth of port & see awsome ships & personal craft going in & out! Also a great location for Ft Lauderdale-short cab to strip etc..Chek website!

[mike35]

Yes I believe the address is North Ocean drive. I heard there was a mall and theater across the street, is it true? We are traveling w/our adult children and their spouses and figure the "young people" would like something to do.

 

We stayed there in May of this year - nice clean property, below-average restaurant (for a Marriott), screwed-up automatic wake-up calls (several of us in our party were called at 2 or 3 a.m., randomly)

 

The mall is a 10-15 minute walk along a very busy street with no crosswalks anywhere. A few fast-food restaurants, movie theater, etc.

[Pia1913]

I posted this on the East Coast Departures board and never got a response. We booked this hotel through Princess for a pre-day stay for our trip on the Grand on 2/2/08. I checked out tripadvisor.com but it had mixed reviews.

 

We are Marriott rewards members and have always been satisfied by the properties where we have stayed in the past.

 

One fellow from the UK even said they offered a dinner buffet special for cruise passengers. Anyone know anything about this hotel? Thanks for your input.

 

It's not the ideal Marriott; far from ship. But for one night you'll be fine. Better plan on eating in the hotel. Not much nearby.

[shofer]

Thanks everyone for your info. I guess we can plan on a cab ride to the mall or a restaurant. We will be there early afternoon and I'm sure the "kids" will want to do something. We had not planned on renting a car just for a short time. I'm sure for one night it will be fine.

 

Thanks again.

[SheltieLady]

We stay there in January for our cruise with Royal Caribbean nice hotel it's about 30 minutes from the port, not bad for a overnight stay it's used by most of the cruiselines. We eat in the restaurant kind of pricey, not bad but after being up at the crack of dawn to catch our flights to Atlanta then on to Fort Lauderdale I didn't care.

 

 

Christine

[luckylulu]

Very nice hotel. Wonderful bedding. The pool was clean and uncrowded when we were there. If you want an inexpensive dinner, Pizza Hut delivers there. The front desk gave us their phone number.

[shellbeachjim]

We stayed there in April 2005 and it was fine. At that time they had free wireless internet available in the rooms.

[shofer]

Well, we have never been disappointed in any of our Marriott stays so I am glad that the property is clean and comfortable. Our biggest concern was finding something to do for the day since we will be there around noon and I know we will all be looking for something to eat and some kind of entertainment.

[Pia1913]

Well, we have never been disappointed in any of our Marriott stays so I am glad that the property is clean and comfortable. Our biggest concern was finding something to do for the day since we will be there around noon and I know we will all be looking for something to eat and some kind of entertainment.

 

Since auto rental in South Florida is quite inexpensive, it might be more cost effective for you to get a car for the day, which will also give you total flexibility to come and go (shopping, restaurants, etc.)

[shofer]

We thought about the car rental but w/6 adults and all the luggage we would need a van for sure. Since DH & I are footing the bill don't know if we could rent something for less than the $60 the transfers are costing us.

[Pia1913]

We thought about the car rental but w/6 adults and all the luggage we would need a van for sure. Since DH & I are footing the bill don't know if we could rent something for less than the $60 the transfers are costing us.

 

OK, another scenario. We are also Marriott people and they all usually have a car rental office at the hotel. Usually Hertz. Since you're getting there so early, you may be able to get a large car/van right there and still have the mobility to do what you like with the rest of the day/evening. I would call the hotel direct, have them switch you to the appropriate rental person and inquire what they have available.

 

Pia

[shofer]

Hey Pia1913, thanks for the tip. This would be a good solution for the day. I know some car places will even rent for 12 hrs.

I will contact the hotel when we get closer to our departure date.

 

Enjoy your Hawaiian cruise! We have done it twice now and will probably do it again.

 

Sue

[Pia1913]

Hey Pia1913, thanks for the tip. This would be a good solution for the day. I know some car places will even rent for 12 hrs.

I will contact the hotel when we get closer to our departure date.

 

Enjoy your Hawaiian cruise! We have done it twice now and will probably do it again.

 

Sue

 

Thanks Sue. This will be our 5th time in Hawaii and the 4th time cruising there. Something about Hawaii seems to keep drawing us back.

 

Pia