Hotel midway between Ft. Lauderdale & Miami

[flyingdoxie]

For those of you familiar with the coast between Ft. Lauderdale & Miami:

 

Any towns and/or hotels that you would recommend for a pre-cruise 1 night stay with children. We would like a safe area that would have some dining options and hopefully close to beach. Mid-range prices would work best. We'll have a rental car.

 

Thank you very much!

[Gayle V]

Hello Flyingdoxie, Hollywood Beach is just a little less than half way between Port Everglades and the Port of Miami. The Bal Harbor area is closer to Miami, but still between the two cities.

 

The only Hotel we've stayed at, that fits you're criteria is the Marriott Hollywood Beach. It's a very nice hotel, and almost directly on the beach. You only have to cross a street like/boardwalk path between the pool and the beach. (This is the kind of path where you see roller skaters and bikes, and walkers/ golf carts. Not really traffic, from what I remember.) The beach is fabulous, soft sand a very wide.

 

Unfortunately, like most hotels in port areas, the price is a little high. Probably more like $200 per night. Don't forget to take into account parking costs. This hotel, is one of the many that charge an additional parking fee.

[sandancer]

I have booked the Westin Diplomat at Hollywood Beach. We are staying pre-cruise for 5 nights and wanted a "resort type hotel" rather than just somewhere to crash before joining the ship. Got it on Hotwire for $159 a night for Spring Break. Hotel website is quoting over $500. Hope you find what you are looking for.

[royalcruz]

Checkout the Courtyard Marriott Aventura Mall. I haven't stayed there, but it is in a good location and is reasonable.

[cruisegal58]

we stayed in sunny isles, the days inn thunderbird beach resort for 1 nt pre-cruise..it is between fll-mia...the hotel was fine, older but it was clean, they have an restaurant, we had lunch..there is a bar by the beach and one off the restaurant with a guy playing the guitar in the pm. it was nice..big pool, guys will give u a towel and a thing to put on the chair, they want a tip. we rented a car at fll...days inn has a rental also, we left our car right there, didnt have to run it anywhere. very nice. we had 4 adults to split cost..had a taxi pick us up and take us to mia port the next am..the prices r determined by the zone u r going. it is printed on the window, it cost us $65 to the port. fine with us! i have driven in the mia area enough in my younger days..they had the exit to the port closed for construction too, i would have died if i would have been driving in that traffic and not been able to exit!!! yikes. miami isnt a fun place to drive anymore for sure..hope this helps. oh..the days in has a free shuttle to a shopping mall as well. a few restaurants r close like tony romas...cindy