Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale close to pier, nightlife, and on beach is it possible??

[colemonster]

I am looking for a nice hotel for 1 night stay before a cruise. I would like to be on the beach but also close to pier. We would also like to be where it would be easy to walk to dinner etc. Is all of this possible or am I dreaming? Any hotel reccomendations?

Thanks!!

[tbelian]

I am looking for a nice hotel for 1 night stay before a cruise. I would like to be on the beach but also close to pier. We would also like to be where it would be easy to walk to dinner etc. Is all of this possible or am I dreaming? Any hotel reccomendations?

Thanks!!

 

As far as I know, being by the pier, and the beach are mutually exclusive. it's one or the other.

 

If you want to be by the pier there are lots of choices.

 

We stayed at Pier 66 (overpriced at list, but I guess values can be found through priceline) ...

[ecowen]

The pier is located just a few minutes from the beach by taxi. If you want to be able to walk to the best restaurants, look for a hotel in the Las Olas area. You won't find bargains there--the best priced hotels are near the airport, the pier, and the beach.

 

I would suggest staying at the beach only if you plan to spend time on the beach. There aren't any/many good places to eat on the beach, and the nightlife is not terribly classy (that's putting it nicely).;)

 

For a night, I will usually stay at the cheapest place near the airport or down town and take taxis to go out.

[SeaGal]

If you want a really nice beach hotel, we stayed at the Lago Mar post-cruise last spring.

 

The hotel is on a beautiful beach with a view of the ships coming in and out of the marina area to the ocean, has a nice pool area, a snack-type restaurant and a nice upscale restaurant. It was a short taxi ride from the pier (we could even see the cruise ships from an upstairs hallway window).

 

We walked to the closest water-taxi station, which was several blocks away, and took the water-taxi to Los Olas Boulevard for shopping and dinner.

 

We enjoyed Fort Lauderdale and hope you do too.

[Giorgi-one]

You can get the Marriott Marina thru Priceline for about $75 per night, even less off season. Best price I have seen anywhere else is $189. Bid Downtown, 3*. When you check in, ask for a room with view of the port. If you get up early enough, you can watch the cruise ships come in to port. Marriott is located just off 17th Street which has numerous restaruants, shopping centers, etc within walking distance. Water taxi ($5 per person) stops right at the Marriott. If you are not familiary with Priceline, go to biddingfortravel.com to find out how it works. Note that once your bid is accepted, your credit card will be charged immediately and you cannot cancel for any reason. I believe that you can get cancellation insurance from Priceline for $5 per day per room.

[Bob M.]

To be on the beach near the Port in Ft. Lauderdale then I would suggest the Sheraton Yankee Clipper (I beleive but not sure, that they have a shuttle to the Pier). You did not say when you are cruising but just to remind you, you are starting to come into the tourist season (I am a local and we can already see the traffic pattern change) so prices will be getting the more you get into the winter

 

Bob.

[PoohUnderstands]

Yes you can. You can stay at the Yankee Clipper Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, FL. It is right on the south end of Ft. Lauderdale Beach, and just almost a hop skip and jump from the pier. It is shaped like the bow of a ship and has been a landmark on the beach for years(yes, they have remodelled and kept it nice). I don't know how much it would cost a night, but it meets all your criteria, including walking to dinner. Check it out on the internet.

[helpme]

The Yankee clipper is great, around 4pm they have happy hour, which have lots of appetizers. Right across the street is the water taxi its costs about 5 dollars for all day. You can get off and on anytime for that price. There is lots of restaurants with entertainment and shopping, but to see all the million dollar boats and homes is amazing all on the taxi route We opted to get a taxi to the port fo 15 dollars, and when we came back our flight wasnt until evening so we went back there and they stored the luggage for 5 dollars a piece. Then we jumped back on the water taxi. Rooms were great and the pools were too.

[colemonster]

Thanks so much for the responses. I am thinking the Yankee Clipper sounds like what I am looking for!! We are going on the Summit on Nov 5th!

[Rdabadie]

Fyi:

Cab airport to peir and/or "downtown" (AKA beside the peir) $8

Cab to beachfront hotels: $10-12

Cab beachfront to Peir: $8

 

So basically everything is close to everything else, just not walkable (ie it's a long walk from the dowtown hotels to the beach)

 

Pre-cruise I actually recommend skipping the beach (where all the shopping and food is overpriced) and staying dowtown near the peir. The Marriott Marina and Embassey Suites are really, really nice places. Amerisuites and Comfort Inn Cruise/Airport are clean and nice enough and have free shuttles to the airport and the cruise terminal. All the above are an easy walk to inexpensive last minute shopping and a plethora of resturants in every price range, including some truly excellent places.

 

At the beach you pay more for everything, and the restaurants simply aren't as good. Hotel wise the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and the Lago Mar Resort are wonderful hotels in just about every regard and are directly on the beach. All the other hotels (Radisson, Sheraton Yankie Clipper or Yankie Trader, Doubletree, etc) are all a notch or two below the the downtown hotels in quality (Think typical beachfront hotel: gets away with being a little rough on the edges because it's on the beach, or in this case across the street from the beach: only the Yanker Clipper has a limited number of room directly on the beach, the rest of the hotels have pedestrian overpasses to the beach)

 

For a precruise, my vote is for the downtown.

[colemonster]

Rdabadie- Thank you for the advise. We are flying in early to take advantage of a few hours on the beach as we have never been to the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. Maybe we should stay downtown as you recommend and get transportation to the beach? Do any of the downtown hotels offer shuttle to the beach or would we need to get a cab? I was just hoping to enjoy Ft. Lauderdale's beach while we were there. Thank you for all your knowledge! Do you live there?

[signman]

Colemonster, I would use Priceline and bid for a 3 star hotel in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area. Learn how to do it and see what others are paying at http://www.biddingfortravel.com The only hotel in that zone that is not on the beach is the Doubletree, but not far off. You are minutes from all the nightlife and the pier.

[Giorgi-one]

We have walked to the beach from the Marriott Marina. About 1/2 hour walk each way. Also, the water taxi makes several stops along the beach. For $5 per person, you get to see all the mansions and yachts on your way to the beach. The ride itself is worth $5. Then at night, you can ride the water taxi in the opposite direction to Las Olas or the other downtown areas. Don't forget to visit the Swimming Hall of Fame which is right across from the beach.