Fort Lauderdale pre-cruise hotel suggestions

[TooBoyz4us]

Where have you had good experiences in Fort Lauderdale hotels for a pre & post cruise stay?

 

[Pixarfans]

Dania point area, we stayed at an all suits Marriott and it was fine. Would stay at the Hyatt house or place next time if price was similar. Open air shopping mall, lots of restaurants and groceries within walking. Free airport shuttle to hotel and $25 Uber to port. We just had the day and it worked great for us.

 

[Lesverts]

I stayed at a few holiday inns near the airport. The Hilton as well. All were fine. Do not book the red carpet inn.

 

[auntlynne]

Positive experience with Hilton Garden Inn - Dania Beach, Tru by Hilton. Bahia Mar on Ft Lauderdale Beach was a good sleep, but crowded area in general (mainly just lots of buildings trying to be near the beach).

@Pixarfans suggestion of Dania Beach would be great for those without a car who need to get dinner and can walk a block or so (without crossing a major road). Look at Google Maps to see what is in the area of the Hilton Garden Inn, Hyatt Place… and what’s nearby for dining.

(Reference: You can check out this area, part of Dania Beach. Hwy 848 is Stirling Road).

 

[mmouse37]

In January we stayed at the Hilton Marina (one of the hotels DCL uses that has DCL transfers) but we didn't use them as we had a rental car. The hotel was OK but was looking a bit rundown. Service was fine and the pool was nice. We were in one of the annex rooms and I think I would have preferred the main building. The setting was nice right on the marina and there were some mega yachts and other boats docked all around. There was a water shuttle to some touristy areas. We stayed 2 nights pre cruise.

Post cruise we stayed at the Marriott/AC Fort Lauderdale Airport Dania Beach. The Marriott and AC Hotel share the pool. This hotel was very nice. The manager is actually a huge DCL fan. He saw our Disney luggage and came over to us in the M club while waiting for our room to be ready and chatted with us for about 45 minutes about DCL. They even have pin trading on some nights. There were plenty of restaurants and shopping within walking distance. Nice pool. Service was great. We took a taxi from the port to the hotel.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/fllmp-marriott-fort-lauderdale-airport/overview/

We had a fantastic meal at this Mexican restaurant which is right by the Beach (across the street). It was delicious!

https://www.lonarestaurant.com/?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=yext&utm_campaign=website

 

[Calantha]

We just stayed at the Residence Inn by the airport and it is in the middle of a renovation. My in-laws were up on 4 and their room was great. We were down on 2 (floor 3 was what was currently being worked) and it was fine. No noise from renovation and less crowded because the whole 3rd floor was empty.

We stayed at the Homewood Suites across the street back in January and we did not enjoy that at all.

 

[ironz]

We stayed at the Hyatt House in Dania Beach in May, and it was fine. Free shuttle from airport to hotel. They had a paid shuttle to the port, but since we had a large party including little kids, and I wasn't sure if the shuttle was nice, we took Jiffy Jeff transportation to the port, and that was good. Turns out the hotel shuttles probably would have been fine, but we had a good experience with Jiffy Jeff and probably should have used them from port to airport at the end, but I just booked the DCL bus for that (and paid more than it was worth).

There were restaurants within walking distance of hotel. A Sprouts grocery market was nearby, but we ended up doing an Instacart order from Publix because Sprouts had limited things we needed/wanted.

 

[Tired mom of 3 boys]

We stayed at the Hyatt House in Dania Beach in May, and it was fine. Free shuttle from airport to hotel. They had a paid shuttle to the port, but since we had a large party including little kids, and I wasn't sure if the shuttle was nice, we took Jiffy Jeff transportation to the port, and that was good. Turns out the hotel shuttles probably would have been fine, but we had a good experience with Jiffy Jeff and probably should have used them from port to airport at the end, but I just booked the DCL bus for that (and paid more than it was worth).

There were restaurants within walking distance of hotel. A Sprouts grocery market was nearby, but we ended up doing an Instacart order from Publix because Sprouts had limited things we needed/wanted.

Can you share the Jiffy Jeff contact info? We're cruising in November - it would be helpful!

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

The Marriott Beach Place Tower was very nice and the beach was across the street

 

[ironz]

Can you share the Jiffy Jeff contact info? We're cruising in November - it would be helpful!

https://www.gojiffyjeff.com/

 

[mpetersen]

Any recommendations for a hotel/resort with beach access? I am looking at B Ocean resort but am open to others.
Also best bets on transportation from the airport to a hotel and then to the port? Trying to avoid the cost of DCL if possible but want it to be Easy.

 

[auntlynne]

Any recommendations for a hotel/resort with beach access? I am looking at B Ocean resort but am open to others.
Also best bets on transportation from the airport to a hotel and then to the port? Trying to avoid the cost of DCL if possible but want it to be Easy.

Rideshare. Some hotels have free airport shuttles (the various Hilton-family of hotels I used did). It’s a short ride to port; I expect price would be less for rideshare than DCL. And you don’t have to wait with a crowd to load and unload.

As for hotels, B Hotel was built in 1950s but still gets excellent reviews:



Marriott Harbour was ranked higher, with a lot more total reviews.

If you are going for the beach, take a look at photos of the beach area in front of the hotel.

We stayed at Bahia Mar - it had a bridge over the road to get to the beach. But there was nothing beautiful about the beach at that location.

 

[rinse82]

We are going to stay in the Residence Inn for our late night check-in the day before we get on the Dream. Then have 2 nights booked at the Hotel Maren (Hilton) on Fort Lauderdale beach - have not been before but the reviews look great.

 

[CeCe0906]

We will be getting in the afternoon the day prior to cruise from Orlando, probably via the Brightline train. Our plan is Disney one day , prob hopping between Epcot morning and Magic Kingdom afternoon and evening for a taste of Disney prior to the cruise (Everyone has DW'd before, this trip the cruise is the focus.). Our cruise is next summer- stops at Lighthouse Point, Castaway Cay, Nassau, and sea day.

So any family friendly recommended hotel, not looking with beach included, as we have 2 beach stops on our cruise? Won't have a car, since we took the train- so will need to walk to dinner, would like a nice pool area for the kids to play and adults to chill at before we cruise the next day. Honestly, it would be easiest, if the beach wasn't in sight, as my beach obsessed granddaughter would be begging to go. The beach stops is a big reason I picked that itinerary- but I dont want to deal with sand the night before we go! .

Five people - 2 Grandmothers and 3 grandkids ages , 8, 10, 12 all girl trip, so we need at least 2 Queen and a sofa bed or rollaway, which seems to limit my options in the area. But I figured I'd ask, and maybe you guys would have an opinion about the best areas to stay at.

I did see previous post about Dania Beach area, but I didn't see much dining, maybe I'd better look again. I'm usually pretty good about researchon my own, but there seem to be many areas to consider this time

 

[auntlynne]

We will be getting in the afternoon the day prior to cruise from Orlando, probably via the Brightline train. Our plan is Disney one day , prob hopping between Epcot morning and Magic Kingdom afternoon and evening for a taste of Disney prior to the cruise (Everyone has DW'd before, this trip the cruise is the focus.). Our cruise is next summer- stops at Lighthouse Point, Castaway Cay, Nassau, and sea day.

So any family friendly recommended hotel, not looking with beach included, as we have 2 beach stops on our cruise? Won't have a car, since we took the train- so will need to walk to dinner, would like a nice pool area for the kids to play and adults to chill at before we cruise the next day. Honestly, it would be easiest, if the beach wasn't in sight, as my beach obsessed granddaughter would be begging to go. The beach stops is a big reason I picked that itinerary- but I dont want to deal with sand the night before we go! .

Five people - 2 Grandmothers and 3 grandkids ages , 8, 10, 12 all girl trip, so we need at least 2 Queen and a sofa bed or rollaway, which seems to limit my options in the area. But I figured I'd ask, and maybe you guys would have an opinion about the best areas to stay at.

I did see previous post about Dania Beach area, but I didn't see much dining, maybe I'd better look again. I'm usually pretty good about researchon my own, but there seem to be many areas to consider this time

If you are arriving on the train, they may still be giving free shuttles to places within a 5-mile radius. They took us to Bahia Mar hotel at the beach. Multi-row electric golf cart.

For your group, I would still look at Dania Beach.





The red marker is the Hyatt House. The Hyatt Place is to its left.

They both have rooms with two beds (Hyatt House has King beds, a separate bedroom, soda sleeper. One option has a king and two twins and sofa…)

They are across the parking lot from each other.

The white markers are restaurants.

There are a variety of options within reasonable walking distance - without crossing a major road.

See next post.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[motherdaughtercruisers]

If you are like us and literally needing a room to sleep in until the next morning, we were very pleasantly surprised by the Best Western Plus Oceanside Inn. Now, you aren’t there for the pool or the quick access to the beach, although it is close and the pool is not bad by any means. People were playing and having fun for sure! But the rooms really surprised us! They were nice! We went in with lowered expectations, but this is one of the best Best Westerns we have stayed. We would stay there again.

But if I may recommend a really fabulous place for dinner or brunch (we did both, but also brunch because we defer to a later PAT to avoid the chaos) is Lona Cocina Tequileria. Very very delicious! If you like that stuff, but I highly recommend booking ahead of time on Open Table. They will even hold your luggage for you behind the host welcome table. The dinner IMO is better than brunch because you can get the fish tacos, but we were there for brunch on Cinco de Mayo and so they had a mariachi band that would come by your table and it was so lively! Oh and it was bottomless mimosa’s! Just saying!

Regardless, have a great trip!

 

[CeCe0906]

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Wow, thank you so much!

 

[CeCe0906]

If you are arriving on the train, they may still be giving free shuttles to places within a 5-mile radius. They took us to Bahia Mar hotel at the beach. Multi-row electric golf cart.

For your group, I would still look at Dania Beach.

View attachment 886945

View attachment 886950

The red marker is the Hyatt House. The Hyatt Place is to its left.

They both have rooms with two beds (Hyatt House has King beds, a separate bedroom, soda sleeper. One option has a king and two twins and sofa…)

They are across the parking lot from each other.

The white markers are restaurants.

There are a variety of options within reasonable walking distance - without crossing a major road.

See next post.

Thank you very much for this, I'm overwhelmed with your help!

 

[gatordoc]

I’ll put in a plug for the Snooze Hotel. It’s on A1A across from the beach, with great ocean views from both the second floor and roof decks. Very reasonably priced, the rooms are clean and comfortable, and they have all sorts of extras like beach toys, floats, chairs, etc. Lots of shops and restaurants within walking distance. We only stayed one night before our cruise (about a 5-10 minute drive to the port), but would definitely stay a few days if we wanted a beach vacation.