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Which Ft. Lauderdale Hotel?


Cindy Leslie

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Going on Allure of the Seas July 2019. Staying 2 nights in Ft. Lauderdale pre-cruise.

We already  have a reservation at Fairfield Inn and Suites (Ft. Lauderdale Downtown/Las Olas on S. Federal Hwy). Looks like it’s not too far of a walk to Las Olas Blvd. Also looking at Hampton Inn and Suites (Downtown Ft. Lauderdale on N. Andrews Ave).

Both are reasonably priced, and include free breakfast and free airport shuttle. Looks like Hampton Inn is a bit further from Las Olas Blvd. but the hotel has a shuttle that will transport you within the area (max 1 mile). And we would save some extra money staying there (Labadoozies anyone?!!)  The Hampton Inn appears to be very close to the Greyhound Bus Station and some of their reviews referenced the area being less than ideal. 

Last year, we stayed at Embassy Suites 17th St., but it’s out of our budget this time...so, any thoughts would be most appreciated. 

Thanks, in advance!

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The Holiday Inn Express has recently caught my eye as an economically friendly option.  It is right next to the Embassy on 17th St. and recently renovated.  Their prices are decent.  Maybe have a look there.  You will be closer to the port at that location.  And lots of restaurants within walking distance, including my personal favourite, La Bamba!

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10 hours ago, Cindy Leslie said:

Going on Allure of the Seas July 2019. Staying 2 nights in Ft. Lauderdale pre-cruise.

We already  have a reservation at Fairfield Inn and Suites (Ft. Lauderdale Downtown/Las Olas on S. Federal Hwy). Looks like it’s not too far of a walk to Las Olas Blvd. Also looking at Hampton Inn and Suites (Downtown Ft. Lauderdale on N. Andrews Ave).

Both are reasonably priced, and include free breakfast and free airport shuttle. Looks like Hampton Inn is a bit further from Las Olas Blvd. but the hotel has a shuttle that will transport you within the area (max 1 mile). And we would save some extra money staying there (Labadoozies anyone?!!)  The Hampton Inn appears to be very close to the Greyhound Bus Station and some of their reviews referenced the area being less than ideal. 

Last year, we stayed at Embassy Suites 17th St., but it’s out of our budget this time...so, any thoughts would be most appreciated. 

Thanks, in advance!

Fairfield is new and right next door to Starbucks coffee! The Hampton Inn is less then ideal (location wise) to say the least. There are plenty of shady characters close by that greyhound bus station. If you are able body our city has recently been approved for Bird and Lime scooters. These are the best way to get around Fort Lauderdale quickly! The scooters are staged on every street corner in the city making them a very convienent option to get to Las Olas. The city has special pathways on las olas for bikes and scooters. The next best option is Uber or Lyft. Enjoy. If you need any dining recommendations let me know. 

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2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The Holiday Inn Express has recently caught my eye as an economically friendly option.  It is right next to the Embassy on 17th St. and recently renovated.  Their prices are decent.  Maybe have a look there.  You will be closer to the port at that location.  And lots of restaurants within walking distance, including my personal favourite, La Bamba!

Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll have to check out the Holiday Inn Express! One of the great things about Embassy Suites was having restaurants and shopping close by! (Love Publix!) 

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1 hour ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Fairfield is new and right next door to Starbucks coffee! The Hampton Inn is less then ideal (location wise) to say the least. There are plenty of shady characters close by that greyhound bus station. If you are able body our city has recently been approved for Bird and Lime scooters. These are the best way to get around Fort Lauderdale quickly! The scooters are staged on every street corner in the city making them a very convienent option to get to Las Olas. The city has special pathways on las olas for bikes and scooters. The next best option is Uber or Lyft. Enjoy. If you need any dining recommendations let me know. 

Thanks for the response...I was afraid the Hampton Inn may not be a good idea, so I appreciate your honesty! The small amount of money saved wouldn’t be worth it. The Bird and Lime scooters sound like fun! We may just have to try those out! Looking forward to checking out more of Ft. Lauderdale this time. Had to cancel our post-cruise/pre-airport plans last year due to one of our party getting ill the last day of our cruise. Thanks again!

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We stay at the Holiday Inn express on 17th St when we go out of Ft. Lauderdale.  They have a free airport shuttle service which is nice.  The sun trolley stop is located right in front of the hotel.  We hop on the sun trolley and head to the beach area for dinner.  The sun trolley is $1/person each way or $3 all day.  The hotel has a shuttle service to the port which is expensive. We call a taxi for around $10 for the quick  trip to the port.  

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8 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The Holiday Inn Express has recently caught my eye as an economically friendly option.  It is right next to the Embassy on 17th St. and recently renovated.  Their prices are decent.  Maybe have a look there.  You will be closer to the port at that location.  And lots of restaurants within walking distance, including my personal favourite, La Bamba!

We just stayed here.  There is a bit of construction in the day (and strong smell in lobby) but it didn't bother us. The price was pretty good, room comfortable and short walk to Harbor Shops and restaurants as well across the street.  We would have no issue staying again.

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4 hours ago, VacationCrazy! said:

We stay at the Holiday Inn express on 17th St when we go out of Ft. Lauderdale.  They have a free airport shuttle service which is nice.  The sun trolley stop is located right in front of the hotel.  We hop on the sun trolley and head to the beach area for dinner.  The sun trolley is $1/person each way or $3 all day.  The hotel has a shuttle service to the port which is expensive. We call a taxi for around $10 for the quick  trip to the port.  

Great to know! We figured we’d Uber to the port! 

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45 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

We just stayed here.  There is a bit of construction in the day (and strong smell in lobby) but it didn't bother us. The price was pretty good, room comfortable and short walk to Harbor Shops and restaurants as well across the street.  We would have no issue staying again.

Sounds good! I love being close to restaurants and shops! Checked prices and right now the Holiday Inn Express is around $120 more for the total stay. Will have to weight the pros and cons! P.S. what kind of strong smell?!! 

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13 hours ago, Cindy Leslie said:

Sounds good! I love being close to restaurants and shops! Checked prices and right now the Holiday Inn Express is around $120 more for the total stay. Will have to weight the pros and cons! P.S. what kind of strong smell?!! 

Yes all in walking distance.  The smell was just paint or something from construction, so if you're not going until July, then that comment doesn't matter. For us, we found the price was much better than Hyatt or others that get mentioned by cruisers and still similar area.

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5 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Yes all in walking distance.  The smell was just paint or something from construction, so if you're not going until July, then that comment doesn't matter. For us, we found the price was much better than Hyatt or others that get mentioned by cruisers and still similar area.

Do you know if the new section is open yet?

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3 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Yes all in walking distance.  The smell was just paint or something from construction, so if you're not going until July, then that comment doesn't matter. For us, we found the price was much better than Hyatt or others that get mentioned by cruisers and still similar area.

There’s also a wastewater treatment located due South of it which smells pretty bad sometimes when the wind pick up. 

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7 minutes ago, Poleman88 said:

Hyatt Place 17th St Convention Center is always our choice. Free airport shuttle and breakfast, great location. Awesome staff.

That's usually our choice too but OP wanted something at a lower price point that Embassy Suites on 17th St.  The times that we have stayed at the Hyatt, their price point has always been higher than Embassy.

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There is a new development called “Dania Pointe” located just East of I-95 and Sterling Road (see pics). I went by there the other day and noticed a couple new hotels that look like construction is just about complete. There is also offerings from Hilton (Hampton and garden inn) and I believe a Fairfield that have been located at that intersection for awhile. If your on a budget you should look into staying in this area as it is most likely far less expensive then Fort Lauderdale 17th street and it offers many dining options within walking distance. You are no more then 15 minutes away from the port and 5 minutes from the FLL airport. Overall a great option for a better deal.

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7 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

There is a new development called “Dania Pointe” located just East of I-95 and Sterling Road (see pics). I went by there the other day and noticed a couple new hotels that look like construction is just about complete. There is also offerings from Hilton (Hampton and garden inn) and I believe a Fairfield that have been located at that intersection for awhile. If your on a budget you should look into staying in this area as it is most likely far less expensive then Fort Lauderdale 17th street and it offers many dining options within walking distance. You are no more then 15 minutes away from the port and 5 minutes from the FLL airport. Overall a great option for a better deal.

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Outstanding! Thanks so much for that information! We realize we may have to Uber to a couple places, but if we can find dining and shopping within walking distance, that’s a huge bonus!

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I sailed out of Fort Lauderdale last year and searched forever to find the best hotel/transport options.  We chose the Staybridge and we could not have been happier!!!  This was a 15 minute drive to the port but it was very nice and way less money than anything closer.  We saved enough to make a rental car fit in the budget.  This allowed us to access beaches and all Miami and Fort Lauderdale has to offer.  Plus this worked great because it was my family of 4 plus in-laws and staybridge had a 2 bedroom suite option for about 140.  So nice!

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We stayed at the Olas Blvd Fairfield and we were very unhappy with it (and we don’t tend to be easily put off by minor issues). We normally find the Marriotts good options and this one seemed new so it was an obvious choice, but...

The staff was not friendly (one female was problematic enough I wrote down her name to remember), the location was near a lot of big construction, the room was smaller in comparison to most Fairfield’s, the food was a 3/10 ( usually Fairfield’s do a good job with breakfast, but even the coffee was either cold/out most of our stay and that is very unusual). We sail from there again at Thanksgiving next year and I am already searching for new options!

On the positive side we are very excited about the B&B we have booked for Bermuda in the late spring (plus it’s close to one of the Caesar’s casinos). ⚡

Lynn

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2 hours ago, 2Beeze said:

We stayed at the Olas Blvd Fairfield and we were very unhappy with it (and we don’t tend to be easily put off by minor issues). We normally find the Marriotts good options and this one seemed new so it was an obvious choice, but...

The staff was not friendly (one female was problematic enough I wrote down her name to remember), the location was near a lot of big construction, the room was smaller in comparison to most Fairfield’s, the food was a 3/10 ( usually Fairfield’s do a good job with breakfast, but even the coffee was either cold/out most of our stay and that is very unusual). We sail from there again at Thanksgiving next year and I am already searching for new options!

On the positive side we are very excited about the B&B we have booked for Bermuda in the late spring (plus it’s close to one of the Caesar’s casinos). ⚡

Lynn

Thank you for your response. Sorry to hear you were unhappy with your stay. So far, this location has the most to offer at the most reasonable rate. A smaller room won’t matter too much as we’ll be sailing in an inside cabin this cruise (first time in a long time not having a balcony). The B&B in Bermuda sounds amazing! Casinos can be fun, for sure! I live in Las Vegas, so we have quite a variety to choose from! But I still manage to drop a few $$ in the casino onboard!

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6 hours ago, chopper said:

I sailed out of Fort Lauderdale last year and searched forever to find the best hotel/transport options.  We chose the Staybridge and we could not have been happier!!!  This was a 15 minute drive to the port but it was very nice and way less money than anything closer.  We saved enough to make a rental car fit in the budget.  This allowed us to access beaches and all Miami and Fort Lauderdale has to offer.  Plus this worked great because it was my family of 4 plus in-laws and staybridge had a 2 bedroom suite option for about 140.  So nice!

Wow, that sounds amazing! I’ll have to check it out! Being able to fit in a rental car would be great, especially with a family. And the two-bedroom suite sounds wonderful! Thanks for the information!

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On 12/17/2018 at 5:55 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That's usually our choice too but OP wanted something at a lower price point that Embassy Suites on 17th St.  The times that we have stayed at the Hyatt, their price point has always been higher than Embassy.

Indeed...the price is a bit out of our budget range. Flights ended up being higher than last year, so we’re trying to make up for it will a lower hotel rate! 

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9 hours ago, 2Beeze said:

We stayed at the Olas Blvd Fairfield and we were very unhappy with it (and we don’t tend to be easily put off by minor issues). We normally find the Marriotts good options and this one seemed new so it was an obvious choice, but...

The staff was not friendly (one female was problematic enough I wrote down her name to remember), the location was near a lot of big construction, the room was smaller in comparison to most Fairfield’s, the food was a 3/10 ( usually Fairfield’s do a good job with breakfast, but even the coffee was either cold/out most of our stay and that is very unusual). We sail from there again at Thanksgiving next year and I am already searching for new options!

On the positive side we are very excited about the B&B we have booked for Bermuda in the late spring (plus it’s close to one of the Caesar’s casinos). ⚡

Lynn

Is this the new hotel located at the intersection of Broward Blvd and Federal Highway (Morton’s across street and Starbucks nextdoor)? This is actually not a bad location at all. You were really close to lots of dining options on Las Olas as well as options on all four corners of the intersection (The Foxy Brown is pretty great). Fort Lauderdale is going through a pretty significant construction boom over the last couple years so it will be near impossible to stay downtown and not experience the negatives that go along with the construction chaos. Stay away from hotels on State Road 84 and check out some options either in Dania Beach or some of the more economical options on 17th street and you may be better off.

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3 hours ago, jurrjurr said:

Thanks for the review.  I was going to book this hotel with points on my SPG Amex. 

That is what we did, points... sometimes you win and sometimes... ??‍♀️

@tonyfsu21 It is a great location for food... and I love Foxy Brown’s too!! But I will have to use Uber, the hotel wasn’t up tp snuff and there are other options ??‍♀️ I could have lived with the construction, it was the bad food and the service attitudes that were really the killer. Hoping for better luck next Nov!  I was looking at something on Dania - I will definitely check back through the posts for suggestions.

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17 minutes ago, mworkman said:

What's wrong with this area? We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last time we were in the area and found a great German Restaurant right down the road with great food.  Although we didn't go out at night.

You are referring to Old Heidelberg. I guess nothing is really “wrong” with State Road 84 hotels other then the fact that there are better areas in and around Fort Lauderdale (for budget hotels) without the crime and roads with heavy speeding traffic. I think Dania (sterling Road & I-95) is the better budget conscious option. If you are not driven by price then my advise is to not even consider State Road 84 hotels. Just my opinion.

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Just now, tonyfsu21 said:

You are referring to Old Heidelberg. I guess nothing is really “wrong” with State Road 84 hotels other then the fact that there are better areas in and around Fort Lauderdale (for budget hotels) without the crime and roads with heavy speeding traffic. I think Dania (sterling Road & I-95) is the better budget conscious option. If you are not driven by price then my advise is to not even consider State Road 84 hotels. Just my opinion.

Yes Old Heidelberg, Okay..i don't know the area, as we booked a cruise on short notice and that hotel popped up as being available and under the $300 dollar rage for a night..Maybe we should publish a list of hotels/Areas that are NO-GO for cruisers.

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8 minutes ago, mworkman said:

Yes Old Heidelberg, Okay..i don't know the area, as we booked a cruise on short notice and that hotel popped up as being available and under the $300 dollar rage for a night..Maybe we should publish a list of hotels/Areas that are NO-GO for cruisers.

There’s nothing really “no-go” in Fort Lauderdale. It all boils down to budget so a list is simple:

No Budget: Beach Lux Hotels- Ritz, Conrad, W, four seasons, Atlantic, Hilton FLB, Marriot Harbor Beach.

Budget/Mid Range: Embassy Suites 17th, Renaissance, Hilton Marina (recommenced), four points. Basically any major chain located on 17th street/ Las Olas/ Downtown. This category also takes close proximity to dining/airport/cruise port into consideration.

** Dania Area applies to Mid/low range price point but gets you close access to dining and a 10 min ride to the Port.

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

This one has caught my attention lately.  I was going to to grab it for March when we cruise Harmony.  Too bad it's so far from La Bamba lol.  Eventually, I will try this one out.

Conrad is a great spot! We always enjoy it when extended family stays there and we visit the hotel. You are still only a 10 min Uber ride away from La Bamba(s)!! There’s actually another location on Federal Highway so you would be sandwiched in between two of them. 

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