Mike

I am trying to locate a reasonably-priced hotel in Ft Lauderdale for my family for a night prior to our early March cruise. Has anyone stayed at Ramada Inn's Paradise Beach Resort/Inn? Is it close to the airport? Is it a decent hotel? Any other suggestions?

thereuare

My suggestion is to bid on Priceline and save some money, since it's only for one nite.<BR><BR>Check out www.biddingfortravel.com to see what hotels in the area have come up before and for how much.

Andrew

I booked rooms for family and friends in Fort Lauderdale using Priceline (and BiddingForTravel.com). I got the Embassy Suites in downtown Fort Lauderdale for $57/night plus tax/fees. This was for a pre-cruise stay in November. The Embassy Suites is supposed to be really nice plus has a free shuttle from the airport and to the cruise ships. You could get the Marriott if you bid through Priceline, though, and that has no free shuttle - so it could effectively raise the rate but still likely cheaper than doing it elsewhere. Just remember Priceline is totally non-refundable/non-changable once you book it.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

Jason

Mike<BR>I have stayed at the Best Western Marina Inn and Yacht Club twice.Free shuttle from the airport free shuttle to the Pier.Any kind of food-fast/slow inexpensive whatvere right out the front door.Right across from the Pier.We paid $80 for a quad room.Dont know about the Ramada.<BR>Jason

Mike

Thanks for the PriceLine suggestions. I went to their website and e-mailed them, however, unfortunately, being a Canadian, this service is not available to me. The PriceLine profile only accepts Americans and the Credit Card must have been issued in the US and have an American billing address. Too bad. It looks like it would have been a great savings.

thereuare

I beieve Canadians can get around the "no canadians" rule IF you have an American express card... there is info on it at BiddingforTravel, as well as a recent post i saw at the message boards at cruisecritic.com (do a search there).<BR><BR>I THINK the canadians used CA for the state (standing for CANADA instead of California and used 99999 for the zip code). But again, this only works with Amex cards and not visa/mastercards (i believe).

ingrid

Need a pre-cruise hotel for family of four (kids are 10 and 12). So far, the options are:<BR>Renaissance Ft. Lauderdale (2 queen beds)<BR>Marriott Marina (but only 2 double beds)<BR>Springhill Suites (2 doubles + sofa bed)<BR>Which one would you recommend? Also, does anybody know how far they are from the Best Western Marina (other family members are staying there)?

M.B.

Mike, the Spring Hills Suites (Marriott) is right by the airport and the cruise port. They offer their shuttle (free) to both airport pick-up and pier drop-off. It is considered a &quot;family type&quot; property. We're staying there in Dec. Happy Cruisin'!

Cruiser

Me too, Mike. I stayed 3 days at the SpringHill Marriott in FLL in Oct. Was very impressed for a small hotel. Staff was very accomodating. Shuttles worked well, too. I left the hotel at 11:05am and was in my cabin at 11:35am. Very efficient (shuttle and the cruise ship embarkation).<BR><BR>Fast food next door to Suites. Kmart within 5-10 min. walk (for last minute purchases).<BR><BR>The Suites have refrig., microwave, 2 large TV, 2 double beds and sofa, table to work or eat on, nice pool and hot tub, free breakfast, etc.<BR><BR>With AAA, it is $80. Probably less if you Priceline it. Isn't there a Canadian Auto Club?<BR><BR>Good Luck. Also enjoy your cruise!!

mike

Thanks for the tips about Priceline and it's companion site, Biddingfortravel.com. It was all very helpful and, thanks to advice on the BiddingForTravel site, I managed to access Priceline even though I am Canadian. I was able to obtain a room at the 3* Sheraton Airport Hotel in March for $60 US a night. Had I waited longer, I may have even got it for less, but I wasn't prepared to risk it, and that price was substantially less than anything else I could find.