Jul08

Hello all,
My bf and I are going to be spending the last week of December and NYE in Fort Lauderdale areas. We were wondering if we could find any ocean front or short walk to the ocean hotels at all around that time. We are budgeting around 150-200 a night. Also, where is the hot spot for New Year's Eve in the area? What are things to do, see, eat on the way to Key West? thanks in advance!

Dukey1

Of course you can but you'd better not wait UNTIL then to reserve one. Your budget may be a little off, however.

Jul08

any suggestions on a specific hotel? how off is my budget?

SusanCS

The drive between Fort Lauderdale and Key West is about 4 1/2 hours, so at least 9 hours of your day will be spent in the car. You might consider spending at least one night in Key West, but as Dukey says about your budget, it'd definitely be too low for Key West.

jayne1973

Yes, if you go to Key West, plan on spending the night, maybe two if you want to explore. On the way, stop in Islamadora at Robbie's Marina for a bit of funky souvenir shopping and a chance to feed the giant tarpons.

Dukey1

The absolute ocean FRONT hotels in Fort Lauderdale would include the Hilton, the Marriott Harbor Beach, the Atlantic, the W, and the Sheraton among others.

You can certainly check those websites for prices. For example, the Hilton for the last week in December is running at $379/night;
the Marriott Harbor Beach is $529 (the Beach Place Towers is a couple hundred cheaper); the Ritz Carlton is $1229 a night; the Courtyard is $349;
the Atlantic is $407/night. You can check others.
the Atlantic

Dukey1

As to a specific hotel that is within easy walking distance of the beach and won't break the bank you might also look at the Days Inn Bahia Cabana or go to a site such as Hotels.com and look there.

I suspect that just about anything really close to the beach during the last week of December as in the 29th onward is going to cost you at least $300+ a night.

volcanogirl

Key West is so much fun. I'd consider spending a few days there if you can. We stopped at Robbie's that jayne mentioned up above - had fun feeding the tarpon there.

Dukey1

Jul08,

I would agree as to staying at least one night in Key West but please be aware that I just went to Hotels.com and tried looking for hotel rooms starting on 29 December with a checkout on 1 Jan and only ONE (out of 100) came up as available and they wanted $1000 a night!

Jul08

Thanks for all the responses! After looking around on here. We found a guest house to stay at for 4 days can't wait to soak in the view and meet the people!

Dukey1

mind telling us which one?

Jul08

Olivia on Duval good review on Yelp, and it's really all we need as we are not staying inside all day. I will do a report on our trip when I get back. Thanks for being so helpful all along!

Jul08

volcanogirl pretty much did the work for me on what to do and where to eat in KW thanks!