Florida Beach Hotel
 

I am looking for a hotel in Florida, no particular city. I want a hotel on the beach that has chairs and an umbrella free of charge. I am not renting a car, so I need restaurants on site or not far away. Just a 5 day get-a-way. Any recommendations? I plan on going the first week in May.

The Breakers in Palm Beach? The Ritz Carlton in Naples?

Nothing is usually free at beachfront hotels, but it will be included in the typical resort fee.

Any special requirements? Or price?

Yes, if there are price restraints it would be helpful to know those.

I might look at Fort Myers Beach. Pink Shell Hotel advertises free umbrellas and chairs. It has a couple of restaurants on-site but the island has all sorts of hotels and restaurants.

We stayed there many years ago, but it has been completely rebuilt since then. It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor, but it is certainly not cheap.

I would be willing to pay about $200 a night. Do you think that is enough for at least a 4 star hotel on the beach in May?

I would doubt it but then, I do not know the meaning of four stars...do you mean a vague score of 4 out of 5 with five being the best?

May will, at least, not be the so-called "high season" in parts of Florida but a lot depends on the level of accommodation you pick, obviously.

I really wish you could make a decision as to <B>where</B> in the state you'd prefer to be. There are hotels "right on the beach" in lots of places.

Dukey's point is well-taken.

You don't want to rent a car. There are places you can go that are close to the airport, and places that are not. You want to walk to restaurants. This implies a certain amount if density. Is the chair on the beach critical, or could you manage with a chair at the pool?

I can think of places that fulfill your criteria in your price range -- at that time of year -- but there are these other issues to think about.

I presume the OP is referring to 4* based on some hotel website, as there is no official govt star rating system in the US. I think hotels.com, Expedia, booking.com etc assign their own stars. I'd stop thinking about free umbrellas as that is irrelevant, you are paying for it one way or another. The bottom line is all that matters, whether it is just the room rate or the room rate plus a "resort fee", etc., the total is the only thing you should compare.

I'd also forget the star ratings as your budget isn't high, and if a place has what you want at the right price on the beach, and looks okay, who cares if it is rated 3* on some website.

I think you can come close to that in Fort Lauderdale, and you can get by without a car there. The B Ocean Resort is around $200 a night in May. It does not give you "free" umbrellas, but as I said, I think that shouldn't be the focus. Or try Hollywood nearby, the Margaritaville Beach Resort is in that price range.

Any place I've been on the beach in Florida is not a place you would never want to leave to ea or sightseet, etc. You could eat there but I wouldn't want to (eg, Sarasota, St Pete Beach).

I don't know enough about Fl to know where I want to go. If I go to the beach I need a lounge chair because of neck problems. Any beach probably close to an airport would be good and enough restaurants to choose from. Maybe a four star is unrealistic for $200 a night. The hotel has got to be clean and on the beach. Does this help?

OK, fair enough. In Fort Lauderdale most of the hotels are across a road from the beach. Notable exceptions would be the Mariott Harbor Beach and the Pelican Grand.

However, would you be willing to cross a road to get onto the beach if the price were right? if so, then there are many more possibilities.

And then there's the entire Gulf side. We generally stay on Sanibel in a place that is on the beach but that place has self-catering cabins and it is not a hotel.

I was also thinking of perhaps the Don Cesar on St. Pete Beach and I mean ON the beach but perhaps you could look at a booking engine like Booking.com and specify beach or oceanfront and then check very carefully as to the exact hotel location before making a commitment.

You need to do some research about Florida IMO. Sorry I cannot be more helpful BUT if you pick a couple of properties/towns and then ASK about those specifically you'll get more help.

Let's start with this: are you concerned about crowds and temperatures? Do you know enough to prefer the Gulf or the Atlantic. Surely you must have SOME notion.