My husband and I will be flying into Ft. Lauderdale for 4 days the first week of Dec to celebrate a bday (41). We are looking for a good place to stay (on the beach) within about 100 miles of the airport. We've never been to that part of Florida and there are so many beaches that we don't know where to begin. We want to be able to just hang out at the beach all day and go to good restaurants for dinner. We like staying at both b&bs and hotels (up to $200/night). We prefer a quieter atmosphere (we're not big partiers!), but the beauty of the beach is most important to us. Does anyone have ideas on what beach to stay at and lodging? Thanks!!

Not sure you're aware of this, but 100 miles from Ft. Lauderdale puts you onto the Florida Keys and as far north as Port St. Lucie.

That's a pretty wide area.

In Ft. Lauderdale I've stayed at the Atlantic A Luxury Hotel. It was really nice and on a nice stretch of beach. I don't know the cost as my clients covered it.

We really enjoy the Marriott Harbor Beach on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The pool area and beach is lovely and there are many excellent restaurants in Fort Lauderdale.

Delray Beach (1/2 north of FLL) has a very good beach and lots of restaurants, boutiques, galleries in its trendy downtown area near the ocean. Wright by the Sea (www.wbtsea.com) is a small apartment style hotel ON the beach (the ocean side of A1A). Lots of old florida character. With AAA discount, you'd be right around $200.

Thanks for all your replies so far. Ryan: we do realize that 100 miles is a large area...we are willing to drive 1-2 hrs to get to a great beach regardless of whether we are traveling north, west, or south from Ft. Lauderdale. We just had to fly into that airport for specific reasons. Unfortunately the hotel you stayed at is $400+/night (over our budget), but it looked great on the website! Thanks for your suggestion too, Postal. I checked availability for that hotel and it is sold out on our dates. Xkenx: Delray Beach looks great as does your suggestion of a hotel (got good reviews on tripadvisor!). Thanks for all your responses!

BTW, if you put the address of Wright by the Sea into google maps or Google Earth, you can get an aerial view of the hotel and beach. It is L-shaped, with the long part of the L on the north, and behind a semicircle drive.

I'd suggest you check out Deerfield Beach - a short drive north of Fort Lauderdale. Nice beach, and there's a good Embassy Suites hotel there, along with a few others. Also has an ocean pier and an ocean front promenade.

Love Deerfield Beach.

Ryan... The Atlantic has been upstaged by the St. Regis, which is a few doors down and just opened. Still run by Starwood (Sheraton)

Thanks for all of your suggestions! We're also looking into Deerfield Beach (as well as Delray Beach)based on all of your replies.

We stayed at a neat little place called the Sea Spray Inn. (Ft. Lauderdale by the Sea)Ocean views and reasonable prices.

Lauderdale by the Sea is a wonderful place to stay. There are lots of B&B's / Mom-and-Pop hotels and it's so close to the airport that you can take a taxi and not bother with renting a car. The city is small so walking for meals is not a problem. Enjoy wherever you go and Happy Birthday!

Here's a good website for Delray Beach:
http://www.downtowndelraybeach.com/

Check out these hotels in Ft. Lauderdale. Both are on a great stretch of beach, with the Lago Mar being a little more secluded.I prefer the Lago Mar because most rooms are suites and are reasonably priced. We'll be there ourselves the 1st week of Dec., although Dec.1st is sold out already.

www.lagomar.com
www.marriottharborbeach.com

We've stayed at the Embassy Suites in Deerfield Beach many times and like it a lot but it's gotten so expensive! We're not going the same week as you (we're the 22nd to 26th) but we were told we'd have to book a minimum of 5 days and the rates were in the $300 to $400 range! Yikes! It may be different earlier on in December, though -- good luck!

We're staying, for the second time, at the Pelican Beach Grand, which is beautiful, in a quiet location, and right on the beach, but even with the AARP rate, we're paying about $278. Still, it might be worth a try for earlier in December.

We looked at the website for Wright By The Sea and it does look very nice. We might try it next time.

Thanks for all the replies! It is going to be a tough decision!