Hello! My husband and I are taking a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Fort Lauderdale in late September. We're flying in 2 days early. Does anyone have any beachfront hotel recommendations? We're willing to spend up to $200/night for a nice room. Also, if anyone knows where cruises leave from in relation to the airport/beaches, I'm very curious! Thanks!

When I was in Fort Lauderdale last year I stayed at the Lago Mar. Excellent hotel right on the beach.

Unfortunately I do not have any information on where the cruises leave from.

http://www.lagomar.com/

Thanks so much, David! That place looks fantastic. I will look into the Club Package.

I'll suggest the Hyatt Pier 66. Either a tower or Lanai room.

IHRSA,

Your welcome. If you are looking for something to do while in Fort Lauderdale, I'd suggest an everglades tour on an airboat. The link below is that of the tour that I went on. It was very good. On the way back from the everglades on Griffin Road, if you like key lime pie you won't want to miss stopping at Bob Roth's New River Groves to pick up one.


http://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/

Oops, forgot to give you the link to Bob Roth's.

http://www.florida-oranges.com/

Either Lago mar or Marriott Harbor Beach are the best in Ft. Lauderdale, and both are not far from the pier. They both have great pool areas and both are on a beautiful stretch of beach. Lago Mar has nice suites and is alittle quieter than the Marriott.( more romantic).

Thank you! I really appreciate the suggestions, and am booking a room at Lago Mar this afternoon.

Hyatt Pier 66 is not beachfront, it's on the intercoastal. I love the Marriott Harbor Beach, myself. Very close to Port Everglades.

HYATT PIER 66!!! near the cruise ships (10 minutes walking) & amazing pools!

Check out the Radisson Bahia Mar (sometimes VISA has a buy one night, get one night free, check the VISA website). I stayed there two nights just to get away, and I've lived just outside Fort Lauderdale all my 48 years (and happen to know Bob Roth... great Key Lime and Banana Cream Pies and they have mini-pies.) Bahia Mar has a walkway going across the main road to the beach, a pool on the 2nd level, and ask for a view to the north (marina/ocean view). If you want to stay nearby and not rent a car, there is plenty to see and do. You can take a cab over to Las Olas Boulevard and look through the shops, then take a stroll along the New River and look at the various boats/sailboats along the dock, and then wind up at more shops/restaurants and a nice little park. And if you'd rather see the fancy homes along the waterway, take an afternoon ride on "Carrie B", a very nice guided boat ride past the best homes in Fort Lauderdale (my neighbor and I took this tour when playing "tourist" a few years ago -- very nice -- and it even goes into Port Everglades before turning around for the return trip.) If you want a little adventure, rent a car and go west on Griffin Road for the Air Boat ride in the Everglades.
The cruise ships leave from Port Everglades, which is only about a mile or two from the hotels people have mentioned. The airport is the same distance in the opposite direction than the beach. Everything is close by. Even if you don't stay at Pier 66, go there for drinks on the top. The bar revolves and in about an hour you see the entire view while sipping your drinks.
Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Heartburn3: Sure, enough, I called the number on the Visa site and got a $114 room (king bed, balc., partial ocean view) and the second night is free. Thank you very much for that and the other suggestions! Let me know if I can answer any questions about Boston

My apologies for forgetting the beachfront part of your request.

I'd go with Marriott's Harbor Beach. Just a great property.

No no no no! Wait! Oh god, people, Lago Mar is TERRIBLE. We were there in early May for a HALF DAY! We checked out after 3 hours, paying the penalty just so that we could get the "F" out of that dive.

Let me paint the picture for you:

Dated, 60s, white exterior architecture. NOt too big a deal right? Inside, WEIRD INTERIOR DESIGN. Pinks, blacks, peaches, teals. This wasn't art deco people, this was simply bad (euro?) taste. But hey, I can roll with it, right? That's not that big of a deal, right?

The room, although clean, was just plain odd. See the aforementioned design for a general description. The kitchen was ok. not great.

The check in clerk was a rude German man who told us we were in a smoking room. We had paid for and guaranteed a non smoking room. He replied, "Is no problem...believe it me. You won't notice a difference." Uh huh.

He also was very rude to a lesbian couple as we waited for him to attend to our reservation.

Ok, the pool was crammed with kids. The pool was crammed with adults. The pool was crammed with kid-like adults.

The pool was crammed with loud tourists from another country. They dominated.

The pool was dirty. Not tended to. There were screaming kids everywhere.
-Darvy.

IHRSA - stay at the Hyatt.

Oh, the picture on their web site - I don't know if that's really the Lago Mar we saw. Looked nothing like it.

Doesn't sound at all like the Lago Mar that I have been to almost every year for 20 years! Never have had experiences there like that, and we go on vacation week too.

We stayed @ Lago mar in May 2001 in the 2 BR Oceanfront Deluxe. The thing about Lago Mar is that there is an extremely wide range of variance in the room design, furnishings & location/view. Sounds as if Darvy endde up in one of the original rooms overlooking the parking lot. The 2 BR Suite that we had was directly on the beach. The place was huge: 2 bedrooms each w/ ensuite, a 3rd full bathroom, 3 TVs, kitchen, dining room, living room & huge balcony/terrace which we enjoyed every morning & evening after dinner. Although we enjoyed the space, the entire suite was crying out for refurbishment. We met another family who had one of the newer suites & there place was far more attractive than ours. Theirs overlooked the "adult pool" & was much farther from the beach than ours was. We had the larger suite w/ the better view while they had a nicely furnished suite. Is there a suite @ LagoMar that has all 3: space, view, up-to-date frunishings?

Now regarding Darvy's comment about the pools. I am very surprised & disappointed to hear about the uncleanliness. When we were there both pools & pool areas were meticulously maintained. This cause me to wonder if Lago Mar is under new management. Does anybody know? Also the "adult pool" was exceptionally quiet throughout our week. Each day there were only 8 or 10 people around the pool @ any given time.

So, all in all, I am at a loss to explain Darvy's horrible experience. I, for one, wld. certainly like an explanation from Lago Mar b/c this is a place where we had planned to return.

I'm glad you got a good deal at the Radisson Bahia Mar. That's about the rate I got a couple years ago. A tip on saving a few bucks and a few minutes on breakfast: From the airport, head north on U.S. 1/Federal Highway, turn right at S.W. 17th Street Causeway (Burger King on the Left & Miami Subs on the right corner). Just past Cordova Drive on the left is a Publix grocery store. Pick up a danish and cheap napkins for the next morning. They supply a coffee maker. That way you can have a quick b'fast and head out for fun! Also, if you like good, Boston style seafood, check out Kelly's bar/grill. It's in the same plaza as Publix, but faces the part on Cordova Road, on the end of the building (easy to miss, but ooooh, so good... they serve fried full belly clams, oysters, etc., and I see a lot of burgers being eaten, too.) They aren't cheap, but you can have a nice dinner for $20-$25 pp. Okay, now to continue to your hotel (you're already half way there) take a left out of the Publix plaza onto 17th St. Cross over the bridge at the intracoastal (grab a quick look at the convention center next to Port Everglades on your right). The road curvwes to the left and turn into A1A, which is the road along the beach. Bahia Mar is about a block past the Fire Station on the left. ENJOY!!

Visa site with BOGO information -- I don't see anything on the site. Can anyone tell me a few more details about how to locate the hotel deals.

Thank you!