We are thinking of a southern florida vacation this Feb, will be flying into Fort Lauderdale and were considering a trip to the Keys, but on reading some of the posts here I am thinking of perhaps just staying in the Fort Lauderdale area. We have a 1 year old and are looking for the best resort for a week of R&R on the beach. Looking for hotel recommendations and hints of how to best take advantage of priceline.com booking that would give us the recommended hotels.

Marriott harbor Beach in fort lauderdale, the Diplomat is Hallandale, the Boca Raton Resort and Hotel in Boca raton, the Breakers in Plam Beach are the best where located. Also, check out the Sheraton Bal harbor in Bal harbor. In Key West check out the Casa Marina resort and the Hyatt Regency. These are 4 star plus but none are cheap. You will probably not get any of these on Priceline. On Priceline you get what is available and you have no choice other than your price range. You could get stuck at a dive. I have used Price line and have got gret values when I go somewhere that only has quality hotels Then I know that no matter where I go it will be fine. There are some dumpy places in Fort Lauderdale that woiuld make your week regrettable.

I staed at the Lago Mar a while back. I highly recommend it. It's right on the beach.

www.lagomar.com

I definately would pick Fort Lauderdale over the Keys for beaches! We just stayed at the Fort Lauderdale Marriot Harbor Beach Resort 2 weeks ago. It sounds up your alley. See Tripadvisor.com for reviews on the hotel. We got it through priceline at $115 a night. I think it is the only Resort hotel offered in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area on Priceline. You may want to refer to biddingfortravel.com to learn more about Priceline/Fort Lauderdale hotels. It is a very informative site. Good Luck!

Yes to Marriott Harbor Beach...right on the beach!

If you're trying to target a specific hotel, Hotwire may be the better option for you.

BetterBidding.com for help with Priceline or Hotwire.

Thanks for the help, I tried Priceline for the fort lauderdale beach area bidding up to $101 for a 4 star hotel, using the strategies outlined on betterbidding.com. No luck yet. Still looking for suggestions for a nice hotel on the beach, some of the smaller hotel look quite nice, like the Coral Key Inn and similar places, anyone have experience with the smaller Inns along the beach?

Depending on the week, $100 probably isn't going to get you a resort in February in Ft. Lauderdale for three reasons. The Miami International Boat Show is in February, Presidents Week which is HUGE, and February kicks off peak season for South Florida.

This was posted on Dec. 26 at BetterBidding.com.:

"I thought I had a comp room with the Marriott harbor area hotel. When I found out they were completely sold out ,I decided to "go for" the Pier 66. Since no other beach area was 4* (unless something was just added) I made a few lower bids and ended up getting hotel for $79. Since it's a Friday night in cruise season and the lowest rates were listed as $229,"

Have you also tried following the advice at biddingfortravel.com?