Palm Beach/Fort Lauderdale
 

My sister and I are staying in Delray Beach because I have 2 qualifying certificates at the marriott there to stay for free. However, we don't know anything about the area and we need a room for our 3rd night. Any feedback on the area, where to stay, where not to stay, what to do, would be helpful. Also, is anyone familiar with the beachfront/ocean conditions there?

Delray Beach is terrific. The "downtown" area has been revitalized and the main drag-Atlantic Blvd. is chock a block with restaurants. Someone recently posted that there are 2 Marriotts in Delray, both on the beach but one is a bit closer to the action. They both sound nice. If you do a text search here for Marriott AND Delray you should bring up lots of posts.

I personally wouldn't bother moving for just 1 night unless the price is prohibitive. You're about 15 mins from Palm Beach/West Palm Beach. There's a big new shopping complex in WPB. I love walking Worth Ave. in Palm Beach but it may be a bit quiet at this time of year.

The beach should be fine in Delray although when it gets very warm they can have a problem with jelly fish but that would exist anywhere, not just in Delray.

If you want a cheaper option in Delray for the one night, The Colony is on Atlantic Ave but not ON the beach. They have a beach club with a minivan from the hotel but I'd just stay at the Marriott.

Thanks for your response. The Residence Inn is where we're staying on Fri & Sat, but the room is $149 on Sun. For some reason, the Marriott (which is right across from the beach) is only $99 or $109 for Sun. But since our flight is out of FLL at 7am on Monday, didn't want to spend a bunch of money for Sun. To me a bunch is $100+. Ok, just checked The Colony and it's about $85 and looks nice. We can consider that as an option also. We leave next week, I'll let you know how we fared. Thanks again for your help!

Check beach conditons b/f you go in the water b/c at this time of year ( actually "from Mother's day to Father's Day" although it can be earlier and/or later...)sea lice are a big problem in the ocean in the Delray Beach area.

Thanks! That's what I was afraid of, "sea lice." Basically we plan to do some driving/sight seeing between Palm Beach and Miami. Are there any other beaches we should consider?

Delray Beach was absolutely gorgeous! The new Marriott Residence Inn was beautiful. We had an 8th floor suite with a direct ocean view. Driving along A1A/Ocean was wonderful. Beautiful homes, more luxury vehicles than you'd ever care to see, lot's of sun and just a truly relaxing place. Downtown Delray Beach/Atlantic was a mix of nice little shops and restaurants. We ate at an Italian place with really good home made pizza and then a little place that seemed like a throw back to the 60's with HUGE burgers and good malts. At night DB came to life with lot's of outdoor dining, music everywhere and a great crowd. Drove down to Miami for dinner on Saturday. We decided to stay in FLL on Sunday and got lucky on Priceline($80 The Renaissance), it just made our trip to the airport at 5:30am much shorter Our trip was great and we would definitely go back!

Hi, ChiTricia! Thx for your DB trip report! Sounds as if you & your sister had a wonderful time. And, no sea lice!!!
Where is Marriott Residence Inn located?
Can't wait to get back to Delray!

wow...The Residence Inn is directly behind the Marriott but on Atlantic Blvd. as opposed to Ocean. There's a strip mall that separates the two, but they are practially right next door to one another.