Which hotel should I stay with my family in fort lauderdale?
 

I'll be going on a cruise (QM2) in Dec. with my wife and 2 kids (1 and 3). I'm looking for recommendations for hotels just for one night prior the cruise. I prefer a hotel with nice pool(s), preferably close to the beach and good family restaurants and maybe some shops. Currently, my top two choices are Hyatt Pier 66 and Marriott Habour Beach, but I'm very opened to any suggestions. Thanks.

By the way, I will not have a car for the day. So I'm hoping most of the places (beach, restaurants and shops) are within walking distance.

Pie 66 is not on teh beach so you are better off w/ Marriott Harbour Beach....from where does the cruise depart ? Lago Mar is also nice. And, Pelican Beach Resort has a nice lazy river!

I believe the cruise will leave from Port Everglades.

Not sure exactly where those two are, but pretty much you will be walking distance to several dozen other hotels located on the beach. It's a "hotel row" area since lots of people want to stay on the beach. You'll need to use cabs.

In short, I'd like to know which hotel is considered the best family hotel(especially for very young kids) in Fort lauderdale?

Kingchow,
There is a new hotel (1.5 yrs old) with a lazy river on the grounds: Pelican Beach Resort. I haven't stayed there yet, but my kids would definitely love it. The pix look nice, but then they're supposed to, right?

http://www.pelicanbeach.com/

Pelican Beach resort IS nice. I recommended in above ppost. The pix aren't lying! We stayed there March/05. I love the lazy river! And, the beach is gorgeous.

Clarification: There is the "new" Best Western Pelican Beach Resort & the "old" Best Western next door (to the north of Pelican). You do not want to stay @ the "old " property. Make sure that you clarify that you want the "new" Pelican Beach Resort.

If you're going Christmas week, forget it. Any other time, use priceline for downtown Ft Lauderdale and you'll get Emabassy Suites, Marriott, or Hyatt which all have pools, all are close to shopping and water taxi and close to pier. Why do want shopping with a 1 and 3 yr old? You just need a baby pool and place to sleep! The baby won't eat dinner and the 3 yr old won't need a restaurant! Bid low and keep trying.

From the comments (very helpful, many thanks!) and some research so far, it looks like Pelican (new) or Lago Mar are indeed better choices than my original choices of Hyatt or Marriott. It comes down to which hotel has the better beach and facility (like baby pool). Any more comments are greatly appreciated.

I don't recall a "baby pool" @ either Lago Mar or Pelican. LM has 2 pools. Pelican has the lazy river...which I keep mentioning b/c I had so much fun floating for a week in the thing! :) The beach for LM & Pelican is along the same stretch....long stretch. The Beach @ Pelican was slightly nicer than LM when we were there in March 2005. The suite that we were in @ LM was not as nice as the one in the pictures. This cld be b/c all of the suites have been refurbished since we wee there or b/c some have & some haven't. So, you shd probably clarify that. We didn't really care that we were in an unfurbished suite b/c the location was absolutely spectacular....it made up for the "tiredness" of the furnishings(& you are only going to be there one night so it may not matter to you either)
www.pelicanbeach.com
www.lagomar.com

I've stayed at both, and would chose Lago Mar. Besides the nice pools, it has a playground on the sand that the kids would enjoy as well. It is also just a few minute ride to the port. The beach is really nice at Lago Mar. The parking is also free, whereas you have to valet park at Pelican.

jd, good point about the playground. It'a very nice playground. I had forgotten about that. The other thing about LM is that you can get a suite(1BR or 2BR) whereas Pelican is more like your traditional hotel room. At Pelican we stayed in a room that had 2 Queen beds & a small "sitting area" off the bedroom. The "sitting area" had a small sofa bed. I think they called it a "sofa chair"....or something weird like that. It's an armchair chair that folds out into a bed. But there is no kitchen. There's a small fridge & microwave. I think if I had 2 small children, I may prefer to have the kitchen area that LM offers....but again, you are only going to be there for one night so it may not matter.

armchair...not "armchair chair"...don't want to confuse you! Sorry about my typos.

Thanks for all the useful information. I'll probably book a night at LM as it looks like the perfect place for my kids to unwind before the cruise.