Hotel advice please

Cruise leaves January 6. We will arrive morning of January 5 and want to do a river boat tour of Fort Lauderdale before boarding the ship the next day. Looking for recommendations for accommodation that is convenient for airport, cruise port and getting to the boat tour. Have only been to FLL once and that time was a quick in and out to the cruise ship. I have reserved a La Quinta in Hollywood based on good reviews and free airport shuttle but I'm not sure this is the best location. Any and all comments and recommendations would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

We like the Springhill Suites in Dania Beach. Free airport shuttle and low cost cruise shuttle.

If your focus is river boats then I would not book hotels so far away such as La Quinta Hollywood - I-95 cluster in the map below.

Please take a look at the map below. It will be much easier to stay closer to Fort Lauderdale beach or 17th St or Las Olas.

You can see which hotels are where here: Fort Lauderdale Hotels For Cruisers

On a busy Sunday morning with seven ships in port you will want to be at a hotel much closer to Ft Lauderdale beach where the boat tours originate rather than in Hollywood. However most hotels in the SE 17 St area near the port will run at least $50-100 more than that La Quinta, and some of the more economical ones in the area are showing sold out for January 5 already. I don't know what time you were planning the boat tour and what logistics you had in mind (will you drop the luggage at the ship first, then head for a late morning tour, or take the tour as early as possible?) but the transfer time and cost could possibly put a damper on your plans. If the Hilton Marina or Pier 66 hotels are out of your budget at least search for others closer to the port than Hollywood. Unfortunately it appears the Holiday Inn Express on 17th and Hyatt Place Convention Center may be sold out for your date, but those are ones to keep checking.

ETA: after re reading the OP's post I am totally unclear as to when they are planning to do their boat tour: the day before or morning of the cruise?

Fort Lauderdale is well known but I would say that Hollywood is much nicer.

You can start your river boat tour there. Plenty of time to experience the tour in the morning before checking out of the hotel and getting to Port Everglades for cruise check-in.

Re-reading my post I can see it wasn't clear: the plan is to arrive on the morning of January 5th and check out the waterways on the afternoon of that day. Cruise leaves at 4 p.m. the following day on the 6th, so we won't be doing any sightseeing that day.

I am now looking at Best Western Airport/Cruise Port on State Road 84 - is that aka Marina Mile? Perhaps a more convenient location than Hollywood. Water taxi is 2 miles away - I think that's what we want to do .....unless someone has another suggestion. :) Thanks again everyone for your help.

On a busy Sunday morning with seven ships in port you will want to be at a hotel much closer to Ft Lauderdale beach where the boat tours originate rather than in Hollywood. However most hotels in the SE 17 St area near the port will run at least $50-100 more than that La Quinta, and some of the more economical ones in the area are showing sold out for January 5 already. I don't know what time you were planning the boat tour and what logistics you had in mind (will you drop the luggage at the ship first, then head for a late morning tour, or take the tour as early as possible?) but the transfer time and cost could possibly put a damper on your plans. If the Hilton Marina or Pier 66 hotels are out of your budget at least search for others closer to the port than Hollywood. Unfortunately it appears the Holiday Inn Express on 17th and Hyatt Place Convention Center may be sold out for your date, but those are ones to keep checking.

 

ETA: after re reading the OP's post I am totally unclear as to when they are planning to do their boat tour: the day before or morning of the cruise?

Re-reading my post I can see it wasn't clear: the plan is to arrive on the morning of January 5th and check out the waterways on the afternoon of that day. Cruise leaves at 4 p.m. the following day on the 6th, so we won't be doing any sightseeing that day.

 

I am now looking at Best Western Airport/Cruise Port on State Road 84 - is that aka Marina Mile? Perhaps a more convenient location than Hollywood. Water taxi is 2 miles away - I think that's what we want to do .....unless someone has another suggestion. :) Thanks again everyone for your help.

We have stayed many times at the Hampton Inn on SW 12th Ave which is just off State Road 84, and I am pretty sure the hotel you mention is right next door. I think that's a great place to stay.

It is close to the airport, and most of the hotels in that area have free airport shuttles and offer a cheap shuttle to the port. It is across from a large plaza with restaurants and stores.

We did what you are talking about doing on one of our stays. We took a cab to the water taxi stop near the 17th street bridge and spent a good part of the day seeing the sites from the water. You can get on and off - have lunch, shop etc.

When we were done we took a cab back to the hotel. I can't remember how much the cab was, but I know it wasn't a lot.

It was a pleasant way to spend the day.

We enjoyed the holiday inn express 17th Street. Great location with shuttle and breakfast included, close to everything(many stores bars restaurants) including water taxi and sun trolley

Safe sailing

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Thanks everyone for the advice and especially the map and info about all the hotel areas. Very helpful!