Renaissance FLL Cruise Port vs Courtyard FLL Beach

I have both of these hotels reserved for our pre cruise night mid December. I have a club level one at the Renaissance and a corner one at the Courtyard. We are very familiar to the 17th Street are but have never stayed on the beach. I am aware of the Hyatt through Value Trips and have it booked for our one night post cruise. But my dilemma is that I don't know which pre cruise hotel to keep. If you have stayed at both of these, which one would you return to? And no, we will not have a rental car so not 100% sure on how easy it is to get to the Courtyard. Also want to pick up wine before, so need to know if there is somewhere handy to the Courtyard to do this.

Thanking all of you in advance!

snow bunny

Haven't stayed at the Renaissance but have stayed in a corner room at Courtyard Beach. The corner suite was very impressive. Not sure I'd do it again but it was very nice. The beach view was great. Bubba Gumps in near vicinity. Breakfast wasn't all that great and rather expensive. You'll note the menu at the Bistro does not include prices. Calories but not prices.

Here's a neat trick. Center googlemaps on a location. Courtyard Marriott Beach. In the search box, type what you're looking for. In this case 'wine store'. There are two located about 300 feet north. Follow the link below to the map.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ocean+Wine+%26+Spirits+(Las+Olas)/@26.1183291,-80.1063722,18.25z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1swine+store!3m4!1s0x0:0xd8384addc1c08695!8m2!3d26.1197152!4d-80.1067203

Breakfast at the Renaissance will run you about $22 per person. There are multiple places to dine in the general area. Use the trick above and type 'restaurants' in the search box. Renaissance is also within walking distance of Total Wine. Great selections and prices.

Personally, I would pick Renaissance over Marriott Courtyard.

That said, I would pick the embassy suites or the Hyatt over either of those.

Since you don't have a car, I would take Uber to the hotels and then to the ports.

Here's another neat trick:

https://www.uber.com/fare-estimate/

Thank you! I have the Club level booked at Renaissance and we will get continental breakfast in their lounge which is plenty sufficient given we are getting on a cruise ship! My leaning was towards the Renaissance as it is in familiar territory. Being from an are of Canada where we do not have Uber, I am leery of using it. Perhaps this would be a good first time??

snow bunny

While more expensive, I prefer the Beach area over the busy 17th street strip mall area by a large margin but do understand the convenience of 17th St for a pre-cruise stay.

Just look at the webcam above the Courtyard - Fort Lauderdale Webcams

The liquor store next to Elbo Room a block north of Courtyard is not my favorite but a block west along the same street you will find Ocean Spirits - they are awesome and even deliver to hotels nearby!

Thank you! I have the Club level booked at Renaissance and we will get continental breakfast in their lounge which is plenty sufficient given we are getting on a cruise ship! My leaning was towards the Renaissance as it is in familiar territory. Being from an are of Canada where we do not have Uber, I am leery of using it. Perhaps this would be a good first time??

 

snow bunny

Uber consistently gets better reviews than Taxi cabs here in Cruise Critic. Search on "uber". Don't know about these two but many hotels in FLL charge for their shuttles.