FLL and MIA Hotel

[momtoty2001]

We are flying into FLL 2 days prior to our Oct. Cruise out of POM and need help figuring out the best plan on how to get to POM and where to stay.. We will be traveling with our 10 yr old daughter and 11 year old son.

 

Our options would be to rent a car in FLL and stay somewhere along the way to POM.. preferably a beach location with a tourist feel.. and not have to pay a lot to park a rental car.

 

We would then drop the rental off at MIA on the day of the cruise and take the shuttle to POM.

 

Another option would be to take a shuttle to hotel near POM.. Maybe Holiday INN or Incontinental that others have mentioned but I worry that there won't be enough for the kids to do for the 2 full days we will be there and that there isn't beach access for these hotels? (I'm not even sure if the beach is a option in October so wouldn't mind someone commenting on that too as this would help to make the decision)

 

We could also stay at more expensive hotel near South Beach and that would give us the beach access we would like but haven't found many hotels near this area that aren't super expensive..

 

Any advice??

 

Thank you so much!

[capriccio]

For Fort Lauderdale hotels (and lots of other info) check out http://www.sunny.org.

[eliezra]

We are in the same situation as you, just 2 weeks later. I have been going back and forth trying to decide where to stay as well. Below is what I have narrowed my thoughts to......may not work for you, just some thoughts.

 

We have officially decided we are not going to stay in Miami, we want to spend time at the beach and the Ft. Lauderdale and surrounding area will have easier access. We do not want to stay on South Beach, we have 2 young boys and the atmosphere does not seem as family friendly as Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood/Pompano beach areas.

 

I have been looking at Hotwire, LastMinuteTravel, and Trivago and there seems to be some decent prices for beach hotels. If we decide on a beachfront hotel, we will not rent a car, just use the trolley as our mode of transportation and then arrange a taxi/shuttle to POM. If we decide to stay a little further from the beach, we will rent a car and then have our choice of beaches! Plus a little more freedom.

• Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort - $131/night - beach across street
  
• Gallery 1 - Double Tree - $95/night - near beach
  
• Best Western Oceanside 0 $125/night (includes breakfast), just off the beach
  
• There are a numumber of hotels and condos directly on the beach in Pompano (just north of FLL) that we are considering - about $75-$100/night. Here we would get a car - there is free parking as well. A couple that we are looking at are La Costa Beach Club and Ebb Tide. These are right on the beach, but older properties (not upgraded - think old Florida charm)
  
• Best Western Plus Oakland Park - nice pool with Tiki Bar, renovated rooms with comfortable beds and free breakfast - $72/night
  

Good luck with your decision! I think I have spent more time so far on deciding where to stay before our cruise than I did on our actual cruise!

[manonreal]

We are in the same situation as you, just 2 weeks later. I have been going back and forth trying to decide where to stay as well. Below is what I have narrowed my thoughts to......may not work for you, just some thoughts.

 

We have officially decided we are not going to stay in Miami, we want to spend time at the beach and the Ft. Lauderdale and surrounding area will have easier access. We do not want to stay on South Beach, we have 2 young boys and the atmosphere does not seem as family friendly as Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood/Pompano beach areas.

 

I have been looking at Hotwire, LastMinuteTravel, and Trivago and there seems to be some decent prices for beach hotels. If we decide on a beachfront hotel, we will not rent a car, just use the trolley as our mode of transportation and then arrange a taxi/shuttle to POM. If we decide to stay a little further from the beach, we will rent a car and then have our choice of beaches! Plus a little more freedom.

• Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort - $131/night - beach across street
  
• Gallery 1 - Double Tree - $95/night - near beach
  
• Best Western Oceanside 0 $125/night (includes breakfast), just off the beach
  
• There are a numumber of hotels and condos directly on the beach in Pompano (just north of FLL) that we are considering - about $75-$100/night. Here we would get a car - there is free parking as well. A couple that we are looking at are La Costa Beach Club and Ebb Tide. These are right on the beach, but older properties (not upgraded - think old Florida charm)
  
• Best Western Plus Oakland Park - nice pool with Tiki Bar, renovated rooms with comfortable beds and free breakfast - $72/night
  

Good luck with your decision! I think I have spent more time so far on deciding where to stay before our cruise than I did on our actual cruise!

 

Which site did you get the galleria 1 at that price and did it incl breakfast???

[JohninDC]

The beach can be (and often is) wonderful in October :D - you could also wind up with 2 days of rain. :(

 

Alamo, National, and Thrifty offer free POM shuttles from their MIA airport location. Besides the FLL area I would also explore Hollywood FL (sort of in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale - For Hollywood FL hotels and info check: http://www.visithollywoodfl.org/hollywoodbeachbroadwalk.aspx

 

Good luck! :)

[eliezra]

Which site did you get the galleria 1 at that price and did it incl breakfast???

 

Gallery 1 at Lastminutetravel - $95.00 (no breakfast). The site does not initially tell you which hotel you are reserving, but a little tip, if you go through the booking process (fake booking), and add a car rental, when you hit continue, it will show you the name of the hotel right before you have to enter your credit card info.

[BigRed93]

Hollywood Beach is a good option. Nice broadwalk, wide beach, choice of affordable hotel/motels right on the beach or less than a block off.

Last summer we had a night to kill before we flew out of FLL and stayed at the

Hollywood Beachside Boutique Suites. Booked it on booking (dot) com for maybe $78/nt. very pleasantly surprised at how clean and nice it was for what looked like an old motor court style motel. now a boutique hotel it is half a block from the broadwalk. would be nice for kids, I think.