Holiday Inn Express

[HodgeNNicole]

Just cancelled our pre-cruise night at the Hilton Ft Lauderdale Marina and re-booked the Holiday Inn Express on 17th street.  (Saved $50 and got an included breakfast at the Holiday Inn) Any recent guests have any comments/suggestions?  We are flying in pre-cruise on a Saturday and originally booked the Hilton because we thought we would be arriving early in the day and would take the water taxi etc.  Our flight is now landing at 6:30PM and figured by the time we get our bags and 4 year old squared away we wouldn't get to the hotel till 7:30-8 and would just have time for dinner then turn in.

 

After reading some posts it seems the hotel shuttle is not the most reliable so I might just Uber/Lyft to the hotel and then to the port on Sunday AM.  Looking forward to comments....

[WVHillbilly]

We have booked the Holiday Inn Express for this coming Friday as our pre cruise hotel.  I had not seen the comments about the hotel shuttle, I was torn between using the shuttle or Uber/Lyft between the airport and the hotel.  Sounds like Uber/Lyft will be the best option.

[Diver2014]

Personally, I would have paid the extra to stay at the Hilton.  We have stayed at almost every hotel along the 17th Street Causeway since we moved away from Miami 4 years ago.  The Holiday Inn is okay.  The free 'breakfast' is nothing to brag about....a small room with some breakfast food.  It should be free, I certainly wouldn't pay for a self serve toast and coffee breakfast.  Okay, they have cold cereal and some fruit and juice machines but that's about it.  If you want an awesome breakfast, Embassy Suites has outdone everyone.  The room at the Holiday Inn was adequate, we had a view of the top of the ships.  They recently finished an addition.  We stayed next door at Extended Stay America last November and their breakfast was a real joke.....a cabinet that folded out across from the desk that had a coffee pot, packaged crackers and packaged buns (that were all gone by 8am).  More like a small snack bar than a breakfast.  But the rooms were nicer than Holiday Inn.  Just my opinion.....

[cruisegus]

Have stayed at this Holiday Inn on 17th a number of times and i don't think its that bad (don't expect resort quality), but rooms were clean.  Breakfast is not that great almost your typical fare this chain (not going to get the cook to order that you do a Embassy Suite - but you also should be paying their room prices either.  I have had pretty good luck with their shuttle from the airport, but Uber to port rather than pay their hefty shuttle to port price.  Ask for a room in the new section.  For just an over nite you should be fine.

[nhraformula00]

There is a Panera across 17th street.

[WVHillbilly]

On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 9:11 PM, cruisegus said:

Have stayed at this Holiday Inn on 17th a number of times and i don't think its that bad (don't expect resort quality), but rooms were clean.  Breakfast is not that great almost your typical fare this chain (not going to get the cook to order that you do a Embassy Suite - but you also should be paying their room prices either.  I have had pretty good luck with their shuttle from the airport, but Uber to port rather than pay their hefty shuttle to port price.  Ask for a room in the new section.  For just an over nite you should be fine.

Thank you, coffee, juice and cereal is just fine for breakfast.  I will probably use their shuttle to get from the airport to the hotel, but will definitely use uber to get to the port.

[LuCruise]

We stayed at Holiday Inn Express last December and enjoyed it.  Good hotel, breakfast ok (nice to have) and it's a short walk to 17th street for Total Wine and nice dinner.  There are also a couple places across the street for a lunch depending on when you arrive.

 

We checked them for this December but unfortunately the price is really high so we booked somewhere else (but will keep watching.

 

As for getting to the port...we just took an uber.  It's a very short drive, was cheaper than using the shuttle for 2, and we like being on our own time.

[WVHillbilly]

Wanted to come back and share our experience with the Holiday Inn Express on 17th Street.  After gathering our luggage we made our way to the hotel shuttle pick up points, (this is the same spot that you can catch an Uber/Lyft.  I called the hotel and told them I wanted to get a shuttle ride to the airport, they asked if I could hold and put me on hold.  After waiting about 5 minutes, they came back on line and I was disconnected; I called back and was immediately placed on hold before I could tell them why I was calling.  After about 5 minutes I hung up and called for an Uber.  My Uber arrived in about 6 minutes and was off to the hotel.  Cost of Uber $13.38 + tip.  They had two clerks checking people in and there were maybe 4 people ahead of us.  At first they couldn't find my reservation, I pulled out my confirmation and the lady found it, it had been misfiled.  By this time I was not very pleased with our experience, our room was in tower 2 and was very nice and comfortable.

 

After settling in we walked to the Publix to pick up a couple bottles of wine, 12 pack of water and a few items we forgot.  Once back in the room, I decided to try and get a soda to drink, housekeeping staff did not speak enough English to understand what we wanted.  After wondering up and down the halls on several floors and asking staff we encountered, we found a vending machine it wouldn't take my money, so I gave up and drank some water.

 

For supper we opted to walk to 15th Street Fisheries which was about a 1 mile from the hotel.  It was a long hot walk, that made the drinks and food that much better.  I'd recommend the food, we ate dockside ordering two appetizers for our meal. 

 

Breakfast in the morning was okay, they had cereals, yogurt, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breads, juice and coffee.

 

In the morning we called for an Uber to the port around 10:00 and was in the terminal by 10:30.  Cost of Uber $8.16 + tip.  The driver seemed unfamiliar with taking passengers to the port and had to basically show him where to drop us off.

 

Bottom Line:  I would consider this hotel in the future but would not attempt to use the hotel shuttle.

[Reina del Mar]

On 6 May 2019 at 2:10 AM, WVHillbilly said:

Bottom Line:  I would consider this hotel in the future but would not attempt to use the hotel shuttle.

Usually we are great supporters of Holiday Inn Express..Gold Elite members purely for leisure purposes(road trips across the States) but I am very sorry to say we would not return to this hotel if our experience had been like yours.

 

We stay in the Embassy Suites, pre cruise when sailing from Port Everglades...an older hotel, in need of renovation , amazing staff, clean linens, good breakfast but located where we can find everything we need after a long international flight and without a hire car....not everyone's choice! We use taxis from airport to hotel and hotel to port as not tech savvy enough to use Uber/ Lyft.

[BlueHerons]

13 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

Usually we are great supporters of Holiday Inn Express..Gold Elite members purely for leisure purposes(road trips across the States) but I am very sorry to say we would not return to this hotel if our experience had been like yours.

 

 

Curious why you would not stay at the hotel.  Their bad experience was with the shuttle.  Not really the hotel.

[Reina del Mar]

7 hours ago, BlueHerons said:

Curious why you would not stay at the hotel.  Their bad experience was with the shuttle.  Not really the hotel.

After an International flight of over 12 hours including flight changes, the last thing we would want is have issues with shuttle...as stated previously would use a taxi but if we couldn't contact hotel to say we were 'en route' from airport would be a concern..especially with a British mobile phone which would incurr international charges...however, to queue for check in, find our reservation was missing/ had been filed incorrectly,  then struggle to find a drink when all we would want to do is shower and sleep are reasons enough to avoid the hotel.

[JamesEM]

Over the years I have stayed in several hotels on 17th St., HIE is a good 2 star hotel, for me I would rather pay extra $ and stay at a better place, but for one night it is OK.

[Perky1]

On 4/22/2019 at 2:51 PM, Diver2014 said:

Personally, I would have paid the extra to stay at the Hilton.  We have stayed at almost every hotel along the 17th Street Causeway since we moved away from Miami 4 years ago.  The Holiday Inn is okay.  The free 'breakfast' is nothing to brag about....a small room with some breakfast food.  It should be free, I certainly wouldn't pay for a self serve toast and coffee breakfast.  Okay, they have cold cereal and some fruit and juice machines but that's about it.  If you want an awesome breakfast, Embassy Suites has outdone everyone.  The room at the Holiday Inn was adequate, we had a view of the top of the ships.  They recently finished an addition.  We stayed next door at Extended Stay America last November and their breakfast was a real joke.....a cabinet that folded out across from the desk that had a coffee pot, packaged crackers and packaged buns (that were all gone by 8am).  More like a small snack bar than a breakfast.  But the rooms were nicer than Holiday Inn.  Just my opinion.....

Not sure when the last time was you were there but we stayed there in April this year.  The breakfast was really good in the newly renovated part of the hotel.  Bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes, waffles, toast bagels, fruit cereal... not sure what else you would want.  Our room was great, crosswalk right in front of the hotel takes you over to several restaurants, shopping.  Also, total wines, Publix right behind.  We have already booked it for next April.  

[Diver2014]

That is good news.  The new addition to the Holiday Inn was under construction when we stayed there.  

[reallyitsmema]

On 5/7/2019 at 4:04 AM, Reina del Mar said:

Usually we are great supporters of Holiday Inn Express..Gold Elite members purely for leisure purposes(road trips across the States) but I am very sorry to say we would not return to this hotel if our experience had been like yours.

 

We stay in the Embassy Suites, pre cruise when sailing from Port Everglades...an older hotel, in need of renovation , amazing staff, clean linens, good breakfast but located where we can find everything we need after a long international flight and without a hire car....not everyone's choice! We use taxis from airport to hotel and hotel to port as not tech savvy enough to use Uber/ Lyft.

 

We just stayed at Embassy Suites on 17th and doubtful we will stay there again.  We have stayed there before and had a room that was dust covered due to the construction that was going on in the building.  Room had a broken chair with a very sharp point that could have injured someone.  We gave it another shot for our recent cruise, room in different area of hotel.  Room was cleaner but was just tired.  Bathroom door was broken as if someone had tried to kick their way out of it.  Sofa and chairs in front room should have been replaced years ago.

 

We love Embassy Suites but will not stay at this one again until they do some updating of the rooms.  Public areas are nice and have had updates, but rooms are lacking and elevators are slowwwwwwwwwwwwww.