Hilton Marina, Ft Lauderdale vs. Doubletree, Hollywood Beach

[doone]

Has anyone stayed at the Doubletree Hollywood Beach? Looking for a nice hotel for the money that has a great pool for a 2-day day stay before our cruise.   Looking forward to your opinions, thanks in advance.....

[BNBR]

Not sure about the hotels specifically, but I prefer Hollywood beach in general as it has a very active boardwalk and more pedestrian friendly than Fort Lauderdale.  It's just a better beach area.

[doone]

11 hours ago, BNBR said:

Not sure about the hotels specifically, but I prefer Hollywood beach in general as it has a very active boardwalk and more pedestrian friendly than Fort Lauderdale.  It's just a better beach area.

Thanks, one question, how much would a cab be rom this area to Port Everglades?

[BNBR]

Not sure. Maybe $20?  Port Everglades is in between Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood.

[doone]

9 minutes ago, BNBR said:

Not sure. Maybe $20?  Port Everglades is in between Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood.

Thanks

[cruiselvr04]

I just did the taxi calculator as we are staying at the Doubletree Hollywood and it was $35 for a taxi to the Everglades pier. ( And the same from the airport)  I figure it’s about $30 more total for cabs to and from the airport and pier then the Hilton marina.  And with bags we’d have to use an Uber XL so a cab works out to be the same.  We debated about renting a car but said no to $30 per night valet.

 

We usually stay at the marina or Bahia mar but neither is what I call really nice even a corner suite at the marina isn’t that great.  The pool is okay at the marina but very shaded which is nice for summer but winter and spring is a bit cool. The pool at the Bahia mar in higher up with a view to the ocean but is small and harder to get to.  We always stay in Fll ( rarely Lauderdale by the sea) and just wanted to try something new so will try Hollywood in 3 weeks.  The pool looks better and they have a Hollywood trolley that stops at the hotel that can take us to the boardwalk where we’ve only been once. And Walmart is close with a Publix a little farther.

 

What I’d really like to try is the new Conrad in Fll  but for 2 nights is just too much.($800).  2 nights at the Doubletree is enough at $450.  We’ve decided not to rent a car, get some walking in and use the trolley. 

 

We are are back in April but since that’s only one night we’ll just use  embassy suites.  When we fly in 2 nights early I like to stay at a little better place. Embassy is pretty dumpy but is so close to Publix, restaurants, free happy hour and breakfast you can’t really go wrong.

Edited October 21, 2019 by cruiselvr04

[doone]

3 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I just did the taxi calculator as we are staying at the Doubletree Hollywood and it was $35 for a taxi to the Everglades pier. ( And the same from the airport)  I figure it’s about $30 more total for cabs to and from the airport and pier then the Hilton marina.  And with bags we’d have to use an Uber XL so a cab works out to be the same.  We debated about renting a car but said no to $30 per night valet.

 

We usually stay at the marina or Bahia mar but neither is what I call really nice even a corner suite at the marina isn’t that great.  The pool is okay at the marina but very shaded which is nice for summer but winter and spring is a bit cool. The pool at the Bahia mar in higher up with a view to the ocean but is small and harder to get to.  We always stay in Fll ( rarely Lauderdale by the sea) and just wanted to try something new so will try Hollywood in 3 weeks.  The pool looks better and they have a Hollywood trolley that stops at the hotel that can take us to the boardwalk where we’ve only been once. And Walmart is close with a Publix a little farther.

 

What I’d really like to try is the new Conrad in Fll  but for 2 nights is just too much.($800).  2 nights at the Doubletree is enough at $450.  We’ve decided not to rent a car, get some walking in and use the trolley. 

 

We are are back in April but since that’s only one night we’ll just use  embassy suites.  When we fly in 2 nights early I like to stay at a little better place. Embassy is pretty dumpy but is so close to Publix, restaurants, free happy hour and breakfast you can’t really go wrong.

Thank you so much, i hope you give a review of both hotels when you return, would love to hear comparisons especially about the pool area, which is what we are looking for as we are flying down 2 days before our cruise as well.  Thanks again......

[gamblingrandma]

I stayed at the Double Tree last January.  The hotel is nice (although our room was a little run down.)  Service was great.  The pool is in shade most of the day because of the neighboring tall condos.  The beach access is across a very busy street, about a 5 minute walk.  If you are wanting lots of sun by the pool....avoid this place.  There is a little Tiki Bar by the pool which was fun when it was open.  Very few restaurants are within walking distance.  We took Uber everywhere. 

I love the sun and was so disappointed that the pool area was mostly in the shade.  Hope this helps!.

[doone]

On 10/26/2019 at 9:31 PM, gamblingrandma said:

I stayed at the Double Tree last January.  The hotel is nice (although our room was a little run down.)  Service was great.  The pool is in shade most of the day because of the neighboring tall condos.  The beach access is across a very busy street, about a 5 minute walk.  If you are wanting lots of sun by the pool....avoid this place.  There is a little Tiki Bar by the pool which was fun when it was open.  Very few restaurants are within walking distance.  We took Uber everywhere. 

I love the sun and was so disappointed that the pool area was mostly in the shade.  Hope this helps!.

Thank you, yes we love the sun too, perhaps we will stay with the Hilton Marina......appreciate your input.

[BNBR]

Is there a reason you are limited to these two hotels?  I'd look for a hotel on the Hollywood Broadwalk if you can.  There is a nice Marriott.

[doone]

On 10/28/2019 at 8:33 PM, BNBR said:

Is there a reason you are limited to these two hotels?  I'd look for a hotel on the Hollywood Broadwalk if you can.  There is a nice Marriott.

No, no reason.............

 

I was in Florida this past weekend, we took a ride down to the Hollywood Beach area, its a great spot, but I think for 1 or 2 days, I am going to stay in Ft. Lauderdale area.  Thanks so much for everyone's thoughts, I sure do appreciate it.

[cruiselvr04]

Just in case anyone else is considering staying at the Doubletree in Hollywood....

 

We are here now.  We have a corner room.  I feel it’s nicer then the Marina but I understand they are doing renovations at the Marina.  The room is large with a larger and nicer fridge then usual and microwave, wet bar area.  The pool is very large and is a beautiful setting on the intercostal.  Food and drink prices are more reasonable here and actually pretty good for a hotel.  A drink by the pool was $10-$12. (They did have an automatic gratuity.)  Walmart is across the bridge, easy walking distance for last minute things. Small liquor store beside Walmart.  Not a huge choice of wines but got what we needed.  We went to Paradise nail salon and got a mani pedi for less then Dallas.  Limited choices of restaurants close by.  We will try the trolley today to get north to the beach area for dinner.  

 

I feel our cabby took us for a ride....taxi calculator on line said fare should be $35. First mistake was he said his meter wasn’t working properly and after we were in route he said it would be a flat $45 fare.  We aren’t dumb but we are hesitant to argue once they have you in a cab with all your bags.  It’s not like you can say stop and let me out.  I corrected him stating what it should be and he said no it’s going to be $45.  I should have reported him but I didn’t.  He got no tip. 

 

We’ll see what it is to the pier tomorrow.

[BNBR]

Are you not comfortable with Uber?  It's much cheaper and they can't rip you off as it's all tracked by the app.

[cruiselvr04]

We would have needed Uber XL as I belong to over packers anonymous and the the fare was about the same so I choose to use a cab as it was just quicker.  Lesson learned.

[Sprocket]

We've used Lyft many times in Vegas and never had an issue fitting our 2 bags in the trunk.  I've seen multiple posts about peopke having to use Uber XL so I am curious how many bags people are taking.

 

For our cruise we'll have 2 bags, 1 carryon and some water and soda.  Regular Lyft ok for this?

[ryndam]

9 hours ago, Sprocket said:

 I've seen multiple posts about peopke having to use Uber XL so I am curious how many bags people are taking.

For our cruise we'll have 2 bags, 1 carryon and some water and soda.  Regular Lyft ok for this?

 

We've had up to three relatively large checked bags, plus two roll-aboards, plus two back-packs in a regular Uber or Lyft. The size of the trunk depends on the vehicle that shows up. Some regular rides have trunk space the size of Montana and easily swallow all luggage. Sometimes, we need to put the excess luggage in the back seat and DH has to share the seat with the bags. I generally prefer to sit up front with the driver anyway, so this has never been a problem for us.

 

For the luggage that you describe above, a regular Uber or Lyft should be adequate.

[JerseyGirlJen]

Hilton Marina's location is great for any necessities on 17th street....groceries, wine, restaurants, they have the Sun Trolley which can take you around the area, Water Taxi, etc.  Closer to the Port and FLL= less money in taxi or Uber.  Pool is nice too, they have a nice pool deck bar that serves burgers, apps, salads and sandwiches.  According to reviews, it seems that rooms in the main tower are better than the rooms in the small buildings by the pool.