Great family resorts in Fort Lauderdale?

[Luxuriate]

We are looking to cruise out of Fort Lauderdale but would like to stay several days pre-cruise in Fort Lauderdale. We have never cruised with our little man (he will be four-years old). What are your suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

[rebeccalouise]

Lago Mar is one of the nicest family resorts in Florida. It is in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

However, I like the Marriot Delray Beach better.

 

With a four year old- unless you are beach people- fly into Orlando and stay at one of the many great resorts there- with waterslides, etc. You can't beat Orlando with a four year old. The drive from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale is about 3 hours.

 

I have vacationed in Florida many times (at least 20)- my sister lived there for 25 years. And Orlando is still my favorite travel destination for kids. My favorite resorts are The Hyatt Grand Cypress, The Caribe Royale (two bedroom villa) and the Nickolodean Holiday Inn (with standard two bedroom themed suites). I love Seaworld and it is worth the trip to Orlando just to do that. Sorry to take this off topic but everytime we do a couple days in Ft. Lauderdale- we wish we had done Orlando instead for value and fun.

[izodlacoste]

Research carefully before you decide to stay at the nick hotel. It is a holiday inn at ritz carlton prices. My family spent $700 a night last year for a holiday inn room with holiday inn service. Sure the kids will like it but they will also like a hotel on the beach. If you want to spend that, go to the lowes on south beach, the boca resort in Boca raton, or any number of great south florida locales.

[rebeccalouise]

The Nickelodean Holiday in is NOT $ 700 per night.

 

It is a glorified Holiday Inn but the nice thing about it is that you can get a family suite with a nice master bedroom and a cute children's bedroom with a separate livingroom and kitchenette. There are three tvs and a DVD player. It was great for say a family of four- six. Breakfast is included and they play games by the pool. My son LOVED it!

 

My personal favorite is the Hyatt Grand Cypress, which has waterslides, meandering pools and hot tubs. There is horseback riding available nearby at their sister resort. There is a youth program and several dining options on site. They also have cozy bon-fires each night and bikes with training wheels for use free of charge.

[izodlacoste]

We had a three bedroom suite during high season and it was $700 a night. I thought that the place was gross. The kids loved it but I'd rather stay at a nice resort and the kids would still have fun.

[rebeccalouise]

I would have never in a thousand years paid $ 700 per night for a hotel anywhere in the world.

 

I have traveled extensively- NYC, LONDON, VENICE, ROME and at least 20 times to Florida and have never paid more than $ 350 per night per room- Ever in all my life. In fact, I have only paid $300 per night ever in Florida and have stayed in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, St. Petersburg, Delray Beach, St. Augustine, Key West and Orlando- Disney resorts, Caribe Royale, Hyatt Grand Cypress and Nickelodean. We have stayed in great resorts- you need to go on Hotels.com or Expedia or Orbitz. You are getting screwed.

 

Why on Earth would you have paid $ 700 per night to stay at a Holiday Inn? That's absurd.

[rhascall]

I'm looking for a nice beach resort as well. I'm going with my 10 yo daughter, my step-dad who's in a wheelchair, and my mom. We get back from the cruise on Sunday, but don't fly home until Tuesday evening.

My mom wants to be at the beach. I want a hotel with a great pool and slide for my daughter. I love Disney, but everyone else is tired of it, so I think Orlando is out, even though that's the airport we're in and out of.

 

On another note, I paid $187 with every other night free at the Nick hotel in late December-early January. Michaela had a blast. The room was clean and cute. There was lots of room and you couldn't beat the pools and activities for kids. On the other hand, it was LOUD and the food wasn't great. Much cheaper than the disney hotels at the same time of year. We had a good time, but I'd rather stay on a disney property.

[rebeccalouise]

It depends which port you are sailing out of. If it is Ft. Lauderdale and you want a nice family resort- do the Lago Mar. They don't have waterslides but it is a very nice resort.

[1alexcartermom]

We thought the Marriot Beach Harbour Resort in Ft. Lauderdale was wonderful. The two days pre-cruise that we were there they had pony rides for the kids, a surf simulator, a petting zoo, a DJ, dive-in movies, pool games, scuba classes for kids, and more. They also offer para-sailing, jet ski rental, water trampolines, etc for additional fees. It is across the bridge from the port and so our first view of our ship in the morning in port was from our hotel room. We stayed at the brand new Hilton post-cruise, and our time spent there we were wishing we were back at the Marriot.