FLL or Miami Hotels during Spring Break

[Islanderman]

We are two couples in our early 60's and late 50's taking a cruise out of Port Everglades sailing on March 7. We are considering a post cruise stay in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami, but are concerned about Spring Break madness. Lively is OK, but we're getting too old for crazy.

Any recommendations for a hotel that doesn't attract the Spring Break crowd? Would like to keep the price under $300 a night and have a location that would work without a car.

 

Thanks.

Rich

[Keith1010]

I prefer Fort Lauderdale over Miami so I would look at places there. A nice place in Fort Lauderdale is Lago Mar.

 

Keith

[BlueHerons]

We are two couples in our early 60's and late 50's taking a cruise out of Port Everglades sailing on March 7. We are considering a post cruise stay in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami, but are concerned about Spring Break madness. Lively is OK, but we're getting too old for crazy.

Any recommendations for a hotel that doesn't attract the Spring Break crowd? Would like to keep the price under $300 a night and have a location that would work without a car.

 

Thanks.

Rich

 

Spring Breakers moved out of Fort Lauderdale years ago and South Beach is too expensive.

 

Look at The Riverside Hotel on Las Olas and The Pillars on New River Sound in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Someone else can direct you to the beach front hotels in FLL.

 

South Beach is a fantastic walkable beach but the hotels that would appeal to you will be over $300 per night.

 

I would look at The Loews or Doubletree Surfcomber South Beach and see if those hotels are in your budget.

 

Good luck!

[royalcruz]

What do you want to do during your visit? Do you want to be by nice/expensive, moderate/family, or very casual restaurants? Do you want to be by the beach? If you aren't planning on having a car, location is important. While Fort Lauderdale isn't really a big Spring Break resort anymore, there will still be much more college students on the beach than usual in March. So it will be lively but mostly not wild other than maybe later at night.

[Islanderman]

One of my regrets is that I did not do Spring Break when I was a college student in the 60's, but I don't think that I'd want to be doing Spring Break now that I'm in my 60's. Glad to hear that it's nothing like it was back in the 60's.

 

It would be nice to be by the beach, but not if there's going to be college students running around through the night. The main concern is that we don't pick a hotel that's going to have college students partying through the night. We would like to be near some nice casual restaurants.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Rich

[royalcruz]

One of my regrets is that I did not do Spring Break when I was a college student in the 60's, but I don't think that I'd want to be doing Spring Break now that I'm in my 60's. Glad to hear that it's nothing like it was back in the 60's.

 

It would be nice to be by the beach, but not if there's going to be college students running around through the night. The main concern is that we don't pick a hotel that's going to have college students partying through the night. We would like to be near some nice casual restaurants.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Rich

 

Courtyard by Marriott is walkable to several popular casual restaurants (Oasis, Coconuts, Bahia Cabana, Quarterdeck, etc), but because the rates tend to be low for the beachfront, students might stay there. It might be worth the chance though, because it is a Cruise Critic member favorite and has a nice pool deck. It's right across the street from the beach, but not in the middle of the wildness on the strip.

 

Unfortunately, most of the casual beach restaurants are by the spring break motels. If you want to be by the beach but not by the college students, there are Lago Mar Resort, Marriott Harbor Beach Resort, the Atlantic Hotel, the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Beach. These hotels have their own restaurants, but are less accessible to nice casual restaurants unless you can walk far. The Hilton and Atlantic are only .5 to 1 mile away from casual restaurants, but the others I mentioned wouldn't really be walkable. Just about all of the restaurants by the beach are casual, but the ones in the hotels are a little dressier (no jackets required, but jeans may be out of place).

[cruising grandma]

We are two couples in our early 60's and late 50's taking a cruise out of Port Everglades sailing on March 7. We are considering a post cruise stay in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami, but are concerned about Spring Break madness. Lively is OK, but we're getting too old for crazy.

Any recommendations for a hotel that doesn't attract the Spring Break crowd? Would like to keep the price under $300 a night and have a location that would work without a car.

 

Thanks.

Rich

 

 

We are in the same age group, and haved stayed precruise at several hotels in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. I would also suggest the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale. My DH and I stayed there in March this year and again earlier this month. There are many restaurants and shops within walking distance. The pool is across the street from the hotel and there is access to the riverwalk from the pool area. The water taxi stop is a couple of blocks away. The hotel has two restaurants(with sidewalk and indoor dining) and a bar. There is a trolley(complimentary on Fridays and $1 on Saturdays and Sundays)to the beach and lots of other stops. There is another trolley that you can get from one of the stops that does a different route.

 

I booked through Priceline bidding both times and, if I remember correctly, the price was around $90 plus taxes in March and $65 plus taxes in July.