Thursday, April 12, 2012

24hours in Ft L - What to do

We will have a 24 hours stopover in Fort L arriving at 6pm and then flying out of FLL at 5pm the next day. Can anyone recommend an area to stay? Should we stick close to the airport or stay somewhere else? Looking to spend 200 dollars max on a room.





Any advice on what I might do with my day would be most welcome. Not too concerned with shopping, so are there any sights to see or things to do that might give us a flavour of what Fort L is all about?



24hours in Ft L - What to do


Please mention the date you will be here- that will help determine where you might stay for under $200- rates fluctuate greatly according to date here. I think if I had one day ( more like a night and the next morning till lunch as you would have to check out then). I think I might opt to taxi to a hotel on the south area of our beach, which is not too far from the Airport. You would then be able to choose to spend your time on the Water Taxi seeing Ft. Lauderdale by water and spending some time taking a dip in teh Ocean. There are any number of nice restaurants at all price levels along teh water Taxi route and that way you will get to also see the mega yachts and mega mansions that our city is famous for- a substantial part of the town is built along canals which is why we are called The Venice of America. I think you would enjoy that. Are there two of you? You would have your choice of sharing a taxi fare from and to FLL or paying per person for a shuttle- for couple I think they are both going to come out about the same - somewhere around $20 in each direction.





Post your date and we%26#39;ll have hotel suggestions. If the beach ends up being too pricey, the hotels on 17th St would be a good second choice. the hotels around teh Airport would really leave you with not much chance to see the town.



24hours in Ft L - What to do


Thanks lulutoo - we will be there on the night of the 18th of March. Not too worried about a swim as we are on a stopover on our way to the Bahamas for a week. Your suggestion of using a water taxi for a bit of sight seeing sounds great and being walking distance to restaurants suits us as we%26#39;ll be terribly jet lagged on arrival. Our flight out leaves at 5pm and so depending on how far away we stay from the airport I expect we%26#39;ll have till 3pm at the latest. We%26#39;ll probably just leave our luggage at the hotel and pick it up on or way back to the airport. I hadn%26#39;t realised Ft Lauderdale would be so expensive - I%26#39;d forgotten its big in the cruise business. I could stretch to 280 with tax as a max but ideally less.




Take a look at this - the rate for the Doubletree Gallery One for the night of your stay





https://secure.hilton.com/en/dt/res/choose_rates.jhtml;jsessionid=SF2OD3XYGIWE0CSGBJNM22Q?_requestid=94471





Nice hotel with a water taxi stop on site. I%26#39;ve stayed there and would recommend. The advance purchase rates (which we used) are pretty good. I%26#39;m guessing a taxi from the aiport to the hotel wouldn%26#39;t be more than $30




Good find for you by Sue- Doubletree is lovely ( all suite)hotel and also is Water Taxi stop- I think her taxi estimate is probably pretty accurate as well- it%26#39;s further up the beach from teh Airport, but certainly doable.. Also is next door to the Galleria Mall, so if the shopping bug does bite for any reason..





I%26#39;ll look around for any other possibilities when I get a chance.




You might check the Ft. Lauderdale Grande- also on the Waterway, recently redone and very nice- rates seem in the $200-250 range for your dates. It is on 17th ST. directly across the road from the Cruise port.



http://www.fortlauderdalegrande.com




Who knows why I%26#39;ve got that weird scroll bar around my post - weird. Still lets hope the OP can read it.




That happened to me a few times and a TA Owl gave me a long explanation of why it happens that was way over my head- so I just post and pray now!!




What great recommendations, thanks to both of you. Now the quandry of which one to choose! We only have 24 hours, but I do want it to feel like the start of our hoiday rather than just being in-transit. Both places look like they can provide just that.





Could I ask you another question. Are either of these hotels near a foodstore - only need be a local small place. We just want to pic up a few snacks for the Bahamas as where we are going is pretty out of the way. Do either of you know if there is somewhere close to either the Hilton or Doubletree?




Of the Doubletree and the Grande, the Grande is better for food shopping as there is a large Publix a couple of blocks west. For the Doubletree, thenearest food would be a 7-11 convenience store abouy a block away and the CVS drugstore across the street. Both of those places would have some food available, cereals, snack foods, canned soups , etc, but a much more limited selection and higher prices . Of the two , the CVS would have fewer choices but somewhat lower prices . The closest grocery store to Doubletree ( also a Publix) is several blocks west- too far to walk- there might be a bus going that way that would stop across thestreet to pick up passengers.





The Publix is fuly stocked and reasonable- so if that is of major importance , Grande might work best. There is one of my favorite stores, the newly opened Dollar Tree just a few blocks west of the Grande as well. I don%26#39;t know if they have anything similar in the UK, but they carry all sorts of trinkets, paper goods, toiletries and even some food and everything is $1. I can%26#39;t help myself- I have to go in and browse and always emerge with a bag of stuff! The Publix is behind the Embassy Suites in the Harbor Shops complex and the Dollar Tree is across the street on the north side of 17th St.





I wish you could stay longer!




Id,





I spent 2 days (pre-cruise) in FL last month, my 1st time there. Take an Everglades tour. This is a very unique place in North America and shouldn%26#39;t be missed. I opted for the Everglades Holiday Park (.com) tour. It was terrific, cost $45 per person, well worth it. They will pick you up at your hotel for free. Saw %26#39;gators, iguanas, lots of birds. 2- hour tour, plus about 45 minutes each way to the site.





I also took the Carrie B. inland waterway tour, that was great, but don%26#39;t know if you can fit both in. There is no place on this planet like the Florida Everglades, so don%26#39;t miss it if you have the chance.





RP



California


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