We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Air/Sea Port for one night pre-cruise in December, 2007.

The hotel has a free shuttle from the airport that we were instructed to call for when we landed, however it only runs until 1am, and due to a snowstorm causing flight delays in Toronto, we didn't land until 2:00am, so we took a taxi for about $12.

The hotel locks their doors at 11pm, however the man at the front desk promptly opened them for us when we rang the bell. Check-in was quick and easy, and we were in our room within minutes.

We had a room on the fifth floor, which was very nice and clean. The beds were very comfortable, with lots of pillows of varying softness. The washroom was well-stocked with a lot of towels and toiletries. Overall it was very nice for a 2 star hotel! We did have a little cockroach visitor before going to bed, but in the morning, it appeared to be gone. We do have 2 complaints about the room though: 1) The air-conditioning worked really well, but was EXCESSIVELY loud, to the point where I was unable to sleep for the entire night. It clicked very loudly whenever it came on, which startled us, and the blowing sound wasn't much quieter. I turned it off, but the room got quite stuffy very quickly. Eventually, I put it on the "fan" setting so it would stay on, and we froze for the rest of the night with the constant sound from it, albeit with no clicking. Second complaint was the automated wake-up call. We set it for 9:00am and the system repeated this time when I set it, however it rang at 8:30am.

Breakfast in the morning was included with the hotel rate, and was quite good. There were hot cinnamon buns, bagels, creamcheese, butter, pre-made omelettes, cereal, juice, coffee, and tea.

Check-out was quick and easy as we had no additional charges. We just told them our room number, they called us a taxi as we did not want to wait for the busy shuttle, and we were on our way to Port Everglades a few minutes later.

Overall, this hotel was quite good value, and due to it's close proximity to the airport and cruise-port, I would highly recommend it for a short stay pre or post-cruise. Perhaps our experience with our air-conditioning was a fluke, as I see there have been no other complaints about it.

This facility is very modern and clean. We also found it to be priced very well. The hotel is very conveniently located if you are looking to stop for a night to catch a cruise etc. If you are going to stay there for any length of time, you will need a car as the hotel is not in walking distance of anything other than the strip mall across the street.

PROS
- neat clean rooms
- free breakfast - not just donuts - it includes eggs, cereal, hot pastry, juice, etc.
- conveniently located directly across from a strip mall where you can buy lots of last minute trip items very inexpensively e.g. at one store we purchased American Tourister suitcases (large) for $30.
- free shuttle to and from the airport
- very nice pool area
- free use of internet in the conference centre (very small but clean and free - no charge for use of printer)
- Snacks - candy bars and soda (pop) are only one dollar a piece - they don't gouge you like some hotels.

CONS
- During our visit, the road between the hotel and the strip mall was under construction and you have to be careful crossing the road as the pavement was chopped up.

OTHER
- Make sure and book your ride to the cruise terminal ahead of time as it is difficult to get taxis etc. during the peak times that cruisers disembark / embark. The hotel was able to arrange a transportation service for us at approx. $7 per head. This worked well for us.

- There is more than one Holiday Inn Express in Fort Lauderdale. Make sure you clearly explain that you want the one on State Road.

The hotel was clean, and close to everything (provided you have a car, after all it is Fort Lauderdale). Also, the hotel is brand new so it still has the 'new' hotel smell. This is a great place to stay for a launch pad for your cruise or from the airport. An inside tip is there is a state park ($5 entry fee) on the other side of the harbor where the ships dock, you can get some really cool pictures pre-cruise. I know I like to have lots of pictures of my ship, so it is an idea to use, and then you can also walk on the trails and beach in the area as well.

As always with Holiday Inn, the internet is FREE. I love free things!

I stayed here for one night on business. I've been to at least 8 different Holiday Inn Express locations, and this was my favorite. The building is probably only a few years old. The room had a great Florida-style decor, high-end materials, and was spotlessly clean. There wasn't really anything I could fault this place for, except that the parking lot is a little small for the amount of guests that stay here.