We stayed at the Pelican Beach Resort over President's day weekend. You would NEVER know this is a Best Western unless you saw the sign out front. The property is gorgeous and located conveniently to downtown Ft Lauderdale without being among the tee-shirt shops and construction of mega hotels. Valet parking was quick, the beach was steps off the back veranda, and for those who like to take a break from the sun OR not sit in it at all, there is a huge veranda with enough rocking chairs and wicker furniture to keep you comfortable and spare you the sunburn. Our room was decorated nicely and the bed was very comfortable. The view out to the ocean was amazing. We had a corner south facing unit so we could watch the cruise ships enter and leave the port right from our iron king size bed. The hotel has a nice fitness room and useful business center. The service at the bar was excellent as was the lunch food. The front desk staff was very attentive and check in was quick and effortless. Our room was ready upon arrival at 11am! The pool area is kind of small and geared more to the kids. You probably want to get out to grab a beach chair early as they can all be snapped up fairly quickly. The only downside I found was that the elevators can take a while during the morning and afternoon rush as people leave or return for the day. No worries though, there are even rocking chairs on every floor in front of the elevator in case you get tired from the wait. (only a problem for the picky)

We stayed at the Pleican Beach Resort after our cruise.
On booking we did mention the fact that we would be a little early for check in (3pm) but we were told we could use the facilities till our room was ready.
We did check in early and were told that no rooms had been serviced and please call back in apporx 1 hour. This we did only to be told by a very frosty receptionist that the check in was 3pm did we not realise. I then told her that we had been requested to check back after 1 hour, still no response.
We did eventually get a room at 4pm that afternoon after checking with them approx every hour. Again frosty recption from the staff.
Overall the rooms were great but the service was alot to behold. I have sent an email to the owner of Pelcian Beach but even they could not be bothered to respond.
I would not stay here again due to the fact that I feel customer service is very lacking.
Best member of staff was the lovely girl in the Ice Cream parlour.

We are a family of six (2 adults, 4 children ages 11 to 4). We booked the Pelican via the internet at the advise from friends who live in the area. I booked two suites for four nights. As it turned out, the suites were rather large and we realized that we did not need two rooms. We asked the front desk if we could cancel one of our rooms and they obliged, but we did have to pay for the room for the first night.

We enjoyed our stay there but found the service to be quite slow. Everyone was very friendly, but it took forever to get our car from the valet parking, have breakfast served at hotel dining room. They were quick to clean the room which was awesome by the way.

The children had a blast at the pool. It was small enough that my husband and I weren't too concerned about losing sight of them in the crowd. I enjoyed sitting on the beach while the children went back and forth from the beach to the pool.

All in all we had a great time and would definately return.

For larger families, please note that there are no connecting rooms in the hotel, only suites and double rooms.

I was so pleased with my stay at the Pelican. The staff was great, the place was very clean and cared for - you can tell they take a great amount of pride in their hotel.

I generally look for boutique hotels, so I was wary booking here. The family feel and personal touch belies the size of the hotel however and it manages a graceful impression of "old Floridian." The ocean is gorgeous of course. I got an upgrade for no good reason. Internet, dry cleaning, room service, valet etc were all fully reliable. For business it was a treat at the end of the day; for vacation it seemed very family-friendly. About the only thing I would try to improve is the restaurant. Very high marks; I will definitely stay at the Pelican again.