My sister and I stayed at the Courtyard for a little under a week and we had a very good experience. We just went for a summer get-away while on vacation from school so we were happy to find a decently-priced location near to the beach without the need to rent a car in order to get around.
The hotel is right across the street from the beach and you are close to the beach front walkway with many bars, shops, and restaurants nearby. If you are not planning to rent a car, it's very easy to get around as well. You can get around by foot (not really recommended when it is very humid though!), by taxi, or you can take advantage of public transportation (the most economical option for us). There are several bus routes adjacent to the hotel and the transit fare is pretty decent: $1.25 for 1 ride or $3.00 for an all day pass. I brought along my laptop to help map out public transit routes through the wi-fi internet in the hotel and I had a pretty easy time.
The hotel was very clean and the service was excellent. We had a standard room with 2 queen size beds. Though we would have liked a room overlooking the ocean side, we were still quite pleased as our room overlooked the marina. I spent many a moment just watching the marina, seeing the boats come and go as I was relaxing at night. Some of the other amenities of the hotel are a 24 hour gym, outdoor pool, business center, ATM, laundry room, microwave, snack bar, and towel service for the beach (we didn't use it so I can't tell you if it was free or not).
The beds were quite comfortable and the room came equipped with a fridge and coffeemaker. I would recommend buying some groceries and keeping them in the fridge for cold breakfasts as the restaurant was only OKAY for the amount we paid for our breakfast on the first day ($15.00 per person not including tip). My sis and I went across the street to the 7-11 and bought some brown bread, peanut butter, bananas, yogurt, cut-up fruit pieces, juice, cut up cheese and veggies, bottled water, muffins and croissants to make our own "continental breakfasts" every morning for far cheaper. If we had rented a car it would have been easier to find a real grocery store nearby to have even more breakfast options but by bus or walking it would have taken a little longer to transport all our groceries back to the hotel.
At night we took advantage of the terasse that overlooks the ocean to just sit and relax and enjoy a drink. As was mentioned by another poster, the hotel bar was a little expensive. More so for beer than mixed drinks if anything. For dinner, we took advantage of the many various local restaurants, but be prepared to spend a fair amount of money as there weren't many good budget restaurants nearby. The best we found was on the corner of Las Olas and Seabreeze where my sister and I enjoyed a $6.95 burger and a $8.95 Philly cheese steak. Not the healthiest, but still a good deal in comparison to other places nearby.
As for local attractions, we visited Bonnet House (pretty and interesting but not recommended for small children due to fragile objects and displays), we went to the Galleria Mall and Sawgrass Mills for shopping, we visited the Swap Shop flea market (pretty good if flea markets are your thing - bring a water bottle though cause it's very hot!) and we took a day cruise to the Bahamas (the highlight of our trip by far!). Las Olas boulevard also has some funky, if not overly expensive shops as well that might be worth browsing if you have a lot of money to spend.
All in all, I would certainly return to this hotel if I were to come back to visit Fort Lauderdale. It is recommended for those who want a nice, clean place to stay for an economical price. I'm sure there are far more fancy hotels nearby but for budget conscious travelers it is a good choice.
