Had a great time in this grand old hotel. The room was a perfect place to relax after a day at the beach. The view from the beach great. Wonderful place for families and couples. The staff was helpful and available. Don't miss this one

My husband and I stayed here for a week while he attended a business conference.
I would agree with a lot of the tripadvisor reviews stating that the service is good here, the beach is nice, but the hotel is in desperate need of renovation. It would be a really nice property if they put some money into it!
We had a suite overlooking the pool/ocean and it was okay. The best part of the room was the comfortable bed. But when you walk in the room, there's a definite musty smell. Actually, the entire hotel smells musty and damp. All of the furniture in the lobbies and our room is very dated and stained. Gross. And yes, it is all peach/turquoise/pink, a la Floridian style. (Your grandmother would be in heaven here) I don't mind the style-- but it needs serious freshening up. And of course there are fake flower arrangements everywhere...dusty, old...come on folks....a few fresh flower arrangements are much nicer and welcoming!!

When we checked in late at night, as soon as we flushed the toilet, it made an extremely loud noise which continued....they sent someone up and it was fixed, but it was a headache. Then there was no iron in the room, so ironing an outfit before an early morning meeting didn't happen. They brought one up in the morning and apologized. The service here was pretty consistent, friendly bellmen, housekeeping, pool service, etc.
There was an LCD TV in the living room, that was nice. Pretty limited cable, but not a big deal. (The weather wasn't that great while we were there, hence the tv-watching) The kitchen area is handy, oven, fridge, microwave, sink, toaster. Although I did find a roach crawling around. The hotel immediately sent an exterminator up, which was great, but still...who wants to look a roach in the face at 9am when you're having a bowl of cereal?

The beach is great, like other reviewers have stated. The beach chairs the hotel provides look like they're 20 years old and rickety, but whatever, at least they provide chairs. I stopped in the snack bar near the beach area and asked how much it would cost for a small bottle of Evian. The lady told me that it was $4.25!!! I'm not kidding. That's what blew my mind here....I mean, you expect that at a Four Seasons, but not at an old school budget-friendly resort like this! The food prices just didn't match the quality of the resort. The food is decent, but the prices should be lowered.

The pool area...I'm kinda mixed on this one. It's a great area to relax, there are plenty of chairs and 2 pools, and one is lagoon-style. I don't care if a pool is brand-new or old...as long as it's clean. I very very rarely saw anyone clean the pool, and there was a lot of stuff that accumulated in the pool. Gross. And I watched several times as birds played and splashed in the pool. Pigeons, etc. Not exactly what you want your kids swimming in... And yes, there are some areas of mold on the walls. That didn't bother me so much as the lack of cleaning and seeing typical pool debris building up. Also, the general pool area was rarely cleaned...you'd see spilled ice cream, orange peels, dirty towels, etc...While housekeeping was pretty good, you'd rarely see anyone cleaning up the pool area. A good thing about the pool area is that there are some lawn games, a snack bar/bar, hammocks, and a swing set for the kids if they get tired of the pool.

My husband and I were reading the reviews for Lago Mar before our trip, and the one thing we kept hoping for was for someone to review the fitness facilities. So I think we'll be the first to do so! What bothers me is that their website states that they have the "latest" cybex equipment and cardio machines, or something like that...but I couldn't find a photo of the fitness center anywhere, so I was skeptical. And I was right. There is a fitness room, and thankfully it's ventilated well and cool. The treadmills are cybex, but they are pretty old, there's one elliptical and I think one bike. There are also free weights and a few cybex weight machines. It's a pretty small room, but if you're like us and want to go for a run and lift some weights, you'll be fine, but it's not impressive. ***Here's a tip--there's a knob on the wall that turns OFF the overhead music. They pipe in some obnoxious techno music and you can turn it off. And no, the beach is not a good run-able beach, too soft, but there are other areas to run if you want to run outside (It was way too hot when we were there)

In conclusion, the property needs a facelift, but you can still have a good time. The service is friendly and the location on the beach is great. Also, I can easily see this place being a good budget family vacation. But I probably wouldn't return unless they renovated. Definitely DON'T stay here unless you get a really cheap rate.

Oh one more thing...there is a business room....4 computers, printer, fax, etc...free internet....

We arrived at the height of hurricane season, so prices were reasonable and there was no crowd (and luckily no hurricane). The beach is wide and well-kept. The hotel's decor is a little dated and very Florida, but nice. The restaurants have good food and nice service. Also, the restaurants have pretty reasonable prices. We liked the big playgrounds near the pools with lots of other things for kids to do (putt-putt, shuffleboard, a big chess board etc.).

The spa was not great... in fact it was pretty poor. Small, noisy space, but the services were really worthless. My facial was about as relaxing as a walk through Manhattan. The staff also was not friendly or helpful. No where to shower either, which is not good.

I'd definitely go back and I'd bring the kids or a group of friends. There was a conference being held while we were there, so no late check out, but they kept our bags in checked us in for our flights and printed our boarding passes for free. A good spot.

Lago Mar is an older hotel with excellent service and
an excellent location with a beautiful private beach.
It is located in the Harbor Beach neighbourhood of
Fort Lauderdale which is an expensive residential
area. A car is must have for this hotel as there are
no shops and restaurants within walking distance. The
staff were all very friendly and helpful in all ways.
There are no lifeguards at the beach but the public
Fort Lauderdale beach, which has lifeguards and is
just as nice, is just north of it and can be reached
by walking on the beach or a 5 minute drive. We
stayed there 5 days and enjoyed our stay. There is a
nice playground for kids which our toddler enjoyed.
Although the room was very clean and luxurious, the
hotel could probably use some more renovations and
maintenence. The indoor corridors smell musty;
typical of an older hotel and pool could use
re-finishing. So if you are used to everything being
brand new and in perfect condition you may not be
happy here. But if you are not that picky you will
think it is a very charming place.