I've just returned home from a 4 nt stay at the lovely Lago Mar resort. I am not the Ritz Carlton type but I do insist on Quality service a nice clean room and good amenities. This resort delivered on all those points.

My party of three (myself and 2 11 yr olds) arrived at the hotel at 11am on Sunday. After a 30 min wait, our room was ready.

We stayed in room 573 which is a poolview suite. The room has 1 bedroom with a king bed and a seperate living area with a pull out couch that actually pulls out to 2 twin beds with about a foot seperating the two. We had a kitchenette which was equipped with a stove, microwave, toaster oven, full refrigerator, pans, eating utensils and tableware for 4. Both the bedroom and living area had televisions with basic cable (HBO, TBS, A&E, ESPN, Cartoon Network...).

The grounds of the hotel are very nice and remind you of the Carribean. If you look very closely, you can see signs of wear and tear around the resort but it's not that much to be a bother.

The hotel is a little secluded and I would recommend a rental car for your stay. The airport was about a $16.00 cab ride, Publix or Win Dixie (suprermarkets) about $7.00, the Las Olas Riverfront about $15.00.

We brought groceries but the few times we did order room service we found the food to be pretty good. Breakfast for the three of us which included pancakes with bacon, french toast with bacon and an order of 2 eggs with bread and potatoes was $38.00 which included the 18% gratuity that is automatically charged for all resort purchases.

The few times that I needed to contact housekeeping or the front desk, I found their response to be prompt and very corteous.

If I return to Ft Lauderdale, I will definately stay at the Lago Mar.

We loved the Lago Mar, it was relaxed and so well kept. The lobby and restaurant were immaculate, the pools were lovely and the beach a stroll from the pool. We were lucky to receive a free room upgrade to a one bedroom suite which was just perfect. A plasma TV, living room with dining table and kitchenette with all the things you needed. The bedroom had the biggest bed I've ever seen and the bathroom was huge with a walk in shower. If we could take this room with us on every holiday it would be fantastic! The staff were very friendly and always went out of their way to help. We arrived late as we'd travelled from Oklahoma via Dallas to Miami so were exhausted on arrival at 10pm. The staff said the restaurant would still serve us and to not worry about luggage, they would sort it out for us later. The chef and staff in the restaurant were really nice. Fort Lauderdale itself is ok, las olas boulevard has improved the area I think. The beach front in the main strip still looks like Blackpool. We didn't feel particularly safe in the main town so stayed around the area near our hotel, we found a lovely steak house just a 2 minute drive away.

We just spent 4 nights for the 4th of July at Lago Mar Resort and had a great time. Even witht the holiday and more people than normal it was great. There were plenty of chairs (and we had 5 rooms of people!) and towels too. The room was very comfortable, roomy and clean. The kids always had something to do between mini golf, 2 pools, ping pong, giant chess...etc. There was no wait at the onsite restaurant and it was good, but it is expensive. There are many places to eat just minutes away. The AC worked too good in the living area and it was too cold out there, but warm in the bedroom. We just asked for extra blankets for the kids. The spa is very small but it was great! One of the best massages I have had and priced reasonable too. We will be back for sure.

We stayed for 4 nights at the Lago Mar and thought it was a great hotel for a reasonable price. We booked through British Airways and our room was upgraded to a suite for no extra charge (£68, about $120). Like many more guests I would have preferred not to have an 18% service charge added to everything but couldn't understand others complaints that they had to memorise everything as the bill was continually updated and could be seen via the TV. I also agree there was very limited TV viewing but don't expect to watch too much TV while on holiday. THe suite was spotless with with a kitchen area, great bathroom with shower cubicle and seperate bedroom. The staff were always friendly and helpful and treated us with courtesy. We spent a day on the beach and it costs $20 + tax to hire 2 chairs and an umbrella but it was worth it. The beach was certainly not dirty when we were there. I would have liked more shade around the pool, we generally used the one closer to the ocean and there were only 4 places with shade and these went very quickly. I cannot understand any hotel having so little in the way of shading when high temperatures and sunshine require us to get shade during the day.
We had a nice meal in the restaurant which cost $93 for 2 (including a bottle of wine and tips) which I felt wasn't too bad. We spent $60 at a seafront restaurant with plastic table cloths and no wine. We would definitely stay at the Lago Mar again and would recommend it to anybody.