My wife and I stayed at the Harbor Beach Marriott in mid-November for part of our honeymoon. We actually stayed there twice in one week punctuated by a stay at the South Beach Marriott (my wife travels a lot for work and is a Marriott Rewards member, so we only stay at Marriotts).
On with the review. The hotel is kept in very good condition. The rooms are very clean and appear to be nearly wear-free. Our first room was on the 15th floor with an ocean view, and our second was on the 6th floor with an ocean/ pool view. Both rooms had excellent beds, balconies with chairs, a large flat screen TV and well-lit marbled bathrooms. Housekeeping visits the room three times a day and is quite friendly. On that note, all hotel staff was friendly.
It's probably best to have a car at the hotel if you're staying for more than 3-4 days since your dining choices in the vicinity of the hotel are limited. There are three restaurants at the hotel:
Cascades: Next to the pool; service is available right at your lounge chair. The food is on the expensive side-$14 for a burger/ fries, the same for a grilled vegetable sandwich. Mixed drinks average $11.
Riva: Mid-level casual dining in the north wing of the hotel. The food is good, but not great. Roast chicken is $24. Tortelini with sausage is $23.
3030: Upscale. $50 average entree. Could be $100 pp for full meal. We didn't eat here becuase we didn't think the value was there.
There's a place called Bahia Cabana within a 6 minute walk of the hotel. The food is average, but cheap. It's a good place for families and it's right on the marina next to the water taxi stop. Go here for breakfast if you don't want to be held hostage to the $20 pp breakfast at the hotel. You can get 2 eggs, 2 slices of toast and home fries for $5. Add sausage/ bacon for a couple bucks more.
There's another fun restaruant called Oasis Cafe about a 15 minute walk north of the hotel on Seabreeze Blvd (also called the A1A). They serve very fresh fish for reasonable prices ($20-$24), are across the road from the beach and also have tables/ chairs on gliders.
If you want the best of Ft Lauderdale, go to Las Olas Blvd, which is a 5 minute drive or cab ride from the hotel. There are many good restaurants on the strip.
A wide range of equipment rentals is offered through Aloha Watersports on the beach immediately in front of the hotel. Hobie Cats are $70/ hr, kayaks are $20/ hr/ person. Jet ski rentals are expensive ~ $90 per 1/2 hr. Parasailing, snorkeling, scuba and fishing are also available. You can book a tennis court at the hotel for $20/ hr. The basketball courts are free to use. The hotel gym is relatively small, but features well maintained equipment and 3 large TVs. The gym has free bottles of water and free powerbars. There's a large sauna in the men's and women's locker rooms. It's the hottest sauna I've ever been in (it gets up to 200 degrees F).
The hotel serves free cookies and lemonade at the pool every day from 2:30 - 3pm. The pool is warm, big and very clean. There are 2 hot tubs near the pool. One is quite hot, the other is more moderate. Secret: there's a third hot tub south of the main pool area in the private cabana area. It's not just for people renting cabanas, but no one was ever in it. It's nice if you want to get away from everything.
There are two large supermarkets within 2 miles of the hotel: a Winn Dixie on Cordova and a Publix on 17th St. It's worth buying some snack food so you don't get killed by the hotel food.
We live in NYC and were surprised by the cost of taxis in Ft Lauderdale: $2.50 initial charge, 40 cents per 1/5 mile, but still worth it if you decide not to rent a car. If you do rent, self parking is $22/ day. Valet is at least $30/ day. The water taxi is fun to ride for a tour, but too expensive and slow to use for transportation. If you buy a day pass for $14 pp, you can take it from end to end and see the megamansions and megayachts and megalawns and megacars and megawhateverelsereallyrichpeoplehave.
Be warned that the hotel is building a new ballroom on the waterfront. Construction is supposed to be complete some time in December, but it can be noisy during the week. It's not noisy in the rooms if you shut the door (the glass deadens everything), but if you're outside, you can definitely hear the construction work.








