The good:
The beach was great, the service staff was friendly, and the staff for the beach activities were GREAT

The bad:
The tv in the room didn't work, the internet connection plug was broken, and for the price of the room, I would have thought internet access would have been free, like it is in the neighboring resorts, but its $10/day.

The ugly:
On checkout day, I was checking everything to make sure my stuff was in order, and also that there wasn't any reason for any extra charges. When I looked in the mini-bar, I noticed that there were some items that had been drank and opened and moved, but this was the first time I had even opened it, and I was staying in the room alone. When I alerted the front desk, the woman was very friendly and apologized for the "mess" and it didn't bother me, I just didn't want to be charged. Two weeks later, a $52 charge showed up on my card. When I called the service line, they said that the charges came from the minibar, as items had been missing or used. After explaining the situation and waiting while the rep spoke with the manager, the charges were eventually removed, but it was a bit of a pain that should have never happened.


Overall, I didn't think this resort lived up to the price in any way, except for location, but with so many other beachfront resorts in the area, I would recommend staying somewhere else.

The Harbor Beach Marriott is an oasis. Quick cab ride from the airport and easy check in and right to the room. Lovely room. The bed is wonderful. I don't always sleep well when traveling, but the bed was fantastic. Slept better than when I am at home. Beach was great and very close, steps really. Construction is going on, but no big deal. When the noise disturbed the meeting, we were moved. The meeting space was large and comfortable. The best part of the Harbor Beach Marriott is the friendly, friendly staff. Everyone is smiling and saying hello and just hands on and very friendly. Everyone in my group commented on the friendly staff. I spoke to Dewayne in Security because I left an item, and asked him why everyone is so friendly and he said because the Marriott is a family. I even quizzed him and he said the staff is really a big family and is happy. That translates in to happy guests. I ordered room service and the young man who delivered it makes his mother proud. The convention staff was superb. They were hands on and very attentive to our needs. Really, they went out of their way to accomodate our request. Only glich is the cost of internet. Harbor Beach Marriott is an oasis, Sea for yourself.

We stayed at Harbor Beach Marriott for business/pleasure September 27th-30th 2008 and were very pleased with this resort. The hotel staff was friendly and efficient, the rooms were clean, the beds comfortable, the pool was fantastic, plenty of lounge chairs, two hot tubs and nice background music. The restaurants and bar drinks were a bit expensive. The beach area was very nice with plenty of lounge chairs. The hotel has a clean, fresh fragrance, which reminded me of fresh linens. I would highly recommend this resort and would definately stay there again.

I stayed at the Harbor Beach Marriott for a convention (but stayed an extra day for pleasure) from 6/25-6/29. Let me first say that I am a longtime member of this site, but have been absent for about a year due to family and business. I arrived in Fort Lauderdale and promptly took a taxi to the hotel. This was my first problem: a hotel of this rank and price (not to mention being only 15 minutes from the airport) needs an airport shuttle-they do not have one. Still, upon arrival I was promptly greeted and shown the front desk. While I had requested a room with a King bed, I knew the place was full and that might not be possible. I was given a room with 2 doubles and a promise that the next day a King would be available. This was good enough for me (a promise that they delivered).

As I said, this stay was mainly for business, so I did not pick the hotel. I will not go into the convention rooms or the setup. Let me just say that was all fine-very nice and large enough for all. I will instead focus on the pleasure aspects of the hotel. One area I will criticize is that for a convention hotel there was no free WiFi. Some who read this may think this is a silly area to nitpick, but for business travellers it is very common for the hotels to have free WiFi. One had to pay $10 bucks a day for service (I passed).

The location is Ok. The walk to the shops and restaurants is not that bad-a couple of miles. The hotel itself is tucked away behind other hotels and a condo and barely visible from the road. I had no problem with this since I am an explorer from my Caribbean travel days.

The hotel itself is very nice; rivalling many of the Caribbean resorts where I have stayed. The beach was very nice (and wide!) and had plentry of chairs, plus a nice little bar. I was pleased after having seen many American beaches and their lack of quality to find a beach that was clean and big. Big thumbs up to the beach (and the pool). Also, the spa is top notch (or so says my wife)

The restaurants: nice, but pricey. I don't have a menu in front of me, but my wife and I had an average meal and the bill was $80 dollars. For a family resort that is a little expensive. Even the pool restaurant (which had great service and a good selection) was expensive. 5 bucks for a yogurt is a little ridiculous. The food was very good, but given the fact that this hotel markets to families it is a little too high.

Car: they do have a rental car desk on site (Hertz) and the price isn't that bad (39 bucks a day). What is stupid is that even if you rent at the hotel, the Marriott charges $25 bucks a day to park ANY car. That also is REALLY high.

The concierge was great: they gave us great directions to Miami and the local shops. Very friendly. The front desk was excellent as was the lost and found. The only internal issue was there was one day our room (which was very nice) wasn't cleaned, and the reason was supposedly my wife had the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door a little after 12. I accepted that, until the next day when our room wasn't cleaned until 3:00. Check-in isn't until 4, so that late cleaning time wasn't a big deal. But telling my wife that having a sign on the door at 12 was the reason our room wasn't cleaned at 3 was silly and made no sense. Clearly the room wasn't going ti be cleaned at 12.

I know it may sound like I am bagging on this hotel, but I am merely pointing out things that really were odd given my other travels here and abroad. Basically, this is a very nice hotel, but they seem to nickel and dime you. The lack of a shuttle, the lack of WIFi for conferences, the outrageous parking fees...

Would I recommend it? I would, but beware of the fees and walk to the shops/restaurants to eat. You will save money and have a better overall experience in Ft. Lauderdale.