We stayed at the Yankee Clipper hotel the weekend of July 18-20 for a family reunion. The hotel is ok looking when you first arrive, not the worst but you can tell it's seen better days. One plus is that it is literally 5 minutes away from the Fort Lauderdale airport.

We got to the hotel early and weren’t able to do an early check-in which was no biggie since we were headed to hang out in Miami. The hotel is not far from the interstate and it was about a 30min drive to Miami. When we returned to the hotel we were able to check in and were given a room in the beachside building. The room was ok - it was LITERALLY on the beach, as in there was sand right outside the window and the view was nice. However, the room was on the first floor and there was a crack in the window that had been repaired with some clear tape. That was not acceptable and we quickly called the front desk to request another room. We were told that an engineer would come to check the room and they would see what they could do.

After a short wait, the engineer arrived and his quick assessment was that we should get another room. We were told by the front desk that they would see what they could do and would let us know. We left and when we returned to the room a while letter there was a message from the front desk saying that another room was available and they would bring the keys to us. We called and then waited for about 15 mins and then decided to just go pick up the keys. We were given the keys and went to our new room only to discover that we were in someone else's room!!!

It turned out that it was my father's room and I'm assuming it was the same last name of Johnson that may have caused the mix up, but it's not like we were the only Johnsons in Fort Lauderdale, it was just lucky that it happened to be my father's room and not someone else with the same last name! After another wait we were finally given the keys to the correct room and were able to settle in.

On Saturday morning we had brunch in the hotel restaurant. The food was good - and the selection was solid. When we returned to the hotel on Saturday evening, I decided to relax by the pool as the sun was setting. The facility has two pools and the beach side building has a pool that has a patio that leads directly to the beach. It was very nice - very relaxing, the beachside deck and bar/lounge were nice. I even ended up taking a nighttime stroll on the beach just because the hotel and the water were so close together. It was very beautiful with the lights from the city behind me and the water slightly illuminated with a couple of cruise ships. It was very peaceful way to end the day.

Unfortunately another negative for the hotel is the extravagant cost to use the business center. I wanted to print out a boarding pass for a flight the next day and the charge ended up being $4.00!! Just to print a boarding pass, no surfing, no checking e-mail, no printing other than ONE sheet of paper, cost $4.00 - what the only option being to swipe a credit card - which is absolutely RIDICULOUS!!

On Sunday morning our group had brunch in one of the meeting rooms. The room was very nice, with plenty of space and even tech support. The food was good and so was the service provided by the staff.

There was no problem with checkout and on the way out of the hotel we met Vinny Vella, Sr. (who has starred in the Sopranos and Analyze This/That, among other things), which was cool. Apparently part of Analyze That was filmed in the hotel.

Overall it was an OK stay, I would not have chosen this hotel on my own, but it served the purpose for our family reunion and the close proximity to the beach was nice.

My wife and I spent a week here with our 2.5 year old daughter. We all liked the hotel. This is one of a few hotels in FFL that is right on the beach rather than across the street. This made it much easier to pack everything up for our daughter and get to the beach in the morning.
We found our room to be clean, though there were a few stains on the floor. I think the color and type of carpet really made the stains standout more than most places. When my daughter was crawling around on the floor, her knees never got dirty as has happened at other places.
The hotel offers two pools, one near the beach which stayed pretty busy, and one in the main building (shaped like a ship). The pool in the main building has windows that open up to the bar, and the hotel offers a mermaid show once a week.
We didn't take advantage of the restaurant or bar, but we did notice that the snack bar was way over priced, even for a hotel. We also decided to buy a disposible cooler from Publix after finding out that they charged for a fridge. On the bright side, the ice machines are very fast! We were also charged $10 a day to park the car.
The staff at the hotel was very friendly and always spoke first in the hallways.
The hotel is right next to a water taxi stop and very close to the airport. There are drug stores, groceries, and several good restaurants within a few minutes drive. I would recommed having a car if you are staying here though. Only the water taxi is within walking distance. Be prepared for the oversized and over used speed bumps in the parking garage. Luckily, we had a rental, and our daughter thought it was funny when I drove over them fast. Also, the parking spots in the garage are very small, and many people there, like me, had rental cars and were willing to really squeeze them in close.
The beach is nice and wide. The hotel is next to a public beach park that was empty during the week and only slightly full on the weekend. The hotel offers two free lounge chairs on the beach, and you can rent an umbrella for $10 a day. There is a lifeguard station close to the hotel, which made us feel safer.
The only real problem that we had with this hotel was the noise. At first, we had a bunch of highschool girls in the room next to us that stayed up late talking, then we had one night of a bunch of drunk firefighters yelling all night, and finally the highschool girls were replaced by a dog, a mother, a father, four kids, and a grandmother. The mother woke us up very early yelling at the boys two mornings in a row. I'm not sure if this was bad luck or bad sound insulation.
Overall I would stay at this hotel again.

Just like many other folks, we were a bit leary staying at the Clipper after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor. I have to disagree with most of the reviews. The Hotel is a bit dated; after all, its a landmark. However, the Lobby was very pretty and elegant with many little chandeliers and comfy looking red sofas throughout. Front desk staff was very friendly, and explained the parking situation: $12.00 a night to self-park in the tight garage across the street, or Valet park for $16.00 a night. We chose to self-park, which was fine, but there are three buildings, and getting to our room practically required a Garmin. I was surprised to find that our room (as most rooms appear) was reached from the outside, sort of like a motor-lodge. We were on the 2nd floor, and the front door to our room overlooked one of the pools. That was very nice. Upon entering, we noticed a slight cleaning-fluid scent, but that quickly faded, and we noticed it no longer. The room was clean and had nice wood furniture, and the bright bathroom was simple and spotless. There was a nice tray of goodies like lotion, soap, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash and a poofy for body wash (also there was a hair dryer and iron/board). Our biggest bummer was when my fella noticed there was no balcony, and that the windows didn't open. He's a smoker, so this was upsetting to him. We called the Desk, and learned that the Hotel is now a Non-Smoking Hotel. Good news for some folks, I'm sure, but my guy was ticked. He could go down the outside corridor to a patio to smoke, but there is no coverage or shade from the EXTREMELY HOT sun of south Florida, or protection from the daily summer thunderstorms that roll in and out. MY biggest problem was that the backside of our room faced A1A, and there is quite a bit of traffic on that roadway. In fact, our first night, I had trouble sleeping due to the road noise. A tri-athalon was being run that morning, and so noise of traffic being re-directed and orange cones being dropped (trucks with beeping sounds) woke me up at 6:00 am. Except for those two issues (non-smoking and traffic noise) I liked the hotel. It was clean and pretty. If you go, Dont miss the Mermaid show in the bar. We were supposed to stay for 2 nights per our package deal, but since we live 30 minutes away, and this was just for a
"staycation", we decided to leave after the first night. Oh, and beware, there is a $50.00 early departure charge. Since we were pre-paid, we didnt have to pay it, but others might have to, depending upon their reservations. We only paid $69.00 for our package, so we got our money's worth. Its not a resort, so folks should stop expecting a resort-style hotel. It is very utilitarian, and great for short getaways and family beach trips. Snooty people need not visit. I hope this helps!!!

We were alittle tense reading some of the reviews before our vacation. We know that there are alot of snooty people who would right a bad review, just because they think that the world is there to pamper them. But our stay was wonderful. The beach was awsome, my girlfriend who is nervous around the ocean, never even went to the pool. She spent the whole time on the beach and in the surf. The rooms were clean, the lobbys were clean too. You have to take into account that people are tracking sand in constantly, its hard to have every speck picked up every minute. The staff was overly courteous. There was no attitude as other reviews stated. They were eager to help and informative. They made you feel welcome and never acted like we were an inconvenience. We plan on returning next year with our kids. Food was expensive all around Ft. Lauderdale, but hey, what can you say.