I was able to get a really good deal on flights to Fort Lauderdale, so I went ahead and booked them. I was looking at trip advisor for a good hotel, and I came across the Tropi Rock. My girlfriend and I both really liked it here, and here are the reasons why..

First, the hotel is very clean. This is pretty important especially to my girlfriend who usually is very picky at where we stay.

Second, the location Obviously there are a lot of hotels close to the beach. This one is no different, however, this side of the beach doesn't have as many of the huge hotels, and so this part of the beach is not as crowded. About a 5-10 minute walk up the beach there is a 24 hour pizzeria (Primanti's). Next to that is a couple souvernier/beach shops. There is also a really good "Key West" type bar. If you go to the beach and go about a block south, there is a really good place to get breakfast called The Deck. You can sit and look at the ocean. Breakfast was good, dinner wasn't as good as breakfast.

The downside to the location: About a half of mile south on the beach there is a lot of bars open to 4am right next to each other, with all the crowds and loud music and lots of people. You can still walk there from this hotel, but if thats your scene get a hotel closer to where Las Olas intersects with A1A. (Unless you don't mind taking a really short cab ride and want a hotel room that is quiet when you get back)

Third, of course as you've read, the owner is really nice and can answers any of your questions. He gave us some drink coupons to the bar he suggested that was really good. He said not many bars give them out, but he had those, and if you go, I'd suggest you ask if he has any of them.

I read a lot of the negative reviews and it made me kinda leary at first. But in particular I remember reading a review about one lady that didn't like the signs he has up in the hotel room. I took pictures and added it to this review for you to judge for yourself, but basically there is a little piece of paper (doesn't fill up a bathroom tile) and it says basically that some makeups will stain towels that they can't wash out so if you stain the towels you have to pay for them. There is another sign on the cabinets where all the dishes and silverware are and it says basically to wash the dishes when you are done otherwise its a 10 dollar cleaning fee. Also they mentioned that they "demanded that the bring the remote to the front desk when they checked out"

These are reasonable requests in my opinion. The cleaning fee is pretty standard in my opinion, when I've stayed at other places with kitchens, usually you have to clean the dishes yourself or pay a fee, and some places just charge you a cleaning fee whether you use them or not. I prefer this. They give you the remote to the TV and the AC when you check in and ask you to bring it back when you check out. Probably to make it easier to keep track of the remotes, I don't know. Remember people, the more stuff that gets lost, or destroyed, the more that has to be replaced and surely that means the more money it costs to stay here.

One other thing about some of the negative reviews, they complain that it is not a resort. Yeah, the name says resort, but I will agree to their point that if they expected resort to have things like a massuse, and some restaurants and room service and PPV and valet parking. This place doesn't have all that, but it doesn't claim to either. I'd suggest looking at the website, it's not misleading. Some people said it is not near the "Nicer" part of Ft. Lauderdale. That is a relative term, and what's nice to you might not be nice to others. It's not near the expensive shopping (there are many stores with T-Shirts for sale that have tags for 300+ dollars, and then they say they can sell it to you for about 80). There is a lot of designer fashion, and many boutique stores further south of here. Just because something is too expensive for most people to buy, doesn't mean it's nicer. If you agree with my previous statement, you'll have no problems here.

I will end like this:
This hotel is very laid back and friendly. It's near the less crowded end of the beach, and by some restaurants and a 24 hour pizzeria. You can take a cab to the hotel and be within walking distance of where you would want to go. If your idea of fun is relaxing, having a couple beers, wearing shorts and a t-shirt and maybe a hemp necklace, this place is for you. If you are more of the kind of person who wants to be close to all the action and hear loud music all night long at your hotel room, dress up fancy and have the clubs at the hotel, this hotel is probably not for you.