We were staying at a condo in Deerfield in early April 2005. We were advised to visit Pompano Beach. Well, we loved it.
The beach is very wide, there are restrooms available, as well as affordable parking nearby (there is both street parking or a lot where you can park for a day for just $1.50).
The sand is fine and soft. There is a fishing pier. You have to pay to go on it ($1 per person just to walk). We did that and found it very enjoyable. We watched the fishermen, saw huge pelicans, and took some great photos of the shoreline.
There are several homeless kitties living under the pier - I wish we had something to give them.
Near the pier there are several eating establishments and vending machines. This was our favorite beach (we visited Hallandale Beach, Hollywood Beach, Fort Lauderdale beach, and some other small beaches).

Stayed in Pompano last summer with my family and some friends and it was ok. I don't think I would go back again. It is kind of an old, run down city. We stayed at the Fairfield Royal Vista and the staff was horrible. I think they are over worked or have been doing thier job too long. They weren't helpful or very friendly! The beaches were dirty and the ocean looked like a lake. Sorry, Pompano Beach!

My husband and I just returned from our 2 week vacation in South Florida and a short cruise to Nassau, Bahamas. Our first two nights we stayed at the Paradise (NOT!) Beach Resort and found it to be disgustingly dirty and smelly and old and rundown. Do NOT stay there! Yuck! Gross!We then took a three-night cruise out of Miami on the Carnival "Fun(NOT)Ship" Fascination, which we found to be very cheaply run with second-rate food and poor service, except in our assigned diningroom which was very good. Except for that we found the staff very unfriendly, making it anything BUT a "fun/party" atmosphere. We literally were glad to get back to the mainland! The first day the air conditioner in our stateroom didn't work and after several trips over several hours to the pursers office they FINALLY had us move to a different room at the very end of the ship, making it even farther for us to return there throughout the cruise. they did send a bottle of wine to our dinner table the next night, so that was nice. We've taken this cruise before out of Port Canaveral on a different "Fun Ship" in Oct. '01 and it was so much more fun! The staff seemed to be having fun on that one and they kept the pool and slide and hot tub open past 5pm (yes, they closed the slide at 5pm this time!) The kleenex in the bathroom of our stateroom was so thin it tore when you tried to pull it out. They now charge for the internet cafe when in the past it was free for 15 minutes a day. The food in the restaurants throughout the ship was like cafeteria food! The room service menu was cold sandwiches and the coffe tasted from room service tasted like yesterday's re-heated sludge! Yuck! I couldn't even drink it! Even the midnight buffett on the last night was pretty lame. They have REALLY cut corners and we aren't planning to sail Carnival again.When we returned to the mainland, we stayed most of the rest of our stay (except for our trip to Key West, which I'll share below) at the Ramada Ocean Beach Resort a couple of doors north of the Paradise. We stayed in the building across the street from the beach. The room was large and pretty clean, but pretty run down, altho a huge plus compared to the Paradise and cruise ship! My husband did cut his finger on the sharp, rusty edge around the frame of refridgerator door! After a call and a visit to the front desk and insisting on someone making arecord of it, the finally gave me an incident form to fill out and late came and ciovered up the sharp area with duct tape. There's a laundry room that uses tokens at a $1.50 a wash load from the office. The pool looked pretty murky and was WAY too cold! Same with the pool at the main hotel on the beach side of A1A. By the way, those rooms looked much newer. Neither one of the above mentioned hotels would constitute a resort, with very few amentites and pretty low budget. But for the price and location, the Ocean Beach was okay.We took a two-night side trip to Key West, driving the Turnpike (bring lots of quarters or pick the booth that gives change!). We stopped along the way at the Florida City Visitors building and that was a great facility! Very knowledgeable volunteers! The drive on the Overseas highway is beautiful and if we ever go to Florida again, the Keys are where we'd probably stay this time. We stayed in Key West on Fleming street between Whitehead and Duval at a beautiful old haunted guest mansion called Marrero's. $210/ night for room #20 with a comfy king size bed and a direct entrance to the pool and spa which stays open all night, clothing optional. Refridge and all the amenites in the room. No kids are allowed at the guest mansion, so it's pretty quiet, except for the close proximity to Duval Street. Easy walking tho! Great location for that. The owners were super and we would definately stay again, altho we might want to stay at the quiet end of the island. Even tho we love to party late, we like to go home to a quiet haven, ya know?? :)