Marriott Beach Place Towers, Fort Lauderdale Florida

Location location location.  This particular Marriott is across the street from Fort Lauderdale Beach.  It is in the heart of the action if you like spring break in Fort Lauderdale.  (I don't)  We lucked out and got an eighth-floor double balcony view of the Intercoastal Waterway and all of the 20,000-square-foot mansions (and larger) that have waterfront access. 

We later stayed a second week at this resort and lucked out and got an 18th-floor view of the Intercoastal Waterway and of downtown Fort Lauderdale.  The view is so good that we could see cruise ships and military ships when they were in Harbor.

To the right, you can see the many large mansions that have waterfront access.  Their yachts are usually parked in the canals beside their homes.  There is no shortage of money in Fort Lauderdale.  It is kind of obscene how wealthy many of these people are.

We had a couple of friends Jimmy and Sandra who stayed with us the first week that we stayed at the Marriott.  We had a two bedroom two bathroom unit that was quite nice quite comfortable and I'd stay here again in a minute.

The kitchen was your typical Marriott kitchen with good quality appliances but this time our ice maker didn't work.  We called three times and three different guys came up and looked at it and they still couldn't get it to work but the good news was there was ice on the lobby level, a minor inconvenience.  The kitchen had a granite counter, good quality cupboards and all of the doodads that you would need to cook or bake. 

In the kitchen, were double doors into a smaller laundry room but it had ample space.  

There was a nice size entrance foyer and we had a beautiful view out the living room window into the Intercoastal waterway. 

The master bedroom was large and had an extremely large bathroom that you would expect in a Marriott property.  The tub was a double whirlpool tub and most likely should have been replaced on the last renovation.  It is a waste of water and it's highly uncomfortable.  

To the right is a photo of our headboard in the primary bedroom.  It was a nightlight picture that had a switch to turn it on.  Hand's down the coolest night lite I have ever seen.  It was beautiful.

The spare bedroom was very large with a large queen size bed and a hide-a-bed in the sitting room.  It had a small kitchenette and bathroom and the bedroom had its own balcony.

I spent a ton of time on the balcony during my time here.  I really loved the views and watching the boats, water taxis and yachts go by.

Spare bedroom kitchenette to the left.

Spare bedroom sitting area to the right which was large with a balcony that you can see through the curtains.

The pool area was off the lobby and it was ample-sized and slightly congested due to spring break.  Space is definitely maximized in the pool area.  There were nice views off the pool deck of the beach. 

The Marriott property is set above three levels of mall stores and shopping and it is confusing how to actually check-in.  Read the instructions in the email before you even try and check-in.

This humungous ship was built to the specifications of some wealthy dude.  It is made of metal, not wood and cost a whopping amount of millions.  The Water Taxi that we took is narrated and they give you a lot of interesting information.

We took the Water Taxi which to catch it is only about a 10-minute walk from the Marriott.  For a full-day ticket, it is overpriced at $35 USD but it was still fun.  You can get on and off as many times as you want.  We should have got off and got lunch and had a drink.  You end up getting close-up views of all of the beautiful real estate.

Probably the biggest downer of this property is that it takes a good 5 to 10 minutes to get parked in the parkade and sometimes it can take up to 15 minutes to get out especially if you leave during rush hour.  You have to factor that into your plans if you're leaving to go to any events or excursions that you have to add some time on to get out of the parkade.  Parking is $15 US a night.

Overall though we really enjoyed this property and spent two weeks here and we would return to this very busy part of Florida.

There was a large Navy ship in port when we were there the second week.  There were hundreds of sailors everywhere all over Fort Lauderdale, especially in the bars on Fort Lauderdale Boulevard. 

There were also spectacular storms to watch on the second week and I took way too many photos.

There are numerous restaurants within walking distance.  We just ate down the street and had fabulous Baja-style fish tacos.  At these restaurants on Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, you can buy an extremely large glass of your favourite beverage and keep the glass.  The drinks were selling for $50.00 USD.  That was about 4 times my price limit.  The views are great though from any of these restaurants. 

This photo was taken on the 19th floor on the balcony of the Marriott Owner's Lounge.  Fort Lauderdale Beach is in the background.

I really enjoyed the views while sitting on the balcony, morning noon and night.  The views were spectacular!!