THE GEN X WANDERER / Conrad Fort Lauderdale Review: Our Free Post Cruise Stay with Amex Points

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Conrad Fort Lauderdale Review: Our Free Post Cruise Stay with Amex Platinum Points

After our week at sea on the Celebrity Beyond, there is nothing quite like stepping off the ship and into a hotel room that actually feels like a reward rather than another stop on the itinerary.

That is exactly what happened when we booked a post cruise stay at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach. We used our American Express Platinum points to cover the entire stay, and it ended up being one of the best decisions we made for this trip. If you are searching for a proper Conrad Fort Lauderdale review from people who actually stayed there and paid nothing out of pocket, here is exactly how it went.

Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach Room Tour

JW Marriott Marquis Miami Room Tour

Why We Chose the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach

When you disembark a cruise, you are usually tired, a little disoriented, and not in the mood to drag your luggage around looking for somewhere decent to stay. Round trip flights from Toronto to Miami are generally more expensive than Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, so we always end up flying to Fort Lauderdale and then taking an uber back and forth from Miami.

So post cruise, I needed to find a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, that is close to the airport. I had American Express Platinum points that I could use so I chose logged into my app and took a look to see what was available.

We wanted a hotel close to the port that also felt like a destination on its own, not just a place to crash before flying home. Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach was an excellent choice. This hotel is classified as an all-suite, luxury tier 4-star (to 5-star standard) beachfront resort. Under the Hilton Honors loyalty program, it serves as a participating hotel in the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts collection.

Getting the Stay for Free

For anyone wondering how this actually works, it is simpler than people think. Amex Platinum cardholders earn Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases, and those points can be transferred to a long list of airline and hotel partners, Hilton being one of them.

If you are interested in learning how to get free stays using credit card points, look no further, I explain it all here with a free PDF download.

A couple of nights at a hotel like this would normally add up to a significant bill (between $250-$700/night), so getting it covered entirely through points felt like the trip rewarding itself. If you cruise regularly out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale, this is a strategy worth looking into. Building up Amex points throughout the year and cashing them in for a stay like this turns what would be an expensive add on into something that costs you nothing extra.

The Location Cannot Be Beat

Fort Lauderdale beach is located directly across the street from the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach, after the main road N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. You can be in your swimsuit and have your toes in the sand within minutes of leaving the lobby. After a week on a ship where the closest thing to a beach was the pool deck, this was a welcome change of pace.

Our Room and the Walkout Pool Access

Since the ship disembarkation happens at an ungodly hour anywhere between 7:00 – 8:00 am, we were already at this hotel by 9:30 am. The thought of waiting until a 4:00 pm checkin was agonizing, but the universe was for us, and we were able to check in as soon as we arrived.

Our room located on the fifth floor, and it turned out to be a fantastic spot. It had a direct that walkout that led straight to the main pool deck, so instead of taking an elevator down every time we wanted to swim, we could step right out and be poolside in seconds. For a family or couple who likes to move between the room and the pool throughout the day, this was amazing.

The room itself was incredibly spacious, clean, modern, and comfortable, with the kind of understated coastal design you would expect from a Hilton luxury property. Nothing about it felt dated or tired. The bed was easy to sink into after a week of cruise ship mattresses, and the bathroom felt like a proper upgrade space wise compared to what we had been living with on the ship.

And… We Just Chilled

Since we just came off a 7 day cruise with Celebrity Beyond for our 25th Anniversary, we were beyond exhausted. So we chose to either hang out by the pool, walk along the beach or simply hung out in the room with the AC.

The hotel also offers free bikes for guests, so we did explore the surrounding neighbourhood. Fort Lauderdale has a wonderfully flat and bike friendly stretch along the coast, and pedalling along the water with the ocean breeze coming off the Atlantic was a great way to shake off the sea legs. We rode along the side streets for a while, stopped for photos, and generally enjoyed having transportation that did not involve a rental car or waiting on a rideshare.

Dinner at the Takato Japanese Restaurant

Right beside the hotel is Takato, a Japanese restaurant that we ended up trying for dinner that evening, and it was a definite highlight of the stay. After a week of buffet lines and set dinner times on the ship, sitting down somewhere with a proper menu and no rush to finish felt like a small luxury. The sushi was fresh, the service was fast, and it was a low key dinner spot that still had the ambience of being upscale. Having something this good within a short walk of the hotel meant we did not need to book a car or plan ahead, we simply strolled over when we were hungry.

Final Thoughts on Our Conrad Fort Lauderdale Review

Looking back, this stay checked every box we were hoping for. The beachfront location, the free bikes, the walkout pool access from our 5th floor room and a great dinner spot right next door all came together to make it a memorable end to our cruise.

Not to mention the attentive staff, from check in to check out, everyone we interacted with at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach was attentive without being overbearing. Housekeeping was thorough, the pool staff kept things running smoothly, and whenever we had a question at the front desk, the answer came quickly and with a smile.

The fact that we booked the entire stay using American Express Platinum points was an added bonus on top of an already great trip.

If you are looking for a post cruise hotel in Fort Lauderdale and you have Amex points sitting around, the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach is worth serious consideration. Between the location, the amenities, and the level of service, it turned what could have been a forgettable overnight stop into one of the best parts of our whole vacation.

Where Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach is Located

My logo X marks the the spot!