THE GEN X WANDERER / Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside Fort Lauderdale: Free Stay and My Full Review
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Book Marriott Courtyard Oceanside Fort Lauderdale Beach

If you are planning to stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside Fort Lauderdale Beach, check out this map for it’s location where my logo “X” marks the spot! If you want to add things to do and places to see on your trip, check out my curated experiences for Fort Lauderdale in my Viator Shop.

Our Stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside After MSC World America Our Cruise

Disclaimer: This is an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for this stay. I did however stay for free because I booked it using my Marriott Bonvoy Points. If you want to learn how you get free stays too, click here!

After wrapping up our cruise on the MSC World America (Western Caribbean) out of Miami, we had a decision to make. Flying home to Toronto straight from Miami turned out to be way more expensive than flying out of Fort Lauderdale, so instead of rushing to the airport, we decided to slow things down and turn it into a mini extra getaway. So we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside Fort Lauderdale, and it turned out to be a great trip add-on.

The Western Caribbean cruise we just did was fantastic and so was the Big Bus Hop on Hop Off Tour in Miami we did prior.

If you are cruising out of Miami and also flying back home from Fort Lauderdale, or if you are simply looking for a solid beachfront hotel in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area, this review covers everything from the room to the food, the fees, and a few tips we picked up along the way.

Now my plan for this leg of our trip was to take the kids and visit the Everglades and do a crocodile adventure with Sawgrass Recreational Park on an airboat. But Fort Lauderdale had a heat advisory warning for that day, it was about 35 degrees C and I wasn’t a fan of getting heat stroke.

So we decided to do other things, like venture into Sawgrass Mills to keep cool and to do some shopping (if you’re a Canadian, you will know we have limited options, so shopping across the border is always more fun) and explore the surrounding area. Ok, but that mall was the largest one I’ve ever been to in my whole entire life!

Getting From Port Miami to Fort Lauderdale with a Rental Car

Once we disembarked at the port of Miami around 10:00 AM, we needed a way to get to Fort Lauderdale. We usually hit up an Uber at about $130 CDN / $93 USD one way but I calculated that we could rent a car for about $200 for 2 days (we ended up getting a Hyundai Palisade which was very roomy for 2 large luggages, 2 carry-ons, 4 backpacks, 3 adults and 1 child). This means we can travel at our will without having to foot a large bill at the end for Uber.

I had read a lot of horror stories online about renting from Hertz in all the Miami locations, so Expedia suggest that I try SIXT instead, and I’m are glad we did. They are located about 9 min from Port Miami, right inside the Intercontinental Hotel near Bayside Marketplace and their prices were very competitive.

The service was excellent from start to finish, the staff were friendly, and the whole process was quick. If you are disembarking a cruise and need a rental car nearby, this location is close, and I would happily book with them again on a future trip.

Our American Express Platinum perks also offers free car rental insurance, so we save a couple hundred there as well. Just a quick call to our Amex rep to generate an insurance certificate.

From there, we drove straight to Fort Lauderdale and checked into our hotel for the next few nights.

Booking on Points

One of the best parts of this stay is that I booked the entire stay for free using our Marriott Bonvoy points, so our room at the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside cost us nothing out of pocket.

But note that there will be parking/valet and destination charges. If you want to learn how we consistently score free nights like this, I wrote a full breakdown on how to use your Amex card to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and turn them into free stays. You can read that guide here: How to Get Free Hotel Stays With Amex and Marriott Bonvoy Points.

Booking on points made the whole post cruise stopover feel like a bonus rather than an added expense, and it is one of the main reasons I keep coming back to properties in the Marriott portfolio whenever we travel through Florida.

Early Arrival and Check In

Standard Check In Time: 4:00 PM
Standard Check Out Time: 11:00 AM

We received a personalized welcome email from the hotel notifying us of important information (not the standard Marriott emails you get). Because the hotel often runs at very high occupancy, rooms become available gradually throughout the afternoon as housekeeping finishes cleaning and inspecting them. Early check in is never guaranteed, but the staff do their best to accommodate guests when possible, and they were certainly very accommodating with us.

That said, we arrived quite early, around 10:00 AM, straight from the Port of Miami. We were able to check in right away and I’m not sure if it was because of our Gold Elite Status with Marriott Bonvoy. If your room is not ready when you arrive, the hotel will happily store your luggage so you can start enjoying the pool or beach while you wait for the notification that your room is ready.

We were also treated to late checkout at 2:00 PM on our departure day, which was a nice perk if you have a later flight.

The Room and the View

We were upgraded to an ocean view room (again, I think this was due to our Marriott status) with a direct line of sight to the pool and Fort Lauderdale Beach beyond it. There was a chair right in front of that large window and I planted myself there if we weren’t outside in the heat. Waking up to that view every morning made the extra days in Fort Lauderdale feel like a proper vacation rather than just a layover before our flight home. The room itself was clean, comfortable, and well laid out, with plenty of space for our luggage after 9 prior days of travel.

The room also came stocked with beach towels for everyone in our group, along with chairs reserved for us down at the beach, which took away any guesswork about where we would sit for the day. One thing to keep in mind is that if you lose a towel, replacement costs $30 USD each, so don’t lose them. When you are ready to swap a dirty towel for a clean one, you can do that at the gift shop in the Mezzanine level, which opens at 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM.

Beach Access

The beach sits right across the main road, South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, so getting there is simple. You can also exit through the pool area at the back of the property, and cross the street. Just keep in mind that if you use this exit, you will need your key card to get back into the hotel, so do not leave it in the room or in your beach bag. This adds an extra layer of security for the hotel, a bonus.

The strip along the beach is full of energy too, with plenty of eateries, restaurants, and souvenir shops within easy walking distance. Whether you want a quiet afternoon by the pool or a walk along the boardwalk with some shopping, everything is close by. We spent one evening just wandering up and down the strip, popping into a few shops and grabbing dinner at a local spot before heading back for the night. However if you have a small child, note that it’s full of bars and late night happenings not really suitable for kids. But I did see many other families with young children.

Dining at the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside

Food was one of the highlights of our stay. The onsite restaurant, The Mast, is located on the mezzanine level and serves a solid menu that includes avocado toast, a chicken BLT, and a really impressive breakfast spread. The staff there were attentive and went out of their way to be helpful every time we visited, whether we were grabbing a quick coffee or sitting down for a full meal.

One small note if you are travelling with younger family members: guests need to be 21 and over to sit at the actual bar at Seabreeze, though anyone can sit at the surrounding tables and order from there instead.

Dining Hours During Our Stay

The Mast Restaurant, Mezzanine Level
Breakfast: 6:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Starbucks: 6:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Dinner: 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Happy Hour: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Seabreeze Bar, Pool Upper Deck
Lunch: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Dinner: 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Bar Service: 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM

If you want other options besides the hotel, there’s plenty of restaurants and eateries along that strip. We ate one night at the 411 South Bar & Grill and had a fantastic spread. They make a pretty good loaded nacho platter.

The next night, we ventured off a little more south (walking distance) near the Jungle Queen Fort Lauderdale, in a little area called the Marina Village (which I call my village because that’s my name! HA!) They featur lots of kiosk type eateries and an amazing intercostal view.

Retail, Market, and Fitness Centre

• Beyond the restaurants, the hotel has a few other conveniences. The retail shop on the mezzanine level carries beachwear, sunscreen, drinks, and other essentials, and it is open daily from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Again, this is where you can swap out your beach towels.
• Down in the lobby beside the check-in counter, there is also a 24 hour market with snacks, beverages, and travel essentials available anytime, which came in handy more than once for late night cravings after a long day out.
• For anyone wanting to stay active during the trip, the fitness centre is open 24 hours a day, located on the mezzanine level, and accessible with your room key at any time, day or night.
• There is also a small business area with tables set up on the mezzanine level, which is a nice option if you need to send a few emails or get some work done while away from home.

Parking and Fees

Parking is valet only and pretty expensive but we had no choice since we rented a car. During our stay it came out to $67.51 USD per day including tax. Parking hours running from 12:00 PM to 11:59 AM the following day and you can summon your car through an app which means you don’t have to wait in the lobby for it. Your car is waiting for you when you come out.

A few additional charges can apply depending on your situation, including 10 USD for an oversize vehicle, 25 USD for a late departure, and 25 USD for an early arrival.

There is also a daily destination fee of 34 USD plus tax per accommodation, per night. This fee actually includes a few nice extras: a 17 USD daily food and beverage credit per night, two signature welcome drinks per stay, two beach lounge chairs across at the Fort Lauderdale Beach reserved from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and complimentary high speed WiFi throughout the stay.

One more thing to note, especially for anyone travelling with a furry companion, is that pets are not allowed at this property, so plan accordingly if you usually bring one along.

A Few Tips If You Are Planning Your Own Stay

If you are thinking about booking the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside Fort Lauderdale for a similar post cruise stopover, a few things helped make our stay smoother. Packing a small day bag with your room key card, some sunscreen, and a water bottle made it easy to head straight to the beach or pool without going back up to the room every time.

Double check dining hours ahead of time with your stay because when we went around 9:00 pm, The Mast was closed and the only other option was to eat outside in by the pool grill (which I wasn’t in the mood to because of the heat). And yes there are other restaurants along that strip but I wanted to keep our budget small that night so we actually drove to the nearest McDonalds 😂.

If you have Gold Elite Status with Marriott Bonvoy, perks will include a 2:00pm late checkout (as mentioned earlier) which is especially handy if you have a later flight. And if you are booking with points the way we did, make that request in advance, especially during busy travel seasons when rooms can book up quickly.

Final Thoughts

Looking back, staying an extra 2 nights to “debrief” our cruise at the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanside Fort Lauderdale was a great decision. Between the ocean view room, the beach access right across the street, the food at The Mast, and the fact that our entire stay was covered by points, it felt like a proper reward after a week at sea.

If you are cruising out of Miami and flying home from Fort Lauderdale, or if you are simply looking for a beachfront hotel with easy access to the strip, this property is worth putting on your list. And if you want to book your own stay for free the way we did, do not forget to check out my guide on turning Amex and Marriott Bonvoy points into complimentary hotel nights.

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