Fort Lauderdale or Miami for 3 days?

[temporaryname99]

We are very lucky to be going on a cruise paid for by my MIL this coming Aug.
We are flying into Miami, and the cruise is leaving from Fort Lauderdale.
We have 2 nights before and 3 nights after and need to decide where to stay.
Miami seems cool and I'm interested in the art scene, the art deco vibes and Little Havana - and the beaches of course. Fort Lauderdale looks really pretty and relaxing and I like the look of the canals.
We have 2 girls aged 9 and 12, but we've decided not to go to Orlando. The cruise will be v exciting and the flights have cost a lot, so we'd rather do low key, low cost, relax and enjoy the weather stuff for the few days we have available.
We will hire a car for the last 3 days.
Any knowledge about either or both places would be great.
Budget for accomm is about £100 a night.
I will post my cruise related questions on another thread!

We’ve stayed in both Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I’d recommend staying for two days in Fort Lauderdale pre cruise, and three days after in Miami. You can also drive out from Miami to the Everglades, which is lovely.

£100 is a fairly small budget for both these places. It is possible, but be very selective, and read the reviews.

We spent one night in a hotel by Miami airport because we just needed somewhere to crash before an early morning flight. It cost £90, and was a dump (although fairly clean). I’d have been devastated if we’d been staying more than a few hours!

Thanks for this advice, budgiegirl.
I was thinking probably Fort Lauderdale before and Miami after too.
I know £100 is not much, but I'm pretty good at researching and reading reviews so I think we'll manage. I've seen some nice airbnbs.

We stayed at The Hall hotel on South Beach which wasn’t much more than £100 a night. Perfect location right at the top and across the road from ocean drive. We also used a tour company right outside and to the left of the front of the hotel which did a day trip called ‘Miami to the max’. It was fab, a tour of Miami on bus and walking to see all the main sights, Little Havana, wynwood walls etc then a trip out to the Everglades in the afternoon. Worth every penny

The company is called Miami tour company and you got collected right outside the hotel. The hotel was cool as it was where ace Ventura pet detective was filmed

Thanks Snowball; that sounds great! I'll look it up.

Bump for any more Miami/Fort Lauderdale opinions/advice!

www.booking.com/hotel/us/the-clay.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggJCAlhYSDNYBGhQiAEDmAEuuAEHyAEN2AEB6AEB-AELkgIBeagCAw;sid=dd7e8eaced8fc9c17209eb393b461c1b;age=12;age=9;all_sr_blocks=5632710_107922732_0_2_0;checkin=2018-08-17;checkout=2018-08-20;dest_id=994;dest_type=district;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=2;hapos=5;highlighted_blocks=5632710_107922732_0_2_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_age=12;req_age=9;req_children=2;room1=A%2CA%2C9%2C12;sb_price_type=total;srepoch=1515090805;srfid=2a1676a6a493967b573b5bb8a4212abc72481327X5;srpvid=89d9827a7079014c;type=total;ucfs=1&

Have a look at this hotel, location is excellent. A few minutes walk to ocean drive and from the restaurants of Washington avenue. The more blocks you go back Fromm ocean drive the cheaper it is but it's only a few minutes walk. Lovely vibe around Espanola way, it's where Miami vice was mainly filmed too

We had a few nights on south beach when we flew into Miami (before driving to Orlando) then on our return we stayed in the downtown area opposite bayside marketplace. We were right by the sea port there so could see the cruise liners. We stayed in the Yve hotel, that was great value for money too in case you want to stay over that side of Miami ☺️

Thanks Snowball!

If you are near Bayside, take a trip on the Thriller speedboat ride - a bit cheesy but great fun - my kids loved it.

Also you can take a ride round the Downtown area on the metro over for free - a great way to move amoungst the skyscrapers - it was my 12 year olds favourite part of the whole holiday, even though we also did a cruise and finished in New York!

Also, when budgeting for the hotels, make sure what’s included in the price , some will have car parking fees or resort fees to add on, which can increase the nightly total by quite a bit.

I prefer Fort Lauderdale to Miami. We spent a fantastic day on the water taxi's there - it's a hop on, hop off service with commentary. One of the piers sells frozen shrimp to throw for the tarpon - they're amazing. There's a Bubba Gump's restaurant on the beachside for lunch - we didn't get as far as the shopping.

Can't really help with hotels as we stay in the cheapest motels for under £50/night - some even include a basic breakfast. We tend to be out and about most of the time so only need a shower and bed.

Fort Lauderdale is very nice. Beach, restaurants, shopping. Access to the Everglades. Nice centre to walk about in. Nowhere near the size of Miami though.