two stays, two purposes...local advice please

Spouse %26amp; I are planning a 10 day Florida trip, we fly into lauderdale late evening, looking for beach hotel, rest %26amp; relaxtion.....as we will be driving to kissimmee to deal with tourist %26amp; relatives for 6 days.....then driveing back to lauderdale one night stay as our flight leaves early....my questions are these:

looking at Pelican Grand for our first stay as beach is our top goal, but want to know how close to good restaurants....will have rental car but would rather not drive.

return before flight trip want to be closer to the airport but still close to the beach or shops %26amp; restaurants.

any advice appreciated.....leaving California in 7 days so not much time as this trip was last minute

two stays, two purposes...local advice please

Pelican Grand is a great place and probably a good choice if beach is your #1 goal. There are (with few exceptions) no great restaurants on the beach; most are along Las Olas Boulevard, Federal Highway or one of the major east-west streets (Sunrise, Oakland Park, Commercial), so you%26#39;ll need to drive from any of the beachfront hotels to the better restaurants. Right on the beach, Shula, Casablanca and Trina are three good choices, but none is near Pelican Grande.

For the return trip, I%26#39;d look at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th Street -- close to both beach and airport, new, relatively inexpensive and close to dining. Gets good reviews here normally.

two stays, two purposes...local advice please

I agree with Awfulcat that Pelican is not the best choice without a car- it is the nrthernmost, most secluded hotel on the beach- the restaurant/Shop area is far south of that- you would have to taxi or maybe Sun Trolley ( but that is not as convenient.

Some directly on the beach properties further south, nearer to dining are Sheraton Yankee Clipper and Harbor Beach Marriott- Lago Mar is also nice but secluded as well- not the best choice without car.

I agree with Awful about 17th St for your return and also like HI Express Convention Center , but I don%26#39;t believe they have a pool if that is important to you. Ft. lauderdale Grande and Hyatt Pier 66 are on 17th St and have pools- but unlike HI don%26#39;t provide shuttles to the Airport- if that matters. 17th St. is also off the beach and not really walkable to it- but I believe there are shuttles and certainly city buses available. You might find that any of the beach area hotels that were mentioned for your pre trip work equally well for post,along with Best Western Oceanside. The cost of a taxi to or from Airport from that area would likely be $15-20 - ssplit between all parties- and you would be right on the beach.