I've been to Hollywood Florida a couple of times to attend trade shows in the area. I do like that area much better than Ft. Lauderdale, it's much less crowded. It's convenient to get to, if you fly in to Ft. Lauderdale, it's only a 15 minute drive right down Route 1 to Hollywood. I think it's about a half hour drive if you fly into Miami. Downtown Hollywood is nice, The city building is right in the middle of the square and the street the circles around it is lined with little shops and pubs and restaurants. I've heard the night life there is good if you are in your 20's or 30's and like to party that way. Since I'm old, don't care for loud music, and a non-drinker, I didn't check it out.
The Hollywood coast is good. Once you cross the intercoastal waterway you reach the Hollywood Broadwalk area. There are a lot of little apartment type weekly hotels and Inns there that are very reasonable in the off season. Since it's a pretty narrow strip of land between the intercoastal waterway and the ocean, I don't think it's more than a two block walk from any of the little family type hotels and the ocean. Lots of little shops and restaurants along the broadwalk. Very nice "away from the cities" place to stay. And it's just a short drive to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. I've stayed at a couple of different places there, all with beach front property. The Diplomat hotel and the Holiday Inn have wonderful private beaches, and I stayed at a quaint little tourist apartment hotel called the Angelfish Inn that had all the comforts of home including a kitchen and seperate bedroom. Because I was there in the summer, the price for the whole week was only about $325, and it was a fully equiped apartment with a kitchen. Hard to find a better rate than that. I enjoyed staying there much more than at the big hotels. The Holiday Inn was about $100 a night, and the Diplomat was around $250 a night. There's a little trolly bus that runs up and down the A1A highway between the Diplomat hotel on the south end and the north boundry of Hollywood. That's very convenient if you are at a convention in one of the big hotels but staying at one of the smaller ones. I really like the area and plan to go back there again. |