Great hotel if you like boats and beach. Staff was very receptive to any questions; gave us a free upgrade without asking and we were able to get wireless as our room was within range (at no cost) Food is pricey but not unexpected.) We booked on a TravelZoo holiday special (1/2 off and was well worth it) Hotel is alittle old but the rooms were spotless.We often visit Ft Lauderdale and will always stay here if we can get a good rate.

Just concluded my second stay at Bahia Mar; was here a year ago, also for Thanksgiving week.

No complaints about this nicely-maintained and well-run hotel, which has great ocean views and standing-only balconies in the tower section... a real plus that adds to the "being-right-on-the-beach" experience.

Staff is excellent: bellboy Brian recommended a good restaurant and responded immediately to a request for an extra lamp; it was there within 5 minutes. Front-desk guy Greg quickly had a minor problem fixed (a handset on one of the room's two phones wasn't working right), and hand-delivered an important message. I asked concierge Stephanie where I could find a store to scan a photo, and she said "Come to the lobby, I'll do it myself", which she did. And hotel manager Glenn is always available and pleasant and responsive to any need.

Not sure why one reviewer had a hot water issue; over 8 days, I took showers at all hours of the day and never had a problem.

The pool area is great with nice lounge chairs; beach area near hotel is nice, but to rent the city's similar lounge chairs, you have to walk about 3 blocks north on the beach, which is a slight drawback. The hotel rents smaller beach chairs if you like those.

Good a/c in the room and a fridge is important to me, and Bahia Mar has both; will stay here again.

The stay at the hotel was great....maybe the music at the pool was a little loud..but a great blend of music. The room was clean and service excellent....I will return

Please don't read my review if you are one of these weird people that are trying to criticize everything, and want to be treated as kings at hotels, needing attention, and hospital environment.
After spending some time looking at maps and reading reviews about hotels in Ft. L. my wife and I chose to stay for 10 days in Bahia Mar. Good, I found what I needed: 1. within walking distance nice restaurants, 2. bus transportation, (for a few days I rented a car at the airport, by the way, so I am not cheap, bus was just a convenience and fun), 3. Water taxi, 4. Nice staff: the most important for me was that NOBODY WAS BOTHERING ME, perfect! The staff ware just enough helpful as I needed, every time I got the attention and respect that I needed at the desk, pool, concierge, the 2 stores, and other services. I hate pushy people, there are NO pushy people at Bahia Mar, there were just nice and HELPFUL. They are trying to do green, good. The beach was convenient, and not overcrowded. There are exercise platforms on the beach, and the fithess at the pool. Just go from one to the other, a dream. And a good surprise when we arrived was that they did not have the room that we reserved, so we got an ocean front view for the same price. Thanks, we are coming back for our next vacation.