Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort

Island time on the Broadwalk

★★★★★📍 Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, Hollywood$$$

Hollywood offers a lower-key alternative to Fort Lauderdale's beach strip, and Margaritaville, which opened in 2015 as a public-private redevelopment at the Johnson Street end of the Broadwalk, gave it a resort anchor. The dock-side bar on the Intracoastal is the evening gathering point, the rooftop bar handles quieter views, and the Broadwalk supplies morning walks and bike rides. The pools were built with families in mind: the main LandShark pool opened with a zero-entry section and a water slide, a second pool has a hot tub, and a third sits up on the eleventh floor beside the rooftop bar. The historic Johnson Street bandshell, next door on the Broadwalk, hosts live music and outdoor concerts.

Booking craft: ocean-view rooms for the classic outlook, Intracoastal views for sunsets. Check current offers on the resort site, and reserve JWB for a special dinner. Pools are busiest on weekends and during school holidays; weekdays in the shoulder seasons are quieter and better value.

Practicals: about fifteen minutes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport and Port Everglades; resort and parking fees apply. Anne Kolb Nature Center and Mizell-Johnson State Park are short drives for nature days. Compared with the Guitar Hotel inland, Margaritaville trades the casino and concert arena for actual sand; compared with Fort Lauderdale's beach towers, it is more relaxed in tone and better suited to children running between pool and beach. Light sleepers should avoid rooms directly above the dock bar on music nights.