Fort Lauderdale/Dania Beach, Florida: Hotel Morrison FLL airport Ascend Hotel Collection

March 2019, Weekend, 1-night, 2-queen guestroom 219

Sunset from pool area at Hotel Morrison

Arrival and check-in

We arrived at this hotel in the morning after disembarking a cruise at Port Everglades. The hotel was extremely busy, and sold out for the night of our stay. After we checked our bags at the front desk, I inquired about accessing the pool area to wait. The agent provided a key, which quit working at noon, before we had been assigned a guestroom. We were able to check-in just after 1:45 PM. Several guests who arrived after we did, were able to check in sooner, because king guestrooms were cleaned first. We did not need a guestroom with two beds; however, the front desk agent told us he could not switch our room type since the hotel was sold out.

Hotel Morrison guestroom 219

Guestroom 219

The guestroom contained two queen size beds with plush bedding, a nightstand, flatscreen TV on an armoire, table with two chairs, a soft chair, a suitcase bench, small fridge, safe, ice bucket, and coffeemaker with supplies. Only one regular coffee had been provided, and we were able to get another from the housekeeper in the hall. 

Hotel Morrison guestroom 219

The guestroom was comfortable and clean. The large window overlooking the pool area was well soundproofed. We were very happy with the overall quality and amenities in the guestroom.

Bathroom photos from guestroom 219

We loved the walk in shower, although I was surprised to see this in a guestroom with two beds, as it is more common in king guestrooms.

Food & Beverage

We were not able to enjoy the complimentary breakfast because we had an early flight the morning of our departure. I did not observe breakfast to-go bags at the front desk when we left, and I forgot to ask if they offer this. Since we arrived in the morning on check-in day, breakfast was still being served then. We had eaten before leaving the cruise ship, and did not enter the area right away. Around 10:00 AM, I went to the breakfast area to see if there was anything to drink. My excitement upon discovering sugar-free berry juice (blueberry acia, I think) in the dispenser quickly turned to disappointment when I was told the machines had already been turned off. 

There is a small bar in the hotel lobby, and I had read online that this hotel has Happy Hour everyday, so I had asked about this during check-in. The front desk agent gave me a business card showing that appetizers and beverages are half off during Happy Hour (I do not recall the exact times; either 2 to 5 PM or 3 to 6 PM). The margaritas we had were excellent, and the tortilla chips and dip were acceptable. The bartender discouraged us, and patrons after us, from ordering food. He said he was out of the soft pretzel that we initially wanted to order, and he said the food is just made in a toaster in the back. We ordered the chips anyway because we did not feel like going outside the hotel. We were charged full price for the appetizer, so I showed the bartender the card from the front desk, which said the appetizers are half off. When he brought us the bill at the end, he said he had not charged us for one of the drinks rather than correcting the appetizer price. If he charged us as stated, the regular price of the margaritas is $12 each. I had specifically asked him about which beverages are half price before ordering them. I had not mentioned this when ordering the chips, because the card from the front desk said that all appetizers are half off. The bartender told us we could not do a room charge, so we had to pay with cash or a credit card.

View of pool seating from guestroom 219

Pool, outside seating, fitness center

The pool area has comfortable loungers, and [high-top and low] tables with chairs. The pool water was warm, and the area is non-smoking. There is no hot tub. I want to mention again that we did not hear any noise from the pool area, even though there are tables very close outside guestroom 219. Click on photos in this blog to enlarge them.

Fitness center at Hotel Morrison

The fitness center is located around the corner just down the hall from guestroom 219. We did not use any of the equipment, other than the scale to weigh our suitcase.

Misc. and overall

Although we had a couple of disappointments, overall, this is a great hotel. It is comfortable and good quality. There is a free shuttle that runs to the beach, which we had planned on taking after we had gotten our belongings settled in the guestroom. We did not ask about this until we got our guestroom after 1:30, which was around the time the bus took a break until evening. We had only wanted to go for an hour or two, so we did not end up using the beach shuttle.

View of US-1 in front of hotel

I typically reserve a room with one bed, and only reserve a room with two beds when the cost is considerably less, and the beds are queen size. (Hence, the reason I did not book a king guestoom at this hotel). We were happy to have found a rate for less than $200 at this time of year. I will never understand why some hotels charge more for a king guestroom, when a room with two beds obviously creates more work for housekeeping. In addition to things like more water and amenity usage. Apparently, housekeeping agrees, because during the 5+ hours we waited for our guestroom, housekeeping cleaned all of the king guestrooms, and no queen rooms (we were first on the list for a room since we had arrived so early). Walking down the hallways after we got our room, several doors were propped open in the cleaning stage, and all of the uncleaned rooms were rooms with two beds. It almost looked like the morning crew was leaving the queen guestrooms for the next shift (this is only my opinion based on what I observed).

Airport shuttle

I could not decide if we should take the 3:30 AM or 4:00 AM shuttle for our 5:30 flight, so I asked the front desk agent what she thought. I told her we had bags to check, and that we have TSA pre-check. She did not really answer my question, as she took out the list and said we would be good to go at 3:30, and she signed us up. The ride to the airport was quick, and Delta airlines was the first stop. 

Delta airlines and security at FLL on Sunday morning

Air Canada is located next to Delta airlines, and was open for business when we arrived at the airport shortly after 3:30 AM. The security entrance to enter the airport opened at 4:00 AM, and the Delta counter opened a couple of minutes later. Many, many people were lined up in the Delta and security areas before 4:00 AM, including Delta flight attendants at the security lane (they ended up being the attendants on our flight). Only two Delta agents initially arrived just after 4:00 to start checking bags. After a few minutes, one of them asked if anyone was on the 5:30 AM flight, and pretty much everyone in the first half of the line said yes. After this, a few more agents slowly straggled in, and the line started moving at a good pace. We were in about the middle of the maze line (the line extended outside the maze and past Air Canada counters), and we were finished checking our bag before 4:30 AM. We were lucky that we got to leave our bag with the agent after checking it, because the Delta conveyer belt had quit working while we were waiting in line. Because it was filled with bags, I observed an agent direct a couple of passengers to leave their bags in an area between the Delta counter and security. Only a couple of bags were left in this unsecure and unmarked area against the wall, and I wondered if those bags actually made it onto our flight. The Delta area was quite busy and chaotic.

Fortunately, we have TSA pre-check, and were through security within a couple of minutes. The Delta Sky Club in FLL opens at 4:30 AM, which is about the time we arrived in our gate area. I visited for a few minutes to grab a bite to eat before our flight.

Let me know if you have any questions!