Category: Hilton - Traveling Through Food | Food & Travel Blog

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Pre Cruise Hotel

12/13/2025

Where to stay before a cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida

This post is part of the series: Celebrity Apex Cruise Review

If you're like R&M who flew into Orlando Airport before sailing out of Port Canaveral, you have a choice to make:

Stay at a hotel closet to the airport and transfer to the cruise port on embarkation day
Transfer after your flight and stay near the cruise port

Celebrity Apex Sailing From Port Canaveral, Florida

Our clients decided to stay near Orlando Airport at Homewood Suites and transfer to the cruise port the following morning.

Please enjoy their photo review of below!

See Also: How To Get To Port Canaveral From Orlando Airport

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics

Filed Under: Client Travel Photos • Real Traveler Experiences

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

A comfortable bed with nightstands on either side.

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

A lounge space with a couch and ottoman

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

A desk with office chair for your remote work needs

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

A large tv for movies in bed :)

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

Drawers - but you're probably not unpacking if you're leaving in the morning right? :)

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

A very functional kitchenette!

With a dishwasher, microwave, and cooktop you can save some money on eating out if you want. Or you can easily heat up your leftovers! :)

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

There is also a dedicated kitchen table to eat at - no more huddling over the desk area!

Bathroom equipped with shampoo + Body wash

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

sink conveniently located outside the bathoom

This is great for traveling with others, as someone can be using the shower or toilet and someone else can be using the mirror, brushing their teeth, etc. at the same time!

Homewood Suites Orlando Airport by Hilton Review With Pics | Port Canaveral Pre-Cruise Hotel

What did you think of your stay at Homewood Suites in Orlando?

We were happy with our stay. We thought the room was nice, it was a suite so the bedroom was seperate. Homewood Suites offered a good free breakfast in the morning and we also took advantage - it's a hotel with free shuttle from Orlando airport.

Check Rates: Homewood Suites in Orlando

How to get to Port Canaveral from Orlando Airport

If your cruise is departing Port Canaveral and you fly into Orlando airport you can:

use a ride-share service like lyft whether on-demand, or scheduled.
book a transfer - some great savings if you're traveling in a large group as well!

Celebrity Apex Review

This cruise is heading to: St. Kitts • San Juan, Puerto Rico • Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

More Hotel Reviews

GALLERYone - DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Fort Lauderdale Hotel Review
(Port Everglades Cruise Hotel Review)
Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel Review
(Port Everglades Pre-Cruise Hotel Review)
Hilton Free Night Certificate - You can get one!
Lagoas Park Oeiras (Lisbon) Review
(Lisbon, Portugal Hotel Review)
Turim Saldanha in Lisbon
(Lisbon, Portugal Hotel Review)
All Hotel Reviews Worldwide

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GALLERYone - DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Fort Lauderdale Hotel Review

3/13/2025

Port Everglades Cruise Hotel Review

GalleryOne a Double Tree Suites by Hilton in Fort Lauderdale photo review

After disembarkation day from our Southern Caribbean Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas, we checked in to GalleryOne a Double Tree Suites by Hilton in Fort Lauderdale for a few days.

In This Post:

Port Everglades Cruise Hotel Review

Location - Water Taxi Stop 7
Outdoor Space - Bar, Pool, Games
Lobby Cafe Menu with Prices
Vue on the Water Restaurant Menu with Prices
Lobby Bar
Gallery One Double Tree Room Photo Tour
Double Tree Cookie Review
PF Changs Review - Fort Lauderdale Restaurant Takeaway
GalleryOne Ft. Lauderdale Hotel Review
Check Current Prices
How to stay here for FREE!

If you're looking for a hotel near Ft. Lauderdale's Port Everglades for an overnight stay before or after your cruise, hopefully this photo review will help you decide if GalleryOne DoubleTree is the right fit for you!

Water TAxi Stop 7

Gallery One is located conveniently on the Water Taxi line at stop 7.

You can purchase a water taxi ticket for $38 that gives you unlimited rides. They also offer multi-day passes and annual passes.

Outdoor Space

One fun thing outside of the hotel was the placement of outdoor games to pass the time along the water.

Would you be playing corn hole or jenga?!

Outdoor Bar

There is a nice outdoor bar if you would like to enjoy a drink along the waterway with plenty of palm trees in view!

This area gets lively in the evenings and when the hotel holds events.

Pool

GalleryOne Double Tree Ft Lauderdale has a handicapped accessible outdoor pool.

Lobby Cafe

There is a small cafe counter in the lobby of the Double Tree where you can order a latte if the in-room coffee isn't cutting it for you.

Cafe Menu with prices

Below you can see the menu with prices for some non-coffee beverage options including Julius Meinl teas.

You can also grab a quick breakfast yogurt parfait, fruit cup, piece of fruit or croissant/bagel.

Vue on the Water Restaurant Menu with Prices

Inside the Ft Lauderdale Gallery One Hotel there is a restaurant called Vue on the Water.

If you're wondering what the prices are like at the restaurant and what kind of foods they offer, here is the menu for Vue on the Water.

How much are cocktails at Vue on the Water Ft Lauderdale? Cocktails range from $12-16.

Smoothies for $10 and beers are $7.50/8.50.

Lobby Bar

If you'd like to enjoy pre-dinner drinks with your friends, there is a bar in the lobby.

Second Floor Views

With some time to kill before check in, we explored the public spaces of the hotel. On the second floor you can enjoy some nice views from these floor-to-ceiling windows!

Checking In at Galleryone Double Tree Ft Lauderdale

It was finally time to check in and if you have allergies you will be happy to know that Double Tree now carries allergy friendly cookies for their guests!

More on the cookies later.. 😉

Room Tour

The GalleryOne Double Tree in Fort Lauderdale offers suites, meaning the rooms are very spacious as you will see!

Kitchen

Upon entering the suite, the kitchen was located to the left. It is well equipped with a dishwasher, microwave, and small refrigerator.

Coffee Station

The in-room coffee setup was a cuisinart double brewer. There were coffee pouches, sugar and sweeteners, creamers and some tea bags.

Dining And Living Areas

A dining table that seats four makes eating a meal or working on a laptop very convenient at this hotel.

Of course there is also a couch to lounge upon as well as an oversized chair in the opposite corner.

A pocket door separates the living/dining space from the bedroom.

bedroom

The spacious bedroom includes a large king size bed, 2 night stands and a dresser, Tv, recliner and closet space.

If you have hanging clothes, you will appreciate that there is a closet.

The hanging height is a bit short as there is an upper shelf in the closet which houses the in-room safe and iron. There is also an ironing board.

The closet doors offer full sized mirrors which is a great and often overlooked detail in accommodations.

Bathoom

A tiled walk-in shower with rainfall shower head await. The DoubleTree also provides shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower.

There is a spacious countertop surrounding the sink and a large mirror.

The View

Being on an upper floor, our suite had nice views!

In one direction you could see the Fort Lauderdale Skyline as a backdrop to the Galleria Mall.

In the other direction you could see the intercostal waterway and the ocean!

Looking straight down you could see the pool area along the waterway.

The Doubletree Cookie

One of the highlights of staying at a DoubleTree are the cookies!

And this is definitely one of the best backdrops you can get for your Double Tree Cookie!

We opted for the original cookie as we don't have any relevant allergies and my is she a beaut!

Not only is this cookie a looker, but it's actually an absolutely delicious cookie.

As a big chocolate chip cookie girl, I was actually shocked how good this cookie was!

And I don't mean it was "good for a free cookie".

I mean it was legitimately one of the better chocolate chip cookies I've had ever.

Hands down better than the one from this French Boulangerie.

PF Changs Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Irrespective of how delicious the double tree cookie was, we were starving and needed to get some real food.

It had been a long day after disembarkation and waiting around for check-in time so we just wanted to get take out and call it a night.

If you're looking for somewhere within walking distance from GalleryOne Doubletree Fort Lauderdale, try PF Changs!

PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Pics

We went for the cult favorite chicken lettuce wraps.

PF Changs Spicy Chicken Pics

PF Changs Spicy Chicken bowl.

Mongolian Beef

PF Changs Mongolian Beef

The only disappointment was that we could not eat our meal outside as we were shooed away by the restaurant management.

We assumed the outdoor tables and chairs were available for hotel guests.

The sign was promptly pointed out to us.

Good thing our suites have nice dining tables! :)

Galleryone Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel REview

The GalleryOne by Hilton near Port Everglades can be a great choice before or after a cruise. It's conveniently located, the rooms are spacious, and the access to a kitchen is convenient.

And we can't forget the cookies! ;)

If you have time to kill you can take the water taxi all over creation as a DIY excursion, visit the mall next door, or walk to the beach.

There are also plenty of great restaurants to try near by!

Fort Lauderdale Restaurant Reviews

Best Hoagies In Fort Lauderdale - Laspadas Hoagie Review
Manhattan NY Pizza in Ft Lauderdale - Delivery Review
Primanti's Fort Lauderdale Pizza Review - A Pittsburgh Favorite in Florida - coming soon
Padrino's Cuban Cuisine Ft Lauderdale Restaurant Review - coming soon

FLorida Hotel Reviews

Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel Review with Photos
Holiday Inn Sebring Florida Hotel Review (HGTV Hometown Takeover) - coming soon
Hyatt Regency Miami Cruise Port Hotel Review with Photos - coming soon

Want to Get a Free Pre-Cruise Hotel Stay?

Check out this post: Hilton Free Night Certificate

Hilton Free Night Certificate

9/3/2024

Everything you need to know about Hilton Free Reward Night Certificates:
how to get them, how to redeem them, where you can redeem them, and what to do if yours is about to expire!

Post by: Travel Agent Marissa Books Travel

Conrade Algarve by Hilton

• Stay at Conrad Algarve in Portugal •

What to do when your hilton free night certificate is expiring

Last year I opened a Hilton Honors credit card and earned a great sign up bonus of 70,000 Hilton Honors Points as well as a Hilton free night certificate.

Hilton Honors Sign Up Bonus

Do hilton honors points expire?

While Hilton points do expire within 24 months of inactivity, I was more concerned about when my free night certificate would expire.

How to keep hilton honors points from expiring

To stop your Hilton Points from expiring you can simply use your Hilton Credit Card, stay at a Hilton Hotel, Redeem Hilton Points, Buy or Donate Hilton Points, or even just signing up for a Hilton promotion. When in doubt, buy a pack of gum with your card every so often. :)

Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam

• Stay at Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam •

How long are hilton free night certificates good for?

Hilton certificates are good for 12 months from the issue date. My certificate was issued on September 5th. I had a daily reminder on my calendar to use this free night for the past year and here we are on September 3rd and time is up!

What to do if you free reward night is about to expire?

I have great news for you! If your free hotel night is about to expire you can actually contact Hilton for an extension. I logged into my Hilton account, chatted with a lovely agent, and was able to get a one-time extension of 14 days for my Hilton free night certificate!!

Travel Credit Cards:

Where is my hilton free night certificate?

Once a Hilton free night certificate has been awarded to you, whether as a credit card sign up bonus or for your brand loyalty in some other way, you will receive an email from Hilton Honors (mine was from [email protected]) with instructions on how to redeem.

What is the hilton honors customer care phone number?

Call Hilton Honors Customer Care at 1-800-446-6677

Can i redeem my hilton free night reward online?

While you currently cannot redeem the free night by yourself on the website, there is a way to redeem it online.

Hilton Free Night Email

Log into your Hilton account and utilizing the Hilton Chat you will be able to redeem your reward night with the chat agent. Just type "redeem Hilton free night certificate - chat with agent" into the chat box!

Free Hilton Award Nights

Are there exclusions with the hilton free reward nights?

Surprisingly, Hilton has very few restrictions and exclusions on using these certificates. There are no black out dates and you can book any night of the week. You can get a free night at any Hilton property (standard room, double occupancy) with the exception of these properties.

What is the value of a hilton free night certificate?

You may be wondering what a free Hilton award night is actually worth. The truth is, it varies. You can use this (foolishly) on a cheap hotel night costing $50 or you can take advantage of the opportunity to use it for a hotel like Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam that would normally cost upwards of $900 a night!

Where CAn I see my hilton free night CERTIFICATE in my account?

Log in to your Hilton Honors account.

Click near your name at the top right of the page.

Next click Account as shown here.

Scroll down past the section "Manage your stay" and the section about your loyalty status with Hilton.

Hilton Account

Here in your Hilton Account you will see your Free Night Reward(s), the last 4 digits of the certificate number, and their expiration dates.

Hilton Free Night Award

Hilton Best Welcome Bonus

Waldorf Astoria Doha West Bay

• Stay at Waldorf Astoria Doha West Bay •

do i have to travel before the expiration date or just make the reservation in time?

I asked the Hilton Chat representative the very question and she gave such a helpful, clear answer.

"The checkout date must be before expiration or till the expiration date"

"If your coupon is expiring on September 04, then you can make the booking with check out date of September 04"

Hilton Chat

can someone else use my hilton free night certificate?

Yes and no. So the Free Night Reward is not transferable to another person. You can't send the certificate to another Hilton Honors account. But what you can do is contact Hilton and redeem free night award certificates for someone else. Simply have them book the stay in the other person's name. A free night at a nice hotel can be a great gift!

Get the Hilton Honors Card

Hotel Reviews:

Hilton Distinctive Properties List