The best hotels in Margate, FL are not actually in Margate. The city has one RV resort and one small motel inside its limits, and every branded hotel sits 3 to 5 miles out in Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, Tamarac or north Fort Lauderdale, a 10 to 15 minute drive. This guide sorts those rooms by budget, from the cheapest branded beds to the one genuine step up, and covers extended stay suites, pet policies, parking and the months when rooms get scarce.
The Hotel Map Around Margate
Margate is a nine square mile suburb wedged between Coral Springs, Coconut Creek and North Lauderdale, 7.5 miles from the Atlantic and about 20 minutes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to the City of Margate. It is residential almost end to end, with no hotel district anywhere.
Four towns hold the rooms, and each points at something different. Coral Springs, west along Atlantic Boulevard, is closest at roughly three miles and the default for visiting family. Coconut Creek, to the north, is the base for Butterfly World, Tradewinds Park and the Seminole Casino. Tamarac sits southwest at Florida's Turnpike Exit 62, which matters if you are driving down from Orlando. North Fort Lauderdale, southeast at I-95 Exit 33, holds the largest rooms in the radius.
The Greater Fort Lauderdale tourism bureau treats Margate as a gateway city rather than a destination, and that is the right framing for booking. Pompano Beach is about 20 minutes east, Coral Square is 10 minutes west, and Fort Lauderdale Beach is roughly half an hour.
Hotels Inside Margate City Limits
Two overnight options sit inside Margate, and only one is worth planning around. Tripadvisor lists just two lodging properties in the city, which is the clearest evidence of how thin local supply is.
Aztec RV Resort is the exception. It is a gated 104 acre motorcoach community at 1 Aztec Blvd with 645 oversized paved lots from 3,100 to 9,000 square feet, two heated pools open year round, two spas, a fitness centre and a clubhouse with a putting green, shuffleboard and petanque courts. Rentals run nightly, weekly and seasonally as well as by lot purchase. The catch is strict: Class A motorcoaches only, so a travel trailer will not get through the gate.
Country Haven Motel is the other, and honesty serves you better than a recommendation. Tripadvisor ranks this independent motel second of the two Margate properties, at 2.0 out of 5 across a small review count. Treat it as proof that Margate has almost no lodging of its own, then book in Coral Springs or Coconut Creek instead.
Budget Hotels Within a Ten Minute Drive
The cheapest branded beds near Margate are in Coral Springs and Tamarac, 10 to 13 minutes out.
La Quinta Inn & Suites Coral Springs sits 3.2 miles from Margate and is the budget answer on the western side. Rooms are straightforward chain rooms with a pool, five minutes from Coral Square and a short run down University Drive to dinner. The chain is generally pet friendly, but policies vary by property, so confirm this one at booking rather than turning up with the dog and hoping.
Comfort Inn & Suites Tamarac is 4.1 miles out and cheaper again. It is the plainest option here and fine for what it is: a clean bed 13 minutes from Margate for people who intend to be out all day. Tamarac is quiet in the evening, so if you want dinner within walking distance of the lobby, this is the wrong pick.
Mid Range Hotels for a Family Visit
Three mid tier hotels cover most Margate trips, and since all three fall in the same rough price band, choose on geography rather than brand.
Courtyard by Marriott Coral Springs is the closest full service branded hotel to Margate at 3.1 miles, about 10 minutes door to door. It runs the standard Courtyard format with a pool, a fitness room and on site breakfast. This is the default for anyone visiting family in the city, and it fills first in the January to April high season.
Hampton Inn Coconut Creek is 3.9 miles north and the best base if your trip centers on Coconut Creek rather than the coast. Butterfly World, Tradewinds Park and the Seminole Casino are all minutes away, and the tourism bureau names it among the nearby lodging options for Margate. Butterfly World is best in the morning, so being 10 minutes from the gate is worth more than it sounds.
Hampton Inn Tamarac is also 3.9 miles out, sitting right at Florida's Turnpike Exit 62. That makes it the easiest arrival in the radius if you are driving in from Orlando or Miami. The trade is that it is a driver's hotel, convenient to the road and not to anything you would walk to.
Upper Tier Hotels for Business Trips and Groups
There is no luxury hotel within 15 minutes of Margate, and any guide claiming otherwise is describing the beach. What it has is two larger full service properties at I-95 Exit 33, a real step up from the Hampton and Courtyard tier.
Sheraton Suites Cypress Creek Fort Lauderdale is 4.4 miles out and the most upscale room close to Margate. All suite means a separate living area rather than a bigger bedroom, which makes it the practical choice for a business trip.
Fort Lauderdale Marriott North is 4.6 miles from Margate at the same interchange, and it is the largest hotel in the immediate area. That size is the reason to pick it, because it has the meeting space and room count to take a conference group or a wedding block that the smaller properties cannot.
Extended Stay Suites and Resort Rentals
Extended stay is the category Margate actually generates demand for, because people relocate here more often than they holiday here. Four properties within four miles are built for stays measured in weeks.
Residence Inn by Marriott Coconut Creek is the strongest of them, 3.9 miles from Margate with full kitchens in the suites. It suits people between leases, contractors on a Broward job, and families waiting on a closing date that keeps sliding. A suite holds your clothes and your laptop, not the contents of a house, which is why a 5×5 unit in Margate so often gets rented the same week as the room.
TownePlace Suites by Marriott West Fort Lauderdale is 3.6 miles out with in suite kitchens and weekly rates, and Extended Stay America Suites Tamarac is 4.0 miles out and the cheapest long stay bed nearby. Extended Stay America is what people fall back on when a move slips by a month. If the whole household is in transit, 10×10 storage units hold a one bedroom while you wait.
Club Wyndham Palm-Aire Resort Pompano Beach is the outlier and the best pick for a family week. It is a resort style condo property 3.3 miles east, next to the Palm-Aire Country Club courses, so it suits anyone building a trip around golf courses in and around Margate. Units are larger and peak weeks carry a minimum stay, making it the wrong booking for one night and the right one for seven.
Booking Windows, Parking, and Hurricane Season
Book January through April well ahead, and expect August to be cheap for a reason. Broward rates and crowds peak with snowbird season from January to April, while August is the month rooms are easiest to find. It is also the hottest, averaging a high of 91.4F against January's 76.2F under the NOAA 30 year normals.
If your dates fall inside the June 1 to November 30 window, the NOAA National Hurricane Center puts the statistical peak at September 10, and the busiest stretch of the season runs from mid August into mid October. Margate sits 13 feet above sea level and well back from the coast, so it is spared the surge that forces evacuations out on the barrier islands; the local hazards are canal flooding, extended power outages and high wind. On a September or October reservation, travel insurance earns its line item.
Parking is the quiet advantage of staying inland, since every hotel here parks you on a surface lot rather than a paid garage. Public transit is thin, with Broward County Transit Route 62 the main line through Margate, so a car is not optional. If you stay long enough to keep seasonal gear here, summer humidity is why climate controlled storage in Margate is standard rather than an upgrade, and a 5×10 unit covers the patio furniture and bikes a snowbird leaves behind.
One thing competing guides skip: plan around Mondays. Several places you would drive to from your hotel close that day, including Pasta And on West Atlantic Boulevard, Livello in Coral Springs and Urban Air Adventure Park. Butterfly World stops final entry at 4 p.m., earlier than most visitors assume. Check things to do in Margate and Margate's restaurant scene before fixing the itinerary, and read the best time to visit Margate if your dates are flexible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the best place to stay in Margate?
Stay in Coral Springs if you are visiting family, because Courtyard by Marriott Coral Springs is 3.1 miles out and the closest full service hotel to the city. Pick Coconut Creek and the Hampton Inn there if your plans center on Butterfly World or the Seminole Casino. Tamarac suits drivers arriving off Florida's Turnpike.
What are the best luxury hotels in Margate?
Margate has no luxury hotels, and neither does the four mile radius around it. The most upscale room nearby is Sheraton Suites Cypress Creek Fort Lauderdale, an all suite property at I-95 Exit 33 about 15 minutes out. For a genuine resort, you are driving to Fort Lauderdale Beach or north to Boca Raton.
How far is it from Fort Lauderdale to Margate, Florida?
Margate sits about 14 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale Beach, roughly 30 minutes by car in normal traffic and longer at rush hour. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is about 20 minutes away. The two hotels at I-95 Exit 33 cut that airport run to around 15 minutes.
Are Pompano Beach and Margate, FL the same?
Pompano Beach and Margate are separate Broward County cities about 9 miles apart. Margate is inland with no coastline, sitting 7.5 miles from the Atlantic, while Pompano Beach has the nearest public sand and fishing pier. Atlantic Boulevard runs straight between them, so the drive takes about 20 minutes.
Is Margate, FL a good neighborhood?
Margate is a quiet, established suburb of roughly 58,700 residents at the 2020 Census, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. SafeHome.org ranked it the 4th safest Florida city of its size in 2017, and the National Council for Home Safety and Security placed it among the state's 50 safest cities in 2019. Both rankings are dated, but the character has held.
Storing Your Things While You Stay in Margate
Guests rarely need storage, but people arriving to live in Margate almost always do, and a hotel suite is no substitute for a garage. Value Store It's Margate facility rents month to month with no long term contract, which is the point when a two week stay quietly becomes a two month one.
Beyond the sizes already mentioned, the lineup runs through a 10×5 unit for a bedroom's worth of boxes, 5×15 storage for long loads like ladders and headboards, and 10×15 units for a two bedroom's contents. At the top end, 10×20 spaces take a full house, and a 10×30 unit holds a household plus a vehicle, which is the one Aztec's seasonal motorcoach residents ask about. The unit size guide sorts out which you need in about a minute.
If your move to Margate lands before your closing date does, we can hold the difference until the keys turn up.
