Several years ago I had to stop working due to stress-related muscle disease. I didn’t miss my job. What he did miss was traveling. Lectures in San Francisco, contracts in the Northern Mariana Islands, seminars in Bogotá’, all of this seemed like a thing of the past. After two years of staying home, an unexpected opportunity arose to teach a course in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I jumped on him. He was desperate to go somewhere, anywhere.

When I agreed to go, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I knew I would have to plan carefully if my body would hold up. I sat down and made a list of the things I needed to keep me well and active. The trip was much more successful than I expected.

Speaking later about the experience, I learned something I should have known already, that there were plenty of people who could travel alone if they planned very carefully with their physical limitations in mind. People with disabilities had to put their bodies and their stress levels first.

That’s when I started writing about travel. I wrote for people who didn’t have the kind of stamina that most travel packages require. Cautious travelers, I called us, had to think about things that other people took for granted, like the shock absorbers on a tour bus. An hour on a shoddy bus could send the wary traveler to bed for days. The careful traveler had to try to protect himself from incidents like this and think about what he would do if he landed on the bed.

Like all careful travelers, my first concern when going to Ft. Lauderdale was the hotel. He knew he had to find a place that was comfortable, a place where there was exercise equipment so he could keep his muscles relaxed. She had to find a place where there was decent, healthy food in case she was too tired or sick to leave the hotel. Also, I needed a place where I would feel happy and content even if I ended up in bed.

I found the perfect hotel, not in Ft. Lauderdale, but in Hollywood Beach, a city between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Hollywood has the turquoise water and sugar-white sand beaches of South Florida without the massive high-rise development that characterizes the other two cities.

The Hollywood Beach Marriott couldn’t be closer to the beach, and my room looked exactly like the room in the attractive photo on their website. Marriott has recently taken over this hotel and some of the reviews on the internet were written before Marriott owned it. I emailed the manager, Fernando Harb, just to make sure. He assured me that the hotel was in good condition and even offered me an extended stay rate that was a third of the normal price.

When I arrived at the hotel, I discovered that Marriott had lovingly restored this small hotel in a warm, lush style, with dark mahogany wood throughout. In fact, the hotel has the comfortable feeling of a good home. Almost all rooms have ocean views and all have small balconies. The furnishings are made of the same dark mahogany as in the lobby and have the look of fine antiques in a historic home. The huge king-size bed was made up with luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets, fluffy duvets and oversized pillows. Just getting into bed every night made me feel pampered and content.

I could even see the beach from my bed. On days when I wasn’t feeling well, I would open the balcony door, lay on the bed among the pillows, read, and watch the waves and the birds. Other times, I watched 75-channel cable TV that even included CSPAN.

Unlike most hotels, Marriott has a button you press on your phone to get the service you want. There’s no fumbling around with which number to call for room service or wake-up calls. One button connects you to a very friendly person who already knows your name before you tell him who organizes everything you want without moving you around the hotel.

I used room service a lot. The food was exquisite. I loved the key lime pie and the seafood pasta with lobster and scallops. The servers were spotless and seemed to really like their jobs. The presentation of the food was elegant.

One of the things I learned on this trip was that for people on prescription drugs, an in-room safe is a must. Losing prescription drugs, even some pills, would be worse than losing money. It made me feel a lot less stressed knowing that the prescription medication was locked up in my room instead of wallowing in my bag. The safe was easy to set up and discreet, hidden inside a cabinet with the mini-bar.

I can’t say enough good things about the staff at the Hollywood Beach Marriott. They were uniformly helpful, efficient, and friendly. I leave quite a mess when I get dressed in the morning, but my room was always immaculate when I returned to it. The maid, Charlene, was friendly and interesting. She and I discussed the political situation in Haiti on numerous occasions.

The staff goes out of their way to meet your needs. I went to Key Largo to swim with dolphins for a weekend and then I went back to Hollywood. On the way, I called to let the hotel know I was coming. Not only did they have my room ready, but they had put my little refrigerator back in the room and plugged it in so it was already cool. They also remembered that I needed an extension cord so I could plug in my laptop.

The hotel not only has a beach, excellent rooms and good service to offer. It has a pool, gym, hot tub, and spa where you can get an emergency massage or emergency facial. The hotel restaurant is right next to the pool. There is an indoor section and an outdoor section by the beach.

The Hollywood Beach Hotel is a charming little gem located by the beach, away from the monster high-rise hotels of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. I would recommend it to anyone. There are many things to do in and around Hollywood. Both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are a short drive away, and Hollywood is restoring downtown. You can do as much or as little as you want, as much or as little as you can. If you’re a careful traveler, you’ll feel like you’ve had a great vacation, even if you never leave the hotel.

A short drive from Hollywood is Dolphins Plus, where you can swim with dolphins. The plentiful can drive there and back in a day, but would probably like to spend the night. Try the Kona Kai Hotel for a cozy, homey atmosphere. Get off the main road into beautiful gardens. It is like entering a small cocoon. They even have their own art gallery.

Swim with dolphins in Key Largo
http://www.dolphinsplus.com/

hollywood beach marriot
http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/FLLOF

Sara’s Restaurant, Hollywood
http://www.southflorida.com/dining/17777,0,5844547.venue