I'm local to Fort Lauderdale, so I haven't stayed at either hotel. But, the surrounding areas for each hotel are drastically different.
The Embassy Suites is on 17th Street, which is a very busy street. It is surrounded by strip malls with chain restaurants. Some views from this hotel include massive tanks at the port. Here's an aerial view looking east courtesy of Bing Maps. (The hotel is on the bottom right.):
The Bahia Mar is located across the street from the beach. As
Ceres notes, it is surrounded by a marina. Here is an aerial view facing the same direction at the same scale. (The hotel buildings are to the right and left of the "A1A".):
