Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six on Priceline

[missmacie]

We just booked our pre/post cruise hotels, for our cruise in March, on Priceline. Our post cruise hotel is the Hyatt Regency Pier 66. I've stayed in other Hyatt hotels before with no issue but after reading some of the reviews on this hotel [especially those that booked with Priceline], I'm extremely nervous and considering scrapping this booking and finding something else.

 

I will admit that I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't on the beach but I can overlook that easily if this is actually a decent place to stay. When googling, some of the most recent reviews are horrible - mentioning possible human fluids on the walls, unclean beds and cockroaches :eek: as a few examples. They also mention that priceline customers are put into a 'motel-like' building next to the tower which is rundown and disgusting.

 

My question is, has anyone booked this hotel with Priceline and been happy with their stay? I don't want to ruin a great vacation with a crappy experience in our post cruise hotel.

 

Thanks! :)

 

Sidenote: Our pre-cruise hotel is the Best Western Plus Fort Lauderdale Airport South Inn & Suites in Dania Beach, anyone know anything about that area or hotel? Anything within walking distance?

[aeneas3]

I was wondering the same thing. I am trying to assure us a free upgrade to avoid the other building.

Here is what I did:

1. join hyatt gold.

2. add your reservation to hyatt gold

3. email hyatt gold customer service about a free upgrade for being hyatt gold

4. if that fails, I will call the hotel

5. if that fails, I may end up calling hotwire (or priceline for you) with my concerns.

 

the recent reviews scare me as well!

 

Do you also know if the smoothies advertised in the pool section are free? The website makes it sound like they are

[missmacie]

Oh thanks, I'll definitely get on that.

I'm not entirely sure.. I got that impression but after reading the reviews it doesn't sound like ANYTHING is free lol

[ann0926]

Yikes! I thought Pier 66 was rated 4*!!!!

[missmacie]

Apparently it is 4 star... but the reviews say otherwise, especially if booked through Priceline.

[eandj]

Star levels are mainly based on amenities at the hotel/resort. And yes it IS a 4 star.

If your room is dirty of course complain so they can remedy the problem when you arrive. Don't worry about that ahead of time.

 

PL doesn't guarantee location of rooms, bed sizes, views etc. You will have to make your requests to the hotel directly. It is totally up to the hotel as to where you will rest your head. The hotel makes a business decision especailly in busy times. They aren't going to give the newest rooms with best views to a PL customer.. when someone who paid three times as much as you and booked directly thru the hotel walks to the older part of the building. If that guy was you, you would be very angry.

 

You will get no free upgrades after paying a low ball price. Some hotels do allow for you to pay more to move to a deluxe room rather than a standard. But if you do that, then why use PL to begin with? ANd it of course depends on the night and availibility when you check in.

 

Occasionaly we have been upgraded to a much nicer room than expected, for no charge. We have never been put in a "disgusting" room just by using a discount site.

[missmacie]

 

They aren't going to give the newest rooms with best views to a PL customer.. when someone who paid three times as much as you and booked directly thru the hotel walks to the older part of the building. If that guy was you, you would be very angry.

 

You will get no free upgrades after paying a low ball price. Some hotels do allow for you to pay more to move to a deluxe room rather than a standard. But if you do that, then why use PL to begin with? ANd it of course depends on the night and availibility when you check in.

 

I'm not expecting to be given the nicest room in the hotel - i COMPLETELY understand that, nor am i expecting to receive a free upgrade. i book with Priceline frequently [1-2 times a month] and never had any issue with the room that i have received. the reviews for this particular hotel had me a little concerned. i'm not there for any extras, i would like a clean room with no cockroaches. my concern lies with the 7-10 recent reviews [out of only 20-25 that i read] about leaky rooms, mold and cockroaches.

[royalcruz]

My husband's aunt & uncle from the UK just went on a P & O cruise and were told by their travel agent that they would be staying in a 5 star hotel in Fort Lauderdale (they weren't given the hotel name and transfers were arranged). Well we have no 5 star hotels by US standards, so I was curious where they were going to stay, but I figured it had to be the Ritz Carlton or Marriott Harbor Beach....they ended up at the Hyatt and NOT in the main building! It was just for one night and they were cool about it but I felt that they were sadly misled.

[tlund]

My husband's aunt & uncle from the UK just went on a P & O cruise and were told by their travel agent that they would be staying in a 5 star hotel in Fort Lauderdale (they weren't given the hotel name and transfers were arranged). Well we have no 5 star hotels by US standards, so I was curious where they were going to stay, but I figured it had to be the Ritz Carlton or Marriott Harbor Beach....they ended up at the Hyatt and NOT in the main building! It was just for one night and they were cool about it but I felt that they were sadly misled.

 

Was the non-tower room bearable? We won this hotel on Priceline for next Saturday. At this point we are not looking for an elegant place to stay. We are just looking for an acceptable place to stay. After reading some recent reviews on Priceline, people are saying it is not even acceptable. We are pretty much figuring that we are not going to be in the tower and are ok with that. We just want a clean room. Any insight?

[jagoffee]

If you do a search you will find several discussions on this topic. I have stayed at this hotel twice and my stays were excellent. The last time was with a Priceline booking. Our room was not one of the "motel type" rooms by the pool, but if I was assigned this room on our next stay (2/5) and it was not clean or had some other problem I would not hesitate to let them know and move to another room.

 

I guess I am going to have to go to the Trip Advisor reviews and see what all the recent review state that are causing the concern.

 

The bottom line for me is that I feel very lucky getting this nice of a hotel for $70 ($85) total for a night. It is actually my priceline hotel of choice for area.

[jagoffee]

If you do a search you will find several discussions on this topic. I have stayed at this hotel twice and my stays were excellent. The last time was with a Priceline booking. Our room was not one of the "motel type" rooms by the pool, but if I was assigned this room on our next stay (2/5) and it was not clean or had some other problem I would not hesitate to let them know and move to another room.

 

I guess I am going to have to go to the Trip Advisor reviews and see what all the recent review state that are causing the concern.

 

The bottom line for me is that I feel very lucky getting this nice of a hotel for $70 ($85) total for a night. It is actually my priceline hotel of choice for area.

 

Continued (Part 2 of my reply since it took me more than 20 minutes)

 

I did read all the reviews and I see why you are asking the question. Although the hotel is still rated 28 out of 136 they do have some negative reviews, but also many more positive reviews. Obviously all the rooms are not the same, but the overall hotel is the same for everyone. Therefore I am a little surprised about the wide variation in the ratings for the hotel excluding the room itself. If I had not previously stayed at this hotel I would also be concerned. I may now be just slightly concerned that I might initially be assigned a substandard room, but I am still not concerned about the overall hotel. I think one of the negative reviewers mentioned that their priceline room cost $140 a night and I would have never bid that much as it would not be worth the risk. I also would not be so concerned about the hotel that I would "eat" my non refundable priceline cost for another booking just to avoid the hotel.

 

Good luck. I will report back after my stay in a month and try to look around the hotel for the negative comment justification.

[tlund]

Continued (Part 2 of my reply since it took me more than 20 minutes)

 

I did read all the reviews and I see why you are asking the question. Although the hotel is still rated 28 out of 136 they do have some negative reviews, but also many more positive reviews. Obviously all the rooms are not the same, but the overall hotel is the same for everyone. Therefore I am a little surprised about the wide variation in the ratings for the hotel excluding the room itself. If I had not previously stayed at this hotel I would also be concerned. I may now be just slightly concerned that I might initially be assigned a substandard room, but I am still not concerned about the overall hotel. I think one of the negative reviewers mentioned that their priceline room cost $140 a night and I would have never bid that much as it would not be worth the risk. I also would not be so concerned about the hotel that I would "eat" my non refundable priceline cost for another booking just to avoid the hotel.

 

Good luck. I will report back after my stay in a month and try to look around the hotel for the negative comment justification.

 

I will be there this Saturday and will definitely report back. We will make the best of it, however we booked for another couple and I don't want to look bad making the choice.

[thesawch]

I was wondering the same thing. I am trying to assure us a free upgrade to avoid the other building.

Here is what I did:

1. join hyatt gold.

2. add your reservation to hyatt gold

3. email hyatt gold customer service about a free upgrade for being hyatt gold

4. if that fails, I will call the hotel

5. if that fails, I may end up calling hotwire (or priceline for you) with my concerns.

 

the recent reviews scare me as well!

 

Do you also know if the smoothies advertised in the pool section are free? The website makes it sound like they are

You can't manually add the Gold Customer number to your priceline booking. You have to call and they will do it for you.

[Jayfo]

I've read the reviews on Travel Advisor and at first I was a little more than unsettled by reading them--- almost to the point of wanting to eat the $140 for the two nights and go somewhere else.

I'll wait to hear what you folks report back from this weekend and hopefully when I get there I don't see things running around in the room with more legs than me!! :eek: eeeeeewwwwww.

I can handle a room where ever they want to put me for that price, but for cripes sakes it needs to be CLEAN!

[simon stingray]

We stayed here pre cruise December 21-24 after bidding on Priceline ($77/night) and we were also concerned after reading some of the reviews.

 

We were given one of the "older" rooms down past the pool area but we were given a choice of pool or waterway facing as well as ground or first floor.

 

The rooms closer to the main building do look nicer (Lanai rooms?) as they have nice whicker furniture on the verandas and the rooms have plantation shutters instead of curtains but for the money we saved our room was just fine:)

 

Sure some of the fixtures in the bathroom looked dated as did the furniture on the veranda-but the bed was comfortable, the linens were clean and everything worked.

 

The only thing we did notice was there were some stains on one of the curtains which perhaps should have been replaced but we did not think the room was dirty and we did NOT see any bugs as previous reviewers claim.

 

The only negative things I can add is that the coffee & Cream supplied in the room is NOT good and there was a long line of people waiting for breakfast each morning-we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table.

 

We had dinner and drinks in the bar area (the lounge) which was ok but the drinks were expensive. We also had dinner one evening at Pelicans Landing (also on the property, down at the marina) which was much nicer and cost less. The water taxi stops here which was also great.

 

We were disappointed that we were not right at the beach but the trolley stops right outside the hotel and takes you to the beach for 50C/person.

 

Next time we would like to try for a hotel closer to the beach if I could get a similar rate, but would not hesitate to stay here again if we got a good deal.

[missmacie]

i'm fine with a plain, boring, non-fancy room. all i ask is that it's clean and i'm not sharing it with bugs, for a 4 star hotel [hell, even for a 1 star] i don't believe that i'm asking too much.

 

for those of you that are going to be staying at the hotel shortly, please come back and give us an update. the recent horrid reviews have made me quite nervous and i'm seriously debating rebooking somewhere else for the night and just eating the $90USD for the Hyatt.

[royalcruz]

Was the non-tower room bearable? We won this hotel on Priceline for next Saturday. At this point we are not looking for an elegant place to stay. We are just looking for an acceptable place to stay. After reading some recent reviews on Priceline, people are saying it is not even acceptable. We are pretty much figuring that we are not going to be in the tower and are ok with that. We just want a clean room. Any insight?

They said it was fine.

[aeneas3]

you can call or you can just email hyatt gold customer service to add your hyatt gold onto the reservation. I called hyatt today about where our rooms are and it seems hotwire and priceline are always put in double rooms. I asked which doubles and she said they will not be assigned until the day prior. She said upgrades will not be determined until check-in. As with the OP, I just do not want a scary room. I am fine with a garden room if it is clean. We are looking forward our day in FLL prior to the cruise and I am sure hyatt will be great.

[eandj]

i'm fine with a plain, boring, non-fancy room. all i ask is that it's clean and i'm not sharing it with bugs, for a 4 star hotel [hell, even for a 1 star] i don't believe that i'm asking too much.

 

.

 

Instead of worrying now.... just check the room before accepting it. Ask for it to be cleaned or ask to be switched to a differnt room that IS clean, if you see an obvious problem. No one is telling you that you have to sleep in a dirty room. Those that complained about it on TA, obviously did nothing to change the situation. They complain after the fact. Why bother? If you need to complain immediately, Hyatt will respond.

[enborgle]

I posted a near identical thread a few weeks ago after following the same path you did - I won a room on Priceline and then read some pretty scary TA reviews.

 

Some of the other CC posters had said they would be going there in January and would report back. I still have my fingers crossed. If all else fails I will likely cave and pay the upgrade fee.

 

It was my impression that some of the negative reviews were from folks who DID complain to the desk and the matter was not resolved satisfactorily - several of them specifically mention the desk staff being uncooperative.

[tlund]

Instead of worrying now.... just check the room before accepting it. Ask for it to be cleaned or ask to be switched to a differnt room that IS clean, if you see an obvious problem. No one is telling you that you have to sleep in a dirty room. Those that complained about it on TA, obviously did nothing to change the situation. They complain after the fact. Why bother? If you need to complain immediately, Hyatt will respond.

 

If all the rooms are crappy, it's hard to ask for a better one.

[BlueHerons]

Good lord this is crazy!

 

The bottom line is that this is a Hyatt hotel and not the motel six.

 

If you have a problem with your room, and sometimes there will be problems, WALK to the front desk, do not call, and speak to someone who will then resolve your situation.

 

If that doesn't work, call the 800 customer service line and I guarantee they will be jumping all over you to make your stay better.

 

The hotel doesn't treat any guests differently because of where they booked the room. Most of the time only the person checking you in knows who you booked through.

 

Use some common sense here people. This is a multi million dollar property. They can't fix your problem unless they know about it.

[eandj]

Thank you , Blue Herons. I haven't figured out why some here are so worried about this property. And act like they will be assigned the room of gloom in some urban hell hole.

Unclean rooms continue to rule the topic. And like you and I have said...No one is expected to live in dirt. Get it remedied before accepting the room. What is so difficult?

[eandj]

If all the rooms are crappy, it's hard to ask for a better one.

 

 

 

Really? ALL the rooms are crappy? :rolleyes: What are you expecting?

Again, if you don't like the view, the bldg. you are in, the size of the room etc. there is no way to change that...when you book thru PL. (unless you want to pay an add on at registration and then only will you get it if the rooms are vacant) The hotel will put you in a standard room. Not a room with a premium $$$ on it. If the room is dirty...and I'm not tallking dust on the top of a window valance.... then ask for the room to be cleaned. People use priceline to save money on rooms that sell for much more. I'd guess there will be people on your floor who paid at least twice as much as you for the standard room.

As I have said in past threads, we use pl enough to know we can be put in the older non- updated rooms OR we could get a newer room with view, or even be put in a suite. Never know. But we have never had a room that couldn't have been cleaned if it wasn't ready for us.

Speak up people.

 

I hope some of you come back here with an accurate report of your PL room and if you were unhappy with cleanliness, what you did to get the matter rectified. Now THAT will be helpful for the doubters or inexperienced travelers.

[BlueHerons]

Thank you , Blue Herons. I haven't figured out why some here are so worried about this property. And act like they will be assigned the room of gloom in some urban hell hole.

Unclean rooms continue to rule the topic. And like you and I have said...No one is expected to live in dirt. Get it remedied before accepting the room. What is so difficult?

 

Me either. This thread has me scratching my head.