Warning...Ft. Lauderdale Hotel not to stay at

[sabast1]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn, Lauderdale by the Sea prior to our April 9th cruise on Jewel of the Sea. What a mess....

 

The hotel looked ok from the outside and the people working there were friendly enough but unfortuantely the place is very old and run down with only a new coat of paint.

 

Here were my issues....

 

1) There are (2) outside elevators to take you to the upper floors. Both were in poor working condition. At one time..both of the elevators had mirrored interior walls. Now one of the them has plywood instead (with a sign that said please don't lean on the wall) and the other still had the mirrors but they were broken and cracked and looked a little dangerous (too me at least).

 

2) The room we got (through Priceline) was on the fifth floor (with an outside entrance) and I kid you not the door looked as if it had been kicked in by the police at one time and repaired by screwing all of the broken pieces back together. Needless to say it was difficult open and close....

 

3) The furniture in the room had stains on it.....

 

4) The heater in the "heated" pool was broken

 

5) The outside pool bar area (that I was looking forward to using a bit) smelled of vomit (I'm not making any of this up).

 

6) But here's the best one...around 6:30 that evening a water pipe burst in the hotel and proceeded to flood about 10 rooms on the 1st & 2nd floors. So in order to fix the pipe they had to shut off the water to the entire hotel.....No showers, no toilets...nada. The water eventuallly came back on by 3:00 a.m.

 

As I was walking down to the front desk to complain about having no water and the other issues, I was talking to a person who had been staying there all week and they said this was the 2nd time that week that a pipe broke...!

 

I wanted to like the place....it's in a great location and the people were really friendly and sincere but the place needs a total refurbishment. I don't recommend anyone stay there...at least right now.

[Jane110]

How awful!

 

I wonder if this dump is one of the Priceline offerings?

[corina27]

Thats awfull,what a way to start a vacation.:(

[mii]

Thanks for the heads up on this hotel. For people looking for a place to stay hopefully they will read this post.

 

marilyn

[madelinerose]

Hi Jane....Would love your opinion, please.

 

We spend 4 nights in NY every Spring, 2 nights in a time share and 2 nights in a hotel. For 4 years, we've stayed at Le Parker Meridien, which we love. However, I've checked what seems like a million sites and the rates for Le Parker Meridien have jumped approximately $120/night from what we paid last year.

 

I've been considering using Priceline for a 4* in Upper Midtown CPS or Midtown West.

 

If you didn't live in NY, would you use Priceline for a NY hotel room? Thanks!

 

 

How awful!

 

I wonder if this dump is one of the Priceline offerings?

[mabo456]

Hotels have problems just like your own home, they dont plan on having the pipes break.

[Northender]

Hotels have problems just like your own home, they dont plan on having the pipes break.

 

HUH! With everything listed, you say that. No-one plans on a broken pipe, but added to everything else, I would expect that this particular HI must be a franchise or something. I would let HI corporate know of your experience. Maybe they can get their name off the sign.....

[mabo456]

If its a franchised hotel there is nothing that Holiday Inn Corp can do about it. As long as the hotel meets their Holiday Inn standards which is not that hard todo. They will keep there name on the hotel. And all the things you listed our common problems in hotel. Good luck

[sabast1]

Yes...this was one of the fine properties offered by Priceline. It was rated 2 1/2 stars. I should have spent the extra money for something better....

[pam512]

Was this Holiday Inn the one at 999 Beach Boulevard? Because if it is, I read your message a little too late! I booked it last night at Priceline. I'm only going to be there one night, but now I'm concerned

 

Thanks for your information.

[harry0]

I stayed there this winter-although it was not too fancy-it worked nicely for a one night stay. Good location. At that time it was a three * on priceline. I guess they lowered it to a 2 1/2* which I think is accurate.

Harry

[ekerr19]

Can you give us the address? Thanks!

[dollfan]

Amerisuites is comparable to Motel 6. Lousey beds, old rundown furniture, terrible breakfast. Forget room service. There is an overpriced low rate deli that delivers late night. Very bad way to start or end a great cruise experience. Of course you get what you pay for. I booked it at $50 on priceline and it was listed much higher than I would have rated it.

[libbydic]

Was this Holiday Inn the one at 999 Beach Boulevard? Because if it is, I read your message a little too late! I booked it last night at Priceline. I'm only going to be there one night, but now I'm concerned

 

Thanks for your information.

 

Pam

 

I'm not sure if its the one he was talking about but I stayed in this one this past February and its a dump....Its the one called Holiday Inn Fort Lauderdale Beach, and I also "won" it on Priceline and for that I would never use Priceline again. We ended up switching to another room because our first room was so nasty....I can give you details if you want.

[TrentS]

Those are 2 different Holiday Inns - 999 Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. is Fort Lauderdale Beach, the one the OP was referring to is in Lauderdale by the Sea, a few miles to the north.

[pam512]

Pam

 

I'm not sure if its the one he was talking about but I stayed in this one this past February and its a dump....Its the one called Holiday Inn Fort Lauderdale Beach, and I also "won" it on Priceline and for that I would never use Priceline again. We ended up switching to another room because our first room was so nasty....I can give you details if you want.

 

 

I am thinking that maybe I should just forfeit the money I paid Priceline and stay someplace else. I read good and bad reviews on Travelocity, but I just hoped that some of those people were very supercritical of everything! My friend that's going with me is, and I don't want to have to listen to her complaining about everything. This is the one reason I have never used Priceline before. And probably never will again.

 

Thanks for your information.

[sabast1]

Holiday Inn

LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA-N BEACH

4116 NORTH OCEAN DRIVE A1A

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33308

UNITED STATES

Tel: 1-954-7761212

Fax: 1-954-7761411

Email: hilbts@aol.com

[cruise50]

:cool: Anyone stayed at either of the Comfort Inn or Suites near th airport???

[weluvcruisin']

We stayed at the Comfort Inn on Stirling (think thats the road) was terrible, pretty well as bad as Holiday Inn. Didn't have broken pipes, but was not clean, (not even close to being clean, sheets didn't fit properly on the bed, pillows were flat.

 

Drunk people wandering around at 3am yelling, find another hotel.

[blyle]

holiday in express on the causeway is a great location with free shuttles and so close to the port..

[kruisinkris]

Pam512,

We stayed @ the Holiday Inn @ 999 Beach Blvd on April 8, 2005 before our Dawn Princess cruise. The hotel was an older hotel, but our room was clean, the bed was comfortable, views were GREAT (even though there weren't any balconies) & I'd be willing to stay there again...in fact, would book it for 2 days next time we cruise from Ft Lauderdale instead of 1. Only negatives I could see was we were in a smoking room & we don't smoke (but that was hubby's error...he booked smoking by accident) and I didn't see a hot tub. We never used the pool, but alot of people did & I asked a couple how it was & they said it was great! There was a room service menu with terrific prices (more like IHOP prices than regular room service menu prices). I would've liked to try it out, but it was that or a walk along the beach & if I'm that close to a beach (& the beach was nice), I'll take the beach.

 

It's not perfect, but if you're paying $110 or less, it's worth it.

 

Hope this helps.