Is Fort Lauderdale Rodeway Inn Really Bad?

[jerseyteacher]

Rodeway Inn has a really inexpensive cruise/park deal. We are thinking of staying there one night pre-cruise and park there for the 8 days. They will also shuttle all 4 of us to the port for free. But...I have read some awful reviews on trip adviser....wondering how cruise critic people feel.....has anyone stayed there recently....don't want to spend a lot of money, but don't want to stay in a place where we will be worrying about bed bugs....help!!

[bills blasters]

It's been a few years since we have stayed there and I will never stay there again. I have read the reviews. I would believe the bad ones. Plus, the way the manager replies to the reviews is ridiculous. I would keep looking if It was me.

Claudia

[BlueHerons]

Rodeway Inn has a really inexpensive cruise/park deal. We are thinking of staying there one night pre-cruise and park there for the 8 days. They will also shuttle all 4 of us to the port for free. But...I have read some awful reviews on trip adviser....wondering how cruise critic people feel.....has anyone stayed there recently....don't want to spend a lot of money, but don't want to stay in a place where we will be worrying about bed bugs....help!!

 

Believe the reviews.

[mrpayroll]

Stayed once. Won't be staying again.

[Happy2cruise]

Is this the Roadway Cruise Port on State Street?

[JimS4210]

I just went on Tripadvisor and read a few of the one star reviews. The manager of the hotel, Izzy, should teach a college course on how NOT to run a business. His responses to some of the reviews are priceless. Should be required reading in Business 101...

 

If Rodeway ever fires him, he has a career as a stand-up! What a tool...

 

Jim

[hcw80]

Yes....bad neighborhood, run down building, I'm a local and I the free parking is not worth the risk.

[Langley Cruisers]

....don't want to spend a lot of money, but don't want to stay in a place where we will be worrying about bed bugs....help!!

 

Well even expensive 5-star hotels can have bed bugs.

 

Have you thought about just parking at the port? In the long run, it might be worth your time and trouble to not have to shuttle everyone around, or worry about your car (or what's left of it when you get back). It costs $15.00 per day to park right at the port, and you can get in and start driving home.

[chascougs]

Booked a day room after our last cruise. Called the front desk once we cleared customs and asked for the shuttle to pick us up...were told 30-45 minutes. 90 minutes later we call again...were told 20 minutes, another 45 minutes go by we still standing. Call a third time and are told 15 minutes tops...you guessed it...still waiting 30 min later. We finally say bump this nonsense and grab a cab. Checking in I ask to speak to the manager. Explain that I'm not asking for anything but as a business owner myself, I really appreciate it when a guest takes the time to let me know there is a problem. Manager comes up looking like he's been in the same clothes for more than a couple days...I start to tell him what happened ex and he cuts me off mid-sentence and says "here, have a free drink on me" I explain again I'm not talking with him expecting a freebie but in hopes the next couple isn't left at the port for hours while the front desk clerk makes up random times, and that if they had just told us that it would be more than an hour wait we would have taken a cab then...no harm no foul. The manager launches into a tirade about what a great job they do and that we should be grateful that he even offers day rooms. I just kind of shuck my head and walked off...that was the highlight of our afternoon. The motel lived down to the presentation of the manager. Be a cold day in hell before that place ever sees another dime of my money!

[jerseyteacher]

Thank you everyone....cancelled Rodeway Inn. Now deciding between Days Inn Hollywood Fort Lauderdale Airport or Hyatt Place 17th St Convention Center. The Days Inn is much cheaper, but is it ok to stay there? Need to take a cab to cruiseport, so which place is closer? Again, thank you for your suggestions.

[BlueHerons]

Thank you everyone....cancelled Rodeway Inn. Now deciding between Days Inn Hollywood Fort Lauderdale Airport or Hyatt Place 17th St Convention Center. The Days Inn is much cheaper, but is it ok to stay there? Need to take a cab to cruiseport, so which place is closer? Again, thank you for your suggestions.

 

Hyatt Place is so much better.

[monctonguy]

This is the Rodeway Inn & suites we are talking about? The one I have booked for a nite in Jan before a cruise the next morning...?!

 

I guess I should look at changing it, although I liked the location as well as shuttle for airport and cruiseport as well.

 

I am guessing the Hyatt Place is nowhere close to the price of this place or the Days Inn though mentioned above?!

Edited June 17, 2015 by monctonguy

[rkacruiser]

This is my hotel chain experience for what it may be worth to anyone.

 

For a very long time, due to a frugal upbringing, my family and I patronized the properties under the flags of Best Western, Choice Hotels, Days Inn. All were OK, sometimes very good. Then, in the early 21st Century, corporate policies for these companies must have changed and the franchees were given more latitude to operate their hotels. After a thankfully bedbug free stay at a Best Western property where I-10 and I-75 intersect, I decided such inferior conditions which I experienced at that hotel warranted a change in my hotel decisions.

 

Yes, it costs more, but since I have used the Marriott, International Hotel Group, Hyatt, Sheraton, and Hilton chain properties, I have never been disappointed. To be honest, wherever I stay, I check for cleaniness and bedbugs, however.

 

I have, in recent months, needed to stay at a property under the Choice Hotels flag, a Comfort Inn, and, to be fair, they provided a good stay. It provided a satisfactory multi-day visit when no other major hotel chain was nearby where I needed to be. But, was it equivalent to, let's say, a Fairfield Inn? No. Would I select them again in that area? Yes. But, as I did on this other visit, with my fingers crossed.

 

One buys for what one gets.

[royalcruz]

This is the Rodeway Inn & suites we are talking about? The one I have booked for a nite in Jan before a cruise the next morning...?!

 

I guess I should look at changing it, although I liked the location as well as shuttle for airport and cruiseport as well.

 

I am guessing the Hyatt Place is nowhere close to the price of this place or the Days Inn though mentioned above?!

 

You might be able to get an equivalent price at Hyatt Place through valuetrips. There is nothing good about the location of the Rodeway Inn. The only good thing is the price. My friend stayed there and said it was fine for one night, and if it was all I could afford I would stay there, but it wouldn't be near the top of my list.

Edited June 19, 2015 by royalcruz

[setsail]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137741

[Thoie]

Oddly, I stayed there for a night in April, and have booked again for next year. Unlike the reviews, I found no problems with the place, and found the staff to be a lot more pleasant than those in the Hilton I stayed in a year before that.

 

About me: solo traveller, arriving to FLL after 15-18 travelling with no sleep (makes me a bit cranky). Looking for a clean bed for the night, a clean bathroom, some "easy" food choices and leaving the next morning to head to my cruise.

 

Rodeway fitted the bill for me. The room/bathroom was clean which was top of my list. I found it a little odd that the sink was not in the same room as the toilet/bath (the sink was just outside the door), but I'm sure there are reasons. As I was travelling alone it didn't bother me.

 

When I arrived at FLL I phoned for the shuttle, and there was a bit of initial confusion due to me being tired/accents and some kind of construction work happening at airport at the time, which meant the normal bus stops were all moved around. Found the right spot eventually, and was lucky in that the shuttle turned up very soon after I got there.

 

Check in was smooth, though very busy. The attached (but separately run) bar and restaurant was adequate for something to eat. They did keep forgetting to bring me water though. There's a small gift shop in the hotel lobby which was handy for last minute things.

 

The pool looked clean and nice, though I didn't try it. Breakfast and wifi were free. Breakfast did include a comedian who was entertaining people table to table. I'm not much of a morning person, but I think he was mostly there for kids.

 

There didn't seem to be anything else of interest in the area - there was another hotel next door I think. It was near a busy road, and I didn't feel like going for a walk around the place.

 

I watched the cruise shuttle arrangements the next morning. They're very well organised, but there will always be some people standing around for quite some time waiting. They want everyone at the door for 10am (approx - maybe it was 11am). Then they have a variety of buses, and arrange them by ship - so the ship with the most guests will get the biggest bus, etc. If you're the only person on ship y, then you'll probably have to wait till close to last, or be shoehorned on to another bus that has a gap.

 

The alternative, which I chose, was to pay $5 for a "specific time" bus (1pm-3pm) which eliminates the queueing.

 

Overall I was pleased enough to return again next year. It's not somewhere I'd go for a week's holiday, but for what I want it's grand, and cheap.