What my hotel didnt tell me!

[joeyanddavid]

While working on our Panama Canal Cruise for January 07, I came across information to lead me to believe that the hotel we had reserved for ourselves and our friends went out of business and no one bothered to inform us.

 

The Best Western Marina Inn and Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale closed its doors quietly, I found this out while trying to help others secure rooms for the cruise. While verifying availability for others I couldn’t locate the property on the Best Western website. When I called the Best Western 800 number to inquire why I could not longer find the property on their web site.. All they said is that they were sorry the property closed and would I like to cancel my reservation.. LOL… We would not have known and would have arrived at the airport 2 nights before our cruise just to find out we had no hotel.

 

Luckily I found vacancies at the comfort suite just off the causeway.. but at an increased rate of some 45 usd per night plus taxes..

Needless to say , I was not a happy camper, and for sure we will not be doing business with the BW brand again.

 

Just thought you should have information. Do with it as you see fit..

[DanJ]

According to this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=299969&highlight=western+marina information was floating around a couple weeks ago that this hotel was closing. Maybe it just takes them some time to go through the notifications, and since your stay is still 10 months off, they were working on trying to rebook those with more immediate need.

 

Or they just don't care.

[joeyanddavid]

LOL Dan thanks for putting a positive spin on this .....

[signman]

Joey, don't despair BW was a big dump. I was just next to it on Monday afternoon, and honestly didn't pay any attention to it at all, as the roadway next to it was partially closed and I was paying attention to the detour.

 

If you have moved to the Comfort Suites on Federal Highway near 17th St., be sure to stop in at Ernie's BBQ just across the street at 1843 S. Federal. You'll think you're in Key West already. Don't miss the conch chowder.

[joeyanddavid]

thanks Howard...i knew the marina we have stayed there b4.. we liked it because of the closeness to the water taxis.. thanks for the encouragement,,

 

How is Bmore i used to live on st charles or was that st paul.. so many years ago! LOL..

[signman]

It's Charles Street Joey, and that's my address. St. Paul is one block east. Tell me more about your time here.

[joeyanddavid]

It's Charles Street Joey, and that's my address. St. Paul is one block east. Tell me more about your time here.

well i used to live and work all thru that area..DC.. Northern VA, Bowie, Baltimore worked for Wendys and Balloon Bouquets.. also haunted druid park back in the day.. Getting back that way for the Cherry Blossoms this year.. so kinda excited about that

[signman]

That's Druid Hill Park, or in Baltimorese "Droodle Park"

[spanda]

Just an FYI for those, like us, who wanted a cheap place to stay prior to our wonderful cruise vacation......I received an email today at 5:40 PM notifying me that our room we were "guaranteed" for March 11(3 days away) was no longer available. After spending about 1 hour with a bunch of talking heads we were able to get some potential resolution. I would encourage everyone affected by this to call them and raise cain because we were told the Board of Directors were working on resolving this... You need to get a "complaint ticket" opened and they may(key word here) reimburse for the increase in rate over what what "guaranteed". I agree, I will NEVER do business with BW again. BTW, we decided to not be so cheap and are staying at the Sheraton....lesson learned!!

[michmike]

our experience w/ Best Western over the years has been that they are more variable in quality than any other chain and generally on the negative side rather than the plus.. we no longer use them unless we arrive in an area w/o a reservation and can inspect the room and the common areas before checking in.. too many other options out there. Your experience doesn't surprise me at all.