Recent Reviews Wanted Here on Hyatt Pier 66, please

[claud925]

How was your recent stay? Are renovations now completed? Did you have a Lanai or a Tower room?

 

Inquiring minds want to know . . .

[signman]

Someone posted this afternoon on this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=310535

[travlcrayZ]

just back from our cruise and stayed at Hyatt Pier 66 pre-cruise....was a great place.....really like the Pelican restaurant not for food (only had drinks) but for the view! The hotel was nice, we had a poolside room. I asked for a newly renovated room. It was beautiful. Had a plasma tv too! The hot tub was empty but for us at night too. Breakfast was a bit pricey but was nice to eat before going to the ship.Would definitely go back again.

[judimarg]

We stayed at the Pier 66 for 3 days pre-cruise beginning 3/1/06. Considering that we only paid $115.00 per night through Priceline, I think we got a real bargain. We expected to get a Lanai room, but received a room in the tower on the 14th floor with a balcony and a fantastic view of the marina and Port Everglades. We did not see or hear any evidence of constuction going on, so it must have been on other floors. The staff was friendly, polite, and efficient. The pool area is now complete and is very nice (although my husband complained that the hot tub was not hot enough!). There are plenty of lounge chairs and the Tiki bar is open for food and beverages. We did not eat at the hotel because a $20.00 breakfast just goes against the grain for me. There is a convenience store across the street that sells food and snacks and I brought breakfast bars, beef jerky, and trail mix with me in my suitcase. There is a coffee maker in the room and you can also buy a 20 oz cup at the convenience store for $1.50. (Pier 66 gets $3.50 a cup!!!!). We enjoyed having a drink at the Pelican Bar and watching all the amazing yachts go by on the intercoastal waterway - great views! We walked to dinner each night. The first night, we went left on 17th street, walked about a mile and a quarter, and arrived at Beach Place. There are several small shops and eateries in a small mall atmosphere - Sloppy Joe's, Hooters, LuLu's Bait shack, Howl at the Moon, and Maxes, among others. The next night we went right on 17th Street, crossed the bridge, walked about a mile to Bravo's - a really good (and very busy) Italian restaurant. The last night we went left again, walked about a mile and ended up at Oasys (which we had passed previously on our way to Beach Place). It was a casual, outdoor eatery with reasonable prices - food was ok. For those of you who do not like to walk, the water taxi stops at the Pier 66 right in front of the Pelican Bar. We would definately stay there again.

[Ernie G]

Stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66 pre-cruise on 3/10/06. It was fabulous. Had 2 Lanai Rooms. Clean, very stylish with a european flair. Didn't eat there though. Valet parking was $20 per night/self-park $15. $12 resort fee charged which covered internet access, health facility access, etc. Didn't have a view of the port from room, but went up to the upper level bar area and that view was great. Eat dinner at Shooter's which was very good. Hope this helps.

[Missybud]

Hi Roxanne,

 

This sure is a long commute to your May Alaska cruise! Tammy and I were speaking of you night before last. Hope we can cruise together again!!! Have fun!

 

Lana

[claud925]

My thanks to all who posted. Great information - I'm very happy to hear the hotel is looking good. I've got a one night pre-cruise coming up at the end of the month.:)

 

One question: where's Shooter's? Can you walk there?

 

Hey Lana - how are ya, ole' gal? My best to Tammy and Emily. Enjoy your cruise next month - go and shake up the Caribbean!:D

[gailoterson]

I too thank everyone who posted. We are staying there 2 nights pre-cruise at the end of April. I was debating whether we needed a car or not. Thanks to everyone's input I have decided to rely on cabs, the water taxi and our good old feet.

 

Gail

[sealovers]

Gail,

I booked a room for precruise 1 April 06, at the Hyatt Pier 66 through Priceline, using 'Biddingfortravel' website for bidding strategy. That is a great website which can generally help you get the exact hotel you want if that hotel is available through Priceline. No guarantees, but at least you are able to really narrow down the possible wins to a couple.

 

After winning ($135.00), I became concerned mostly about the mold (allergic), after reading some relatively recent reviews (winter holiday 05). I e-mailed Hyatt headquarters and also called the hotel directly and spoke with a very professional and helpful sales agent. She said the hotel suffered much damage from the hurricanes of 05. The new pool had just opened and the construction was completed. The rooms in the two-story section were completely renovated from concrete up with new furnishings, also. After my conversation and after reading more recent reviews in tripadvisor, I feel very confident that this hotel will reflect the quality and service of other Hyatt's. I plan to submit a review when we return, regardless. I am now looking forward to our stay and even more to our cruise!

[claud925]

See you there, sealovers - I check-in on 01 April, too!:)

 

And thanks for your comments about The Hyatt - much appreciate the additional information.

[sealovers]

Roxanne - How do you plan to get from Hyatt to the Pier? I was think we'd just get a taxi since it's not very far away and I don't want to be travelling all over FL in a mini-bus picking up other hotel guests going to the port also. We will be joining another couple who are flying down from NY so we have 4 so far. What time do you plan to leave for the port? Just curious as we would like to arrive at 10:00 am, but I think the port authorities keep inbound traffic out until a certain hour (10? 11?)

Hope to see 'ya there, also!

Claudette

Sealovers

[claud925]

Claudette, while I'll be staying in FLL, my ship actually departs from the port of Miami (this change in ports was made AFTER I booked Pier 66:mad: ) . . . needless to say, I will hire a taxi to take me from The Hyatt to Miami (a 45-minute ride that will cost me roughly $75).

 

I highly recommend that you take a taxi from the hotel to Port Everglades - it will more than likely cost you under $10. Give some thought, however, to whether a regular-sized car can accomodate 4 adult passengers, along with all your luggage pieces.:confused: In addition, I don't think it would be a good idea to arrive at the pier before 11:00, so why not just sleep-in a little later?

 

Have a great cruise.

[sealovers]

Hyatt Pier 66 Fort Lauderdale: We stayed one night pre-cruise - 1 April 2006. They DO NOT have a shuttle to/from airport or Port Everglades. Taxi from Lauderdale airport was $18.00 plus tip. Booked the night through Priceline at $130 plus tax and $12.00 'Resort Fee'. Total paid to Priceline for 1 night was $160 which included taxes and resort fee. This is a mandatory fee and is not waived whether or not you will use the extra 'resort' features. We signed up for the Hyatt Gold Card a few months prior to the stay and most of the 'resort' features are included with the free membership. Regardless, you still have to pay the resort fee. I was really ticked when they tried to add the taxes plus resort fee to my bill - - again! The desk clerk said I had only paid $130.00. It was a very frustrating experience, taking approximately 30 minutes to check in (not wait in line, but actually deal with this desk clerk). Supervisor finally came over and said she would waive the resort fee, never acknowledging that I had already paid in full through Priceline. The good news is we were given the most expensive room in the hotel which I believe she said was over $400 per night. Brand new and not in the tower, but just a few steps away from the check-in desk. Everything was beautiful, new and top quality such as granite and marble floors throughout, plantation shutters, king bed with 18" or so thick pillow-top mattress, down comforter and pillows. The bottles of water in the room were $5.00 each. We were in the room by 2:00 pm but I believe check-in is actually 4:00 pm. While waiting for check-in, we had a quick lunch at the Hyatt Marina snack bar, outside,. Two simple salads, 1 tea and 1 soft drink was $35.00 including tip (served on a plastic disposable plate). Later we had 2 small pina coladas at the pool @ 7.00 each. The pool was beautiful and clean. Later, we met up with friends we were cruising with and compared rooms. They were in the same area around the pool, but the room had not been renovated and was quite worn. They had problems with their tub which would not drain. We were fortunate only due to being assigned a new room.

Thinking we could dine more reasonably elsewhere, we chose to take the water taxi which stops at the hotel for $10.00 per person. We did have a nice seafood dinner across the waterway for about $20 each. Beware of the water taxi schedule. They are having some problems with their contract with Broward County and have reduced service plus doubled their fare. We were unable to go anywhere else that night since it would not be back to our stop for 2 hours and that would be the last run for the night (around 10:00 pm). We didn't want to chance missing the one taxi back to the hotel.

I have to mention that the Gold Card allows you to have coffee or tea in the morning - 1 cup. My husband went around to the coffee shop to get our coffees and was charged $8.00 for 2 12oz cups. He was told the complimentary coffee was only with room service which, by the way has a service charge plus 30% fee! He then told them to deliver the coffee to the room and they relented. He was refunded his $8.00.

The next morning, we took a taxi to the port ($18.00 again).

BOTTOM LINE: Don't stay here if you are travelling on a moderate budget. I booked through priceline because I wanted a decent (3 or 4 star) hotel within close proximity to the port. Also, if booking through Priceline, take along a copy of the invoice the Hyatt emails to you after you have won. Unfortunately, I did not have mine with me.

Next time, we will probably stay in Hollywood as I spoke with several travellers who were extremely pleased with their hotels. I will not go back to Hyatt Pier 66; they probably don't want us back either. I do not like to be ripped off!

[kelmac]

Hyatt Pier 66 Fort Lauderdale: We stayed one night pre-cruise - 1 April 2006. They DO NOT have a shuttle to/from airport or Port Everglades. Taxi from Lauderdale airport was $18.00 plus tip. Booked the night through Priceline at $130 plus tax and $12.00 'Resort Fee'. Total paid to Priceline for 1 night was $160 which included taxes and resort fee. This is a mandatory fee and is not waived whether or not you will use the extra 'resort' features. We signed up for the Hyatt Gold Card a few months prior to the stay and most of the 'resort' features are included with the free membership. Regardless, you still have to pay the resort fee. I was really ticked when they tried to add the taxes plus resort fee to my bill - - again! The desk clerk said I had only paid $130.00. It was a very frustrating experience, taking approximately 30 minutes to check in (not wait in line, but actually deal with this desk clerk). Supervisor finally came over and said she would waive the resort fee, never acknowledging that I had already paid in full through Priceline. The good news is we were given the most expensive room in the hotel which I believe she said was over $400 per night. Brand new and not in the tower, but just a few steps away from the check-in desk. Everything was beautiful, new and top quality such as granite and marble floors throughout, plantation shutters, king bed with 18" or so thick pillow-top mattress, down comforter and pillows. The bottles of water in the room were $5.00 each. We were in the room by 2:00 pm but I believe check-in is actually 4:00 pm. While waiting for check-in, we had a quick lunch at the Hyatt Marina snack bar, outside,. Two simple salads, 1 tea and 1 soft drink was $35.00 including tip (served on a plastic disposable plate). Later we had 2 small pina coladas at the pool @ 7.00 each. The pool was beautiful and clean. Later, we met up with friends we were cruising with and compared rooms. They were in the same area around the pool, but the room had not been renovated and was quite worn. They had problems with their tub which would not drain. We were fortunate only due to being assigned a new room.

Thinking we could dine more reasonably elsewhere, we chose to take the water taxi which stops at the hotel for $10.00 per person. We did have a nice seafood dinner across the waterway for about $20 each. Beware of the water taxi schedule. They are having some problems with their contract with Broward County and have reduced service plus doubled their fare. We were unable to go anywhere else that night since it would not be back to our stop for 2 hours and that would be the last run for the night (around 10:00 pm). We didn't want to chance missing the one taxi back to the hotel.

I have to mention that the Gold Card allows you to have coffee or tea in the morning - 1 cup. My husband went around to the coffee shop to get our coffees and was charged $8.00 for 2 12oz cups. He was told the complimentary coffee was only with room service which, by the way has a service charge plus 30% fee! He then told them to deliver the coffee to the room and they relented. He was refunded his $8.00.

The next morning, we took a taxi to the port ($18.00 again).

BOTTOM LINE: Don't stay here if you are travelling on a moderate budget. I booked through priceline because I wanted a decent (3 or 4 star) hotel within close proximity to the port. Also, if booking through Priceline, take along a copy of the invoice the Hyatt emails to you after you have won. Unfortunately, I did not have mine with me.

Next time, we will probably stay in Hollywood as I spoke with several travellers who were extremely pleased with their hotels. I will not go back to Hyatt Pier 66; they probably don't want us back either. I do not like to be ripped off!

 

sealovers,

 

I too stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66 (April 2nd). We got this hotel on priceline at $115 + tax, however, the resort fee was not included in the amount priceline charged us. There may have been a footnote mentioning this charge, but it was not included in the amount charged by priceline.

Here is my review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=327858

 

After several trips to Ft Lauderdale, we now always just get a rental car, even for short stays.

 

Good luck,:)

Kel