Anybody ever book with Venere.com ?

[monicajay]

I just booked my cancelable backup for Feb. 27th in FLL. I will continue to watch hotwire and priceline bookings and if something better comes up I have till the 23rd of Feb. to cancel. I booked the Rodeway Inn in FLL for $100.00 Reviews on tripadvisor are o.k. to good. Budget hotel but I just want a clean place for the night.

 

They don't actually give your CC number to the hotel it is just a guarantee.

 

Anybody ever use this booking company?

 

Anybody ever cancel with them?

 

Were you happy with the service?

 

 

Feb. 2008 I got got lucky and got the 2.5 star Courtyard Marriot through Priceline for under a $100 but I haven't seen any winnings from them yet.

[BlueHerons]

I just booked my cancelable backup for Feb. 27th in FLL. I will continue to watch hotwire and priceline bookings and if something better comes up I have till the 23rd of Feb. to cancel. I booked the Rodeway Inn in FLL for $100.00 Reviews on tripadvisor are o.k. to good. Budget hotel but I just want a clean place for the night.

 

.

 

Horrible hotel in a bad location.

 

Sometimes you pay in other ways when trying to save money.

 

They don't actually give your CC number to the hotel it is just a guarantee

 

What are you guaranteeing if the hotel doesn't get your cc number?

[Cosmic Rays]

Yes, but in Venice!! They were very good.

[eandj]

I just booked my cancelable backup for Feb. 27th in FLL. I will continue to watch hotwire and priceline bookings and if something better comes up I have till the 23rd of Feb. to cancel. I booked the Rodeway Inn in FLL for $100.00 Reviews on tripadvisor are o.k. to good. Budget hotel but I just want a clean place for the night.

 

They don't actually give your CC number to the hotel it is just a guarantee.

 

Anybody ever use this booking company?

 

Anybody ever cancel with them?

 

Were you happy with the service?

 

 

Feb. 2008 I got got lucky and got the 2.5 star Courtyard Marriot through Priceline for under a $100 but I haven't seen any winnings from them yet.

 

 

You probably could do better by booking thru the hotel or its website itself, if you are looking at budget hotels. Venere is used heavily in Europe. (I did better than they could offer in Europe by booking thru the hotel.)

Since you're looking for a room in peak season, you will not get much for $100 anymore.

[monicajay]

The best rate on the hotels own web-site was $143.00 and it was more through other websites.

 

I know the location is not good but we are arriving late and leaving on the cruise the next day. I don't want to spend $200.00+ and everything in 17th street area or beach was at least this much and some much more.

 

Hard to believe it is a horrible hotel Blueherons when so many reviews on tripadvisor have been pretty good for a budget hotel.

 

 

One way or another, I will try on priceline if I think I can get something better. I was more curious about Venere.com than the hotel Rodeway itself.

 

Thanks for the replies.

[BlueHerons]

Hard to believe it is a horrible hotel Blueherons when so many reviews on tripadvisor have been pretty good for a budget hotel.

 

 

.

 

Trip Advisor is a joke at best. My hotel employees would get online and stack reviews and I've had disgruntled employees diss my hotels.

 

As a former hotelier, I have zero regard for trip advisor reviews.

 

My colleagues and any hotel employees will tell you the same.

[sdirector77]

Try looking at reviews on hotels dot com.

[monicajay]

Trip Advisor is a joke at best. My hotel employees would get online and stack reviews and I've had disgruntled employees diss my hotels.

 

As a former hotelier, I have zero regard for trip advisor reviews.

 

My colleagues and any hotel employees will tell you the same.

 

 

I guess I'm a bit naive, I certainly wouldn't believe one review but always felt that when there were lots of them, some had to be true. So far. I have yet to get to a bad hotel that had tons of good reviews.

 

I personally always write reviews on trip advisor and know of many other people who do too.

 

As for the suggestion of reviews on hotels dot com, I didn't find any but they want more than $150.00 for what I booked at $100.00 on Venere so at least I didn't get a bad deal :rolleyes:

 

Because of the comments from BlueHerons I have now read all the reviews I can find on all the sites. Most, if they are within the last year are positive so who knows.

 

One way or another I will continue to try priceline.

[BlueHerons]

I guess I'm a bit naive, I certainly wouldn't believe one review but always felt that when there were lots of them, some had to be true.

Because of the comments from BlueHerons I have now read all the reviews I can find on all the sites. Most, if they are within the last year are positive so who knows.

 

One way or another I will continue to try priceline.

 

You would be surprised how hotels stack their own reviews on those sites.

 

I think forums like this, www.Fodors.com, www.AOL.com, www.Flyertalk.com and a few others, will give you a much more real idea of what the hotels are like.

 

I tried repeatedly to talk another poster out of the Newark Best Western and they basically called me crazy. Without even staying there, he started recommending this hotel to other posters and said he was going to do a live review from there. The bottom line? Never posted a review.

 

I guess my point is that I neither gain nor lose from giving out information about hotels I've toured or stayed at. I think if you arm yourself with enough information, you can have a good stay at even the worst hotels.

[terrylou]

Horrible hotel in a bad location.

 

Sometimes you pay in other ways when trying to save money.

 

 

 

What are you guaranteeing if the hotel doesn't get your cc number?

 

What exactly was your experience with Rodeway Inn.

 

Thanks,

[monicajay]

What exactly was your experience with Rodeway Inn.

 

Thanks,

 

I am waiting to hear this too. I tried to find reviews of this hotel on the 3 sites that blueherons suggested but there weren't any. I continued digging and found 15 on expedia (they can't be stacked because you have to have booked the hotel with expedia to write a review). Of the 15 reviews, 12 were totally positive, one was negative because of construction which is now complete, another was negative but said if there was not much else available it was still 'acceptable' so that basically leaves one negative review.

 

Blueherons,

Did you stay here or know someone who has since the renovations were completed? Is this how you can call the hotel horrible?

[ell52]

Monicajay, I know the discussion has wandered away from it, but back to your original question about Venere.com.

 

I have used them in the past to book a hotel in Rome and more recently did a cancellation with them for Comfort Suites in Fort Lauderdale. No problems whatsoever. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

[manmtnmike]

I use sidestep.com that lists prices for different discount sites and quickly gives you the best price with a link for the purchase.

[monicajay]

Monicajay, I know the discussion has wandered away from it, but back to your original question about Venere.com.

 

I have used them in the past to book a hotel in Rome and more recently did a cancellation with them for Comfort Suites in Fort Lauderdale. No problems whatsoever. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

 

Ell52, thank-you so much! This is what I was really looking for, input from someone who had booked and canceled with this company.

 

You have got to admit $100.00 is a very good price for a room in Feb. with a shuttle and breakfast.

 

manmtnmike, I have used sidestep also but most of the sites they bring you to are non-cancelable. My hope is to get a better deal near the beach on priceline or hotwire and then get rid of this booking. I have done this in the past and been lucky.

[BlueHerons]

Blueherons,

Did you stay here or know someone who has since the renovations were completed? Is this how you can call the hotel horrible?

 

Hi monicajay, I just saw this question.

 

My girlfriend and I planned a party for the FLL boat show at her house in Rio Vista Isles and the 17th Street hotels were all completely booked. Since all of the guests were from out of town, we had to find a hotel somewhere in the vicinity that could accommodate 10 couples and the Roadway was one of the few available.

 

Against our better judgement we booked the Roadway. The road is a very busy road in a somewhat industrial area.

 

Housekeeping was dismal at best. Thin walls and the hotel just didn't feel safe.

 

One couple's rental was broken into.

 

Being that I have a hotel background, it takes a lot to turn me off a hotel because I can usually read between the lines.

 

I don't mind outdated or rude staff.

 

Fortunately, we partied all weekend on their boat and at their house so no one spent much time at the hotel.

[monicajay]

Thanks for your reply,

 

Was this recently? Since the renovations were complete?

 

I'm will continue to bid on priceline and hopefully will get something better.

[BlueHerons]

Thanks for your reply,

 

Was this recently? Since the renovations were complete?

 

I'm will continue to bid on priceline and hopefully will get something better.

 

 

I want to say it was boat show 2006 so that would be about two years ago. It could have been 2005 but I think that was the year they changed it because of the hurricane so that wouldn't be right.

 

Either way no more than three years ago.