birdies.wanted

Amenities: Pool(s) Laundry Facilities High Speed Internet Access Was going to stay with a relative out in the ranches but decided that being near the airport for the early am flight sounded like a better idea. Didn't dare try the $40 2* that popped up for the same date - was only recommended by 30% of users. I think this Ramada was around 60% favorable. Place was OK, far from the Ritz but sufficed for a one night stay. Was having trouble with my cellphone tethering so I forgot to use the HOTWIRE link here to book. My apologies. :)

Thanks for the input AaronJB. I had myself 99.9% convinced that this was the Grand Palms Golf and Spa Resort so I booked it. Was going to book just one night to ID for sure but decided against it. Turned out to be the El Palacio Sports Hotel and Conference Center, Miami. It's that .1% that will get you every time. Location isn't very convenient to where we'll be spending the majority of our time, but we'll make do. I don't really mind, I can stay most anywhere. Just hope the wife and daughter don't disown me. :) Amenity list is in the first post. One additional note is a bed choice was given - $3 additional per night for a king, $1 additional per night for 2 doubles. Used the BetterBidding HOTWIRE link at the top of the page. Thanks for a great site!

Amenities listed: Resort Suite Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Laundry Facilitiesr High-speed Internet Access Golf Nearby Tennis Nearby 2 nights @ $89 = $178.00 Recovery charges & fees = $31.64 Total = $209.64 Used BetterBidding HOTWIRE search link on top of page. Pleased with this property for a 2 day excursion up from our primary stay in the Fort Lauderdale area. Still working on a place for that portion of our stay.

I will definitely use the link if I decide to book. I'm thinking the property is the Grand Palms Hotel and Golf Resort, but that's just an educated guess. There's references in the TA reviews to having gotten reservations through Hotwire. Has a 3.5 rating on both sites. However it's listed as a 3* on TA and a 2.5* on Hotwire. Is it common for the star ratings to be different? Another thing that gives me pause is Hotwire shows a $5 per day resort fee, and I can't find anything anywhere that mentions such a fee at the Grand Palms. The place gets mixed reviews, but looks like it would be ok for my purposes. Most of the bad reviews are older and it looks like they've renovated at least a little recently. I'm going for a relative's wedding and they've blocked rooms at a nearby Holiday Inn for $89, so I've got that to fall back on if necessary. I was thinking of maybe doing 1 night through Hotwire first to identify the place for sure, and then the other 4 nights separately if I was happy with the result. Any caveats you can think of to this approach? Thanks for the great site!

Travel dates April 7th to April 12th, 2010 Price $49 Complimentary Breakfast Fitness Center Pools Business Center Laundry High Speed Internet Access Golf Nearby Additional info: Know before you go says a $5 resort fee typically charged per room Thanks!