Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Ft Lauderdale (Airport FLL) Hilton Airport

[calla]

On January 31/11, I bid $60 for a 3* in Fort Lauderdale (Airport zone) for one night (Feb. 1/11). My bid was accepted but I was upgraded to a 3 l/2* and got the Hilton. I purposely bid 3* because I did NOT want the Hilton (previously reported here). The Hilton charged $14 + tax for parking. Buffet breakfast was $15 (didn't eat there). We got a room on the 7th floor (Hilton Honors floor), double beds, non-smoking, and it was the very last room at the end of a long hallway. Neatly folded white towels had previously been used as there were make-up stains on them. Dirty cup on the counter. Lamp was broken with bulb hanging from it's socket (Maintenance said they would have to repair it in the shop after we checked out). Front desk staff was condescending. Positives were that they had comfy beds and a 5 minute drive to the airport. Hilton rate for the same night was $175.

Bid $60 + tax = $74.58 (plus $14.56 for parking if you have a car).

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your results with the board.

Sorry to see you received an unwanted upgrade and weren't satisfied with the hotel... hopefully you at least felt it was a good deal for the price you paid and glad that you enjoyed the bed.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Hope your future stays are better suited to your needs.

[calla]

Neglected to mention that I did all my searches and made my bid using the PRICELINE link. Happy to support such a great site. First time that I've been upgraded, so now I'm aware that this can occur with any bid. Still learning!

[yellowdog]

calla

Thanx for using boards PRICELINE link :)

Yellowdog.

[anng3]

calla

Thanx for using boards PRICELINE link :)

Yellowdog.

Is there a way to avoid or refuse upgrades? I was looking forward to bidding 3* in FLL because I always liked the hotels I got but

don't want the Hilton.

[yellowdog]

anng3

You can't bid on or avoid a specific hotel when using PRICELINE. You have to be able to accept any hotel in the zone at the star rating (or higher) you select.

If you're trying to target a specific property then HOTWIRE can often be a better option if you're successfully able to identify it based upon the star rating and amenities shown before your purchase... the trade-off is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE, so you need to decide what is most important to you for a given stay, the lowest possible price OR the ability to take an educated guess as to the property you may receive.

If you need help with an upcoming stay so please start a new topic.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Yellowdog.

[Romelle]

Is there a way to avoid or refuse upgrades? I was looking forward to bidding 3* in FLL because I always liked the hotels I got but

don't want the Hilton.

No, there is no way to refuse upgrades on PL. You might be able to be more selective, or at least have good odds of knowing your hotel before your bid, if you use Hotwire.

On the other hand, I just got back from staying 2 nights in the FLL Airport Hilton (beginning and end of trip). The room was very nice. Clean and fresh-smelling. Quiet. Extremely comfortable beds. Wake-up call came on time. Free newspaper. Coffee/tea maker in room. Good lighting.

Shuttle service was prompt and friendly. And with that #1 city bus to downtown FLL stopping at the airport, one could actually do quite nicely without a car. I saw several people get on and off without any luggage, so they may well be doing just that.

The only negatives to me were the lack of a fridge, and absolutely no way to feed oneself except at their restaurant (there was a vending machine with the usual snack stuff). I used Google Earth for a while, and I don't believe there is an alternate restaurant in the immediate walking area.

Romelle

[ssuba23]

I also got the Hilton for $60 for stay in late March for 2 nights. How is the pool at the hotel? Can we take the shuttle to the airport then take the bus to go to downtown? Where and what is the bus you would have to take?

Thanks

[AaronJB]

I also got the Hilton for $60 for stay in late March for 2 nights. How is the pool at the hotel? Can we take the shuttle to the airport then take the bus to go to downtown? Where and what is the bus you would have to take?

Thanks

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Please post your Hilton win as a separate thread. Thank you.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Romelle]

I also got the Hilton for $60 for stay in late March for 2 nights. How is the pool at the hotel? Can we take the shuttle to the airport then take the bus to go to downtown? Where and what is the bus you would have to take?

Thanks

ssuba23,

Yes, you can take the shuttle from the airport and then the bus downtown. The shuttle runs every 1/2 hour on the hour and the half. Get off at the first terminal stop. The bus is #1 right at the airport. When you get to the airport just ask someone where the city bus stop is. It is in the same general area as the shuttle stop.

The main downtown bus stop is "Las Olas". Just after you cross a small bridge. Almost right away you will see a Starbucks. Further down the street is a cafe with outdoor seating and very reasonable breakfasts. Just off one side street is a Subway.

If you continue down Las Olas, you will see signage for the Water Taxi. Toward the river a couple blocks for Stop #9. All day fare is $20 regular and $16 senior.

I think regular bus fare was about $1.75 and senior bus fare was about $.85. The bus machine accepts dollar bills as well as coins.

The pool looked nice but we didn't try it.

Romelle

PS - Please do the separate post for which AaronJB asked. The board will then fix up your title like all the others and add your winning bid to the Calendar of Wins. It will help other bidders.

[ssuba23]

Thanks for the information. I called Hilton to request a non-smoking room for the stay and was told that i cannot book that, i have a room but if there is no more non-smoking rooms available, then i might be stuck in a smoking room, is this true? This is not looking good as i cant stand cigarette smell.

[Romelle]

Thanks for the information. I called Hilton to request a non-smoking room for the stay and was told that i cannot book that, i have a room but if there is no more non-smoking rooms available, then i might be stuck in a smoking room, is this true? This is not looking good as i cant stand cigarette smell.

All I can tell you is the two different rooms we got had absolutely no cigarette smell. There weren't any ashtrays either.

And I didn't smell any cigarette smoke elsewhere in the hotel - hallways, lobby, elevators, etc.

At check in you could ask to see the room first and give it a whiff. They'd probably assign you a different room if you were not happy with the first.

Smoky rooms are getting rarer and rarer in the US. I don't think you will have a problem with this.

Romelle

[ssuba23]

Thanks. I called PRICELINE customer care and they are trying to get this sorted with the hotel as my daughter has mild asthma and i would rather not have a smoking room at all. The manager at the hotel is able to sort this out, but they were not able to speak with him/her so i will have to wait to hear back till the afternoon tomorrow and if not call PRICELINE again. I cannot believe they have smoking rooms still though.