Priceline Hotel: 2* Fort Lauderdale (Airport North FLL) Ramada Fort Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port

[SuntanD]

I've used Priceline many times in the past, but unfortunately am not familiar with Fort Lauderdale and the area breakdowns.

The last time we cruised out of Fort Lauderdale, we were successful in winning a hotel in Downtown and the location was wonderful. From information I've read on the board, the airport location is also an option, but I'm confused as to whether people are referring to the Airport North zone or the Airport (FLL) zone? The bottom line is we do not have transportation and we are arriving three days post-cruise so need to have amenities within walking distance.

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

[thereuare]

What are the actual dates that you need a hotel for?

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

[SuntanD]

March 12th to 15th pre-cruise and March 23rd and 24th post-cruise.

[thereuare]

Three days without a car can be a long time (when not in a walk-able city like NYC, Chicago, etc)... what do you intend to do during this period?

You can using our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com, click on a hotel in the middle of each zone, and then in the info bubble there is a link to seek nearby Restaurants, Stores, etc... this should give you a good starting point as to which zone(s) may be best. However, note that each zone is about 3 miles long (from North to South) and a 1.5 miles wide (East to West) so you run into an issue where most of the zone may be 'fine', but there may be pockets that are less convenient then others.

You may want to consider HOTWIRE where you can have a better guess as to the hotel you will receive before your purchase, OR look into the cost of renting a car, which would give you more flexibility in terms of where in the zone you end up as well as what you do with your time before the cruise.

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

Let us know your thoughts on how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

[Romelle]

My usual technique for sleuthing out public transportation is to just zoom in on the PL zone maps until I can see the metro/bus/train stops. They don't seem to be marked for Fort Lauderdale?

But, if you zoom way in on the MAPS and HOTELS.com, bus and train stops are indicated.

There actually is quite a bit of public transport in FLL, but you'll have to research each PL zone and decide if you are willing to walk as far as the worst case hotel.

There is a grid of buses, a train line, the Sun Trolley (goes through lots of fun areas), and (my personal favorite) water buses.

With an airport hotel, most of them have shuttle service back and forth to the airport. And then from an airport one can connect with more general public transport. A bit time-consuming, but it does work.

I haven't been to FLL for several years, so can't be as specific as I'd like.

If I were doing your stay, I think I'd go to a local bookstore and get a big paper FLL map. It might even have some of the transportation options on it. I'd outline the PL zones I was considering. Then I'd mark those zones with the rest of the transportation options. And see which ones would work for me.

Of course there always is the taxi option as your back-up when the public transportation doesn't work for something.

Do watch out for holiday schedules and commuter schedules when you are looking at the transport routes. FLL is better than lots of places, but there may be some more limited schedules for some situations.

Romelle

[SuntanD]

A wealth of information, thank you! If I understand you correctly, you are suggesting Airport (FLL) as an alternative to Downtown. That at least gives me a second option to bid on.

[Romelle]

A wealth of information, thank you! If I understand you correctly, you are suggesting Airport (FLL) as an alternative to Downtown. That at least gives me a second option to bid on.

Oops. I got tired of typing Fort Lauderdale clear out, and realized just FL meant Florida. So started using FLL to indicate the whole city, not just the airport zone.

I do think the airport zone (the one you referred to as FLL) could be a candidate, but I'd check to see if all the hotels in that zone offer free shuttle shuttle service first. I learned the hard way there is one hotel in the MSP airport zone that doesn't offer free shuttle service. However the front desk, used to dealing with the issue, just hands one a printed list of the bus schedule a block away.

Romelle

Didn't mean to lead you astray, so I checked the top 1/2 of the FLL Airport zone Hotels List for free shuttle service. They all offer it, and sometimes even offer complimentary service to the cruise port. I also know that when a hotel has those shuttles out and moving around, one often can ask the driver to let one off someplace along the route. This can be handy for getting to a bus stop a little further from the hotel than one wants to walk.

Of course it is always possible to get a hotel not yet reported here.

[SuntanD]

thereuare, would like to proceed bidding on the Downtown zone and whichever airport zone you feel would be the best to suit our needs. I see the prices are higher this year than last - would be nice to get a 2 1/2* or 3*, but we would settle on a 2*.

Will await your suggestions.

[thereuare]

What is your target budget per nite?

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

[SuntanD]

Up to $70 for a 2* and $85 for a 3* When I go on PRICELINE for our dates, that doesn't seem unrealistic.

[thereuare]

I think the Airport zone is used for pre-cruise stays due to the proximity to the pier, not necessarily due to lots of things in the immediate area to do... i would try to research further before choosing either of the Airport zones.

If you want to start by trying for a 3* hotel in the Downtown zone you have one re-bid zones available. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 3* Downtown...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85

If that is rejected (which i think is likely), let us know if you want to add either/both airport zones and try again at the 3* level, or if you want to drop to the 2.5* or 2* level.

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

[Romelle]

FIrst, I must note - I'm a member, not a board official, so just expressing my opinions here.

But regarding the Fort Lauderdale airport hotels, quite a few of them really are pretty isolated for one on foot. If your budget will permit, definitely go for that downtown area. Even if you have to go with a lower star rating. I do agree with thereuare.

My chatter on the public transportation was just to let you know the various options, in case you want to go further afield. And in case rates were out of sight, and you had to take a less desirable option.

If you haven't found it yet, there is a marvelous piece of information on the Maps and Hotels site - the Walk Score. After you've entered a location, dates and selected a distance, you will see a list of possible hotels on the left-hand side. Click on one of the hotel names. Then, when a box comes up over the map (right-hand side) with more detail about the hotel click on "SEE NEARBY Restaurants, Coffee, Bars, etc." Along with information about just what is available in the area, you will see a numeric summary - the "Walk Score". A rating from 0 to 100. Hotels with lots of things in the immediate walkable area will get higher scores.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale hotels tend to get in the 80s and 90s - "Very Walkable" and "Walker's Paradise". The airport hotels I looked up ranged from the 20s - "Car Dependent" to the 60s - "Somewhat Walkable".

You can also use this process to look into other Priceline zones in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Romelle

[SuntanD]

Romelle, duly noted! I just briefly looked at the MAPS and HOTELS.com Site and this is going to be a very helpful tool! I really never explored it before, but it is a wealth of information. I agree with you both and will focus on the Downtown location. Thank you!

[SuntanD]

Summary of Charges 

 

Hotel Room Cost: $80.00 /per room night 

Rooms: 2

Nights: 2 

Taxes and Fees: $48.96 

Total Charges: $368.96

 

Not the greatest win for sure, but will work for our needs after the cruise as it provides free shuttle cruise port/airport. 

 

Two weeks out and still no luck with 3 nights pre-cruise for March 12th to 15th. 

[SuntanD]

Hotel Room Cost: $80.00 /per room night 

Rooms: 2 

Nights: 2 

Taxes and Fees: $48.96 

Total Charges: $368.96

 

Not the greatest win, but has free shuttles cruise port and airport which works for our needs.

 

Still no luck with 3 nights pre-cruise March 12th to 15th.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Not a bad win for this property and hope the hotel will exceed expectations. Please start a new thread for the additional nights.

 

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

 

Enjoy your stay.