Hotwire Hotel: 3* Ft Lauderdale (Weston-Plantation-Davie) Vacation Village at Weston

[jayman]

I need some help identifying a 3* Weston - Plantation - Davie -- i thought it might be Sheraton Suites Plantation but that comes up as 3.5*. I've seen the price shift between $108/nt and $112/nt during the last week for the same property (Hotwire reviews are the same.. price changes). Site says 'retail is $259' and its a '58% savings'

Dates are for 01/19/07-01/21/07

Amenities are:

Fitness Center

Pool

Restaurant

Business Center

Golf Nearby

Tennis Nearby

[thereuare]

This is a match for the Las Palmas Hotel and Suites so that would be our best guess.

Please use this HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[jayman]

Need help identifying a 3* in in Weston - Plantation - Davie for 1/19/07-1/21/07

The amenities listed are:

Fitness Center

Pool

Thats all the amenities listed. I couldnt find anything like it in the list on this site.

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

The above hotel has not yet been identified.

I'm guessing that there are more amenities at the property than just those two listed, but can't for certain. I'd include the Crowne Plaza and the Hyatt in the possibilities.

Please use this HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[jayman]

btw im wondering if its the same place :)

[jayman]

oh crud.. i booked it (using your link, too) and its the following property:

Vacation Village at Weston and Bonaventure

16461 Racquet Club Road

Weston, Florida 33326

[thereuare]

I just read a bunch of reviews of this place and they seem mostly favorable... if you avoid the timeshare presentation (pitched as "free breakfast and a gift") which you are not required to attend so just avoid it and don't let them continue to offer you to do so.

If this wasn't what you were expecting you could try calling HOTWIRE and claiming that this is more a condo unit than a hotel room (which i believe it is) and you were expecting a hotel and that is what you require. They may or may not do something for you, but depending upon what you need i would consider keeping it as it seems pretty highly rated.

Thanks for the report and for using our HOTWIRE link.

Let us know if you pursue anything and/or how it ultimatley works out.

[jayman]

They dont offer non-smoking rooms and my wife is extremely asthmatic. We wouldnt be able to stay here even if we wanted to. I called them regarding this, and they said that i will need to have my doctor send a note to their 'research' department. Theyre still charging a $25 processing fee even if they refund the balance.

Besides all of that, the hotel is rated 2.5* on Ex.pedia. and 2* on Yahoo.. .Orbit.z rates it at 3* and tripadvisor doesnt even have a rating.. several reviews state that the rooms are filthy and have roaches. some great place. Hotwire contends that they do independent reviews and that they dont base their ratings on any other sites. To me, its false advertising.. i booked 3* expecting a 3* place.

I wish this site had this place in the list.. now i have a time waster to deal with the "research" department :)

BTW -- the RETAIL rates for this place are $122, and i got charged $111 per night through hotwire.. NOT a good deal. They advertise "you save 56%" or some such bologna.

[thereuare]

I think you've taken the wrong approach... i think you would have had better success, and a more legitimate complaint, with the condo vs. hotel aspect.

The non-smoking room isn't a valid complaint as you just as easily could have received a hotel that wasn't able to accomodate your non-smoking request. It's also very difficult to argue a star rating when there is no uniform system in place within the industry. Tripadvisor users do rate this property a 3.5* and the top property in the area (out of 6); as per your post above, Orbitz rates it a 3*, so HOTWIRE's rating is not necessarily out of line.

[ipegleg]

I've stayed at Vacation Village and its quite nice. I've gone through some of the condo sites and got them for ~250/week. Essentially its a giant timeshare complex.

[jayman]

I'm making the argument about the hotel vs. condo aspect, and they couldnt say much except to send in documentation. Also, their advertised rate prior to booking was "Retail: $329.00 -- You save: $217.00" but i found the same room for $10 more on Orbits and Cheaptickets. When I asked Hotwire about it, they said the retail rates are provided by the hotel. I called Reservations and they quoted me retail rates of $145 or $120 for an A or B unit, respectively.

I called Hotwire back and they asked that I send documentation about the advertised savings and the condo vs. hotel problem to the research dept.

[jayman]

Here's an update... Hotwire would not honor the request for refund based on the hotel vs. condo argument or the falsely advertised "savings" argument -- when i called, they said one thing.. when i sent a letter, the research dept said something else:

"We regret there has been some confusion. The rate shown in the "You save" area on the Hotwire website, is from a comparable hotel in the area that you selected. The rate may be from a different hotel than the one that you received."

This was completely contradictory to what two different customer service agents told me... seems bogus to me.. They deposited 25 "HotDollars" into my account.

I followed-up with a letter regarding my wife's severe asthma and included a letter from her doctor stating that she cannot stay at any facility that does not offer non-smoking rooms due to her condition. I also told them that I was quite surprised that no non-smoking rooms facilities were available, but perhaps this was because it is a condominium complex and not a hotel.

Hotwire issued a full refund the next day.