FL Boca Raton Marriott Boca Raton

[LoneStar]

Received this one for $50/night over the X-mas holiday. This seemed to be some sort of short-lived priceline mistake, as I haven't seen it come up at that price any other time.

At $50, the hotel is obviously a bargain. Recently refurbished, it has perhaps a little more style than a typical Marriott. That said, this isn't a vacationers paradise: the hotel, about 4 miles inland, seems more suited to business travellers. There are, however a few perks anyone can use: a couple free computers with printer in the lobby, a dedicated computer to print boarding passes, free internet access in the lobby (I couldn't get it to work on my laptop, but the bellman offered help if I wanted it), and free morning coffee in the lobby. The pool area is somewhat weak by South Florida standards -- it basically sits in the parking lot -- but they've done a stylish fence screen and the water is nicely heated for winter.

The hotel adjoins a few stylish restaurants (they're affiliated with the Town Center mall, but most of the mall is a couple blocks away), but the restaurants are more geared toward expense accounts than priceline guests. Overall location is good, however (if you don't mind being away from the beach) as you're right next to I-95 and the area sports many local restaurants and shops.

Rooms are on the smallish side for a Marriott hotel. Beds are nicely prepared with more pillows than anyone could possibly use.

Bottomline is that it's a very, very good 3-star priceline hotel. I'd feel sorry for any leisure traveller paying published rates, however.