Priceline Hotel: 2* Fort Lauderdale (Hollywood) Ramada Downtown Hollywood

[Toddb]

After reviewing the forum and reviews I have decided I'd like to bid (using the PRICELINE link provided of course) to get the Hampton Inn Hallandale. I will be staying in the Hollywood area of Ft. Lauderdale.

What is the best strategy to try and get this hotel? There are two in the area that aren't rated very good, plus this hotel is right across the street from where I am going, Gulfstream Park.

Any advice is certainly appreciated!

[dahammer]

with PRICELINE, you really can't target a specific hotel as you are bidding on a minimum star rating within your selected zone. Your bid could be accepted by any hotel with your selected star rating or you could be upgraded to a higher rated property. However, the trade off is savings of 50% or more compared to booking directly with the hotel. Using HOTWIRE, you may be able to identify the hotel through the amenities shown before purchsase.

Please note that this board has links to the Hampton Inn if you book directly.

[Toddb]

I've been trying to get a hotel in the Hollywood area and really wanted the Hampton Inn, but alas, got one of the worst rated hotels available (such is my luck). Deal wasn't all that great, but for whatever reason there wasn't very much available in the area I wanted to stay in. I got within 2 miles of my destination and that is a very big positive.

I started bidding at $60 a night with no luck.

Upped the bid to $65...still no luck

Added FLL region and upped bid to $70 a night...no takers

Had to wait 24 hours since I didn't have anything to change that would allow a rebid.

Upped bid tonight for $75 (which was the max budget amount), thought I got lucky and then got a message that said still looking for a hotel check back in 15 minutes, when I clicked the link said NO TAKERS! Ugh....Figured I was in the game with that bid and decided to increase it $2 more or find a cheap motel 6 about 10 miles away.

Added back FLL upped bid to $77 and found success! Delight turn to despare after finding the worst hotel possible to get based on the reviews.

Rooms are going for $114/Night and I saved $37/Night. Guess I will report back in a few weeks how bad or I'm really hoping not so bad hotel.

If anyone is looking for rooms in the Hollywood area of Ft. Lauderdale, don't chose the 2* or you'll be staying with me. ha-ha.

I did bid through the PRICELINE line link here, so I'm doing my part to keep the site going.

Go Luck everyone else. First time priceliner/Betterbidding customer.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear you didn't receive the hotel you were hoping for.

While perhaps not the hotel you were hoping for, the reviews dont' seem that bad. Most of the negativity is regarding the price/value, and since you're paying about 1/3 of the price of a 'conventional booking', perhaps this will represent some good value given the price paid.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Hope your stay goes better than expected.

[Toddb]

I'm pretty easy to please as long as the heater/air condition work, the bed is clean, room is clean, toilet flushes and sink/tub drain I'm good. Doesn't have to be a fancy room or great looking building, just a decent room that doesn't smell and no housekeeping issues. :)

Can't complain about the price of the room considering it was the cheapest I could find in the area. Althought I was hoping for less which led me to believe more people are going to the general area for the same reason as me!

There are rooms available for less if you want to go 10-15 miles outside of the area, but I wasn't willing to drive back and forth a few times each day. I'll post my experience when I get there to give everyone a recent experience at the hotel.

[Randi66]

Too bad you couldnt have won the Hampton. Its a great hotel( the hotel review is mine) and when I "won" it last June, I was jumping for joy.

[Toddb]

I promised to come back and post a review of the Ramada Plaza Hollywood and here it is.

Hotel rating: 1 star (not sure how this got a 2*)

Location: Downtown business district in a so-so part of town

Food: Lots of places to shop and eat around the hotel. This was a big plus if you didn't want to drive and liked different foods

Parking: Atrocious!! Unless you are driving a super compact car the underground parking is brutal. Don't even think about parking a truck (of any sorts) there or you'll likely run into something going in, backing up or driving out. Parking fee is $3.95 per night.

Early check in?: No need to go in early or you'll be told to return at check-in time at 3pm (althought the guy did tell me to come back at 2pm ha-ha)

Breakfast: No need to stop by and get this at all unless you want coffee or juice. Bread and bagels were stale, the pancakes looked liked they they'd been sitting for awhile and the pastry was not looking to hot. Lady at the counter wasn't welcoming, but did say "Good Morning" even though forced.

Hotel:

It is very run down and in need of major repairs in all areas. All the plumbing worked, water was hot and the bed/room were clean too. Only real issue was the toilet kept running all the time and the location of the room was next to an employee area where they had no sense of common decency for sleeping quests. Check in crew could care less if you stayed or went down the street and a later visit to the front desk to use the computer resulted in a one word answer to my question. She didn't appear to want to be there and it showed.

Overall, there are a lot better options other then this hotel, but if you got "stuck" here, don't mind a really old building and didn't plan on spending much time other than sleeping, you'll be fine. I'm not one who stays in a hotel while on vacation, so the few hours I was there sleeping it worked for me. Wouldn't be my first or second choice hotel and I wouldn't select Hollywood the next time I used priceline. :-)