Priceline Hotel: 4 star bid in dowtown ft. lauderdale

I have bid dowtown ft.lauderdale 4 star up to 95.00 a night and keep getting rejected, is somthing going on with that area due to the hurricane, have some hotels stop taking bids, I know that the area is the rennisance dowtown but nothing

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Please include the date(s) of your stay.

Thanks.

I was there on the weekend of Oct 27th and 28th - just a few days after the hurricane passed through. There was both major and minor damage to much property including hotels and many are still without power until next week. There are at least a few large properties that suffered more sever damage and may be closed for awhile. The Embassy Suites (downtown or the beach area - not sure which) had the entire glass skylight fall in and is closed until further notice.

I had great difficulty bidding for that weekend when I started back in August due to the Boat Show, which was originally scheduled for that weekend. Couldn't get anything on PL, resorted to Hotwire and a Best Western in Hallandale was the best I could do for under $100. That one got canceled and refunded. I rebooked on Oct 26th through Hotwire (who assured me by phone that it was current inventory and that this one was really open for business despite the storm) and arrived on Friday at sunset to discover that my prebooked hotel had been closed all week!

There are many, many people form places like Florida Power & Light who have booked blocks of rooms in available hotels and will be staying until the repairs are complete and there may be homewoners who have enough damage that they must stay in hotels until their homes are repaired.

It's not conveneint but West Palm Beach, about 45 minutes south, was apparently spared much of the damage. Also check Holllywood - much closer and they had power that weekend when most of Fort Lauderale did not.

Could have been a real nightmare but I found this place http://www.sanssoucihotel.com down the block at $69 per night. The owners live on premises and let me stay even though there was no power (most hotels will not accept guests if there's no power due to liability issues).

The Sans Souci is far from fancy - it's a basic 1.5 star or perhaps 2 star old fashioned beach motel but it's clean, safe, the bed was good, the pool is nice and the owners were very helpful. If you just need a bed to crash in before departing on a cruise (that's what I needed) it's not a bad choice. It's about $20 ride from FLL and about $10 - $12 back down to Port Everglades.

If you're several weeks away from your anticipated arrival date in FLL I suggest waiting and rebidding. But do not under any circumstances accept a Hotwire "Fort Lauderdale Beach Area" 2 star choice that shows a pool as the amenity. You're likely to get the Monte Carlo Beach Resort Motel (which is not on a beach nor is it a resort). It's the place that was closed when I arrived and on the outside it's a filthy dump. I can't imagine that the rooms are much better. And Hotwire charged me $80 plus taxes and fees - the Sans Souci is two blocks away and it's a Taj Mahal in comparison - and for less money! Hotwire did refund my money when I returned from my cruise but the evening had all the potential for being a total nightmare.