We lost our hotel

[AlisonL]

We are sailing in ten days on Nov. 5th on the Zuiderdam from Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades. Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale two days prior, on Nov. 3rd, however the hotel we have (had) reservations at has suffered extensive damage and will be closed for at least the next 3 weeks.

 

The hotel manager could'nt help find a different hotel for us b/c he said all of South Florida is w/o power and no one knows when power will be restored.

 

What should we do? We made our flight and hotel plans independently, so HAL, understandably, cannot help.

 

If anyone knows of a hotel in the Ft. Lauderdale area that is open and accepting reservations, please post a reply.

 

Thank you,

AlisonL

[Deb C.]

Do you know what port you will be cruising out of yet?:confused:

[FlorenceItaly]

Hi Alison - May I ask which hotel it is? We are staying at the Sheraton at the airport in Ft Lauderdale, precruise, Dec 2. We bid through Priceline. Have you considered Priceline. Go to biddingfortravel.com and it is a wealth of information.

 

Marie

[gizmo]

Are you renting a car? If so, you would have a much better chance of finding a hotel. You would not be limited to the Ft.Lauderdale area. Since you are flying in 2 days prior to your cruise, you are open to more options.

 

Miami seems to be in better shape than Lauderdale. I found this on the hotel board.

 

Yes, in downtown Miami the Hyatt Regency and Intercontinental are both open. The JW Marriott had several windows blown out. I'm not sure of the status of the other downtown Miami hotels, but downtown Miami does have power and water

[Cruisin Kay D]

One additional problem is that the HUGELY POPULAR Ft. L Boat Show is postponed from this week/weekend to 11/3 to 11/6!!!!

 

What hotel was so damaged? What ones have you tried?

[lcruiser]

AlisonL,

 

I found this list of available hotels, I hope this helps.

 

http://www.sunny.org/media/index.cfm?action=showArticle&articleID=312

[AlisonL]

We had reservations at the Holiday Inn Ft. Lauderdale Beach. According to HAL website, our Zuiderdam cruise is still scheduled to depart from Port Everglades on Nov. 5th. However, that is probably just still "Plan A" b/c no one knows if it will be open by then.

 

I spoke to a Miami resident late this afternoon (Wed. 10/26) and currently Miami is 90% w/o power. You know how it is when the power goes out, no one knows when it will be restored. It could be weeks.

 

We do not have a car in Florida, so that limits our options. If many more of my options fail, I will look into getting a car. Guess I could fly to some other Florida city and then drive to Ft. Lauderdale for my cruise.

 

To Lcruiser: That list you provided gave me a great deal of hope until I saw our hotel listed as being open and operational. I don't know what to believe b/c our hotel's website says that they are open. However, they have closed out all guests and aren't accepting reservations for our dates.

 

I'm currently working w/ the Holiday Inn Corp. and they have been wonderful and are working on getting us other accomdations in the area.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed and thanks for offering help and suggestions.

 

Thanks,

AlisonL

[ahoymatey3]

WOW. I read that link. It states 90% of the area hotels are not operational. I have a 1 night post cruise on 12/2. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[TriGirl]

It looks like the Wyndham Ft Lauderdale is accepting reservations, we stayed there before our cruise on the Zuiderdam.

[ocngypz]

The list is BAD. I've been trying to rebook my clients who had reservations at MANY of these properties.....there is no electricity and no water.. ergo the doors are shut until such time they return.. not to mention the properties which sustained structural damages.

 

I would look to towards some Miami properties as alternatives.

[TrentS]

Yes, that list posted above was BEFORE the hurricane... I know for a fact that many of those hotels are closed, and the rest probably are too.

 

Most were not damaged, they just don't have any power and won't be able to reopen until they do. The water situation has largely been resolved, but you still can't drink it.

 

I would suggest you try Miami, as many downtown Miami and Miami Beach hotels are open.

 

If you don't need a room in the next few days though, keep checking with your hotel as they're working 24/7 to get power back and it's getting better every day.

[iv18-Diane]

Westin is close to FLL, And most have power there. Someone I know there never lost her power, so check that area for hotels

[TrentS]

That's Weston... Westin is a hotel ;)

 

And yes, much of Weston has power, but it's about the same distance from FLL as downtown Miami is... I would try EVERYWHERE at this point just to have a backup. I would think many of the hotels closer in will have power and reopen by Nov. 5th though. Most are not damaged, just waiting for power... Even if you find something that's far away, continue to try those closer as power is coming back all the time. I live in a highrise and have seen 2 neighborhoods come back just in the last couple of hours.

[lcruiser]

AlisonL,

 

As you noticed the list came from the Greater Fort Lauderdale website, which had a notice for all hotel managers to report on their condition. At the same token I noticed today that the list is no longer available through navigation of their web site (but still is through the direct link posted).

 

I hope you find one, best wishes.

 

Jorge

[Randy H]

We are also booked into the Holiday Inn Fr Lauderdale Beach (Nov 5)

 

Yesterday we were told by Holiday Inn’s national 800 number that the hotel would reopen today. (So far we have been unable to get the hotel directly as the phone lines are down (possibly literally)

 

I’m not sure if we are getting bad information, or if there is just too much confusion this close to the event. I suspect many of the local residents are more concerned about getting drinking water and ice and cleaning up debris to think about things which are a week away.

 

Being 3000 miles away, our only sources of local information have been local websites, many of which are off line. It appears that restoration of power (and with it water) may as much as three weeks away, but in many cases like this, the announced schedules are base on the “worst case” scenario, and as a result services are restored much sooner than promised.

 

The airport is already open, and it looks like the port reopens today.

 

One concern is that if we need to find a replacement room, is that it may be very difficult. Some hotels will be closed, and local residents who’s homes were damaged, and emergency workers will also need rooms.

 

Good luck, don’t panic.

 

 

Randy Hees

[Cruisin Kay D]

Suggest you try to get a back-up location, even if it means you have to rent a car & drive north above Palm Beach or south to Miami.....

[torpeedo]

We were speaking with the Hyatt Pier 66 manager yesterday. This hotel has been devastated by the hurricane and is closed. No power. Said it was as bad as Andrew. Don't know when they will open again because we didn't ask. The hotel is also under some huge rennovations which will probably not be completed until end of next year or longer. We were there in Sept and the place was like a war zone. The entire resort was completely torn up outside with bulldozers and backhoes working all day. Pool is being rennovated as well. They have closed the Pier Top Lounge and made it a banquet room.:mad: . Not very happy about that and have made this known. Would like the lounge to be open when there are no banquet's going on. Makes sense to me.

[ahoymatey3]

I was able to contact my hotel, Ocean Manor, yesterday. They said they just got power back. They believe they will be back in business by the time I get there (early Dec.) but to call in a couple weeks to make sure.

[TrentS]

We were speaking with the Hyatt Pier 66 manager yesterday. This hotel has been devastated by the hurricane and is closed. No power. Said it was as bad as Andrew. Don't know when they will open again because we didn't ask. The hotel is also under some huge rennovations which will probably not be completed until end of next year or longer. We were there in Sept and the place was like a war zone. The entire resort was completely torn up outside with bulldozers and backhoes working all day. Pool is being rennovated as well. They have closed the Pier Top Lounge and made it a banquet room.:mad: . Not very happy about that and have made this known. Would like the lounge to be open when there are no banquet's going on. Makes sense to me.

"DEVASTATED" is a rather strong word! Let's not overreact here, there was no real damage to the hotel, AND THEY ARE NOW OPEN, WITH POWER.

[Randyk47]

We've got nearly four months until our cruise so we're not particularly worried. Did do some research and found that Marriott, for instance, has a fairly significant run down on the status of their properties in the Maimi and Ft Lauderdale area. As of today (Friday, 28 Oct) most of them were still closed because of power and water outages. They mention damage though not specifically for each property.

[TrentS]

The water situation has been largely resolved, but power is still spotty. They're reopening as soon as they can. Some of the SE 17th Street hotels in Fort Lauderdale have reopened. But as I said, it's very spotty. Renaissance SE 17th Street is now open, but the Marina Marriott - a block away, hasn't.

 

Some with damage are open if they have power. In downtown Miami for example, the JW Marriott had some windows blown out, but they have power and are open.

[watchdiva]

Devastated is what my colleague from work is who has lost 90% of his home from Wilma - devastated is how many of us feel after waiting in lines for gas for 5 hours, only to be told they have run out.

 

Your choice of words has certainly struck the wrong cord with me today. I live in Coral Springs (one of the hardest hit parts of Broward County), have structural damage to my home, roof damage to my home, my pool enclosure has been destroyed and after 4-1/2 days have just had my power turned back on. My office in Boca Raton has been destroyed. There are people who won't get power back for days/weeks and are driving as far as Orlando just to bring back gas to run their house generators and fill their gas tanks - and you don't want to drive from Miami to FLL?

 

I haven't used the phrase "devastated" yet during this bad time so I find it offensive that you do.

 

Go ahead and flame me if you choose...............get a grip people!

[OrthoRN]

Devastated is what my colleague from work is who has lost 90% of his home from Wilma - devastated is how many of us feel after waiting in lines for gas for 5 hours, only to be told they have run out.

 

Your choice of words has certainly struck the wrong cord with me today. I live in Coral Springs (one of the hardest hit parts of Broward County), have structural damage to my home, roof damage to my home, my pool enclosure has been destroyed and after 4-1/2 days have just had my power turned back on. My office in Boca Raton has been destroyed. There are people who won't get power back for days/weeks and are driving as far as Orlando just to bring back gas to run their house generators and fill their gas tanks - and you don't want to drive from Miami to FLL?

 

I haven't used the phrase "devastated" yet during this bad time so I find it offensive that you do.

 

Go ahead and flame me if you choose...............get a grip people!

 

I think someone has already pointed out that devastated was the wrong word to use.... No need to turn this thread into one of many arguements....

 

 

I got an email from Comfort Inn on Commercial Blvd. And they said they had no damage, only minor inconviences such as no power or water.. :)

[Cruisin Kay D]

Pier 66: Sounds like a "self-imposed" devastation -- already in major renovations, so hurricane gives them an excuse to file an insurance claim to help with cost of renovations....... Don't think that's where one should stay!

 

As TrentS has said all week on various posts, the MAJOR PROBLEM WITH MOST CLOSED HOTELS IS LACK OF ELECTRICITY!! Here & there are other damage to hotels, such as windows broken & roof damage or trees blown over into side of building, etc.

[Oceanwench]

What about flying into PBI, staying up here and then driving to the port?

 

My younger daughter could not get out of PBI this week to fly back to Ohio, so she rented a car and drove to Orlando!

The airline was very accommodating in changing her flight and there was no charge.

 

Palm Beach County is about 75 percent without power, but it gets better north of the airport. PBI is open now.

 

Just a thought. It takes us about 1.5 hours to get to Port Everglades.

 

Watchdiva: So sorry to hear how badly you were hit. My older daughter in Pompano also was slammed. Still without power, phones, etc. Gasoline is availabl ein Stuart, if you can drive up north with a bunch of gas cans and fill everything up.