Any thoughts on hotel for 10/28?? Trent? Bequia?

[nfaith99]

Renaissance Plantation is closed. Obviously, our first consideration is getting there but if we do... is anything open? We are willing to travel and price is a secondary consideration. I know you have not seen everything but do you know of any open hotels??

[TrentS]

I don't know of any that are open in Fort Lauderdale TODAY, but that's changing constantly as they get power back. Most are not damaged, they just don't have power and water. The water problem has been largely resolved, but I can't tell you when any of them will have power. I'm sorry, I really don't know what to tell you other than to keep checking with all of them.

 

The downtown Miami and Miami Beach hotels though are for the most part open if you don't mind driving down there and back. That's probably your best bet. Much of Fort Lauderdale is still without power, but they said on the local news that 85% of the Miami-Dade hotels are open.

[jen2681]

Thanks for all of the local reports, Trent! I've been on the Sun Sentinel website checking out the resident photos & the damage is just unbelievable.

 

I've spent the last 2 days trying to find a hotel for 10/29 for 14 of us going on the Valor on 10/30 (the condo where we were staying in is closed indefinitely). The Comfort Suites Cruiseport/Fll had rooms for $249-279, but still no power. The Comfort Inn on Stirling had an internet users rate (book online only) of $102, so we booked that. The hotel still doesn't have power, but they do have a generator with limited power & water (not yet safe to drink, but bathrooms work). I tried to get into Miami, but couldn't find enough rooms in one hotel and the prices were well over $200 - that was without power. The Wyndam in Fort Lauderdale also has availabilty for 10/28 & 10/29 for $119, but the power/elevators aren't working and I couldn't imagine lugging all that cruise luggage upstairs! Might switch to that one, though, if power is restored - not great reports on tripadvisor about the Stirling Comfort Suites. But, at this point it was all I could find. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

Also, Trent, have you noticed how cabs/shuttles are running with the gas shortage? Do you think we're going to have problems getting from Fll to port of Miami on Sunday?

 

Thanks!

Jen

[TrentS]

Well I've seen some cabs driving around, and several sitting in gas lines. I haven't seen any shuttles, but FLL has been closed. It reopens tomorrow with limited flights, but I don't know what the shuttle situation will be. There's plenty of gas, but without power no way to pump it, and the few stations open have insanely long lines.

 

I would reserve a rental car, they have their own gas pumps so you should be able to get one that's full, and then pay their rate to fill it up when you return it.

[sueandkent]

Any word Trent on Port Everglades? There have been posts on here saying it wouldn't be open until Nov 4 and others saying open this weekend.

FYI - I talked to Extended StayAmerica's main 1 800 # today and they said they have no contact with the hotel however to their knowledge they only have power and water issues. They couldn't give me a date for restoration but did warn me that they would not be open to customers until power and water were available or a generator was moved into the hotel. She also told me the boat show had been cancelled altogether (not sure if this is true or not).

We're there on the 5th and hope that the hotel will be operational by that date.

Trent - we have the Bahia Mar booked for Nov. 13 post-cruise. Was booked through Priceline. Any suggestions on how to proceed with this or who to contact. This was my first experience with Priceline and now I'm a little lost on how to get my money back if the hotel is not able to fufill our reservation.

Thanks for all the great help and info from FLL. We've never been before and I've learned so much reading this board. Our hearts go out to all those affected by the nasty Wilma.

Sue

[ibcruzin2]

I checked Priceline's website and they have a link which provides info for anyone with travel reservations (airline, hotel) that are affected by the Hurricane. They mention to call their Customer Service #.

[TrentS]

Yeah, contact Priceline in regards to Bahia Mar, but they may be open by then. I don't think anyone really knows at this point. It's sometimes amazing how fast repairs are made once they get started.

 

Port Everglades reopens today, as does FLL, albeit for a limited number of flights... http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-ctransportation27oct27,0,7515255.story

 

The boat show has not been cancelled, just delayed a week and shortened. It will open November 3rd and close November 6th... http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zboatshow26oct26,0,3849715.story

 

Extended Stay America is undamaged, just waiting on power to come back. The water issues have been largely resolved, you can't drink it yet, but it's back. The utility crews are working 24/7 and I've seen 2 new areas come back just in the last couple of hours from my condo. I can't imagine it will be too much longer before those hotels are back up, but I just don't know when.

[sueandkent]

Thanks for the help.

Sue

[sueandkent]

Thanks for the help.

Sue