MOTEL 6 - FORT LAUDERDALE - A Negative Review Of Our Worst Lodging Experience Ever
Written: Feb 17 '06 (Updated Feb 27 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Close to the airport.
Cons: Rude staff... crime-ridden area... poorly maintained... tiny, dirty room... no hot water... and more.
The Bottom Line: This was by far my worst lodging experience in my life to date. I can think of no reason to recommend this place to any type of traveler.
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| radioroger's Full Review: Motel 6 Ft Lauderdale |
My previous Motel 6 experiences have delivered a clean, comfortable and inexpensive room as promised. However, my most recent experience has completely destroyed my faith in the Motel 6 brand. Problems at this location include rude incompetent staff, no parking, tiny dirty rooms, no hot water and crime.
As a semi-regular traveler, I have stayed at approximately 50 hotels / motels in the past several years. When we are just looking for a place to sleep for just one night, Super 8, Travelodge and Motel 6 have always been reliable places to lay our heads for the night, Motel 6 in particular. Before Ft. Lauderdale, I had stayed at about six or eight Motel 6 locations. All but one had been very positive... and the other was just mediocre. My most recent Motel 6 visit in Ft. Lauderdale was disturbing and completely unacceptable... and very much out of character with what I had come to expect from Motel 6. Negative reviews are not my norm. I would rather use my energy to share my positive experiences and hopefully inspire others to visit some of the same places. However, this Motel 6 experience was sufficiently awful to precipitate a complaint letter to Accor Hotels... so I have sufficient raw material for this review, and I feel compelled to attempt to dissuade my fellow travelers from staying there.
Traveling with my two teenage daughters, our flight landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the night of February 2, 2006. We needed a place to sleep before continuing on to our Key West destination. Since Motel 6 facilities had previously been adequate for these needs, I had chosen Motel 6 #0055 due to its proximity to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. It's located on Route 86, near the intersection if (I-77 and S.R. 86, Exit 25). The motel is large for a Motel 6. It has two floors, interior corridors and a pool. I made online reservations for a standard room with two full size beds at the rate of $77.69 ($69.99 + 11% tax). Here is a summary of the difficulties and unacceptable conditions we encountered:
RUDE FRONT DESK STAFF - The front desk was unmanned when we arrived at about 10PM. I heard loud conversation coming from the room behind the front desk. To get the attention of the invisible staff, I hollered, "Hello?". A few moments later, the staffer(s) moseyed their way out of the back room while continuing their conversation. I'm still not sure if both were staffers. One of the ladies leisurely approached the counter. Her attitude and body language indicated that she considered me an interruption. While I was checking in, another guest came in and said he "needed a key". The staffer rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. There was also a man with a screaming child seated in the small lobby. He had no luggage and did not appear to be checking in. Perhaps he was visiting with the staff.
INCORRECT ROOM TYPE - Despite reserving and confirming a room with two beds, we were given a tiny room with a single bed. My oldest daughter slept on the floor.
INADEQUATE PARKING - I made three laps around the building and there was no parking available except for four handicapped spots. I finally asked the security man where to park. The seemingly unconcerned man told me to go ahead and park in a handicapped space. I did so, but I was uncomfortable with this idea as I feared being towed, ticketed or vandalized by someone who didn't appreciate me being undeservedly parked in a handicapped spot. I kept an open eye and moved my car later when a regular space became available.
SECURITY / CRIME - There was a security guard posted at the motel entrance. My children stayed in the car while I checked in. The guard stepped inside for about two minutes while I was checking in. When I returned to the car, my kids told me there were two young men going from car to car checking for unlocked doors during that brief time. I was subsequently concerned about theft or vandalism to my rental car.
POOR ROOM - The room was the tiniest room I had ever stayed in (including other Motel 6 and cheap hotels / motels). I estimate that it was about 8' X 10' plus the passageway with the bathroom off of it. The only furniture was a tiny desk and chair and a second chair by the bed. There were no bedside tables. The second chair served as a stand for the phone. The door frame was damaged and cracked. The metal piece where the deadbolt penetrates was in particularly bad condition. It appeared as though the door had been kicked in or forcibly entered, then sloppily repaired.
EXTREMELY POOR BATHROOM - The bathroom had only a toilet and sink with no room to place toiletries. It had no bathtub or shower stall. There was only a shower head and support bar mounted into the wall. There was no partition on the floor between the "shower" and the rest of the bathroom. I had to place two towels on the floor to dam the shower water from flowing under the toilet and sink.
NO HOT WATER - The sink and shower had no hot water in the evening nor in the morning. I had been up since early AM and I was smelling pretty ripe. I took a brief frigid "George Carlin" shower. Even the COLD water came out in just a trikle. My kids did not bathe at all. (Note: In one of his comedy routines, George Carlin identifies a few small but essential areas of the body that must be washed and rinsed during a brief shower.).
CLEANLINESS - The bathroom floor had a great deal of very visible dirt between the tiles and a considerable amount of grime on the tile. The dark color of the carpet and bedding did not show any visible dirt. However, if the housekeepers had a similar attitude as the front desk person... and if they gave the same attention to the bedding as the bathroom floor... it is likely that we slept in many previous guests' filth.
HIGH COST - At $70 plus tax, this was by far the most I have ever paid for a Motel 6 room. I had expected at least an average level of quality for this price.
In the morning, I was relieved to discover that my rental car had not been stolen nor damaged. I did some parking lot reconnaissance... then we packed up and left after a most unpleasant experience.
In hindsight, it would have been best to ask for a refund and seek lodging elsewhere, but our flight arrived very late and our schedule required that we leave early the next morning. Furthermore, I had no way of knowing that the problems would continue to escalate during our brief stay. It was also likely that we would be hassled by the surly front desk staffer. As indicated by the lack of parking, this place was doing a brisk business on this February day. But this Motel 6 is unquestionably an unfriendly, poorly-maintained, run-down fleabag in a crime-infested area. I am typically quite patient and accepting when I encounter one or maybe two of the aforementioned issues (except for the rudeness) and chalk it up to circumstances. But for all of this to happen during the same one-night stay... combined with the staffer's attitude... indicates to me that this was a typical day for this establishment. Maybe this is a particularly rough part of Ft. Lauderdale. Maybe even cheap hotels are expensive here. Whatever the reasons this motel is so poorly operated and maintained, this experience has tainted my previous image of the Motel 6 brand. The room was not clean... certainly not comfortable... and at $70 + taxes for one night, It was definitely not cheap. I will no longer feel comfortable making reservations at an unfamiliar Motel 6 and I cannot recommend that anyone else do the same.
UPDATE 2/27/06 - I have received a letter from Dave Redmond, Director of Guest Relations of the Economy Lodging Division of Accor Hotels. The letter was professional, apologetic and had a sincere tone. They promised a full refund for my one-night stay. They also promised to forward my complaints to their regional manager. Although I'm sure that Accor must regularly deal with customer complaints, the letter did not appear to be a form letter... as it addressed some of the specific details contained in my complaint letter. Since my money has been refunded and my complaint has been professionally addressed, I am satisfied as to the resolution of this matter. However, I still maintain that there were too many problems to consider this an isolated incident at this particular Motel 6. I cannot recommend that anyone stay at the Ft. Lauderdale Motel 6 under any circumstances. The vibe I got that night was that it was simply "business as usual". It's going to take much much more than just one letter from one disgruntled guest to correct all of their problems. Furthermore, it will take extraordinary circumstances for me to consider staying at another Motel 6.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
radioroger
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Location: Rural Ohio
Reviews written: 46
Trusted by: 32 members
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