First, let me say that Trip Advisory is a great tool! I read many reviews about this hotel and some were good and some were bad. I was willing to try the hotel anyway, because everyone has different opinions about what's acceptable. Let me start out by saying that this hotel wasn't run down as others had stated. The hallways were not that great, but we had a nice room (148) that was clean and ready for check-in at 11:00 am. The staff was very friendly, unlike what some customers were stating in reviews. The hotel has lots of ammenities..i.e. pool, spa, fitness room, resturarant, tiki bar, hammocks, wireless internet & free computer station w/printer for public use. We understood that this was not a 5* hotel and thus would have some problems. 1st night was good, 2nd night we saw a waterbug! No, big deal..this is FL. 3rd day we saw small bugs on the dresser by the coffee maker..again, we could deal w/this because it was only in 1spot. By the 4th day, we saw a ROACH! At that time 2:30 am, I booked another hotel room w/Comfort Inn around the corner and checked out that morning. So buyers be aware that this hotel, does not look bad, and has lots of conveniences but does have some issues with bugs. They only really need to get on a regular extermination schedule and this would be a good inexpensive hotel for travelors. If you only need a room for 2 days or so, then you probably could deal with this hotel (we only paid $44.10 + 10 extra for microwave&refrigerator). Otherwise, I would not book it. I will have a follow-up to my stay in Fort Lauderdale Comfort Inn on Commercial Blvd, posted next, so please look for that rating as well.

We stayed at this motel because of a timeshare deal. It was put on by RCI. I traveled with my son and his girlfriend (23). I read the review on this place before I arrived and didn't like it. When we arrived, I didn't like it. The kids said we were only there to sleep. It did smell and was in a bad location. There was mold on the bathroom floor, 3 cable channels. It looked very full with alot of cars in the lot. We slept there the first night. The next day was full with activities so we arrived back late around 10:15. As we were getting ready to take showers, my son noticed a cockroach in his suitcase. We found 3 more and decided to talk to management. They told us it was not common to find cock roaches in their establishment. They would have our room sprayed. I said no. They would give us another room. I said no. I finally got a phone # for another motel next door but decided because they were in the same location, they would have the same cockroaches. We picked up and left at 10:30 P.M. and found a hotel on the beach in a real nice location. I will be contacting the headquarters for the timeshare to let them know what kind of place this is. I would not recomend it.

This is what you now get when you go to Priceline, ask for a one or two-star in the west Ft. Lauderdale area, and don't offer too much. It's not as good as some hotels Pricwlinw has provided in the past, but it's not all that bad. Desk staff can be slow and seem a bit overworked, everything is a bit worn although there's a lot of reltatively fresh paint and some new things (such as my room heating/cooling unit). Elevators can act funny, sometimes not stopping at your floor on the way up, though they do on the way down. Hallways a tad worn and stuffy, but my room seemed clean, didn't stink, and didn't have anything broken. Dinner buffet was cheap, palatable if not exemplary food. parking a bit tight but it was Memorial Day weekend. If you can't get this for under $40 offer on priceline (plus the usual taxes and fees) you perhaps should look elsewhere, but it's nowhere near as bad as some reviewers here and elsewhere have suggested. The Ft. Lauderdale area isn't cheap even in the off-season, and like it or not, this is probably the best you can do on the cheap.

Buyer beware: That's the main point I have to get across by writing this review. Please believe me when I tell you that Fort Lauderdale, especially in the summertime, offers so many more reasonably priced and nice hotels than this smelly, old place in the middle of a less-than-average part of town. The hotel claims that it is only ten minutes to the beach, but only if you miss every traffic light - so count on 20 - 25 minutes. Shopping is great (please note the sarcasm here) if pawn is your thing. Otherwise, all the area can boast is a Wal-Mart and an I-Hop and several dollar stores. The hallways are well air conditioned, but not enough to mask the foul smell up and down the corridors. The room itself did not smell bad, however, I cannot vouch for how many years ago the carpets might have actually been shampooed or replaced. On top of this, not a single crust of bread is included in the price of the hotel or any package you might buy, and dinner amounted to something straight out of Chef Boyardee's kitchen - when was the last time a hotel boasted a salisbury steak meal as its highlight??? My family and I prepaid our vacation and still checked out after staying only one night on what could be construed as the most rock hard, cheap mattress ever. Oh, and our view? A lovely, spot-lit, parking lot and the tennis courts - overgrown with cracks and weeds. Good luck on that tennis game. I would not let my children swim in the pool.

The penultimate in insults came, however, after we flew from California to Ft. Lauderdale for almost an entire day and had to listen to a very bitter man try to convince us that we wanted to spend our next morning at a "much nicer hotel on the beach" where we would spend a mere one and a half hours listening to how great their vacation resorts were. Please! The "Welcome Center" which has nothing to do with the Florida Board of Tourism or the State of Florida and is merely managed by the Ramada "resort" itself, smelled dreadfully of mold and mildewy carpet. This horrible, one night experience was enough to make me never stay in any other Ramada on the planet. Do not buy into this promotion, do not go on this vacation package. You can get a much better vacation by going directly through a travel agency or your Automobile Club membership. I found another hotel, 100 YARDS from the beach with a free complete breakfast, clean pool and normal smelling areas for just $11 more per night than the Ramada Plaza Resort. Go somewhere else. Stay somewhere else. If you're going to spend the money on a vacation, get one you'll remember fondly, not with anger and frustration. Had we not left that hotel, I know it would have been the worst vacation I could ever take.