Santamaria Fort Lauderdale Airport

The listing called my 8x8 room a deluxe double, which left me feeling misled. It had a full-size bed, a chair, and a small table, with linen and towels supplied. The house has nine bedrooms this size, but only two bathrooms for everyone to share. Guests also share the full kitchen and the living room sofa. The house and our room looked and smelled clean, and the bathroom was clean too. But the listing on hotel.com should clearly say that the bathrooms, kitchen, and living room are shared. It also says daily cleaning is provided, though I don’t think it happened during our three-day stay. The bathroom bin was full the whole time. The walls are thin, and some guests got up earlier than me and were loud, without keeping their voices down. The person handling bookings first said there was no on-site parking, then later said it cost $12 per day, which was confusing. It wasn’t a bad stay, but I wish I’d known about the shared spaces. The ad should be more transparent, though maybe I missed the details.

The main problem was the noise. The walls and doors barely kept it out, and the doors and latches didn’t feel secure. It was cheap, which is about the best thing I can say. Getting anywhere took a 20-minute walk across a four-lane road. I don’t remember the listing mentioning shared bathrooms, the outlet by the bed didn’t work, and the TV had no remote. My wife downloaded the phone app “firestock tv” so we could use it, though it was limited.

The room was clean, but small and uncomfortable. The beds were twins, not queens as described on booking, and the rooms are small enough that you can hear everything around you. We were there over the weekend, so you can guess what we heard. One night there was no hot water for my wife’s shower.

This is a room in a house, not a hotel, and the neighborhood felt sketchy and unsafe. The listing on booking.com took payment, but when we arrived they refused to reimburse us and told us to contact booking.com. Booking.com then told us to contact them. Do yourself a favor and run. This feels like a scam, so don’t book with them.