Wyndham Garden Ft Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port — Hotel in Dania Beach

We went on our first cruise and traveled from Pittsburgh. It was recommended to us to fly in to wherever your ship leaves from a day ahead just in case your flight would get delayed or canceled so you don’t miss your cruise. I chose this particular motel because (1) I have a Wyndham account and had enough points for a free night, and (2) it is close to the port where the ships leave.

The motel is perfectly located, both to the airport and the port. All motel staff were friendly and helpful. Our room was clean, bed was comfortable and there is a restaurant on the first floor to grab dinner or breakfast. The meals weren’t free but they were very good! We ate dinner there. We were able to check in early which we appreciated because our flight landed at 11am. This is not always guaranteed depending on how busy they are, but it was nice that they are able to do it when they can.

The only negative things here were (1) the free shuttle service from the airport to the motel and (2) the shuttle from the motel to the port. After arriving at the airport and getting our luggage we called the shuttle driver who told us where we should wait. There are designated areas in front of the airport where all of the hotel/motel shuttles pick people up as well as taxis, private companies and ride shares. After waiting for an hour and watching other peoples’ hotel/motel shuttles pick people up, sometimes seeing the same shuttles twice, we decided to get an Uber. The Uber arrived with 5 min. Traffic was horrendous the day we were there, but even with that, one would think that one would be able to get the shuttle within that time. And my boyfriend has mobility issues so having to wait for that long of a time was stressful.

With regards to the shuttle that takes you to the ship port, they push that when you check in. If you don’t know anything about the area, which most people don’t, you’ll think it’s great to sign up there and get the shuttle they offer. They have a tablet right in the lobby to sign up for it. We were going to do that. That was until I saw it was $16.99 per person. That would be $34 for both of us. It’s not a lot I know. But I was able to order an Uber, it came in a few minutes, and even with the tip it was $25. And, it was just us. When we went outside to get wait for our Uber, the lobby was PACKED with people waiting for the shuttle. I’ll take an Uber any time rather than have to deal with that.

Overall, I highly recommend this motel. Just be aware of the...

This is the first time I have ever left a negative review on a hotel stay, but we were extremely dissatisfied with our stay at Windham Garden FLL.

Our reservation was for 4 and there were only 2 towels in our room which is not a big deal, but an inconvenience. The lobby actually smelled very nice, but we quickly discovered that was likely to mask the smell of the rest of the hotel which was filled with mold and mildew odors.

We tried to eat in the hotel lobby restaurant (bar/cafe/grill). My daughter ordered the cheese platter and was served rancid cheese. The smell was putrid and smelled like a dead body. It was so bad that I asked the bartender to smell it. He was our waiter and server that night because he said "The real server did not show up." He went on to say, "But I'm used to it." He was as disgusted as we were by the smell of the cheese on my daughter's plate. He immediately took the entire platter away and back to the kitchen. He came out much later (we waited almost 2 hours to be served) and said "The 'chef' says it's supposed to smell like that." We were not approached by the chef or a manager or anyone. The meal cost $127.00 (for 4) and none of us ate our food because it was gross.

After "dinner" my daughter was not feeling well (she had taken a bite of the cheese before she realized it was spoiled) so she decided to take a shower. The water was YELLOW. Not faint yellow, but distinctly yellow. I went to the front desk and had to wait for almost a full 7 - 8 minutes for the young man at the front desk to stop scrolling on his cell phone before he even looked up and noticed me standing there. I asked about the water and he said "Don't worry, it's because it's 'natural' water." That's why it's yellow, but be sure you don't drink it." I said, "So we shouldn't drink it, but it's okay to shower in it and brush our teeth with it?" He replies "I guess so with a shrug. I can pull up some Google articles that talks about how bad our water is if you'd like."

I would NOT recommend your hotel to anyone until you make some significant changes to the way you do business or at the very least train...

I’m a fema victim who stayed at this hotel for a month and a half. The staff was great and our stay was awesome until yesterday December 13th. This is the day the hotel manager angel decided he had enough of us being here. I always got the feeling he never wanted us at this hotel to begin with. He comes off as a person who looks down on people. ( which I don’t understand why because me and my family staying here didn’t affect his pay check in any way.) December 13th he called my hotel room and said that I need to pay $200 for incidental insurance or I would have to leave the hotel immediately. ( this is his new policy he created!!! No we didn’t mess up the room nor is this a charge for a hotel purchase.)This was very odd because for one we had been here all this time and the staff never said anything and I only had to pay $50 in the beginning. I even had to renew my stay twice and was never asked to pay money other than that one time. When I went down stairs to explain to him that my car had literally been stolen few hours prior to him telling me this so I didn’t have my debit card on me to give him the money. He then proceeded to tell me that I needed to leave. About 5 minutes later he came back to me and told me that I can stay until the morning so I can sort out where I will go if I can’t get the money to him. I was able to find another fema hotel but the room wouldn’t be available until the following day (Sunday) so I called him this morning and told him the situation and asked if we could stay until the morning (please keep in mind that fema is paying for the hotel.) Angel had the audacity to lie and say that all the rooms were booked out so we had to go. Me and my family are now sitting outside of the hotel with our cats with no place to go until tomorrow. I checked all the sites and Wyndham garden has quit a bit of rooms available today and in the future. Hate is real!! And Angel definitely hated that me and my kids were blessed to stay at such a nice hotel without paying. It’s all good god sees all and this guy will definitely reap what he sowed....