Casitas Coral Ridge — Hotel in Fort Lauderdale

Called a day ahead and spoke with owner Gary and booked a room for next two nights. I agreed to his price of $100 per night which included all taxes. I made the 4 1/2 hr drive there from St Augustine and he checked me in to Room 25. I'd given him my cc and car details when id called, and he charged me immediately. He'd walked me to room 25 and used his key to unlock door with his key, not the key hed given me. I started settling in after several short trips to my car to unload my goodies. (I was tired, stiff from driving, and walk with a cane so it took me a while.) Settled, i found the internet did not work and phoned but he did not answer. I texted Gary about internet and his response was not to contact his personal number, and that I could find another place to stay and hed give my $ back. Strange defensive response i thought ! I texted back no, Im in for the night, and suggested someone could fix it in the morning or could you move me to another room ? He texted for me to Leave. Upon making a trip to my car with a small bag i found i could not lock the room behind me ? The key hed left with me did not work. Gary leaves the premises at 5pm and doesnot open office again until 8:00am. and i absolutely needed to beable to lock my door and leave for my Drs appt before 7 am. I texted Garys number and asked for him to get me the key hed used to open room 25. He phoned me. Told me i dont need to lock the door. He told me again to just leave and hed refund my card. I reiterated that no, im tired and settled. He said leave. I reminded him why I needed the room for 2 nights in the first place. I don't drive after dark. My appt is with rye doctor. I need my rest. Gary then texted me he had called the police i must leave. Yup, he had called the Police who had apparently been called many times before by Gary. Gary had made no attempt to meet his contractual obligations, nor did he speak or text me again. I was fully traumatized and 2 officers of BSO, Nune and another wrote a report, watched me struggle to get car packed up again and were condesending. Acting like Garys personal security henchmen, not public servants. I record my interactions always. The officers had body cams. I was put out with bso aware i did not want to drive in car yet they did not one thing for me. I had a contract. Id paid in full. Id did nothing wrong at all. And i got to the ER around midnight I have since spent 2 hours reading Google reviews of the Casitas and sure enough, Gary does this to people ! What will happen next is he will respond to this poor review by creating some negative event and he will make a demeaning comment here to blame me. He has done exactly that with every single review which has a criticism. I hadn't even made a criticism, id simply reported internet needed attention and i needed to beable to lock my door to secure my property inside the next morning Gary and the BSO have twisted ideas about hospitality industry 6 days since i booked and my cc has not been repaid by Gary still. Beware. I will never book anywhere other than a reputable national hotel chain again Now, one week later and after seeing Owner Garys written public response to the above review, and, after my credit card has still not been re-credited as promised, Gary has been texted the following :

Gary/Casitas, I am here writing in good faith  notice to  return $201.17 to Susan R Hodd Chase Visa card by close of business today 1/11/24 .  Failure to do so will trigger action and additional monies tbd by third parties. Also by midnight today, have removed your Owner Response from Google review in full.  As is, your published comment is provably false, and defamatory, and actively harmful to me as long as it is up for public search and view. Your prompt actions today  will go far to repair your standing and forestall legal remedies i am afforded .  No attempts by you to mitigate our future losses will only further burden us both. I reserve my right to address Casitas reckless and endangering...

Your stay will be fine as long as you don't have any run ins with the the male Karen who manages the property! The rooms were remodeled and updated but the a/c window units were extremely loud and you had to turn the up the volume very high in order to hear them. The shower curtains weren't long eb enough to contain water in the basin and thr bathroom floors got very wet. Also, the manager was very rude while we were in the pool area which happens to be in in the backyard of his unit apparently! The pool is outside and across the street from the main units and my 8 year old was being to loud fo his liking.. we were told very rudely to "keep the noise down....you are not the only ones here!" Which was fine but the next day when we arrived back at the hotel and the kids wanted to swim so we told them go ahead we will be along in a minute.. not even a minute after thr kids had gotten in the manager pulled them out and walked them back across thr street to confront my wife who was finishing up a cigarette (there is no smoking in thr pool area) he approached her in a manner alarming stating that minor kids are not to be at the pool unaccompanied by an adult. She, very politely, told him she understood but his demeanor was not informative. He continued to explain the rules and was told again we understood. Since he was not getting the respect he felt he deserved he told my wife he didn't like her attitude. To which she replied "I don't like yours either!" Which triggered the man so much he called the cops. He told them he had a rude Tennant and they proceeded to do NOTHING! Walking away my wife assumed thr confrontation was over but then a man I which I assume was his boyfriend came over and again explainedthe rule on kids....which by the way is not posted anywhere in the pool area!! My wife again said "OK! "and the man got upset and sad they had been watching us the day before and he even made the binocular sign with his hands! He said we were in thr pool after hours and that they had bent the rules for us as if it was an inconvenience. Mind you, when we left the pool there were three other guests who had shown up while we were there and remained after we had left. So if that was an issue why not bring that up with those guests as well. I found it very alarming that this person, who ended up being the manager's boyfriend, would come over to handle a situation if he is not even a hotel employee? So as he walks away upset as well, my 8 year old told my wife "So can we go swimming?" To which the boyfriend yelled back across the street "The pool is closed!" My wife yelled back"excuse me sir I am having a conversation with my son!!" So as I said as long as you do not have any run ins with the management you should be fine but we will never stay here again! And just for verification for our own personal theory, we asked around and the local opinion on the manger he was a...

(Let me preface this review by saying I am EXTREMELY picky about hotels. I literally look at hotel pics to see if the comforter on the bed is white, looks soft, and whether it is a duvet cover😅. I am usually a Marriott or Hampton Inn girl depending on the pics.) Anywho I am reviewing it not in comparison to the large chains, but in comparison to what I'd expect to receive at this price. (I would not expect anything this nice)

I flew in to FT. Lauderdale for a quick two day visit. The purpose of my trip was a medical procedure and my adviser, Dave, recommended this place. I was a little uncertain but went with his recommendation because of the location, the fact that my stay would be short, and the fact I could walk to my procedure. I do NOT regret my decision.

Prior to my arrival Gary, the owner, reached out to me to confirm my reservation and inquire about when I would arrive since office hours are limited. He explained after hours check-in and let me know I could reach out to him with any questions. The check-in and check-out processes were VERY smooth. Both my check in and check out were after hours. (I arrived around 7pm and I checked out at 6AM two days later to ensure I made my flight. The evening I checked in I was a little flustered. I ran into a really helpful lady named Leslie who pointed me to my room and brought me some bottled water. She seemed to be a regular at the property and was super sweet. I formally checked in the morning after my arrival and Gary gave me a tour and some great recommendations. The pool is a quick couple of steps across the street and looked really clean and refreshing.

The hotel unit was decent. It felt like an airbnb rather than a hotel room. The room was very clean which I appreciated. Overall, I had no problems with my stay and the property is in a great location. I walked to breakfast and the shopping center. (Target is my fave store) The price of the unit was extremely affordable and way less than I'd usually spend.

The customer service I experienced was excellent. Gary even made sure I had ice for after my procedure. I would definitely stay here again but I would request a different unit and padding for the bed. (I think I'd see if I could get unit 20. I peeked through the window while walking past and it looked super cozy and beautiful.😅)

Thank you for the...