Disappointed with Palm Aire

[lotus921v]

Booked the Areca building on the recommendation of others. Was informed via text that I would be in the fountain/sabal building. I called and spoke to the front desk to make sure that at the very least I would be in an updated room with a view. I don’t like being difficult. The guy assured me he put notes on my account.

When we checked in it later in the evening appeared the guy was having difficulty finding a room for us at all and we got put in the Royal Palm. It’s a nice sized room but that’s prob the only nice thing I can say about it. The hallways smell, the building doesn’t look well maintained, the showers have soap scum all in it, and my view overlooks a parking lot. My husband hates it here.

Our style of vacation is not to explore, but to relax in a nice room and have convenient swimming for our young children.

There’s no way I’m staying til Saturday. I’ll prob check out tomorrow. It has all the ambience of a motel 6 and I’m just uncomfortable here.

Just a total disappointment and a shame

 

[Roger830]

Booked the Areca building on the recommendation of others. Was informed via text that I would be in the fountain/sabal building. I called and spoke to the front desk to make sure that at the very least I would be in an updated room with a view. I don’t like being difficult. The guy assured me he put notes on my account.

When we checked in it later in the evening appeared the guy was having difficulty finding a room for us at all and we got put in the Royal Palm. It’s a nice sized room but that’s prob the only nice thing I can say about it. The hallways smell, the building doesn’t look well maintained, the showers have soap scum all in it, and my view overlooks a parking lot. My husband hates it here.

Our style of vacation is not to explore, but to relax in a nice room and have convenient swimming for our young children.

There’s no way I’m staying til Saturday. I’ll prob check out tomorrow. It has all the ambience of a motel 6 and I’m just uncomfortable here.

Just a total disappointment and a shame

That's sad to hear.

Did you book recently with a discount?

 

[dioxide45]

Why not ask for a room move?

 

[Sandy VDH]

What did you actually book? The Areca, Fountain and Sabel Palm buildings are actually a different point value then the other older buildings Palm and Queeen.

Fountain and Palm only have 2 BR D, 2 BR Pres, and 4 BR Pres.

Check what you paid in points, and see what building you were booking into. If you were booked into the lower point units, you will be hard pressed to support a reason to be changed. However if you booked the higher point units, then you should have grounds to be moved.

So What did you Book? If indeed you booked the Areca then complain and get your points back or ask them to move you to what you did indeed book.

 

[tschwa2]

Palm Aire has a bad reputation for overbooking during snowbird season in the nicer buildings and moving people to buildings that they did not book.

 

[Jan M.]

Palm-Aire has a history of putting owners wherever is easiest at the moment for them regardless of what the owner booked. And you'll always get told it's the only unit available. Sure, it is. Not! Yes this is a busy time but someone else got put in a unit in Areca Palms building and it wasn't you who actually booked it.

Go back down to the check in and tell them your unit is unacceptable. It's dirty, stinks and isn't what you booked. Areca Palms building is more points to book than Royal Palms building. If they were going to put you in Fountain or Sabol Palm buildings those buildings only have two bedroom units not two bedroom deluxe. However Fountain or Sabol Palm buildings would be an acceptable substitute.

Be nice when you go down and tell them they can move you tomorrow but make sure they let you stay in the unit you're in until the new unit is ready. The manager should do something for you for your inconvenience. You'll probably have to ask but if they won't then you should contact Owner Care.

 

[lotus921v]

That's sad to hear.

Did you book recently with a discount?

Nope. Well in advance and chose the Areca as it was recommended and cost the most points for a 2br hoping for a nice place

 

[lotus921v]

What did you actually book? The Areca, Fountain and Sabel Palm buildings are actually a different point value then the other older buildings Palm and Queeen.

Fountain and Palm only have 2 BR D, 2 BR Pres, and 4 BR Pres.

Check what you paid in points, and see what building you were booking into. If you were booked into the lower point units, you will be hard pressed to support a reason to be changed. However if you booked the higher point units, then you should have grounds to be moved.

So What did you Book? If indeed you booked the Areca then complain and get your points back or ask them to move you to what you did indeed book.

I absolutely booked the Areca. The points charged also match the chart

 

[jwalk03]

I absolutely booked the Areca. The points charged also match the chart

Then you should absolutely go back to the desk and demand (nicely) to be given the unit you paid for. Or to have all your points refunded.

 

[dioxide45]

Then you should absolutely go back to the desk and demand (nicely)

Heck no! Need to go all "karen" on them...

 

[troy12n]

Just be grateful they didn't put you in Queen Palm, i've never stayed in there, but from the outside it looks like section 8 housing projects. Supposedly the units are recently renovated and nice inside, but it's a dump from the outside, so NO for me.

Royal Palm also really looks dated from the outside, but not as bad as Queen Palm.

 

[troy12n]

Just be grateful they didn't put you in Queen Palm, i've never stayed in there, but from the outside it looks like section 8 housing projects. Supposedly the units are recently renovated and nice inside, but it's a dump from the outside, so NO for me.

Royal Palm also really looks dated from the outside, but not as bad as Queen Palm.

 

[lotus921v]

Just be grateful they didn't put you in Queen Palm, i've never stayed in there, but from the outside it looks like section 8 housing projects. Supposedly the units are recently renovated and nice inside, but it's a dump from the outside, so NO for me.

Royal Palm also really looks dated from the outside, but not as bad as Queen Palm.

YIKES.

We checked out. Waiting on a call from a manager. Also been on hold with owner services for 28 minutes so far

 

[lotus921v]

Hung up at an hour and ten minutes, I couldn’t listen to the hold music any more

 

[cbyrne1174]

Hung up at an hour and ten minutes, I couldn’t listen to the hold music any more

I always travel this week because of the school schedule and have stayed in the Royal Palm building during this week. I felt like I got high off the fumes in the hallway and the beaches were still too cold for Floridians. I decided to do New Orleans this week and had a much better spring break experience. I will probably come back here during the break again soon. I have an 8 year old and I would say 7+ is perfect for NOLA. I wouldn't bring a non school aged kid though. We are at La Belle at the moment. Everything is walkable or a simple trolly ride. The weather is the similar to FL and as long as you get back to the resort by 6pm, it's family friendly as well. You should look into seeing what the drive time is for you. You can often get Panama City Beach discounted this week as well on your drive to/from NOLA. I got PCB 50% off on resale points on my way back home.

 

[lotus921v]

I always travel this week because of the school schedule and have stayed in the Royal Palm building during this week. I felt like I got high off the fumes in the hallway and the beaches were still too cold for Floridians. I decided to do New Orleans this week and had a much better spring break experience. I will probably come back here during the break again soon. I have an 8 year old and I would say 7+ is perfect for NOLA. I wouldn't bring a non school aged kid though. We are at La Belle at the moment. Everything is walkable or a simple trolly ride. The weather is the similar to FL and as long as you get back to the resort by 6pm, it's family friendly as well. You should look into seeing what the drive time is for you. You can often get Panama City Beach discounted this week as well on your drive to/from NOLA. I got PCB 50% off on resale points on my way back home.

I have an almost 4 and 7yo so am also strapped to the school schedule. That’s a great tip!

Thank you my dear guru!

 

[cbyrne1174]

I have an almost 4 and 7yo so am also strapped to the school schedule. That’s a great tip!

Thank you my dear guru!

I wouldn't bring a 4 year old to NOLA myself. The issue I'd have is that they don't have self awareness about watching for cars and 100% of the things to do require you to walk along and cross canal street. They have a full day of kids stuff at city park and a zoo. My 8 yo found the national WW2 museum boring though. There's also Mardi Gras World, French market, shops on Royal Street and ghost tours. I had a much better spring break than any of my Florida trips. I usually did Orlando, Daytona or Pompano. Orlando is too crowded and Daytona is still too cold.

 

[paxsarah]

I always travel this week because of the school schedule and have stayed in the Royal Palm building during this week. I felt like I got high off the fumes in the hallway and the beaches were still too cold for Floridians. I decided to do New Orleans this week and had a much better spring break experience. I will probably come back here during the break again soon. I have an 8 year old and I would say 7+ is perfect for NOLA. I wouldn't bring a non school aged kid though. We are at La Belle at the moment. Everything is walkable or a simple trolly ride. The weather is the similar to FL and as long as you get back to the resort by 6pm, it's family friendly as well. You should look into seeing what the drive time is for you. You can often get Panama City Beach discounted this week as well on your drive to/from NOLA. I got PCB 50% off on resale points on my way back home.

This is raising New Orleans on my list of possible spring break destinations for next year. My kids will both be in high school, it seems like the perfect time. I'll have to give precedence to what my senior wants (if he even wants to travel with us ).

 

[troy12n]

Some thoughts on New Orleans for kids...

Personally, I would never take a kid under 10, maybe even 13 to New Orleans. There just isn't anything in the city that would interest them. And there's also the safety issue. Teens, yea, there's stuff for them, just don't go Mardi Gras week because it's an absolute crap show... La Belle Maison is the superior location in my experience. Just closer to all the "stuff", even if you aren't doing Bourbon Street.

I've gone to New Orleans 3 times with my kids, but I think the first time we went the youngest was 14. It's much more of an enjoyable experience sans kids to be honest...

Also, there was a comment about "being able to get into PCB this week"... that's shocking to me if true, because this is spring break for a lot of college and high school kids, and the Panhandle resorts are usually booked months out the entire month of March and first half of April. I understand the want to break up a long drive. I drove almost 19 hours straight from my house in Florida to San Antonio last week... that was thoroughly unenjoyable.

Also, i'm a little surprised the OP just left the resort because he wasn't happy with the room he got. This is definitely a situation where they could have made a points adjustment after the fact, to make it right, but i'm pretty sure I would have just dealt with it, how bad could it have been? But to each their own.

 

[lotus921v]

Some thoughts on New Orleans for kids...

Personally, I would never take a kid under 10, maybe even 13 to New Orleans. There just isn't anything in the city that would interest them. And there's also the safety issue. Teens, yea, there's stuff for them, just don't go Mardi Gras week because it's an absolute crap show... La Belle Maison is the superior location in my experience. Just closer to all the "stuff", even if you aren't doing Bourbon Street.

I've gone to New Orleans 3 times with my kids, but I think the first time we went the youngest was 14. It's much more of an enjoyable experience sans kids to be honest...

Also, there was a comment about "being able to get into PCB this week"... that's shocking to me if true, because this is spring break for a lot of college and high school kids, and the Panhandle resorts are usually booked months out the entire month of March and first half of April. I understand the want to break up a long drive. I drove almost 19 hours straight from my house in Florida to San Antonio last week... that was thoroughly unenjoyable.

Also, i'm a little surprised the OP just left the resort because he wasn't happy with the room he got. This is definitely a situation where they could have made a points adjustment after the fact, to make it right, but i'm pretty sure I would have just dealt with it, how bad could it have been? But to each their own.

“She”

I’m a female.

I own my own business so access to Wi-Fi is crucial. Due to the construction of the building I had difficulties getting a cellular signal so couldn’t hotspot off my phone either.

The pools weren’t enough to keep my kids occupied. The big one was closed and the small one was full of bees and leaves. I have two small boys and they wouldn’t them alone so I kept warning them yet waiting for them to get stung.

The AC in my room worked intermittently.

The floors were tile and my kids playing echoed off everywhere and made it overwhelming. They’re typical rambunctious boys.

The room in the pics looked nothing like what we had booked.

We also overlooked a parking lot so had all that extra noise.

Yes. It was that bad. There was nothing relaxing about it

 

[cbyrne1174]

Some thoughts on New Orleans for kids...

Personally, I would never take a kid under 10, maybe even 13 to New Orleans. There just isn't anything in the city that would interest them. And there's also the safety issue. Teens, yea, there's stuff for them, just don't go Mardi Gras week because it's an absolute crap show... La Belle Maison is the superior location in my experience. Just closer to all the "stuff", even if you aren't doing Bourbon Street.

I've gone to New Orleans 3 times with my kids, but I think the first time we went the youngest was 14. It's much more of an enjoyable experience sans kids to be honest...

Also, there was a comment about "being able to get into PCB this week"... that's shocking to me if true, because this is spring break for a lot of college and high school kids, and the Panhandle resorts are usually booked months out the entire month of March and first half of April. I understand the want to break up a long drive. I drove almost 19 hours straight from my house in Florida to San Antonio last week... that was thoroughly unenjoyable.

Also, i'm a little surprised the OP just left the resort because he wasn't happy with the room he got. This is definitely a situation where they could have made a points adjustment after the fact, to make it right, but i'm pretty sure I would have just dealt with it, how bad could it have been? But to each their own.

I booked PCB in January and there are tons of cool shops and tours for kids. Just not past 5pm.

 

[troy12n]

I own my own business so access to Wi-Fi is crucial. Due to the construction of the building I had difficulties getting a cellular signal so couldn’t hotspot off my phone either.

Well, considering the resorts exist for vacation, and not work, I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes wifi can be hit or miss. Some resorts I have stayed at there's no cell service AT ALL. At those resorts, the wifi works reasonably well most of the time, but I would never expect to be able to work from them.

I don't know who your cell phone provider is, but "construction in the area" should not affect your cell service.

The pools weren’t enough to keep my kids occupied. The big one was closed and the small one was full of bees and leaves. I have two small boys and they wouldn’t them alone so I kept warning them yet waiting for them to get stung.

I think you are in for a severe shock if "pools are not enough to keep your kids occupied"... what exactly were your expectations? As an FYI, Palm Aire has more to do for kids than any other resort in Pompano...

The AC in my room worked intermittently.

Sucks, no excuse for that

The floors were tile and my kids playing echoed off everywhere and made it overwhelming. They’re typical rambunctious boys.

What's wrong with tile? If you are going to take any resorts which "has tile" off the list of resorts you will go to, you just cut your list of resorts in more than half

The room in the pics looked nothing like what we had booked.

If your metric for success or failure is "it didn't look like the photo", I think you are going to be in for a severe disappointment going forward...

We also overlooked a parking lot so had all that extra noise.

I don't even know how to respond to this one... so what? You didn't have a fancy view? Is that your complaint?

Yes. It was that bad. There was nothing relaxing about it

Other than not being in the section you specified, which is legit complaint, most of these comments sound very "Karen" like. The only one that seems legit is your complaint about the air conditioning not working well. I sympathize with you, as i'm a Florida resident and know no A/C sucks...

Just an FYI, had you actually been put in Areca Palms, they have tile, and half the units face "a parking lot", the other half face the pool. So there is a 50% chance you would have also complained about your stay in Areca Palms.

I'm not sure if this is your first stay, but gauging your comments, your expectations seem like they need some adjustment.

 

[lotus921v]

Well, considering the resorts exist for vacation, and not work, I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes wifi can be hit or miss. Some resorts I have stayed at there's no cell service AT ALL. At those resorts, the wifi works reasonably well most of the time, but I would never expect to be able to work from them.

I don't know who your cell phone provider is, but "construction in the area" should not affect your cell service.



I think you are in for a severe shock if "pools are not enough to keep your kids occupied"... what exactly were your expectations? As an FYI, Palm Aire has more to do for kids than any other resort in Pompano...



Sucks, no excuse for that



What's wrong with tile? If you are going to take any resorts which "has tile" off the list of resorts you will go to, you just cut your list of resorts in more than half



If your metric for success or failure is "it didn't look like the photo", I think you are going to be in for a severe disappointment going forward...



I don't even know how to respond to this one... so what? You didn't have a fancy view? Is that your complaint?



Other than not being in the section you specified, which is legit complaint, most of these comments sound very "Karen" like. The only one that seems legit is your complaint about the air conditioning not working well. I sympathize with you, as i'm a Florida resident and know no A/C sucks...

Just an FYI, had you actually been put in Areca Palms, they have tile, and half the units face "a parking lot", the other half face the pool. So there is a 50% chance you would have also complained about your stay in Areca Palms.

I'm not sure if this is your first stay, but gauging your comments, your expectations seem like they need some adjustment.

Wi-Fi was advertised. My kids stream on their iPads. How you vacation is not how I vacation and you sound pretty judgy telling me how you think *i* should be spending my time. Expecting Wi-Fi as advertised is hardly unreasonable. If I knew the Wi-Fi was nonfunctional, I wouldn’t have booked. I own my own business. I cannot be out of pocket for a week especially in the same state I live in.

I have Verizon. Nowhere did I say “the construction in the area”. I did however say the construction of the building which also impaired my use of the internet from my phone. I commented on that because even bringing a mobile hotspot would not have helped.

CLOSED pools are not enough to keep my kids occupied. A regular and normal pool will keep them occupied all day every day. Again, your reading comprehension is lacking.

I requested an updated room near the pools, not an old dirty one with smelly hallways where we had to plunge one toilet upon arrival and call a repairman for the other one. The showers were dirty. The pantry and closets were dirty.

Apparently objecting to a total bait and switch is being a Karen. Lol. Not my first stay. It was not up to the standard of any of my previous stays.

 

[troy12n]

Wi-Fi was advertised. My kids stream on their iPads. How you vacation is not how I vacation and you sound pretty judgy telling me how you think *i* should be spending my time. Expecting Wi-Fi as advertised is hardly unreasonable. If I knew the Wi-Fi was nonfunctional, I wouldn’t have booked. I own my own business. I cannot be out of pocket for a week especially in the same state I live in.

I'm not denying the fact that the resorts advertise wifi... but if it wasn't working (probably not the resort's issue, honestly), what are you expecting here? Again... the wifi not working is not a "vacation breaker", and not something you should expect restitution for... this is a completely unrealistic expectation on your part if you think otherwise.

Requiring wifi so your kids can be entertained while you WORK isn't something you are probably going to get much support from others about.

I have Verizon. Nowhere did I say “the construction in the area”. I did however say the construction of the building which also impaired my use of the internet from my phone. I commented on that because even bringing a mobile hotspot would not have helped.

I have Verizon too... when I have stayed at Palm Aire, my cell service was fine. Again, I don't see how this is the resort's fault

CLOSED pools are not enough to keep my kids occupied. A regular and normal pool will keep them occupied all day every day. Again, your reading comprehension is lacking.

There are something like 5 pools at Palm Aire... you are telling me they were ALL closed? Calling BS on this

I requested an updated room near the pools, not an old dirty one with smelly hallways where we had to plunge one toilet upon arrival and call a repairman for the other one. The showers were dirty. The pantry and closets were dirty.

First, you aren't a VIP, you don't get to request anything specific when it comes to room location. That's not a thing. Another set of unrealistic expectations.

Apparently objecting to a total bait and switch is being a Karen. Lol. Not my first stay. It was not up to the standard of any of my previous stays.

Best I can see is, you have 2 legitimate complaints here.

1. You reserved Areca Palms section and they placed you in Fountain Palm. Legit complaint.
- Your recourse or way you can be made whole is a points adjustment. Period. That's it. You don't know WHY (and aren't entitled to know why...) you were moved, It's possible (likely) that the room you reserved became unavailable last minute because of some sort of maintenance issue. You don't know, we don't know, nobody knows, so to try to claim anything is just pure speculation. Take your points adjustment and move on.

2. Air Conditioning doesn't work, or didn't work well. Legit complaint.
- Ask to be moved to a room with working A/C, this should not have been an issue, did you ask?

3. The Internet not working... this was most likely an issue outside of their control. Not a legit complaint.
- No recourse here

The rest of your gripes are not something that has any founding in fact or are just a set of unrealistic expectations, certainly not a bait and switch... and they don't refund points for something like that, especially when you just leave and not try to work with the resort. Which is the impression I got.

Part of the complaints is you expected more than the resort offered, in terms of keeping your kids occupied while you worked. Don't know what to tell you about that...

 

[cbyrne1174]

I'm not denying the fact that the resorts advertise wifi... but if it wasn't working (probably not the resort's issue, honestly), what are you expecting here? Again... the wifi not working is not a "vacation breaker", and not something you should expect restitution for... this is a completely unrealistic expectation on your part if you think otherwise.

Requiring wifi so your kids can be entertained while you WORK isn't something you are probably going to get much support from others about.



I have Verizon too... when I have stayed at Palm Aire, my cell service was fine. Again, I don't see how this is the resort's fault



There are something like 5 pools at Palm Aire... you are telling me they were ALL closed? Calling BS on this



First, you aren't a VIP, you don't get to request anything specific when it comes to room location. That's not a thing. Another set of unrealistic expectations.


Best I can see is, you have 2 legitimate complaints here.

1. You reserved Areca Palms section and they placed you in Fountain Palm. Legit complaint.
- Your recourse or way you can be made whole is a points adjustment. Period. That's it. You don't know WHY (and aren't entitled to know why...) you were moved, It's possible (likely) that the room you reserved became unavailable last minute because of some sort of maintenance issue. You don't know, we don't know, nobody knows, so to try to claim anything is just pure speculation. Take your points adjustment and move on.

2. Air Conditioning doesn't work, or didn't work well. Legit complaint.
- Ask to be moved to a room with working A/C, this should not have been an issue, did you ask?

3. The Internet not working... this was most likely an issue outside of their control. Not a legit complaint.
- No recourse here

The rest of your gripes are not something that has any founding in fact or are just a set of unrealistic expectations, certainly not a bait and switch... and they don't refund points for something like that, especially when you just leave and not try to work with the resort. Which is the impression I got.

Part of the complaints is you expected more than the resort offered, in terms of keeping your kids occupied while you worked. Don't know what to tell you about that...

They placed her in Royal Palms. Those units do suck pretty bad. It's day and night difference between the buildings. There isn't central AC in those units. It's just 2 motel style wall units that are too small to properly cool the rooms. They are also really loud. The WiFi in that building is also terrible and they stick all the spring break renters in those buildings so that halls are loud and smell like weed.

I booked last minute during spring break last year and stayed in that building. I honestly just hung out at Royal Vista and Sea Gardens when I wasn't in my room. I went back to Palm Aire I'm the summer and stayed in Areca Palm and had a pleasant stay. The WiFi was about the same as any other Wyndham building. It's just the Royal Palms building that sucks.

She isn't being a "Karen". I personally just would avoid Pompano during spring break. Weather is also too unpredictable in March. Florida temps range from 50-90F. City locations (New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville) are a safer bet. I'm stuck inside my PCB room as I type this because it's currently 48F outside.

Summer time is much better for Floridians to visit Pompano. It's not as hot as central FL and the crowds are manageable.