Detailed review by Newfloridian
Newfloridian
North Shields, United Kingdom96%
"Brand new Inn only three miles from airport offers outstanding dining." (1)
I am not usually minded to write reviews about hotels where I have stayed only as a transient. However, a recent series of niggles and annoyances have made me put pen to paper to draft what will hopefully be a timely reminder and gentle warning for future unwary fellow travellers.
On our current trip to Florida (I am a frequent visitor to the state) our itinerary was best served by flying into Fort Myers and leaving via Tampa International. With a very long and tiring outward journey I decided not to pick up the hire car at the airport until the following morning but stay overnight in an at airport accommodation.
For this trip we made our hotel bookings through Expedia (having read their descriptions) and were particularly influenced in our first choice which gave the heading to this article.
And so to the subject of this review. The Wynstar Inn promotes itself as the closest hotel to the Fort Myers International and offers a complementary shuttle from and to the airport. However unlike many other destinations you are required to telephone ahead the hotel to schedule a collection. There is no courtesy phone in the concourse so decided not to wait, but made our way to the taxi rank. Baggage on board, wife safely belted, we discover that the driver hadn't a clue where the hotel was. "Wynstar? Is that Naples?" (35 miles away) he asked - dollar signs reflected in the whites of his eyes. After five calls to his taxi office and two from his cousin (who was shopping at a nearby Wynn Dixie) and 40 minutes touring the highways of Lee county, we finally made it to reception.
At least we were expected. The receptionist would have easily secured a starring role alongside Victor Meldrew in the BBC-TV "Grumpy Old..." series. We were given our keys and the position of the lift was indicated. It being after 7:00pm I asked whether the dining room was still open. With a grunt, a home delivery pizza flyer was stuffed into my hand - this place had no restaurant. Further, it had no bar.
Our room, on the third floor, was clean and serviceable enough. It was large even by American standards, equipped with two queen sized beds, arm chairs a desk and an armoire containing a television, reception on which was dreadful. The colour scheme was a quite restful sage and pale green. The room was well insulated and with the drapes drawn, no light came through the double glazed windows. The en suite was modest in comparison. The bath and shower enclosure were made of molded plastic in a single unit and must have been installed as the room was being built. It reminded me of something that might have been found on board ship. There were plenty of toiletries. The cold water pressure was a mere trickle, the hot water well pressurised - a tricky compromise when taking a shower. The air conditioning was by an in room unit which was fortunately thermostatically controlled. Noisy, but operating in short bursts. Most unexpectedly (Expedia said "dial-up") there was complementary wifi internet access in the room and throughout the hotel.
We ventured out on foot looking for food. The hotel stands at the intersection of two main roads but is in an undeveloped part of the county. To the right at the intersection in the distance is a gas station. Next door to the left is a deserted car rental depot, and next door but one a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant. This chain is an American institution (cheap and cheerful: meatloaf, gravy and fixings just like grandmama used to make). The nearest it got to alcohol was root beer!! Anyway we did slake our appetite and thirst for $20 for the two of us. When we emerged from the restaurant, the heavens opened in the first thunderstorm deluge the area had seen in six months (and the only one we saw in the whole of our stay)
A complementary breakfast buffet was served between 6:00am and 9:00am - which I have to say neither of us were in any mood to surface for that early. We made do with the in room coffee maker.
Check out was made without fuss. Yes, we had to settle up with this hotel. The quoted nightly rate ($119.00) was subject to a Florida State tax of 6% and a Lee County Bed tax of 5% . The trip back to the airport was also good humoured and the shuttle driver dropped us right outside the car rental bureau.
I have to ask myself whether this hotel was fit for (our) purpose. Clearly it was not. The Wynstar is a fairly new building - as is Fort Myers airport - but not being known by the airport based taxi service is risible. A name like Inn or Hostelry conjures up the idea of a welcoming licenced premises serving up hearty food. Without a car we were marooned without the prospect of our choice of sustenance. Had we known this in advance we would have chosen somewhere else. Had we collected our hire car on the night of our arrival then we would not have stayed in the Fort Myers area anyway.
This experience reinforces my belief that you should never believe the description you read on booking agencies websites. You may have more luck browsing the hotel's site - if you can find it. You should always be very clear what it is you are buying. Expedia had made a reservation here - not a pre-paid booking as they had with the other two hotels in our package. Their estimate of the cost was quite close in this case, but given currency variations and alterations in tax regimes you could be in for a surprise on arrival.
(1) Condensed from hotel overview - expedia.co.uk
GrandStay Hotel & Suites Fort Myers2
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