As we always do when we travel without Darwin, we bid for a hotel on Priceline a few weeks leading up to our trip. I knew that my chances of getting a low price were better as we got closer to the day of arrival, so I didn't stress when we hadn't won a bid a week before my scheduled arrival. Sure enough, 4-5 days before our trip, my $72 bid was accepted by the four star Hyatt Pier 66. While I did select "beach front" properties, the Hyatt is located about a mile from the beach, so I was slightly disappointed that it was not right on the beach. I also got very nervous when I read some of the most recent negative hotel reviews, even though the hotel was listed as 4 stars. The only review that came back consistent was that the pool was really nice.
With low expectations, we checked in. The woman at the front desk was very nice and changed our room reservation from 2 double beds to 1 king (Priceline only asks for the number of people and you can't control the room assignment unless you work with the front desk staff). She also asked of our preference for proximity to the pool. When we asked for nice, quiet room, she said we would enjoy our room on the intercoastal waterway, which was also very close to the pool.
Our room was not at all disappointing and the hotel far exceeded my expectations (which, as I said, were pretty low). I didn't take any pictures of the room, because it was pretty standard for most hotels (king size bed with lots of pillows, tv, dresser, refrigerator, closet, large bathroom). There wasn't any extraordinary furniture worth blogging about. One of the things I enjoyed the most about the hotel was the balcony. The boats on the intercoastal were so large, we both dreamed of a day when we could own and use one ourselves!
A relaxing breakfast our first morning
The best part of the hotel was, in fact, the pool. There were technically 3 pools - a small jacuzzi that could easily fit 8-10 people, a large "S" shaped pool ranging from 3-6' deep, and a smaller "t" shaped pool. We spent most of our time at the largest pool, which had a waterfall near the deeper end. The hotel was clearly not crowded, so we did relax at the pool more than we usually do on a beach vacation. I couldn't help but be relaxed while laying in the shade and took a rather long snooze after a filling lunch one afternoon. We didn't use the jacuzzi because the water was too warm for June in Florida. But, we did enjoy some night swimming to cool ourselves down before bed one evening.
Relaxing by the pool
There's the waterfall!
Ending the day with a dip in the nicely lit pool
I would say our hotel was a bargain! Although it wasn't on the beach, they did provide a complimentary shuttle to and from the beach every hour. There was no complimentary breakfast, be we prefer our healthier options to most continental breakfasts anyway. Parking was the major hotel expense, since they charged $21/day. Our first reaction was to find a place to park near the hotel overnight, but that proved too challenging. Thankfully, we got a great deal on our rental car (also on Priceline) for $26 for 2 days. Adding $21 for 1 night that we parked in the hotel wasn't too bad.
To break down our expenses, we paid $255 for my flight (Colin's was paid for by work, and I missed an opportunity to get a sub $200 fare), $251 for the hotel (using a Priceline bid of $72/nt + taxes), $26 for a rental car for 2 days, and $21 to park 1 night. The grand total (minus food and adventures - which will be detailed in another post) came out to $553 for a 4 day/3 night vacation. We are pretty good at keeping food costs low by mixing up buying food in a grocery store and going out too eat. This is when it's helpful to have a car or be within walking distance of a grocery store. The estimate of our food costs is $150 for the 10 total meals, which included four meals and a dessert in a restaurant and 4 grocery store meals. Two of our meals included leftovers we kept in the refrigerator and these were the only meals that were duplicated. The most outrageous food cost we incurred was the $12 for 1 small and 1 large ice cream from Marble Slab and I will be the first to admit it was not even good!!
Other than the ice cream, I'd say we were able to enjoy a wonderful vacation at minimal cost. Stay tuned for the next post about exploring the area!
How do you save money when you travel?
Other than the ice cream, I'd say we were able to enjoy a wonderful vacation at minimal cost. Stay tuned for the next post about exploring the area!
How do you save money when you travel?
