I've heard a lot of negative things about this hotel...Namely, that the non-smoking rooms smell like smoke, and that it is noisy, and that the bathrooms are dirty.

From what I understand, though, they have free shuttle from airport and to the cruise ship's port, and every room has it's own separate bedroom and sofabed in the other room.

Any of you have any first-hand experiences with this hotel?

I read one man's post said he didn't have a perfect experience at this hotel. Any more details?

Check out the following link for more about this property:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...e_Florida.html

You can also try Travelocity for their reader postings

I don't have first-hand experience, but my parents stated at this hotel in late 2002 and raved about it - absolutely loved it. Didn't hurt that we got a great rate on Priceline.

Andrew

We stayed there pre-cruise last August. It was a nice hotel and was not dirty at all. It can be a little noisy when in the atrium because it is open. That is an Embassy Suites feature. However we could hear no noise once in the room. There is a nice pool, free happy hour drinks and a decent free breakfast with hot food. We opted not to take the shuttle because there were five of us and we had lots of luggage but it is a cheap cab ride to the port. We woke up Saturday morning and could see the cruise ships from our window. It was pretty exciting. We got a very good deal through Hotwire.

I haven't stayed at this particular Embassy Suite property, but from experience with other ES's, I can give you some tips:
*Stay as far away from the elevators as possible, this is the noisiest area.
*If you don't like the room, request another one. I am sensitive to smoke and can tell when they have changed a smoking room to a non-smoking room because the smoke gets in the drywall, furnishings, etc.
*ES usually has a 100% money back guarantee (it works, I used it once when the A/C broke in the summer.)

This info should help you with your stay. I was always fairly complacent until I realized I don't have to spend my hard-earned money on something I don't enjoy. You just have to speak up from time to time.

Would that 100% money-back guarantee work if you got the room through Priceline?

I doubt it, since you are paying Priceline and not ES

You most likely won't have any problems with this hotel. They have to at least give you another room if they say it will be non-smoking and you smell smoke. However, this has only happened to me a couple times and usually at 2* or lesser motels. You probably won't have any problems, but you can always call the hotel directly to find out how they resolve problems of this nature.

If you bid on Priceline 3* Downtown, the hotels in that category are the ES or Marina Marriott. If you definitely need a suite, you should try for the category that includes the AmeriSuites (2* Downtown???)

We stayed here one night in June 2002 after our driving vacation to Key West...we had a room very close to an elevator, had no noise problems in the room, and we were very impressed with the free breakfast and pool area...the kids just loved this place...we got the room for $100 on expedia...