Hotels Near Father Fish Aquarium in Venice

It's hard to say

Nice decent hotel with clean rooms

I'm writing this with the framework that our reservation for four days was following Hurricane Ian so that a reader can understand that, yes, we did try to have understanding that some chaos goes along with people in need of rooms. Having said that... I am a local resident of Venice, and was in need of a room after coming back in town seeing some destruction to our home following the hurricane. I arrived just before 3 PM, thinking that was check-in time, but, mistakenly, it was an unusually late 4 PM. I came back in an hour (with no forewarning the first time there were any issues to speak of) to learn that the room was not ready. I was told to come back ”later” (whatever that is interpreted to mean). I could not even be given an educated estimate. I came back at 5 PM, and no room available. I drove around (with 1/8 tank of gas and no gas stations open) and came back at 7 PM. NO ROOMS available. it was only then I was told they were ”short staffed”. I have an open mind. I see the shortage of help all over from restaurants to general contractors to, yes, hotels. The curtness of the personnel I had dealt with and lack of compassion (on their part) is what rubbed me wrong. After questioning why my room was not ready at 7 PM (not a typo), a women stepped into the conversation (may have been the manager?) and curtly asked if I have ever tried to check into a hotel during a hurricane and I was quick to reply yes (Andrew, Irma, and Matthew). I had not ever come to this sort of issue in terms of not having a room available in addition to the clear defensiveness of the staff (referring only to the people I had dealt with). Hotels are QUICK to make sure you check out by 11 AM but not so big a deal to check in well into the evening. My wife and I cancelled our reservations and slept in our car in our driveway for the night. Note: I was forced to make a separate 30-minute call to Wyndham to cancel due to points being used (more on this later). At this point, I've a little bit to now say about Wyndham. I'm a loyal member (actually, Diamond). ”Early check-in”, while not guaranteed, is all but guaranteed at competing brands of which I was also at top tiers including: Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. If the room is not available (and clearly in my case it was not), then those brands would have a room guaranteed available at the time of standard check in. Always (meaning, including hurricane evacuations). Not the case with Wyndham. They have shown to most always not support their top-tier customers and say that ”each individual hotel is privately operated (ie, franchised), and you will have to contact the hotel”. Ramada handled this poorly, and Wyndam is indifferent. I should have known to avoid a Ramada, having last stayed at a horrific Ramada Inn in Augusta, GA. Never again. Good riddance to both.

I was pretty disappointed when the lyft driver pulled into the lot. I thought the place looked pretty run down. I stayed for 3 nights. The room was small and not well lit. The room was clean, and had a micro fridge, a microwave, and a decent T.V. Small hand soaps only-no shampoo or conditioner. The AC worked well. There is a laundry room onsite. They have a small outside pool that looked clean. Desk staff was okay at best. Within walking distance of a convenience store, a Burger King and a CVS. Small stand-up shower only. It is what it is, which is a budget hotel. I would stay at a place like this if I was traveling by myself. I would not take my family there if I could afford a better option.

We stayed for a week and were pleased. The staff was so nice. The shower had instant hot water. The layout of the room was great, though didn’t like the sliding bathroom door. Bed and pillows were comfortable. Loved having the full size refrigerator. Beach is close by. Only reason I didnt rate 5 star is because it has a little bit of a worn appearance. We will return again in the future! Thank You!