castle by the sea

Does anyone know if this motel is still in existance? I booked a room there for Feb.- called the # to check on my reservation - and the call is disconnected--any help would be appeciated. If this place went poof, any help with finding a cheap motel in Feb. near the beach????? thanks

castle by the sea

You%26#39;re talking about the one in Lauderdale by the Sea, I take it? I don%26#39;t know the answer to your question, but I will look in the next day or two when I drive up that way. Doesn%26#39;t sound very promising I have to say witha phone disconnected- but how lousy of them if it is gone- They at least should have notified you- I%26#39;ll let you know assoon as I can- it%26#39;s just south of Conmercial Blvd I believe.

castle by the sea

Thanks Lulutoo - It is about 1 block from commercial - In the meantime enjoy being there. It%26#39;s was30 degrees out this morning--rather be there.

I passed by there today and I couldn%26#39;t tell if it was opened or not. No cars in the parking lot but the office light was on and there was a light that said OPEN and one that said Vacancy.

You may want to contact the local Chamber of Commerce and see if they know anything.

lbts.com

info@lbts.com is the Chambers email address.

Thanks, I did check and they said they couldn%26#39;t check, because it%26#39;s not one of there members - thanks - any other info would be apppreciated. I guess I could write, but I need to make otyher plans soon, if they are closing -

I%26#39;m sorry it took me so long but I did drive by today and concur with Pat that something is wrong. The parking lot was deserted and though the Vacancy sign was still lit , all the units had blinds tightly drawna dn some very old style hurricane shutetrs were over the window of the office. It was 5 pm and it did not look like anyone was theer to receive guests. I think you had better look elsewhere. Shame on teh LBTS Chamber for not assisting you- whether they are members or not , a quick phone call on their part to a neighboring hotel who is would liekly have given them the information about what%26#39;s going on.

I think you had better make other plans. February is tough for reasonable motels. The Ocean Mile Motor Lodge further south at 41st and A1A is a Mom and Pop place that got a nice recent review from a TA regular from England whose folks stay there seasonally. He said it has old furnishings but is very clean with nice owners. The sign as I drove by said rooms starting at $59- a rate that likely will be higher in February. The only caveat is that while it is also an A1A , access to the beach can be tricky in that area- as some condos own the rights of way and will bar you from walking through-and you have to walk far to get to public access. You might question the owners about how many blocks it will be .

www.oceanmilemotorlodge.com/about_us.html

By the way, I drove by again Saturday and found the same situation, but on taking a closer look, it may have been for the best. They are building something just south of it- I think townhomes, so I%26#39;ll bet you would have had noise and mess around you. It of course is awful that these people haven%26#39;t notified those with reservatons if they have closed and assisted them with finding other lodging. It is so fortunate that you happened to need to call in advance and didn%26#39;t end up arriving to find you had no place to stay in the height of the season!

I have e-mailed a friend who works at our area tourist board to ask if she can find out what the story is on Castle by the Sea. Hotels are not her area ,but I hope she will speak to a colleague and give me feedback. Someone really should see to it that others with reservations there are notified and assisted with other lodging.

Oh, and it looks to me like the closest public beach access if you book the Ocean Mile Motel is the road by the Holiday Inn , just south of Commercial- maybe a three block walk or so, but you might want to verify that before booking if you will need to be walking it.

My ';in the biz%26#39; contact thinks they might have sold their property to a developer( possibly the one building next door) but also agrees it%26#39;s very shabby of them not to have notified their clients with reservations and pretty pathetic that the LBTS Chamber wasn%26#39;t more help to you. We both agree you%26#39;d better look elsewhere for lodging.

Thanks for everyone%26#39;s help. I have re-booked, but last year where I stayed was all noise due to consrtuction, and there rates had gone up. Too be honest, Ft. Lauderdale seems to no longer a vacation spot for regular people - it%26#39;s all condo%26#39;s, or pricy hotels. The construction sdeems to be eveywhere - this might be my last time there, even though I love the area. So once again - tyhak%26#39;s for everyone%26#39;s help.

lulutoo- thanks for your help--you seem to know the area - when I%26#39;m there this year any suggestions for other close by towns to try??

I%26#39;m glad you%26#39;ve found something! Hopefully the oversupply of luxury condos and townhomes in the area will soon sloe down all that construction, as people who made deposits on many are allegedly ';walking away'; before closing. We%26#39;ll see!

Have you ever considered Hollywood, just south of Ft. Lauderdale for your seasonal visit?

I don%26#39;t claim to be any sort of expert, but it%26#39;s my sense that there are stillkmany Mom/Pop places there- although they too have had construction , so it probably isn%26#39;t wise to go by older reviews. There is a poster on that Forum , KenK , who really is quite up to date on what is still nice for the money, so you might try browsing and posting there to get some ideas:

tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g34296-Hollywood_Flo鈥?/a>

There are likely some places further north in the state like New Smyrna or Cocoa Beach , which may be slightly chillier but more reasonable- and I wonder too if someplace on theWest Coast like Ft. Myers Beach may still have value accomodations. We drove through Ft. Myers Beach last fall and saw lots of small reasonable places along their beachfront.

Some folks sem to like a couple of places on Ft. Lauderdale Beach like Cocobelle and TropiRock, which are family run. You do have to be careful of some others which are not as well maintained. You might also try visiting a few of those places just south of Commercial Blvd while you are here and asking to see a room, to get an idea which of the budget places there are reasonably clean. Many post bargain rates and there are probably a few prizes among them , but it%26#39;s hard to guess from the outside.