I got put into this place on a Priceline bid at $26++ ($36 all-in). Since that's a "blind" site, you can imagine the sinking feeling in looking up the place on TA and seeing some of the reviews.

Am happy to report that, at least in my case, it was tolerable and maybe even slightly above that. To better the odds, I did check in at mid-afternoon and got a non-smoking room. The afternoon guy was polite, and he gave me a non-smoking king on the 2nd floor (#227).

I didn't see any truly serious problems with the room like roaches crawling around, but I could see a little of why the place gets negative reviews. It's past its renovate-by date. Next-door neighbors the Econo Lodge and Best Western look like they date originally from the same era but also look like they've received more attention since. In this case a newer carpet, new coat of interior paint and new shower curtain might help. The air-con unit is a wall-mount in the back and can be a little noisy, but I've stayed at places in southeast Asia that can put any problems I encountered to shame.

The TV cable looked rigged up and was strewn on part of the floor and needed some slight adjusting to make the TV come in well. The mildew smell was slightly there but I would say was about par for Florida. The bed came with 2 pillows that were a bit lumpy, but the room also had a small microwave and a frig.

I might well have had good luck-of-the-draw with everything, as the smoking rooms may well not be in as good a condition, or the wall air-con might be a rattletrap kept alive through successive patches.

There is a small pool, but it has clear access, proximity and visibility to the sidewalk, so I didn't see anyone using it, and it's not an area to leave the kids (though the place is generally not recommended for families).

Location is borderline excellent, with the Mai-Kai and US 1-Oakland Park Intersection (with Coral Ridge Mall) in walking distance and a Miller Ale House also close.

Overall I'd rate it as at least acceptable and, from what I saw, not deserving of superlative titles. Have seen far, far worse in places like Absecon, NJ, or Fremont St. on the east side of Las Vegas Blvd. in Vegas. Or even the FunSpots Inn at Fountain Park in Orlando.

This place rightfully should be posting rates right around $30-35 on the sign, and a few years ago probably would be doing that. But the location got to be more "prime" over time and supply/demand let them get away with charging $65 and up (their Website rates-I checked) without really "doing" that much to upgrade the experience any like their neighbors did. The 25-inch TVs are probably the biggest thing they put in, but, as others have mentioned, you have to bring your own Kleenex and shampoo (amenities are Motel 6 level). I also didn't see any movie channels.

Given all that, it's understandable if people were paying $65 and up why they'd be unhappy. Another $10-15 would get a good step up nearby, and if you've got wheels and use Priceline the value-for-money is much better inland along the I-595 exits.

Mentally I'd rate this place on par with a Motel 6, as it's suitable for the same type of market. For my purposes it worked fine, but for family vacations or most other kinds of trips except the most budget-frugal, I think other possibilities would work better.

We arrived FLL at midnight. After check-in, the clerk handed us a basic TV remote control which had no value at all. Who want to steal a junk? When we walked in room 203, there was a strong smell of air freshener. The house keeper must have dumped a whole can of freshener in this room to mask off whatever the smell. Window was screwed tight. We let the door open for 30 minutes hopefully to air out some of the odour. The room seemed to have carpet and tiles installed in the past 12 months. There were only 2 flimsy bath size towels, no hand or wash towels, and no mat. We quickly unpacked, freshened up, brushed teeth and ready to bed. Just as we about to lie down, we found some hair on pillows. There were 3 small pillows, all with short dark hair. One of the pillows had a patch of stain. Someone just had a hair cut and slept on this bed, drooling. We removed the blanket and found more hair on bed.

It was now after 1:30 a.m. and we were tired. We evaluated our options. We could demand to change to another room. We could have the bedding changed. Both would take some time. We decide to cover the pillows with bath towels and sleep with our street clothes.

The next morning, I found the bottom of my new white socks were black. we were wiping their carpet and mopping the tiles with our socks. Obviously, they never clean the floor and carpet.

After cleaning up, we found a pool of water under the sink. I don't really care where was the water coming from. We want to leave this dump as soon as possible.

Well friends and foes, don't stay in this inn.

Do not stay here, no matter the price! This place was beyond disgusting. Mold is the least of the problems. The rooms smell like rotten trash, there are cigarette burn holes in the sheets, the besd are hard as rockes, and I refused to walk on the floors without shoes on. The sheets were not changed from the last guest, there was dirt on them and I could smell the last person's hair product on the pillow case. I had nightmares of bed bugs, but that was the one thing they did not have. The employees are rude, the management is even less helpful. They even tried to charge me two nights stay instead of one, I had to fight the charge through my credit card company. Seriously, do not stay here, sleeping outside on the ground is cleaner and probably more comfortable.

I am an experienced travel agent from the NYC area and will NEVER book this property again. It is my opinion that the management of Americas Best Inns on Federal Highway in Ft. Lauderdale employs shady business practices. After making repeated requests for written confirmation of a last minute booking, I recieved no response! I left my fax and phone number for Manager Sean three times and NEVER heard a thing!.

Because my client was unable to travel, I called 36 hours in advance to cancel the reservation. It was then that I was told of their 48-hour cancellation policy, highly unusual for a motel of this caliber (1 star) and the first that I had been informed of it. When the clerk told me that the manager would be in after 1pm that day, I again left my name and number and requested a return phone call. Having not heard anything by 5:15pm, I called back and was told that the manager had left for the day. (He apparently has no email address either)

When I finally tracked down Manager Sean today, he refused to cancel the room and repeatedly referred to the unusual cancellation policy that I had never been informed of.

I will continue to fight this unfair charge through my credit card company, the Better Business Bureau and the Florida Attorney General's office. But in the meantime...BUYER BEWARE!