We waited until the last minute to book a hotel for a wedding and found the Balinese Piers to be in our price range. We weren't excited about the location so far from the beach but they looked alright on the website so we booked. When we first arrived we had to drive to Starkey Management to get the keys, wasn't a big deal until they gave us the wrong key and we had to call the maintenance guy at nearly midnight to bring us the right key. We got in the room and were not impressed, first of all the room isn't as pictured the furniture is not as nice looking, the floors are plywood with a bad paint job, there is not enough furniture or decoration for the size which makes it seem even drabber and several of the blinds could only be closed manually by adjusting the slats by hand.

When I went to restroom I noticed a used towel behind the door. My husband found several long hairs on the counter, I am blond and they were black. When I took a bath the drain was full of hair. Although fairly disgusting, the sheets looked clean and we decided to just let it go. Our experience is Port A tends to not have the cleanest hotels we have stayed in and we figured complaining wasn't really worth the effort when we had already cleaned it ourselves.

The next morning we went to drop off the signed paperwork, we asked the guy if we need to contact them when we left for a walk through (it is on the paperwork), he said no. Never asked if there was anything we noticed in the room damaged or not working.

We checked out on Sunday, Tuesday we got a call from our credit card reporting some suspicious activity. On Tuesday afternoon they ran the card 15 times for various dollar amounts from $10 to $700, luckily our card company declined most of them. We called Starkey and they claimed the couch was damaged, there is absolutely no way we did the damage they described burn marks and peeling surface of the cheap vinyl. Neither of us smoke, we didn't even cook in the room and I am know the few minutes we sat on the couch to put on our shoes would not have damaged the surface. We had to cancel our card and file a complaint with the credit card company. I didn't realize for a small rental room for two nights we needed to inspect the place with a fine tooth come to make sure we weren't charged for damage we didn't do. I probably wouldn't have even reported something like that expecting hotels to have wear and tear, especially given how dirty the room was. We go to Port A often but Starkey and Balinese will never be on our places to stay list.

The Flats have a chic, modern-Mex decor. But they are also a good value. The suites actually do look like the cute photos (and even better). The beds are comfortable, which is a plus over other Port A "unique" places where we've stayed in the past.

Although not on the beach, you're just 3 minutes from the beach driving or 5-10 on bike (depends if you're a lazy biker like me). The elevated lounge/deck is nice, but don't expect a great view. You can see a tiny sliver of the shipping canal. I enjoyed the location because it was within walking distance to the marina, the park on the intracoastal canal, some shops, and a good coffee house. Each morning, I walked the couple blocks to the pier and watched the dolphins and pelicans over the canal.

The room itself was very clean; the mini bar was nice for sitting at for a drink; and the living area was spacious. At night, you could hear some traffic on the road. It's probably noisier if you stay in the room that faces the road; we slept in the back bedroom. There is limited parking. We were there during a non-busy period, so that didn't affect us.

(We did not stay in the elevated Piers.)

We booked our stay by calling Starkeys. We arrived on Thursday afternoon, the place was dark , no one in office and the key not left in the front for us. We messed around til 4:00 thinking someone would show up, however we ended up calling Starkey's and they had to run the key over to us. We stayed in the Pier room upstairs. It was all right, except as stated by a previous review, the back doors on the balcony do not lock at all. The building sways and we found several large roaches in the room. The bed was extremely low to the ground. There was alot of room and nice to have the refrigerator and microwave.

We absolutely loved the flats....it was so much better staying there than at your tipical hotel.....It was like a house......very uniquely decorated. It was close to the beach, and very comfortable....You can bring your own food and cook...even make cocktails, and then take them up to a lounge area on top of the property that has a view of the ocean.....I booked this place for me and my friends because it was the most decently priced place I could find....but it turned out to be way more than I expected...very comfortable and fun.....