karanou,
i went to ari ben aviator in ft pierce and did a bunch of time there. i generally had a good experience there. ft pierce is a bit of a hole, but the planes were alright and i did 200 hours in 8 weeks. they have about 10 or 11 dutchesses, kitted out alright, hsi, a couple with gps, weather radar etc.
however there is a catch. it is SHARED time building. this means that for the published $7000 i think for 100 hours, you only spend about 50 actually at the controls. the other 50 you are safety pilot and a required crew member as the guy flying is under simulated instrument. in the US according to the FARs, this is perfectly good loggable PIC time. however check the lasors before committing yourself to it. i hold the faa licences and for what i needed the shared time was fine.
as far as the flying goes, they pair u up with another pilot, and generally u get the plane from 6pm to 6am. all nite flying, all cross country, all ifr. and u can shoot as many holds and approaches as you want all nite.
now its by no means the best school in the world, and to be honest, i had the odd problem but generally it was cvery good for what i needed. im sure other folk will reply with very similar views as myself. and remember, EFT (european flight training) uses the same school and leases ari ben aircraft. the same aircraft as the hour builders use. they have a pretty good rep so that might also be something to go on.
if u have any questions, pm.
cheers
DB
sorry, and the website is
www.aribenaviator.com
DB