DoubleTree by Hilton

***And back down to 1 star due to lies by the management. They did NOT comp us the 1^st night nor do they intend too. Incompetent, misleading and not worth the savings for fear of not having a hotel room as reserved or the privacy you should expect when using the do not disturb. Zero trust left for this particular Doubletree. ***
Previously I had upgraded to 3 stars after hubby spoke to the manager. See our experience in my previous review below:
This review has been upgraded to 3 stars as the hotel has given us a free 1^st night and a reduced 2^nd night in return for the computer glitch resulting in us being locked out of our room and the maid entering the room despite the privacy, do not disturb sign. Still not pleased that zero communication happened despite the fact that they have our cell numbers on file and email. The only time we were made aware of this snafu was after complaining about the maid entering (they did not say a word when they gave us new keys or explanation as to why it happened. Very poor way to handle a problem their computer caused.)
Earlier review:
Hiltons Honors Member here and I am very unhappy. As I type this, I am locked out of my room waiting for my hubby to get the key situation fixed. This is our 2^nd night here and the key worked fine yesterday so this is an issue they caused. We are paid up. After a long day at the parks and dinner plans shortly, who has time for this?
Also, we are in one of the nicest rooms they offer, generally reserved for HH members and I expected better from a renovated hotel. While the room looks tidy and smells fresh, The carpets and the pullout sofa are stained and the sofa is not something I chose to sit on. The bed was clean and freshly laundered. The area under the long bathroom counter is either stained or hasn’t been scrubbed in a while.
Right up until we were locked out, I was waiting before leaving a review as The staff here is very nice and accommodating but frankly, I expected more. Being a Floridian, who travels to the Keys and obscure motels, I am used to smaller scale operations where things are not 5***** but yet still sweet. Old school. It’s a Florida thing and it’s usually charming. However, when I deal with the Hilton Brand, I am used to much nicer for my money. Most double trees are awesome, this one has not been for our recent trip.
Well used convention hotel, the rooms look tired, not renovated. Add to that, inoperable elevators and that means waiting in lines to get on (16^th floor so no thank you stairs) With being locked out, lack of communication from the staff, I also find the customer service staff incompetent. Hopefully I will get into my room soon and hopefully my belongings are still untouched.
Not happy at all! This is an experience I won’t readily repeat!
***1^st update: I am now in our room. No explanation, just an apology. No good enough! They also went into our room despite the do not disturb sign. I am beyond angry. This is a one star joke hotel. 3 stars prior to the lock out and violation of our privacy.
***2^nd update: manager explained what happened when hubby went down to discuss the privacy issue. Apparently their system lost the details of our reservation. Instead of contacting us by phone or email, they automatically checked us out. The maid believed the room would be empty so she/​he was simply doing their job. The manager was informed that our luggage, etc. was still in the room and yet they still did not contact us to find out why. (At no point were we contacted about a problem) We have the email confirming the reservation dates but the glitch caused computer issues. The manager offered comps to make up for the inconvenience and wanted us to know this rarely happens and we should not be worried about privacy in our room. We are currently waiting to see when this goes through on our credit card.
Last update (this update no longer applies as the management was false in what they promised below. Shameful!)
I would be willing to give this hotel a 2^nd chance should we need to go to a convention or need to save money. Normally we would stay at the hard rock for the free unlimited express passes and convenience of citywalk but at peak rates and season picking up, we just wanted to pop in and not pay big rates. As Florida season pass holders, hotel fees get up there as we go often and we don’t mind saving money and standing in lines on some trips.
I truly felt that the hotel management was extremely embarrassed and apologetic. For this I believe perhaps they won’t repeat the way they handled this. We were charged $ 70 after taxes for the 2 nights we stayed so they really comped us an a big apology. Should a future stay go far better, etc. I will gladly raised the stars on my rating but until then, this is a convention hotel and a convenient place to stay for easy walking distance to the parks and citywalk and you should expect the quality to be as expected for that.

The hotel staff were the only redeeming feature. This is a very tired 1970s style hotel. It caters to the lower end business traveler and folk visiting the parks on the cheap. Why did we stay here: got suckered in to a dream vacation by Hilton timeshare. If they expect me to drop $ 20k into a time share, surely they could have put me into something better.
The walls are paper thin. Our one neighbor obviously enjoys CNN at 5am. Our other neighbor was either at a religious convention or was a stud of note «OMG. OMG. OMG. You are such a stud Danny».
Food is utilitarian at best and very expensive. Breakfast $ 18.95.
Find somewhere else to stay.

This Double Tree is okay. Air conditioner is dated in the room and the bed was a little firm. Free internet. Solid customer service in the lobby. A lot of choices to eat that are within walking distance. A really good location with a good size gym to get a workout in. Not my first choice but the price was right in March.

For 2 nights was not able to rent movies. They just kept saying we are working on it. We ordered steak from room service (Ale House) and they brought us a plastic fork and knife. I asked how are we supposed to cut the steak, with a plastic knife? The server said yes. We were double charged at the gift shop. After 2 requests it was finally taken off. I could go on and on. I will never stay there again.

I will never stay at another Doubletree because of this location. It is back to Marriots for me or if I go to Disney again I will try the Cabana Bay which seemed like a great hotel and only 7 minutes away.
Room:
The couch had so many stains on it I was afraid of contracting a disease by touching it. When I asked them to replace it or cover it they replaced the cushion with a cushion just as dirty. The bathroom had a horrible odor with mildew stains all over the floor. There was no way I was going to use the shower without shower shoes. The air conditioning was so loud I felt like I was still on the flight to Orlando.
As far as the rest of the hotel is concerned, it seemed that they did not care much about the upkeep. Some of the elevator buttons were broken and it was tough to even use the elevator when their staff always seems to be on it.
Save yourself the hassle and try the Cabana Bay. My friends stayed there and they loved it.

Nice stay at a reasonable price, very good all throughout.
Was a little hesitant after seeing a review by some creature going by «AD».
After staying here myself, it would appear she’s mentally unstable,
should use her real name, «Apparently Dumb».
Where does Unilocal find these retarded zombies?

The reason for four stars here is the excellent staff that keep this hotel going. My experience with the housekeeping and food service staff was exceptional — friendly, accommodating, and genuinely looking to make my stay the best possible. I appreciate that — keep up the hard work guys.

You’re paying for location here. It’s a walk to Universal as the $ 10 ½ mile cab ride isn’t worth it.
I can’t tell you how many times I had an elevator open and I couldn’t get in because it was full of staff members. Two 18 story towers and no service elevator???
Don’t eat at the $ 20 buffet. I had the $ 14 eggs Benedict which was surprisingly good despite the cost. After all you should expect to be paying «Disney» prices in Orlando.
Not much within walking distance. Use Über!!!
Rooms were fair. The day bed should be on a curb, though. They had huge TVs in the room.

Very nice building when you drive up. Picked it because it is across the street from Universal Orlando. Very nice staff. Room is great. Just the elevators and hallways need some updating. I would stay here again and recommend this Hotel.

This was once and could again be a very nice property. This is a huge hotel with two 17 story towers next to each other. the lobby and common facilities are nice… still nothing amazing. there is a HUGE pool and another smaller pool that even has a handicapped lift apparatus. the outdoor grounds are actually pretty nice. there is also an arcade room, a pizza place, and a starbucks all on the premises. All good. And the room rate was less than other places in the area… for a reason.
Once you leave the ground floor, the elevators take you back in time to the 1980’s The rooms are tacky and in desperate need of a MAJOR update. There was a nasty pesticide smell that seems to be increasingly the norm even in nicer hotels these days thanks to bed bugs. They charged $ 9.00/day for self parking in a SPRAWLING parking lot that if it were any bigger would require trams. Also, the whole time I was there the gates at the paring lot entrance/​exits never went down, so anyone could go in and out at will without paying. They charged $ 18.95 for their underwhelming breakfast buffet.

The location is really good for tourist or family that want to go to universal
Staff is very helpful and friendly, they even gave me nice warm cookies when we checked in
However, the room is hugeeeee but horrible, give me chilled everytime i entered, remind me of creepy hospital i think definitely need renovation

Check-​in process was fast and the cookie was a nice touch. The rooms are outdated but not horrible. The worst part about our short one night stay was that you have to use your room key to get in and OUT of the self-​parking lot.
That would’ve been helpful information to be told when we went to check out and turned in our room keys. The front desk clerk didn’t say anything to us. The employees should not assume a guest automatically knows they need their room key to get out of the parking lot.
So we had to go back into the lobby from the parking lot and I asked them if we need a room key to get out of parking lot and they said «yes, do you not have your room key?» I said I just turned it in when I checked out, looking right at the employee that checked me out and he lowered his eyes like he knew he messed up.
Come on Double Tree, don’t assume your customers know this stuff.

Our stay here was AMAZING! We came down to Orlando from Michigan for our honeymoon. We told them that when we checked in and they made our stay incredible. Every night we had swans made out of towels and rose petals. They give you complimentary bottled waters daily and the room was pretty decent. Everyone working was extremely nice! Parking is $ 17.00 a day for non-​vallet and I think $ 21 for vallet. Universal drive is right across the street and that was one of the parks we went to. The location of this hotel is in a perfect spot for pretty much anything. The deli restaurant there was delicious! We chose the custom built sandwich and they were pretty big for being deli. It wasn’t too badly priced either. For 2 sandwiches and 2 drinks it was $ 21 and some change.
The only complaints that I have were the breakfast buffet was pretty pricey! You did have a lot to chose from but $ 40 for 2 people was a little much and it seemed like all the restaurants there automatically put 16% gratuity on the bills. We usually leave 20% so they lose out on tips some times. Another thing is the bar there charges your drinks really weird. Like they charge you for the drink then they charge you for the liquor AND add that 16% gratuity as well. So a fuzzy navel and one beer turned into $ 17.50. The last thing I didn’t like was the lamps next to the bed do not have outlets in them. or anywhere near the bed for that matter that wasn’t already taken by the lamp or the clock. I like my phone by me especially when I have my alarm set. Other than that our stay was incredible. We will definitely be back here for sure!

This Double Tree was ok.
I’ve stayed in many Double Tree’s in the southern part of the country and by far this one was near the bottom of my list.
The staff is friendly and the grounds are well kept but my room is where it threw me for a loop the bathroom specifically. The cocking around the tub, shower head and spout was cracked and somewhat mold out. There was permanent stains on the countertop and the toilet didn’t flush well. I could have complained but I was only going to be there for 2 nights and thought it would be worth my time.

This is a really bad hotel. Bad as in old, rundown, beat up and smelly. The outside looks decent and the lobby is acceptable but the rooms remind me of a motel 6. I’m fact I have stayed at better looking motel 6. Everything in the room was stained… Rug, chair, couch, bathroom floor, walls etc… Makes you wonder what has happened in these rooms and it feels nasty.
Hilton should sell this property, close it or renovate it because continuing to operate it the way it is just tarnishes the brand.

This hotel is super outdated and let’s just be frank– it’s pretty gross.
You are better off just staying in one of those cheap motels. You pay a lot more money to have better quality for hotel room.
That aside– the pros is that the stag is quite polite, it IS across the street from universal studios, and the fitness room is pretty awesome compared to a lot of other hotels.
It’s just run the f down, old looking and some things need a lot of repairs in the rooms and around the facility.
Plus the blanket is weird. Hated it. It’s no like a regular blanket but a blanket between two sheets.
If it weren’t across from universal and we didn’t already prepay, probably wouldn’t have stayed there at all.

Not bad. Close to Universal Studios. Feels old and hasn’t been updated at all.
Probably not worth the money, but I used points to stay.

Horrible! As a Hilton Honors member I expected so much more.
1-​Super old hotel, décor outdated.
2-​My biggest complaint was no ventilation in the bathroom.
3– Noise. They gave us a room right next to the elevator and you could hear EVERYTHING, especially the rowdy people at 2am and the overly excited kids in the morning.
4– One of the three elevators was down. This became a HUGE problem when the parks closed at night and all the guest were arriving at one time. I was tired, hurting and wanted to get to my room but I had to make yet another line… Annoying.
5– The price for a morning breakfast Buffett was $ 23 a person (including kid prices). Ridiculous!
6– Transportation to the parks was a nightmare. Don’t count on it, you have to get up early to get your place in line for availability.
Overall I will not be returning. So many better choices for the same price. I understand the convince of the proximity to the park… but not worth it at all!
This was probably the worst Hilton I have ever stayed at.

Convention center is large and fairly well equipped to handle a large influx of freaks, geeks and horror nerds! And that’s just what it did this past weekend with Spooky Empire/​Mayhem.
If you can imagine hallways teeming with Jason, Freddie, Morticia, Seymor & his plant, the Joker, People on Stilts, girls in bikinis, Mermaids in the pool… all of this and so much more, it happened this weekend in the hotel.
The guest rooms were. ok. The lighting seemed dim and too yellow to be modern. Not allowing for good makeup application. But the beds were comfortable and allowed for a good stretch out.

I’ve read the reviews and I think this hotel is lovely. I have been to hotels all over the US and this is definitely worth the money. So what if there are a few cracks in the tile of the lobby. Pointing that out is just looking for something wrong. The rooms are spacious and clean. The lobby is beautifully decorated for the holidays and they have multiple dining options as well as a Starbucks.
I would definitely stay here again! It’s a 10 minute walk from Universal! That saves loads of money by not having to ride a taxi or a shuttle, or pay for Universal parking.
I suggest this place wholeheartedly!