Dolphin Key Resort — Hotel in Cape Coral

This was by far the WORST experience I’ve ever encountered at a hotel!! I’m usually the person that takes his time and reads reviews to make sure they're not false but with 4.1 stars it was hard to pass. The majority of the reviews are regarding the Tiki bar which we had no thought of using. Our booking was for Aug 1 – 3, 2021, and wasn’t planning on checking in till later that evening but I received a call on Aug 1 around noon that the lobby will be closing at 5 pm. I was a bit confused that a resort lobby closes at 5 pm but made my way over there shortly after 1:30 pm on Aug 1. We dropped our bags in the room around 2 pm not thinking of inspecting the area as one would assume hotels are serviced regularly especially a 4.1 star. Well, that wasn’t the case as we found the room wasn’t truly serviced. We returned back to the room on Aug 1 around 10:40 pm from our activities and started to notice the conditions of the room. There were crumbs underneath the comforters, some kind of droppings behind the bed not sure from what animal, towels were soiled, pillowcases were filthy, pillows had yellow stains from other guest salvias, hair in the bathroom, and the shower had mold in the corners. My wife was not pleased but stayed somewhat quiet while laying her clothes on the bed to lay on top of them. I decided this is no place for my family to stay and immediately booked a Hotel with Hampton Inn & Suites the same night. We checked in at the Hampton Inn on Aug 1 @ 11:47 pm (yes same night) and it was such a relief to stay there! The next day Aug 2 @ 9:15 AM we returned back to Dolphin Key Resort and spoke to Megan B. and explained the situation with pictures as proof. We were told that the manager Miguel M. had to make this decision of providing a refund and currently wasn’t there. We let her know that we did not stay in the room because of the conditions and booked another reservation with Hampton Inn & Suites. So we decided to leave the resort badges with Megan B. and follow up again before we depart Florida on Aug 5. We contacted the Dolphin resort again on Aug 3 and spoke with Megan B which she indicated that her manager Miguel M planned on refunding us but we needed to contact Expedia since the reservation was booked through them (frustrating). So from Aug 3 through Aug 31, we’ve been in constant communication with Expedia trying to get in contact with the manager Miguel M through email and calls with no luck. On Aug 8, Expedia again reached out to Dolphin Resort and spoke with Megan B who now stated that her manager Miguel M. will not provide a refund since we stayed for a day? I was totally confused as I stated on Aug 2 @ 9:15 AM to Megan B that we booked another reservation with Hampton Inn & Suites?? My question to management is, why didn’t we receive a call from our multiple messages, and should potential future guests expect to face the same conditions?? With the entire world dealing with Covid-19 pandemic, I would think we’re being more diligent and sanitizing/servicing these rooms. I’ve also attached some of the pictures for your review.

UPDATE TO RESPOND TO OWNER COMMENT: Response from the owner an hour ago This is the fifth time you posted your review. We get it. Would you like a review about how you conducted yourself? I believe you must have gotten my family mix up with some other guests. The only interaction I had with anyone from your company was with your front desk worker, no manager owner or anyone from leadership ever reach out to me until I posted a review. When I spoke with front desk lady she could do nothing to help and only relayed messages to manager and owner. That is poor leadership and your comment about the way I conducted myself is base on lies and is very unprofessional. I suggest you focus your attention on your cleaning staff and take some leadership, customer service, business classes to learn how to deal with unsatisfied customers. A clean place to sleep is not too much to ask when paying...

I usually never leave a bad review anywhere, As I’m quite laid back. Unfortunately I have to - we stayed there this past Wednesday and checked out Monday. We were not here much other than to rest our heads and shower. When we checked in Wednesday afternoon the lady was very sweet explained everything to us gave us our room key and on our way we went. The moment we walked into our hotel room their were tons of tiny ants all over the floor the sink and the walls by the bathroom. I unfortunately did not have time to run down and make a complaint as we were on a time schedule with people waiting outside for us. So we killed most of what we could see and left. The next day I had to check in AGAIN apparently because we made separate reservations which I don’t see why we couldn’t have just paid the money for all the days up front. It was such a huge inconvenience to our day. Friday comes - now my grandmother had booked this room for me as a vacation gift she called ahead of time to make sure she did not have to be there for them to use her card. Whomever she spook with said she did not and everything would be all set. I go downstairs to check in and the girl tells me that I can’t use her card on file and that I would have to pay for it. So my grandma tries to call the girl at the hotel while I’m standing at the front desk (meanwhile my friends were outside waiting to take me to breakfast and ended up leaving) and she puts her on hold and takes at least 6 more customers while I’m standing there like an idiot afraid I’m going to lose my room. She finally answers the phone and tells my grandma there’s no way they can charge her card, well after a few minutes of arguing the girl at the desk finally says she has to fax her a letter and a picture of the credit card. So 35 minutes later and finally problem solved. I went up to the room to shower... no hot water so then I had a do not disturb sign on my door that day as well.... about 130 in the afternoon I hear the door being opened by a maid NO KNOCK !! She looks at me and says “are you checking out” - are you KIDDING ME ! What if I had no clothes on. If for any reason she did think I was checking out that day that’s a problem with the front desk not delaying that message to her. Just so you all know there were ants crawling around this whole time on everything. Towels sinks tables toilet walls. I attached pictures on my review on Facebook so if you are curious go search for that review. So Saturday comes, I go down to check in again. The reservation was under my boyfriends name just like Wednesday and Thursday’s were and the girl gave me no problem at all those two days when he wasn’t with me. But of course the same girl who gave me a hard time about my grandmas card wouldn’t let me sign anything on Saturday. I had to run all the way back to our room and have him sign it to run back down. These people knew who we were we stayed there for 5 days. We didn’t cause any trouble. We even took our own garbage out because the day that I decided to leave a makeup room sign out they didn’t come in go figure. Last but not least yesterday before we left I tried to shower before our flight - no hot water again. I will N E V E R stay here again we paid about $900.00 to stay here. We called yesterday and today and finally got in touch with a manager who was rude and nasty and I honestly expected no less. I’ve been reading the reviews all over this page and the website and whoever the “owner” is - is nothing but disrespectful and argumentative to its customers and says they are lying. Well there’s proof in the pudding kids. I am a manager myself and I would lose my job if I talked to people the way you did. Do yourself a favor - there’s a hotel with great staff not far from there on Del Prado called Casa Loma. Go lay your head in a clean hotel room with a...

Came across Dolphin Key and based on a Google search and reviews we booked. Booking and check in were easy. We initially booked through a third party (be aware if you need to make changes to your reservation third parties are difficult) we reached out for help from the resort and they (Meghan) was amazing and very helpful adjusting the reservation. She was attentive to our needs and very accommodating. The staff are all extremely friendly. The interaction with all was a pleasant experience. Now the details (good and bad). It is an older two story hotel so upon arrival it doesn't look impressive. However, once inside, the lobby is fresh and inviting and is quite nice. There is no elevator on site (at least not that I ever saw). There are laundry facilities but no workout room/equipment and I didn't see a business center but I could've just missed it etc. There are easily accessible restrooms on the main floor near the pool. The guest rooms are reasonably updated. The second floor rooms are entirely white in color and the ceiling is vaulted giving it a large, bright and airy feel throughout which was awesome. The air-conditioning worked very well. However, the entry door had a large gap at the bottom that should have some weatherstripping added. The shower is new and felt great. The room in general is very clean and cleaning staff were very friendly, attentive and helpful. This is a very basic hotel with very basic room amenities. The towels are not great at all. The bed only has a duvet (no top sheet), the pillows are not of great quality but the bed itself was very comfortable. There are two tub chairs with a coffee table and also a small dining table with two chairs. No dresser but a cube cubby fixture that you can place items in. There is a small fridge but amazingly NO microwave which is a HUGE negative in my mind as you can't bring leftovers from restaurants to heat up or even heat up your coffee. This is something management needs to consider adding to each room in the future. The pool is clean and there are lots of shaded gathering areas and seating areas surrounding it. A number of loungers are there as well. The pool does have a mobility lift for those with mobility issues. There is a huge tiki bar/restaurant that is attached to the hotel property. The food was ok, drinks were good. We watched a number of altercations between staff and customers and in my opinion some staff were unnecessarily aggressive but it did make for entertaining people watching. The bar is extremely lively all day long and packed. It is certainly a favorite among the locals. There is terrific live entertainment every day/night. The hotel in general, for sleeping, was extremely quiet in our opinion. However, on Fri/Sat/Sun nights the resort is loud because of the music. It's not terrible as the music ends around 11pm on weekends. We had a room facing the courtyard/bar and it was great for us. If you want a quieter experience I'd book the street side rooms. Anyone with mobility issues would want to book the main floor. The most odd thing I felt was that the hotel/office closes at 8pm. There is no one on site in the evenings/overnight. I didn't see security at all. When asked, staff said if an issue occurs there is a number to call posted on the front door of the hotel entrance. This information should be posted clearly in every guest room. A guest shouldn't have to walk down to the office to search for a telephone number in the dark (simple fix). In the case of an issue or emergency after hours or in the night this could be a problem. There are many restaurants and bars within walking distance. It was a fun location and reasonably priced for Cape Coral definitely worth visiting. We...