Aloft Orlando Lake Buena Vista — Hotel in Dr. Phillips

We stayed in this hotel for 22 nights from August 12, 2022. We were excited to be staying here to explore the Disney parks, the outlets and also work remotely. You know, you'd think that if you are staying in a hotel for 22 nights paid in advance, they'd have a little more courtesy with you on your check-out. Of all my comings and goings, and travels, I have never, ever, been kicked out of a room before. I kid you not, EIGHTEEN minutes after check-out time (11:18 am) a lady came raging, banging, and screaming on my door saying we had to leave because it was my last day there. I was not wanting a late check-out because we were headed for the parks, but I had some minor problems and was a bit late. Anyway, we checked out at 11:48 sharp and the interaction with that lady was so rude I frankly will never stay at this hotel again and I am even considering dropping the Mariott brand for good. For such a long stay, I would recommend somewhere else. Their TV offers a very limited option of streaming services and Chromecast won't work with it, even if requested - which I did. They charge you for parking, but there are plenty of hotels nearby that charge absolutely nothing and even offer complimentary breakfast, which Aloft does not.

The housekeeping is a mystery. We would walk out of our rooms when they came knocking only to find out the room was left untouched later in the night. I had to ask for toilet paper, towels, amenities, and other things more than once. During my second week there, I went without the Hotel amenities for 4 nights, even though I was requesting them at the front desk. But this is not the Front Desk's fault, they are all amazing. All of them. However, there is a server at the bar who was not friendly at all. I went to him once or twice and it felt like I was basically being an intruder just by asking for silverware.

There is no place to work at the hotel except your room. The lobby is constantly, constantly playing loud music - which I get, it is the concept of the Aloft brand. But I didn't know that, so come prepared.

On my third night, an electric problem happened in my room where all the power outlets, lamps, and other electronic stuff wouldn't work. They promptly sent their electrician to figure it out, and even though it took him a solid hour to fix it, it was all okay afterward. I appreciate him. But you know, you'd think the Hotel would treat you to some regard after all these little things. There is nothing wrong with the rooms. A/C worked amazingly well.

The GYM is absolutely fantastic. Can't recommend it enough. Great equipment. The location is also superb, with amazing restaurants within walking distance and Disney Springs only a 7$ rideshare ride away.

Once again, my complaints are with housekeeping and the very rude way we were kicked out 18 minutes post checkout time after spending 22 nights there. Felt horrible. It ruined our day.

So this is a pretty nice area in Orlando with all the hotels and buildings nearby being recently built and everything is pretty new. Getting to Disney parks is a breeze either if you are driving, ridesharing or using public transport - there are bus stops nearby that drop you off at the main locations in Orlando.

Wouldn't stay here again knowing there are great options...

Our stay here was just “ok”. It wasn’t horrible by any means, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Location - location is great. Located 5 minutes from seaworld, 10 minutes from Disney springs and 15 from universal studios. 8 minutes from the premium outlets. This was perfect for us because we were visiting all of these different areas on different days of our trip and it was conveniently located about equal distance from each of them. Lots of good restaurants nearby to choose from. We recommend First Watch and Sofrito Latin Cafe. Quiet area, we frequently got back to our hotel room late at night and we never had any issues or felt unsafe at any point.

Service - just ok. The staff that greeted us was not overly friendly or helpful and it seemed like they didn’t want to be there. We requested extra towels and received none. Housekeeping also never came to our room. Sheets were not changed, bed was not made. Fresh linens were not provided. We had to use the same 2 dirty bath towels for our entire 4 night stay which was honestly disgusting. The towels were also small and extremely rough! I have $10 towels from Target that are way more plush and large than the ones we had in our room - who wants to go to a hotel and have to use towels that are literally worse than what they use at home? I know this isn’t the taj mahal but I would at least expect something that doesn’t feel like sandpaper on my skin.

Room - decent size and cool wallpaper. Lots of outlets to charge your devices, but half of the usb outlets in our room did not work. Water smelled a little funny. Toilet was extremely loud as well as the air conditioner which made it difficult to sleep. Sheets and comforter were soft but the down pillows were extremely uncomfortable which also made it difficult to sleep. Additionally our air conditioner was leaking the entire time and we had a huge puddle in our room.

Hotel itself - Lobby design is cute. Xyz bar is a nice amenity for people who drink. Breakfast options are lacking (only grab & go convenience store type items) compared to other similar-grade hotels nearby that offer continental breakfast (free or paid). Parking is pricy at $25 a day, but we didn’t have an issue finding a spot in our desired area. Amenities are lacking overall. Pool is small, there’s no jacuzzi. Gym is just ok, has sufficient cardio equipment but dumbbells only go up to 50lbs and there is only one bench.

Overall this is a decent hotel. It was the lowest priced we found in the area out of the well-known reputable brands (Marriott, Hilton, etc). We did not have a horrible experience, but we probably wouldn’t stay here again and next time will just spend the extra $100 to stay somewhere a little nicer with better amenities, breakfast options, and a room more conducive to a good nights sleep (quiet A/C,...

I want to start this review by saying I really enjoyed my stay here and I wanted to leave a gushing review that there is nowhere else you should stay in Orlando besides here. The rooms were large, modern and very clean. For the value- the room was also incredibly priced! It includes a small safe, huge flatscreen TV and mini fridge. The only thing missing in the room was a microwave. They did however have one in the lobby in the snack nook. I had a room with a great view of the lake. The staff was friendly during the stay as well. I received a call shortly after arriving to make sure the room was to my liking. There was also no issue in requesting a late checkout. There was a bar, pool table and a little snack nook. There was a smaller pool and a gym. I had no issues actually I was delighted. Had I not had this communication and billing issue below I would have rated this 4 or 5 stars. It's close enough to major attractions, but not in walking distance. Its about 20/25 minutes from the airport. Would I ever stay again? Yes, because of this stay I believe I would now seek out Aloft hotels when I travel. Do I wish I had received the same great customer service I did when I was there afterwards when I had concerns? Yes.

The problem began after the stay. I paid for a portion of my stay with a Marriott bonvoy giftcard $300. They asked me to email them the giftcard so I did. A week later they charged my credit card the gift card payment amount anyway. Along with a no call no show fee of 145 dollars. I called to address the issue and was told it was all a mistake and would be fixed. I called Aloft 3 different times about this issue over the course of more than a week and the answer was always that someone named Lucio would call me back after 3. You guessed it! Lucio never called. When I did finally speak to someone who could assist and I dont remember if it was Lucio- he was rude. He said something like the hotel had been bought by someone else and their access to the system where they could use giftcards was down. I am COMPLETELY okay with this. But it could have been communicated. I shouldn't have had to track down and continue calling about this issue for over a week. When addressing the no call no show fee he asked me to calculate what the difference would be MYSELF and tell him. He did end up issuing the refund of the overcharge. He belittled my concerns and really was the only negative/rude interaction I've had at Aloft. Although no one else solved the issue, they were atleast polite in telling me the person I needed to speak to would call me back.

Update- after Mike Fatta said someone would contact me it's been a week and no one has. Minus a point again. I'm...