Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista — Hotel in Dr. Phillips

I’ll start with the positives:|The staff - majority were very nice (especially the cleaners) and helpful.|If you’re purely going to Florida with the intention of visiting the Disney parks (and you have kids), this place will probably be ideal for you. They provide free transport from the hotel to the Disney resorts (at scheduled times), you just need to book a space. |There is also a shopping outlet literally a 15 minute walk away and we went there several times and bought a few things. The hotel does provide a bus for this as well but it’s just 1 in the morning and returns at 5:15pm, so definitely would recommend walking just be aware that you may want to go first thing to avoid walking when the sun is at its hottest.|It’s very clean - the cleaners do an amazing job and our room was spotless. We decided that we only needed our room cleaned every couple of days but if the ladies saw us they would still ask if we were ok and always said hello.|Negatives:|The room (we stayed on the 5th floor) like the rest of the place, was VERY basic and definitely needs updating. The bathroom was so small that the sink was outside of the bathroom, the toilet bowl appeared to be cracked and basin plug didn’t work. There isn’t a safe in the room, so we took our passports and money everywhere we went which isn’t what we’re used to doing. However I did read somewhere that there’s a safe at reception (whether that was free or not, I don’t know) but I didn’t like the idea of that.|The room itself is a decent size and there’s a microwave and a fridge (if you want water you’ll need to stock the fridge yourself). There are 2 decent sized double beds (extremely soft mattresses and pillows). Breakfast choice is limited but the constants were scrambled eggs, some forms of meat “Pattie” cereal, fruit, bread, bagels, some mini muffins, coffee, fruit juices and water. There was also a waffle station but there was usually a queue for this.|There’s a shop/fast food place on site, which you’re given a card which gives you a discount you can use for each night you’re there but even with this the prices aren’t cheap, so take a walk across the road (and to the left) and go to the market/shop, which is near a gas station, and stock up on your bottles of water and essentials at a more palatable price.|Parking is available but you will be charged $26+ per night (I had to email twice to obtain this information)!!|Check your credit card bill, as the “holding charge”, will show immediately as a pending charge- which I was told should rectify itself a few days after checking out.|There are 2 other hotels on site, one of which seemed to be far nicer than where we stayed but I’m basing that on the reception area and the food (really nice pasta dishes) that we ate there.|Overall I wouldn’t stay here again but its saving grace was the level of...

We booked this hotel very last minute as our usual hotel round the corner was full.||The lady who dealt with us the evening we arrived was lovely. We were given 2 bottles of water and all necessary details about breakfast and park tickets if we needed them. We were also informed of the marketplace items you could purchase.||The room on entering had a strange smell to it but it appeared clean.||There is a safe, fridge, coffee maker and a separate sink area for cleaning any utensils you may use.||The fridge in our room was uneven as it only had 3 legs, and was more effective as a freezer as everything we put in there froze. There did not appear to be a dial to change the temperature. There was no guard in the fridge door so nothing stayed in it.||The drawers for clothes did not stay closed. Bit dangerous in the middle of the night if you keep no lights on as you walk into them.||The shower curtain rail was loose and water pressure low.||Breakfast is chaotic. Everyone wants to use the toasters and waffle makers but they’re all together so creates a crowd.||There is not much choice for hot food, usually scrambled eggs and sausage. You can’t help yourself either it is plated for you by a very nice man.||Coffee and hot water is available in the lobby, twice the hot water wasn’t hot. The first time it was replaced, the second time I was told by the man on reception that there was none and I wouldn’t be getting any!||The car parking is very limited. We always arrive back late after making the most of the day and had difficulty parking on more than 1 occasion. On some nights there was a bus who took up 7 spaces and made it even more difficult to park. You can park behind the shops but there are some unsavoury characters hanging around which does make you feel unsafe and worried about you car. ||On checkout we spoke to 2 lovely ladies who very kindly took our postcards to put in the post for us.||We asked for a receipt on check out but were told as we booked 3rd party we didn’t get one.||We also checked out a day early but were not questioned why. We always planned to leave a day early as our flight home was very late but they didn’t know this or seem concerned. ||When we returned home the next day we were billed for a marketplace item worth $3.20. We never bought anything from the marketplace so we contacted the hotel who kindly gave us points and a refund, except we are still awaiting the refund. ||The staff are lovely but the hotel needs some love. We travel to this area a minimum of twice a year and will not return...

I very rarely will leave a bad review, because I understand that things happen. But when there are multiple issues, I think it is important that people are made aware.

I had a two night stay at this hotel and we faced issues starting out first night to our last morning.

Bathroom door got stuck (first night it got stuck we pushed and pulled and made it work, the next morning it got stuck again and we could not open it so we had to call the front desk TWICE before someone finally came, but by then we had knocked the door open almost breaking it.) The staff member tried to fix the door and just told us to lift the door handle up and open from the outside instead of the inside. So someone else essentially has to open the door. Luckily it was an adult that got stuck and not a child. And luckily there were other people in the room or someone could truly be stuck in there for a while. I paid a lot for this hotel room and this is not what I expected.

Bedroom door got stuck (The second morning, the bedroom door would not open. Someone knocked on the door so we had to literally force the door handle with two people to open it before we finally got it open. Then as I returned from breakfast, I used the key to unlock it and the handle wouldn't turn. It took my 5 minutes to push the handle down hard enough to open it. I was about to get someone to come open it for me, but I was finally able to force the handle down)

Cleaning/Maid service tried twice the morning of checkout to come in for cleaning. I do not blame the staff as they are trying to do their job. But the managerial team and hotel team should make them aware of which rooms have checked out or not so they are not disturbing people that are trying to sleep or get their stuff together.

Short staffed or lack of communication. The staff did what they could to help but the seemed short staffed or not communicating. I requested shampoo one morning and no one showed up and after 10 minutes I went to reception and they didn't even realize no one showed up. Shampoo not showing up, I can live with but when people do not show up when someone is stuck inside - that is a problem.

I will be returning to Orlando for another Disney trip later this year. And this is the one hotel I will NOT be...