Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld® — Hotel in Dr. Phillips

Although the property is decent and well kept, the service is the worst I have ever experienced in a Marriott hotel. I had 7 people in my vehicle as I was traveling with my family and our friends; we pulled up to the front of the hotel to see if we could check in at noon (had accurately booked our arrival time, but the website said we had to wait until 4:00); upon attempting to go to the front desk to see if I was able to check in, a guy (I assume a valet) approaches me and tells me I need to give him my keys. I said “I’ll only be gone 30 seconds, I need to see if I’m able to check in now, or if we need to wait” to which he responded, “you can’t leave your vehicle here without giving me your keys”. I’m not one to cater to demands with no merit, so I walked inside as he was yelling at me from behind in front of all the guests (my family included, of course) to ‘come back and give him my keys’; upon arrival at the Bonvoy Elite desk, I feel a presence behind me, and he had radioed security, which was flanking me as if I were a high-profile violent criminal. When I explained the situation to the front desk staff, and they informed me I was able to check in, so I went out and moved my vehicle to their $38.00/day self-parking lot. Please bear in mind, this all happened prior to me even being issued a room key…. Not a good initial experience.

Upon checking in, the rooms were decent and semi well-appointed; although you can tell the facility is dated, the rooms were clean. Upon getting our luggage up to the room (Joseph, our bellhop, was absolutely incredible) and getting settled in, we attempted to turn on the TV; although it was backlit, it didn’t function. We just passed it off and caught up with friends. That night when we returned, we attempted to turn on the TV again, and it functioned for about 5 minutes and then wouldn’t come on. The next day the same scenario happened, so I called the front desk; they said they would send an “engineer” to my room; when the “engineer” got there the TV had begun its apparent complimentary 5 minute function time, and he told me “it’s working now, there’s nothing I can do” and left - he didn’t even attempt to look at it or troubleshoot it outside of holding the remote. This continued to occur the remainder of our trip, to the extent I have a two-minute video of what the TV was doing. All in all, we paid hundreds of dollars a night for a hotel room with no television….

Saturday night, we went to the hotel bar to grab a cocktail, unwind, and watch TV (as we couldn’t in our room) after 20 minutes of waiting to be served while the bartenders engaged in chatting with other guests and each other, we walked over to the other bar. As I stood there to order drinks for my wife and I, a lovely young bartender walks over and says, “Yeah?” I said, “I’d like to order a couple of drinks”, to which she replied, “that’s what I figured”. I ordered 2 mojitos and requested a menu to see what wines they had as our friend had requested a glass; after tossing a menu in my direction, she came back a few minutes later and I asked for a glass of white wine for our friend. The bartender sauntered off to make an obscene mixture of rum and Sprite with some intact whole mint leaves floating on the surface in clear solo cups along with a white wine, also I a solo cup. When I asked, “what does it take to get a proper drink in a real glass?”, she responded, “you need to sit down and actually order something” and proceeded to hand me a bill for $47.00 for two rum and Sprites (I won’t do them the disservice of calling them mojitos) and a glass of Moscato.

Upon relaying all of the issues during our stay to the front desk, their solution was to add an hour to my late check out time. This area of Orlando is filled to the brim with 4 & 5 star hotels that will actually treat you with decency and service; I highly recommend you stay at ANY OTHER PROPERTY. If this is the trend that Marriott is beginning to showcase, I’m switching to any other...

Review of Marriott Property: Serious Concerns with Emergency Response and Service

I recently stayed at this Marriott property, and after a tremendously difficult time getting a response from Marriott, I felt compelled to formally address the issues I encountered. I dealt with Beth Reed, Corporate Liaison, Corporate Office of Consumer Affairs, and Sarah Norris, Marriott Claims. It took significant effort to even get a response from Marriott, which speaks to how seriously they are taking these concerns.

As a travel advisor, I feel it is important to be transparent and highlight the serious issues related to this property, specifically in how Marriott handles emergencies and their lack of professionalism.

Key Issues: Emergency Response Failure: We explicitly requested the front desk to call 911 for a guest experiencing chest pains because the room phone did not dial out. Despite this, the front desk failed to make the 911 call and instead planned to "wait and have someone respond to the room first." This delay could have been critical in a medical emergency, such as a heart attack, where every minute counts. Marriott’s response, according to Sarah Norris, is that the hotel’s protocol is to notify the Safety & Security team first, who are first aid & CPR certified and trained to assess the situation until EMS arrives. This standard operating procedure, as described by Marriott, would only call 911 if necessary or requested by the responding officer. However, this failed to align with the urgency of the situation, where immediate action was needed. Marriott has not taken this feedback seriously, which is something future guests should take into consideration when deciding where to stay.

Unacceptable Room Conditions: The room presented to me was filthy, which is completely unacceptable for any guest.

Poor Service:

A pool server said they couldn’t serve food because they were "overrun with convention guests," which reflects poorly on the service standards.

A bartender was seen touching food with her hands, which I immediately reported to the food and beverage manager, Larry.

We were unable to order lunch on three separate occasions due to convention guests overwhelming the staff.

Positive Experience with Food and Beverage Manager: Larry, the food and beverage manager, was actually wonderful to deal with and very accepting of my complaints. He tried to make up for the poor service by compensating our lunch at 2 PM, the only time we were able to be served. However, despite his efforts, the overall experience was marred by systemic issues.

Failure to Address Concerns: Despite the issues raised, the property manager, Gary, never returned my phone call. A Marriott Bonvoy customer service representative, Dolce, informed me that Gary was sent to the property to “clean up a mess,” yet it seems clear he is failing to do so effectively.

Conclusion: I want to ensure future guests are aware that Marriott has not taken my feedback seriously, which is a critical factor to consider when choosing this property. The hotel’s emergency response protocol, as described by Marriott, does not align with best practices in urgent situations, and the overall service at this hotel was subpar. Marriott must address these systemic issues to improve their standards and service.

I trust that Marriott will take this feedback more seriously moving forward and work to improve the experience for...

We recently stayed at the Renaissance at Sea World for the State Championships for the Robtics league our Grandson is in. The convenience of being right across the street where the competition was being held was a plus for myself and my wife who are disabled, but that is pretty much where it ended. After checking in we incurred what was supposed to be an exciting two day event, turned into unexpected fees, a stinky room and an altogether forgettable experience. We got to our room and called down to the front desk and asked if the hotel offered a Continental Breakfast and the hostess said yes they offered a Continental Breakfast Buffet or you could order off a menu for an made to order breakfast. Well the prices were kind of pricey so we opted for the Continental which in almost every other Hotel you stay at they are free. Well to our amazement after we had been told that they did have the Continental breakfast thinking it was going to be like the other hotels and after we had already got our food and seated at the table and was eating, the waiter came over and asked if we wanted to pay now or just charge it to our room while we were eating mind you. My wife asked why are we paying for a Continental Breakfast they are usually free the waiter said no you have to pay for the Continental. Well sticker shock struck in for two adults and two children the age of ten $115.00 thats almost $29.00 apiece for an sub par very bland breakfast. We did not get WIFI that is also $20.00 a night, every other hotel offers Free WIFI, then came the parking I know parking in Orlando is a hot commodity but $38.00 a night is ridiculous just on the other side of the road to Sea World it's free. Oh yeah by the way there is a two dollar fee assessed to you for paying with a credit or debit card if you do not have your room key card on you, if you do have it they charge it to your room. Also non-refundable. Then comes the four star room it was nice and cozy but just like above that was about it when we got into the room it smelled like cigarette smoke in a non smoking room the bathroom was okay but there was no vent fan so if you wanted to take a hot shower to relax you had better not take any clothes in with you to put on because they may possibly be damp from the moisture. What was supposed to be a fun and exciting weekend turned into unexpected fees and stinky room sub par dining experience in what is supposed to be a premiere four star hotel, left us with an experience that we will not be coming back to this hotel. Being a disabled Veteran I would think that we could get some kind of discount for our service but hey this is the times we are living in. It is all about the money, what happened to the hospitality of come on in let us make you comfortable while you are here and thank you for choosing us. It's all gone I know we will get an apology or something but the damage is already done. We will not be coming back to your...