Travelodge by Wyndham Orlando / Heart of International Drive — Hotel in Dr. Phillips

Beautiful and very efficient place Decently clean rooms although could use a bit of bleach added to the cleaning liquid used or maybe some air freshener to up the feeling of the room. The showers are very modern and clean only lack a place to put the little toiletries that they do offer in each room but nothing that a simple shower caddy can’t solve. The picture of the swimming pool on their website needs to be updated to show the classic new furniture that is there ( burgundy red umbrellas with matching colored very comfy mattresses to bamboo chaise lounges ) and bamboo- like lining fixed to the metal gate around the pool area and a palm tree ( probably a fake plant but expensive looking ) that transforms the feeling of the place to a Hawaiian osais ( imagine pairing that with the right soft music over a speaker or two in the pool area ) The swimming pool is terrific with built in lights that make it shine at night with enough elegance that makes you wanna stay in it all night if you could which solved a huge problem for me : I usually have to choose between staying in the hotel to soak in the pool within its hours of operation ( usually till sundown in most other hotels ) or go explore the city I’m actually traveling to be in. I asked the staff and they were kind enough to let me use the pool only if I promised to keep the noise to a minimum after certain times at night which is completely understandable and I enjoyed a lot not having to choose between the pool and the city. An extra tip is to find the pipes that pump the clean water into the pool and voilà you got yourself a free jacuzzi for as long as you want 😁 Speaking about the staff they are 10/10 Always there for you specially if you come in with the right attitude to enjoy and be kind to people around you and they’ll happily go the extra mile for you. I inquired about my view before I checked in to the room and the gentleman freely upgraded me to one that has a pool view. To my amusement and to a great pleasure of mine the pool’s door opened right in front of my room’s door. Another time I inquired about a toaster oven for breakfast and they could have just answered sorry we don’t offer that but they went in and grabbed one from the back ( probably the one used by the staff themselves) and brought it to me just for my convenience. Fresh hot coffee and clean drinking water is provided 24/7 which is more than you can find at 4 and 5 star hotels. Another huge plus is the location, although the entrance is hidden behind a neglected piece of land which I don’t quite understand but it is perfectly nestled between chain brand stores and restaurants and major tourists attractions. Tell me it’s not an advantage to have Dunkin' Donuts, Olive Garden, The Juicy Crab 🦀, McDonald’s , Burger King, Denny’s restaurant and Diner , Golden Coral open buffet, Walgreens pharmacy, numerous gift shops, grocery stores 4,99 and up stores and more at WALKING DISTANCE TO YOU, amusement parks ( e.g. universal Volcano Bay , all Disney world parks , Fun Spot, Aquatica , Sea world) and a prestigious outlet mall minutes away from where you are staying. Not as heavily advertised are the national parks and springs like Wekiwa Springs - 27 minutes drive, Rock Springs and more are hidden gems that are within your reach, Daytona Beach 🏖️ is just one hour away from their location. I would return again and again to this hotel and I would love to see it improve even more. In my experience this place deserves to be acknowledged as a 3 star hotel or more for all these...

I wouldn't recommend staying here, even if it was your only option. It is located on I-Drive, but once you turn in it's like a different world. The gray paint that they chose to cover the building with adds to the dreariness of this particular Travelodge. The parking lot was dirty with trash and a heavy smell of cigarettes. I should have taken pictures. I think I was more embarrassed than shocked. I had my fiance with me. On the website they offer an option to have breakfast included and yes, there is a price difference in the rooms if you choose to do so. As we entered the smallest lobby ever, we noticed the "breakfast" that was mentioned. Oatmeal packets and coffee. Oh, ok. Anyways as we were checking in the desk clerk asked if we were checking in and stated if we were doing so that there was a $25 fee. When I was booking I mentioned I'd be checking in earlier than 3pm. There was not a mention of a fee. I was also charged the $100 deposit which I was aware of. Then $18 for resort fees which I was not aware of. I thought when I booked I was charged everything. Apparently not. Now, we were done checking in before 11 and were told that we had to wait until 11, but then told us to go ahead. I'm not sure why there's an early check in fee.....the room was clean when we walked in but ok. I went to use the bathroom and the toilet was broken. Rocking from side to side and the handle was completely broken. Why wouldn't they make sure this is fixed? I went to use the phone to call the front desk but there wasn't a cord for the phone. Sooo I just walked back up. Made them aware and they gave us jets to the room next door. We paid extra for a king sized room, with a couch. I'm 6 feet tall and comfort is important to me. The room next door was a queen sized bed, smaller and without a couch. I made them aware of the difference in room and costs and was told that since I was initially booked into the correct room that there was nothing that could be done. What??? That doesn't make sense. I was beyond annoyed. The microwave had to be used on the floor. It was on top of the mini fridge but the cord is way too short to reach the outlet. The only way it would reach was on the floor. In order for the TV and electricity to work is if your key is inserted into the wall. There is an ironing board without an iron. We asked for an iron and there wasn't one available. One morning we were laying in bed watching movies and housekeeping came by. They did a knock and open combo, didn't wait for a response and opened the door. I thought we had the door lock on. We made sure to not make that mistake again. Last but not least, I only received $55 of my deposit. We were told that the towels had a stain. Now, I know we didn't stain any towels. Our skin may look like chocolate but we don't stain towels. That also wasn't stated anywhere that there was a charge for dirty towels. We took showers and dried off with the towels. We weren't shown any proof of what we were accused of. Oh and in the website it shows a cute lil photo opp backdrop. Yeah, it's non-existent. The customer service is horrible, the website pictures are misleading and their policies just seem to be made up along the way. Shadiest hotel in Orlando goes to...

I would be very unlikely to recommend this place to an enemy, let alone a friend. First off, it looked like it was airlifted straight outta Venezuelan ghetto and then you opened the door and things really went downhill. The shower ended up being a hybrid shower/bidet due to the substantial leak aggressively spraying your mid-section and using at least 50% of the water pressure. While it was thoughtful to have the shower floor be a cushion that seemed to be some sort of mixture of hair, debris & 1/2 inch layer of tapioca pudding, we'd have been fine with just the original fiberglass. Luckily, though, you could rinse your feet off when you got out of the shower thanks to the leaking base of the toilet, which provided an ample rinsing puddle. There was also a solution to the 50% shower water pressure as well.... you could finish rinsing your hair by sitting on the toilet and letting the ceiling leak get that for you by what you could only hope was water falling on your head. While this situation may not seem ideal, we didn't know how good we had it because for the final 2 days of our stay the shower didn't work at all which was ok because it was only 98 degrees and 100% humidity everyday. Now I know it may come across as ungrateful, but we weren't over the moon with the 2:00 am knocking on the door wake-up call. While it's admirable they didn't want us over-sleeping, we still prefer the traditional wake-up call to be a call and also asked for. The kicker is that when we checked in, they wanted $100 for incidentals that they would refund after we checked out. Ironically, I felt they should have left a deposit with me since if a tornado hit that place, it would do substantially more improvements than $100 worth. Alas, though, no place is without its merits as I was pleased with how easy it was to find a parking spot every time! I was also going to give good marks for location, but then I thought that would be like a chicken praising the location of the meat processing plant with how close it is to all the city's amenities. Long story short, if you ignore everything above, I give it a 1 star, but if you factor all of that in, then unfortunately, my overall assessment is much lower. On a positive note, this experience did get me banned from booking future family excursions, so now I will have much more free time!! If you had to sum up everything with 1 sentence, it would be "1 star amenities, but 4 star memories"....as it will be a long time before we...