Hotel Eleo — Hotel in Gainesville

Lori Ann Sigley 219 points 2 minutes ago Providing a 2 star rating does not tell the story of my recent stay at Hotel Eleo. ( 1/24/2022 - 1/27/2022). Something’s were 5 star while others were less than 1 star. First the great: The staff at the front desk, in the restaurant, the valet, & the shuttle driver could not have been more accommodating nor more professional. From check in through check out & all the interactions In between they all made us feel welcome and were able to answer any and all questions. The view of the lake and fountains was beautiful. Floor to ceiling windows made the suite airy & bright…,(of course the large window area also allowed the cold of the window to influence the air temperature in the room). Next the not so great: The Nespresso machine in the room was a welcome sight but three different colors of “pods” with no explanation of the differences among each once again required a call to the front desk. Our reservation was for 2 adults in the room, but only 1 robe was supplied…. The shuttle was once again a welcome sight and we availed ourselves to that service on the morning of my surgery at the UF Cancer Hospital. However, when we called for the return 8 hours later, we were told that the “shuttle was down”. We used the hospital shuttle to get back to the hotel. I wonder why no one contacted us, ( the hotel had my cell phone number), to let us know the shuttle wouldn’t be available & the procedure to return to the hotel….. The failures: (In no particular order.) One of the more important details in selecting a hotel for this stay was having a restaurant in the hotel. I had believed that having a restaurant also meant that someone would be able to accommodate a relatively simple request….when we returned from to the hospital following my surgery we inquired at the host podium about the possibility of getting some scrambled eggs although it was dinner time….they were happy to oblige! However, when I uncovered the “to go” container what I found was a chopped fried egg…not a scrambled egg at all! No instructions in the suite for how to navigate the thermostat. For the first 24 hours no matter what we did to the thermostat the rooms were freezing. It was 24 degrees outside one morning we awoke….unusual for central Florida in January…but to be unable to work a simple item like a thermostat…was very frustrating. We finally called the front desk & they were able to remedy the situation via their computer! The hotel advertises themselves as being dedicated to the comfort of clients and patients of The UF hospital facilities. However, the couch was as hard as a board, covered in foam rubber & finished in leather, which of course was cold due to the uncomfortable ambient temperature of the room. The chair in the suite might have been comfortable if it had some sort of foot stool. Due to the arrangement of the bed to the television it was impossible to watch the TV comfortably. The bed should face the TV not be parallel to the TV. I don’t think there was anything warm or inviting about the room decor. The halls were unheated and freezing. One had to wear a coat to leave the room and go to the elevator. The only telephone in the 2 room suite was in the bedroom while the “appliances” were in the living room…makes it impossible to stand at the thermostat with the phone to figure out how to operate the thermostat. The restaurant telephone system was not working….left messages to place food orders only to find out that the messages were not received…. But the system would only ring through to...

I've probably had it with Hotel Eleo. There is much to like. Good location. Friendly staff. But I've stayed 3x in the past 15 months, and they haven't addressed the past issues, and they price gouge. Broken gym equipment, smelly hallways. And they hit me with NEW CHARGES-- NO prior notice-- b/c I checked in before FOUR PM, and another big, unannounced charge at check-out for 2 days of parking. New policy, started after I'd made my reservation. They charged me anyway. This is the work of the profit-hunting PYRAMID GLOBAL and their supposed managers, Kyle Fettig and Amber Mundle, who answer complaints and online reviews with AI-generated content. Come on, fellow consumers, recognize what's happening and say BOO!!!||When you charge 3x the usual rate for a room that's 1/2 the usual size , you need to provide luxury hotel attentiveness and responsiveness. Not with Eleo. I complained about the broken gym equipment, smelly hallways, and unannounced charges to asst. mgr Amber Mundle. She kicked the complaint upstairs to general mgr Kyle Fettig, and no one on-site had heard of him. He called me once at work, left a message, and then ghosted me. And Mundle and Fettig have responded to my complaints with AI-generated blather. (See my photo.) Google "Kyle Fettig" and "hotel" and you'll find another complaint about him at a previous hotel. These people seem to be corporate stooges.||It was my choice to make a reservation in early August when I could see that Eleo was price-gouging on a popular weekend. Could have stayed at Hilton or any number of local hotels for 30%-40% of the price. But I'm a creature of habit and wanted to be near my son, a UF student, and assumed that Eleo surely had addressed the problems that I flagged on my last (3/2025) visit, so I just bit the bullet this time.||But that wasn't the case. Not only did they let the gym situation get worse-- now BOTH Peloton bikes are broken, not just one, and the towels aren't being replaced, and it's just plain run down-- and not only do the hallways still smell like stale socks-- but they hit me with BIG new charges on check-in and check-out with no prior notice. Big new fee for checking in before 4 PM, big fees for parking even though I always tip the nice valet guys every time I bring my car in or out. I told the desk manager that I'd paid 3x the usual rate, so please don't charge me all these fees, and he sympathetically said that he'd see what he could do. Nothing happened.||What hotel charges you super-high, luxury hotel prices on busy weekends (3x the cost of any hotel in the area) and yet has smelly hallways and non-functioning gyms? Come on, guys.||Staff is nice, and the valet guys are great, but the pricing system is whacked. It's probably set by Pyramid Global, not by the nice local people, but the effect is the same. And they've turned a blind eye to known issues such as the gym and the smell. The usual price isn't cheap, but I'm OK with paying it given the good location. But not when the cost is 3x the usual, with smaller rooms and worse service and amenities. It's too bad, because I like the on-site people. Might be Pyramid Global's fault. And the fault of managers such as Amber Mundle and Kyle Fettig, who have done nothing but post AI responses. Run any of Eleo's past Google Review responses through an AI detector and you'll see that they're all AI. That's the kind of attention we consumers get from...

I had requested a high floor. We were put on a quiet end, but only floor 4. Still, the room was really nice! We loved the layout and big, wall of windows which let in so much light and views. Room for one night was very expensive so I expected above average experience. Therefore, was disappointed with the bathroom. Bathtub/shower combo and tub kept filling up with water while trying to shower as tub stopper wouldn't stay in the up position. Water pressure was low. Again, I'm being picky because of the cost of this hotel. The room and bathroom were very clean.||||Here's why my very low review: We ate an early dinner. I was told that the restaurant tended to lean more formal so we dressed that way and expected an upscale dining experience, especially for the price of the meals. We were seated on the outdoor patio area which was really pleasant and peaceful. As I started drinking my glass of wine (which was really good), a large table was assembled directly behind us and 4 couples with their young daughters (maybe 8 to 10 years olds?) were seated there. Based on the ball they brought to dinner, they appeared to be there for some kind of volleyball competition and were dressed as if they had just come from a game. ||||Ok..not what we expected, but you can get past that. The adults were on one end, seemingly to be in their own world, and the girls on the other, closest to us. There was absolutely NO supervision of ANY of the girls by their parents. We were stunned how rude the parents allowed their kids to be in this upscale restaurant and how awful it was for their waitress who was constantly cleaning up the girls blowing trash, spills, etc. The girls would laugh and watch the waitress running after their trash. Parents said nothing. It was unreal. ||||Then, the girls got up and started dribbling the ball in between all the tables of adults eating their $100 plus dinners! The parents said nothing. After that, the girls went off just a bit to the side, but still on patio dining area, and started playing volleyball in a group! And then the ball went flying into the water! The parents said nothing. ||||The girls proceeded to take off their shoes, walk down the hill to the water and waded out to retrieve the ball! Like they were on the beach. They thought it was funny and the ball went in the water again. This time the waitress saw. She told them to stay out of water and had to try and retrieve their ball all while the parents stood and watched with no offer to help! None of them reprimanded the daughters for doing this. They thought it was funny. ||||Most alarming: Manager finally comes out to their table during dinner madness, sees the craziness and says nothing to them! He smiles and asks how everything is and they say great! Never asked any of the rest of us dining beside them how we were as I'm sure he knew we were all seething. How is this ok? I would never dine here again. It's too bad because the food was good. I love kids, but when you pay this much for an upscale dinner experience, if kids dine here, they need to be controlled or asked to leave. I have to imagine that the parents could have found a pizza place or something more appropriate for this large group of very active, loud girls who seemingly had never been taught any manners or...