Maingate Kissimmee Hotel — Hotel in Kissimmee

I would love to give this 5 stars as I only had one thing that I can criticise, but as it was a bit of an inconvenience, I can only give it 4. The problem was that we got a kitchenette with our room, but there was nothing to eat off or with. We needed to try & be money conscious by taking sandwiches and drinks to the parks, but there was no cutlery, crockery, or cooking utensils provided. We had to buy paper plates, bowls, plastic utensils and obviously as we didn't want to have to buy a bread knife to just bin it, we had to cope with cutting bread buns with a plastic knife, and scooping ice-cream with plastic spoons. Not the best. Anyway, everything else was spot on. The bedroom area was spacious, 2 large beds, very comfortable, so much so, we came back and within a month have bought a memory foam mattress topper! I have never slept so well. The air con was too much after the first few days, and we ended up turning it off most of the time. The bathroom was on the small side, but clean, and handy that the sink and vanity area was just outside so people could brush teeth, get ready whilst another in the bathroom. The adjoining room had a third pull out double bed, not so comfortable, but not too bad, but this is where our kitchenette was, i wouldn't describe it as a kitchenette, it was a full on kitchen/diner minus an oven. We had a large fridge, around 40/50 litre freezer compartment, a microwave, coffee maker and plenty of cupboards and drawers. There was a dining table (only 4 chairs though). Both rooms had huge plasma TVs with many channels (if we had time to watch anything) and lots of usb ports, we didn't even need our adapters really. We had a fairly big hanging closet, although it was hard to utilise the whole space as it was like a long cupboard and anything hung beyond the doorway was a struggle to get at. We had a iron & board, but didn't use it. Cleaners came daily, beds changed every 2 days and they made little arrangements with the kids stuffed toys which was lovely. The buffet breakfast was nice, but not much variety. Hopefully this will be rectified as it hadn't long been open, but the make your own pancakes were a big hit with the kids. Wouldly recommend this hotel, staff were great, especially when I couldn't figure out how to work the phone when trying to order takeaway. The info on the phone was not helpful and missing a step so I wasn't getting a dial tone. A little way out of the way for the parks, but pretty close to restaurants and a huge walmart (5 mins walk to the nearest) and the free shuttle to Disney is great, except you had to be up with the larks to book it. I would highly recommend this hotel and would definitely love to return, especially now we know how to get about on the local buses. The price we paid is the whole reason we actually went to Florida, as if it hadn't been a 'flash offer's we probably would still be here now deliberating over...

Stayed with my family last week, Friday March 22nd to be exact, checked in late in the evening after our late flight, around 10:30pm. We walked into what appeared to be a clean room, until we pulled back the sheets to get into bed. Hair, food crumbs, and the infamous yellow stains (always assume the worst), were all over the sheets. Clearly, they had not been changed....

When I called down to the office they offered to put us in another room, in another building... We had traveled with small kids, and had already unloaded a lot of stuff, so I told them I would be happy if they just have someone come up and put some clean bedding on. They agreed, so we waited for the housekeeping staff......

After a half hour went by I called back down, this time not nearly as friendly, telling them that if they weren't going to send housekeeping up, I was going to come down and get clean bedding from them and make the beds myself.

They then told me that someone was on the way, and that they would waive the "resort fee" (a paltry $9, really???), which I said was unacceptable, that more needed to be done to satisfy the situation. They told me that that's all they could do tonight, and that a manager would be on staff tomorrow that I could speak with to see what else could be done.

Shortly afterward, housekeeping staff arrived. When they did arrive, the office personnel were yelling at her over the walkie-talkie that she was at the wrong room.... while she was really at the right room... While she stepped out of the room to argue with them, my wife and I, fed up with an already miserable situation, took all of the bedding off, because it was around 11:30pm at this point, and we were done waiting. We helped her put the bedding on to speed things up as well. All in all, she handled the situation the best she could.

The next morning, I went to the front desk to speak with the manager on staff as was suggested by the individual I spoke with the night before. They refused to do any better than the $9 resort fee, because they could not go above the authority of the person whom already waived the resort fee, who happened to be the person I talked to the night before. She was the higher ranking manager.... It appears that she pulled a fast one on me, knowing that we were only staying one night, and that she wouldn't be around to face the music the next day...

Not only do I not recommend this above ground hell hole, I sincerely hope you read all of the negative reviews and take to heart the amount of them which complain about filthy rooms and unchanged or dirty sheets. This is unacceptable at any hotel. Beyond that, consider the shady move done by the management here, to temporarily squelch a situation that appears to be a COMMON THEME here. Word to the wise, if unclean rooms and filthy sheets are the norm here, it tells you that the management...

FYI. This is no longer a Red Lion property, as I was told multiple times during check-out. I booked our stay for 3 nights this month, back in October with Red Lion, and opted for the pay in full option including taxes and fees, knowing that we couldn't cancel without losing what we paid. The last time we stayed here was two years ago with family and appreciated how close it was to Disney parks (10 - 20 minutes during non-rush hour traffic). It is also next to Wal*mart, so good for picking up things you might need.

This time was very different as they have changed to a new hotel chain on December 6th. They were having difficulty with getting our room cleaned for us, with the young lady at the front desk explaining the delay, so we got change, washed laundry on-site and checked back in an hour, spending time at the pool between washer and dryer times.

We checked back in with the front desk, and a young man said they were having problems with their new computer system moving from Red Lion, and appeared frustrated with us for asking, and the new system.

When he was able to check us in, he said we owed them money. I asked what it was for, but couldn't get an answer. My husband was upset and asked for a receipt, which was never given, because of computer "issues". I said, maybe it was for "taxes" to be able to get our room, to head off to a Disney Night.

At the same time, a male guest came up during check-in and said he wanted to know about the refund he requested earlier, because he and his wife's door would not lock. The two people working at the counter were silent. My husband said he was scared to stay there after hearing this, but the guest said it was "safe" and "clean" for the most part.

The next evening, and the evening followin, our room was not cleaned or replenished with coffee cups, so I went down to ask for coffee keurigs. I also asked for our room to be cleaned. I was told it would be taken care of, but for some reason it was on the list, but not taken care of. My husband later that evening let a different man at the counter know that we would be gone for a few hours and wanted our room cleaned.

We did get a stack of towels and soap on the corner of our dresser the last night, after asking for cleaning multiple timrs.

Shaneesha, (based on how she answered the phone) did give us a print-out at check-out, knew of what happened when asked, at check-in as she mentioned "taxes" as the extra charges. I asked for printout, which she gave, but could only give Red Lion's phone number to answer questions about the why we were being charged.

If you want a room to clean yourself each day for a three night stay, staff who roll their eyes when you ask questions, and mystery charges that Erick, I think, charged this is your place to stay.

We won't...