Best Western Ocala Park Centre I-75 — Hotel in Ocala

July2023 update/replacement of an older review:

We have stayed at the Best Western Ocala Park Center four times now in the last two years. When we first stayed there, it had some flaws. But it had a lot of positives that outweighs the flaws. Then only 6 months ago, we found it a totally different experience. So I am deleting past my review and writing an up to date review. So the comment from the Best Western may or may not be up to date. The Best Western has seemed to find the magic again. Now like before, it is not perfect. But the positives again, outweigh the flaws or negatives. The hotel seems to look better. I’m guessing things have been spruced up and problems have been rectified. Our room was fairly large compared to older hotel/motels. But it may not be a large as some of the newer hotels. Plus our room may have seemed larger because it was a king size bed room. The furniture was decent and usable. The refrigerator and microwave are nicely stored in a dresser combo under the TV that keeps things neat and uncluttered. The down side is there was only three fairly small drawers. You could stack things in the lower night stands, or hand things in the closet. But it seemed to be plenty of room for the two of us. The desk was not large, but large enough to be functional, but not make me feel crowded for room. The desk chair was Okay, but honestly, I’ve had much better desk chairs in some rooms we have been in lately. Like last time, lighting is not good in the room. We referred to the room as the cave last time. Nothing has changed. The room is filled with energy saving LED bulbs. Although I doubt they save much energy, because rather than one or two lights being turned on in our room. Every light is on at night and it’s still not very well lit. It is better during daylight hours if you open the curtains for the natural light. The desk had two 120 volt outlets on the light, plus another un-used outlet under the desk. There are one outlet each on the bed lights. One open, that could be two if you unplug the hair dryer at the sink, and the same near a corner chair light. So there should be enough 120 volt outlets to plug in your devices. If you unplug another appliance or two would free up a couple more. But I doubt folks will need that. The Bed was a soft bed. As such, we didn’t care for it and didn’t sleep very well any night there. We prefer a firmer mattress and ours was way too soft for us. The bathroom is a sink outside with the toilet and tub/shower combo in the private room. The sink has poor lighting like the rest of the room, which made shaving and such, difficult for me. The shower had fairly soft water and decent pressure which made for a nice shower. It did have a couple of lower shelves that you could set your products on, or shave your legs on. The rooms that face the front of the hotel are definitely quieter. The rear faces I 75 and have more road noise. They have a nice pool and hot tub in the rear, but you are visible from the highway and off ramp to route 200. The included breakfast is in a little building near the pool. There is a decent amount of tables. The breakfast this time is better than past. It is also better than a lot of other places we have stayed. It still isn’t the best breakfast ever. But it’s not all that bad. There is a small laundry available on the second floor for guests. There were two washers and two dryers. We tried to use them, but both dryers were broken. We had to go to a laundromat instead. But if working, they could be convenient, but not inexpensive. The staff has been great this time. It seems like people actually like their work this time. Even a young man who was delivering fresh towels seemed to like his work. That’s good to see. This hotel also has things like the Cracker Barrel right next door that folks can walk to. So you do not have to drive if you don’t want to for dinner. Anyway, it does seem like the magic we experienced the first couple of times has returned. This Best Western I now rate at four stars. It’s back to being a really decent...

I had to be in Ocala for over a week on business filming for a TV series. When I checked in, they said they do no bed making or changing sheets, except for every 4 days. All they do is empty the waste baskets. Covid measures still survive here. More like cutting their costs at the expense of their guests.||After Day 4 and no make up to the room, I asked at the front desk, and they said they make up the rooms every FIVE days, but that's not what I was told. Needless to say, they never made up the room on DAY FIVE, it was DAY SEVEN before they touched the room, and on two occasions the garbage went un-emptied for more than 2 days. ||The drain in the bathroom tub was broken, but they, at least, fixed it on request. The drain in the sink had no stopper, but it didn’t matter since the water didn’t drain out anyway, as you can see in the photos, the bowl is partially filled and there is nothing in the stopper drain to hold it in. I don't know HOW maid service can clean the tub and sinks, and not notice the water doesn't drain out, but it is, what it is.||The little fridge in the room, has a catch pan underneath it to capture moisture or condensation I guess, but there is a disgusting glob of mold or something gross laying in the pan, that housekeeping must have a science experiment going on there, since they overlook it. ||The Internet is painfully slow, like a pathetic 4.95 mbps up and down. The desk chair had a big chunk of upholstery ripped off, not that anyone in housekeeping would ever notice. When you travel a lot on business as I do, little things make the difference- slow internet, poor housekeeping, bland boring breakfasts, shabby furniture, mold around the refrigerator, garbage not emptied...it all adds up to a MISERABLE experience. There are plenty of choices within walking distance of the Best Western, it would be hard for me to recommend anything about this hotel, but I'm sure management really doesn't care because there is so much wrong here, that could be corrected. They just choose not to.| |I suppose if you are only staying overnight, the breakfast would be "ok" but if you are staying 8 nights, the breakfast is painfully boring and never changes, synthetic eggs, sausage and biscuit gravy with stale pastries and brown bananas. Same thing EVERY morning. I wish I got a picture of the brown bananas hoping someone would take them.| | It was less than satisfactory and certainly not memorable- except for all the things that were wrong with it. As a business traveler, this is not a place one wants to stay, other hotels care more about their business travelers, there are choices and several other hotels around this location. If you're simply a tourist staying for one night, I suppose it's marginal, you could live with all the deficiencies, but anything more than one night, prepare to be disappointed on many levels, or change your own sheets, because they only do it every 5 days, or ask where you can empty the garbage, because they...

Update: 6:30am I went to the front desk. Many people staying we're leaving for work. The noise is at an all time high between the elevator dings, and endless ice machine noises of men filling their coolers. A lady informs me that she doesn't have another room to move me to buy may later. I ask to see the room before moving to ensure the issues will be resolved.

It's 2am. I checked in 12 hours ago. I've not been able to sleep at all! There is no threshold on the room door, so there is a large gap at the bottom. My room is directly across from the elevator and ice machine. People exit the elevator having loud conversation. It sounds like people using the ice machine are stirring it up. Both of which seems to echo directly into my room! My room is also directly above the front door awning so the wind whistles constantly, which added to the highway noise, making noises neverending. There is a huge, bright light on the front of the wall mounted air conditioner which lights up the entire room. Pair that with the light shining from all around to room door and it looks like it's noon in here. Any conversation had inside this room can be heard outside and vice versa due to the large gap under the door. The bed isn't comfortable... very hard. The tub isn't clean and has caked on build up. The toilet has toilet paper in the upper tank. He had to repair the toilet when we arrived because it wouldn't flush any toilet paper when we arrived. The hallways have a visible dirt track down the center and smell musty and dirty. The room itself doesn't smell. The elevator smells of mechanical oil and grease maybe, not sure exactly, but I hold my breath. He arrived first and checked in. I arrived second and picked up a key. I wasn't informed of breakfast or any other amenities. There are more choices for beer in the hotel market area than any other drinks. ABSOLUTELY DO...