AC Hotel Orlando Downtown — Hotel in Orlando

We had a very long drive and came in quite late. We called when booking our room to make sure that we had a room large enough for 3 people for the first night, making sure if there were any suites or a couch in the room for a 3rd guest that was large enough to sleep on as for the rest of the stay other than the first night there would only be 2 of us.

We drive up with the car and there is no one around. One of us runs inside and there’s a guy that comes around the corner (valet). He comes out and doesn’t really say much, standing there until one of our parties asks about the building and questions about parking. He tells us the building is mostly random businesses inside and the hotel is only so many floors. We then unload but he kind of just stands behind his podium and watches the guys unload our car. My boyfriend proceeds to asks about a bell hop or a cart for the luggage, and the valet was kind of not really there or like didn’t seem to want to help, but after my boyfriend mentioned something about us being able to push our luggage upstairs he came back with a bellhop cart. He didn’t help load it or anything at all, just standing behind the podium (mind you it’s late at night and no one is around, he could have wanted to help or not made us feel so awkward as we were asking questions not knowing what to do next or where to go, etc). The boys load up the cart and then the guy pops out, almost hovering over one of them as they push it away, they both felt like they were pressured to tip suddenly when in reality they had received no service and had to really kind of push to figure out anything about this place on their own. We walk in, there’s a security guy just sitting in a high chair right next to the automatic sliding doors. Doesn’t say a word or look up… we walk into one set of elevators and nothing works. There’s a touch screen that tells you a directory and to click to use it and we sit there trying to get the elevator working..mind you the security guard at this point sees us trying to go in an out of the elevators looking around..one of the guys approach him and he lets us know we need to go to a different elevator on the other side.. it’s bizzare because the valet guy didn’t tell us anything, or when we walked in the security guy didn’t assist either, you’d assume to just walk in and go to the elevators in front of you to get to the hotel (there’s no signage when you walk in). We get upstairs finally, all discussing how uncomfortable we already are, and we get to check in. Check in there’s a few people at the counter getting their rooms, a few people chatting outside… everything seems ok and nice when we get to the lobby floor. During check in we get our keys and get up to our room to find a king bed and 2 small chairs for seating with a little coffee side table..mind you we were told when booking we had a room that would be larger and would sleep 2 guys and a female, with a couch to accommodate the first night with a 3rd guest. We were dissatisfied and disappointed at this point. This entire process seemed like a lot, so I called and let the gentleman at the front desk know about our booking and he right away corrected me stating that there are no different rooms and this is what was booked. He wasn’t rude, but sounded himself quite over dealing with people. I just wanted to make sure we had room to sleep 3 adults so one was not on the floor and he kindly offered we switch to a room of the same size just with a queen beds for the night. We grabbed our bags and went back to the lobby and he gave us the keys. Upon getting downstairs at at this point it’s an hour into us getting into the building and figuring everything out, I asked him about canceling the next 2 days of our stay as this was not what we had discussed during our booking. We are here for a get away and paid premium for this hotel choice. He let us know we would be charged for 2 days if we cancel now.. he said he couldn’t help and this can’t be waived.. I would have to wait until the morning to talk to someone else.....

My experience was definitely not what was expected. The hotel itself was in a great location and fairly easy to get to and from. Unfortunately, the valet is not up to par and should be explained to hotel guests prior to them booking. Wait times and being understaffed as well as not having sufficient elevators for everyone makes the wait time unbearable even with the technology accelerators (texting & calling beforehand).

Another thing that should have been explained to guests prior to booking is the excessive amount of people that come in late at nights. Friday and Saturday night it took me about 15 to 30 minutes just to get from the elevator to my room because of the massive amount of people that were trying to get to the sky bar and coming back from a concert. Given the amount of money paid for these rooms that aren't even really THAT nice; this was a horrible experience and something that I will never subject myself to in the future. The staff even resorted to using service elevators and letting us out where the linens and the waters are stored. Very unprofessional and definitely not comfortable for guests.

I stayed for five nights and two of those nights I had to call down to get my room properly cleaned because the maids #1 forgot to completely clean my room one day (like just never came to clean) and #2 when they did clean my room didn't restock the glass cups and the coffee cups appropriately. The one thing that should always be consistent is at least the quality of cleanliness that a hotel provides. That was definitely not acceptable. Thankfully Marriott is a big brand and has connections with multiple other hotel companies that are local and available and definitely don't have that high volume of people or issues with their maids which is deterring to most calm travelers that expect a level of standard. All in all the hotel was not to my liking, not satisfactory at all, & as for being a Marriott Bonvoy member not the usual environment. The marketing needs to be geared towards a party scene so that you guys can cater to those people and not acquire people that look for something completely different and have a standard of quality and communication and expect a certain type of organization that a company provides; hence our loyalty to that company. This hotel was a complete shit show with loud drunk people coming to and fro because of the rooftop bar; that mind you doesn't even have a great selection of wine. The breakfast was mediocre and definitely not worth it even being included ( free). And the limited amount of natural light within the rooms can definitely cause hormonal imbalances if staying at this hotel for more than 5 days. I unapologetically do not recommend this hotel and will never...

Pros: truly impeccable service by all staff but for one douchey valet who only moved promptly to help drivers of luxury cars (observed repeatedly over three days and, yes, we tipped every time we used valet). Complimentary coffee was good. Location convenient. Micro fridge in room. Free Wi-Fi. Smart TV in room so you can login to your own streaming services.

Pro or con, depending on your view: room key card required to operate elevator most of the time. Presumably, this is an anti-theft and security measure, but I found it extremely inconvenient, especially when carrying anything, e.g. two coffees. It resulted in more than one longer than necessary ride because I couldn't manage to tap my room key card and hit the floor button in time to avoid the elevator changing direction.

Cons:

Website stated valet only at $30 a day, but I learned after the fact we could have self parked for ~$27 a day instead.

Worst thing was the bathroom light that automatically turned on to full brightness via motion sensor in the middle of the night. Ideally, when getting up to use the toilet in the middle of the night, I don't want a glaringly bright light suddenly turning on and making it harder for me to go back to sleep after.

No luggage rack in the room. Bench seating along one wall was too shallow to accommodate an open moderately sized suitcase without substantial overhang.

Frosted sliding glass door to enter the bathroom was not easy to open and close.

Double sliding glass shower doors would slide open if not closed with great deliberation and care (presumably bouncing off rubber stop?).

Pillows were terrible--seemed like those disposable pillows hospitals use now.

Queen size beds seemed small and more like full size. I admit, however, that our perception could be wrong because we have a king-size bed at home

Shower gel dispenser in shower was empty.

Weird, square toilet seats that are uncomfortable for some people.

Room was very small.

This hotel is clearly intended for business travelers and NOT families--I was traveling for work and able to bring my family but not choose the hotel. But just in case you are considering staying here with children, these rooms are the antithesis of toddler-safe. Lots of glass, more than usual amounts of sharp cornered furniture (e.g. platform beds), very little floor space to play. My toddlers needed us to help them sit on the toilet so they could is it far enough back but not fall in because of the weird square shape. There is...