Best Western Orlando Gateway Hotel — Hotel in Orlando

TLDR: The advertised free shuttle to the Universal parks is a joke, last drop off in the morning is 10:45am, probably doesn't pick you up at 2am or later if you plan to go to HHN until close. Had to change rooms once, probably could have done it a second time as the 2nd room had issues later into the trip (leaks, AC issues, door handle issues, etc)

The saying "you get what you pay for" really rings true with this hotel. For $100~ a night, a hotel that doesn't have bed bugs is an A+ which this hotel passed, but that's about it. When we arrived we had difficulty getting into our room as the room key only worked sporadically. When it gave us the green light into the room it wouldn't open. So I went down and got a new key and the front desk suggested lifting up on the door handle rather than pushing down like you normally would. That worked but still the new key didn't work 100% of the time.

We got into the room, which reeked of mildew, and dropped our stuff off. I turned the AC down to 70 and my friend and I went back down stairs to go return our rental car that we had rented for the day to go to the beach. When we returned to the room about an hour later the room was still sticky/humid and the AC wasn't blowing cold. So we went down and changed rooms.

The new room smelled much more pleasant, but still had a strange odor. The hallways still stunk like mildew, which probably explained why they had an industrial fan trying to dry the walls near the ice machine the entire 5 night stay. The card reader worked every time on the new room but we still had to lift up on the handle to get into the room. Everything was fine until we returned super late on Friday morning (we arrived around 3am after being in the parks all day Thursday for HHN).

The AC was making a loud clicking sound and there was water dripping down from the floor above. I called the front desk and they sent someone up right away and he took a picture and left without saying anything, then the front desk called and said the leak was minor and to just put a towel down and that day shift would fix it when we left to go to the parks. When we woke up around noon I called the front desk to tell them they could send someone up to fix it now because we were getting ready to head out but they had no record that we had called previously and didn't want to fix it but rather have us move again. Since we were leaving on Sunday I didn't want to have to pack up and move again so I insisted that they just fix it so they agreed. The person they sent up dismissed the leak, wiped down the inside of the AC unit and said to put a towel down for the leak and left.

Oh, and the advertised amenity of a free shuttle to the parks was a joke. It's not like the shuttles that the official Universal hotels have where they run between all the parks all day. On our first day going to Universal we went down to the Universal desk off to the side around 11am and they said the last shuttle for the day was at 10:45am and suggested we take an Uber there. I didn't ask when the last time the shuttle runs in the evening but I highly doubt it would have picked us up at 2am or later since we were staying all day to go to HHN. So we walked over to Universal's Dockside Inn hotel and caught their shuttle to and from the parks and then walked back to our hotel.

I'm not sure if the people at the Universal desk were official Universal employees or a third party company but they were harassing guest in the lobby trying to get them to buy tickets and packages to the Universal parks, which felt unprofessional IMO.

In conclusion we probably won't stay at this hotel ever again, we normally stay at Dockside Inn but they doubled their rate from last year ($754 for 5 nights last year vs $1,400 this year) so I looked for a more affordable hotel that wasn't price gouging and ended up going too cheap on the...

The Worst Experience of My Life – Discrimination and Mistreatment at the Front Desk

I’ve stayed at many hotels, but I have never experienced such a humiliating and unpleasant situation as I did at the Best Western Orlando Getaway Hotel.

We arrived on Monday, June 30, 2025, around 4:00 p.m. to check in. I properly informed them that my dog is a service animal, presented his official identification, and agreed to the $100 security deposit. At no point were we told that the dog could not be left alone in the room.

Around 6:00 p.m., we left the hotel, leaving my service dog resting in the room. An hour later, I received a phone call asking me to return because “the dog could not be left alone.” Although I found this strange (since we were never informed of this policy), I agreed without issue and went back to the hotel.

Upon arrival, I was met by Luciana, the evening shift manager at the front desk, who was waiting for me with a completely hostile, aggressive, and arrogant attitude. I tried to remain calm at all times and explained that I wasn’t there to argue, I just wanted to cancel the second night and check out the next day. But Luciana insisted on humiliating me, verbally mistreating me, and making me feel utterly discriminated against.

In the end, they expelled us from the hotel, forcing us to leave the next morning without refunding either the second night we wouldn’t be using or the $100 deposit, claiming a “cleaning fee” for having left the dog in the room—even though he didn’t break anything, didn’t make a mess, didn’t get on the bed, and didn’t have any accidents inside. All this without us ever being informed of such a rule beforehand.

I am a person with a disability, and my service dog is professionally trained. This experience left me deeply hurt. I felt humiliated, mistreated, discriminated against, and completely disrespected, especially by an employee like Luciana, who clearly lacks any training or sensitivity regarding inclusion and human dignity.

WARNING TO EVERYONE: If you have a disability or travel with a service animal, DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL. Not only are they ignorant of the law, but they also treat you with absolute contempt.

RACIST, DISCRIMINATORY, and COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this place under any circumstances. THE WORST...

This is not a 3 star hotel. It was one back in the day but now its well past its prime with really sloppy repairs everywhere , paint overs , very dirty badly worn carpets on corridors and a smell....I can't quite figure it out but there's a bad lingering smell. Damp maybe ?? Not sure. Anyway, we landed here following a problem at another hotel and our booking was not confirmed so our travel agent got us in here.

Lobby is sprawling, empty and void of any TLC, not dirty just vacant or something.

Staff were pleasant so fair play there guys , good people. Our room on the 3rd floor upon entering was clean dark and there was an unpleasant oudor from it. Again this wasn't nice, the door wouldn't open so a passing maintenance man helped us in with his card. I returned to reception to get card fixed later but same problem. We had plans so we headed off and on our return we tried to enter the room, again it was faulty. I had the card reset in reception once again and only one of the two cards worked. This time lock opened but door was stuck and I had to push with my shoulder to open it.

The smell from the room was overwhelming and beyond acceptable ( sewage stink). I returned to reception AGAIN and complained. Without hesitation I was offered a 'Delux' room so I accepted and we headed off to it. It was lovely a bright, cool and fresh. ( 6th floor).

As we had unpacked again in the new room we began to notice the clothes we had hanging in last room were smelling, they clearly absorbed the oudor! We had to wash everything sadly.

The hotel does not charge for parking and the food available is only after 5pm until 11pm of a cafeteria style not great selection and there was no coffee available at all.

Staff were really good, friendly and helpful at all times especially during our issues. The building sadly , give it a wide berth unless you have no choice. To be fair also I want to add that they would appear to have full time maintenance and we saw this ourselves with ongoing painting and electric fans to help with the oudor. All day cleaning was apparent too. I think its fair to say that they do listen to customers and address what problems that arise. They are very genuine people. Just the...