Home2 Suites by Hilton Orlando Near Universal — Hotel in Orlando

We stayed here in July 16-19, 2021. I lost my sim card, so I'm sorry I couldn't include photos. We stayed in the 1 King Studio Suite Nosmok, it was about $483, not including the pet fee. They are pet friendly :) by the way. We used our AAA membership to search hotels and got a discount. The covid-19 restrictions were on last year but the hotel was super clean and very comfortable to stay in. Back then the room included extra bedding for you to change yourself and leave outside for the staff to take. They have a pool with clean towels all the time, near the elevator that leads to the pool. We really enjoyed the design of Home2suites because you can buy your own food- helps save money if you don't want to eat out every night. It has a small kitchen area with microwave, refrigerator, dishwasher, sink, coffee mugs, bowls and eating utensils. We searched for hotel prices this year and again Home2suites in Orlando, FL had the best prices. We decided to stay a little closer and reserved Home2suites in SC for July because we really had a great and relaxing time at their location in Florida. The bedding is so comfortable and cool for the humid weather in Fl. The room includes a desk to work at, a flatscreen tv, a large couch with carpet area to relax and an area to iron your clothes. The bathroom was great, especially their standing bathroom- everything is clean and practical. Their breakfast buffet is so much fun, so many choices from fresh fruit, juices, coffee, milk for kids. The breakfast sandwiches from Jimmy Dean, omellettes and bagels are perfect for gearing up for a day of activities and a make your own waffle area as well. Courtesy bus to Universal Studios- They have a courtesy bus to Universal Studios, but I recommend not relying on their service because they get behind due to the heavy traffic getting into the theme parks. We waited for an hour and decided to just take our car instead. The wait time in traffic wasn't too bad, we left around 10 am and were at the Universal parking lot by about 11 am.

Restaurant- we ate at Memories of Peru, about five minutes from the hotel. Their appetizer chicken skewers, Anticuchos de pollo was a delicious plate to eat, perfect serving size and great flavors. The traditional Pollo a la braza was also good, comes with fries and salad. And the classic purple drink made from purple corn, Chicha morada was delicious and refreshing. I could only recommend these three things from everything we tried, only these were good.

Beaches- We went to Caladesi Island State Park, 1 Causeway Blvd, Dunedin, FL. The drive is about 2 hours from the hotel. You take a ferry to the island, you can stay about 3 hours. The tickets were $16 per adult. Once you get off, you are around the small store that has changing rooms. After that you look for the trail that leads to the beach. My husband had never heard of this island and...

this is actually a great little hotel with fresh, modern rooms, extremely friendly and attentive staff, perfect location near Universal Studios, all for a very reasonable price!

we stayed one night. we checked in very late due to a work event that got out around 11PM. I staggered up to the front desk, exhausted, and expected to wait 10 or 15 minutes. to my pleasant surprise, someone immediately ran up to the desk and had me checked in and off to my room within 5 minutes. seriously.

the room felt new and was spacious for a single king bed setup. there was a privacy curtain that could wall off the entire sleeping area, if preferred. the kitchenette had nice dishes with actual glasses and silverware, which would have been great if we were staying a few nights on the cheap and were bringing back Publix subs or Chinese takeout or whatever. there's even a full sized dishwasher!

the bathroom was roomy and felt fresh and new, and the shower was a cool modern modular type deal that we both enjoyed.

the bed was super comfy and we slept under some kinda breathable blanky-thing that never felt hot or uncomfortable.

there's only a small window looking outside of the room, but there isn't much to see anyway, and that's really not the point of this hotel, so that was fine.

we slept in late and got to the complimentary breakfast towards the end, but there was no shortage of morning grub. there was a big selection with self-service waffles (including Mickey Mouse versions), oatmeal, cereal, yummy fresh fruit, bagels, English muffins, etc. the friendly staff did a great job of running around and re-stocking everything right up until the end.

this brings me to my only ... ONLY criticism of this hotel. I'm a bacon and eggs breakfast kinda guy, and the only egg option that was available when I was loading up was this pre-packaged "egg and cheese omelette" that was quite honestly inedible. it's like it was slapped together by robots and then FedEx'd directly into the microwave. I took a few bites and was quickly at the point of conscious rejection. a minute later one of the staff restocked the egg area with some egg sausage combo that looked way better, but I didn't think I could finish the whole thing and I didn't want to be wasteful so I didn't try it. ANYWAYS, that's a small quip overall, but I would encourage Home 2 to add some for-real scrambled eggs to the breakfast, and I'll give you six stars next time.

again, overall this hotel is a great value! I would definitely stay here...

I am writing to express my deep disappointment regarding our recent stay at Home2 Suites on International Drive near Universal. From the moment we checked into Room 524, our experience was riddled with one issue after another.

The problems began almost immediately when the microwave failed upon first use. We were informed by maintenance that a new breaker would need to be purchased, requiring a trip to the store. Not long after, we noticed the room temperature rising significantly. The air conditioning system was not functioning properly, and the temperature climbed above 74 degrees. We ultimately had to leave the room to find comfort elsewhere while it was addressed. Thankfully, this issue was resolved by the time we returned, but it added unnecessary inconvenience to our stay.

Unfortunately, the problems didn’t stop there. The following morning, we discovered the refrigerator had stopped working overnight. All of the food we had purchased in an effort to save money during our vacation was lost. This was especially frustrating, as we had planned around the convenience of in-room amenities that clearly failed to deliver.

To say this stay was pleasant would be a complete misrepresentation. It was, in truth, one problem after another. Room 524 simply did not meet even the most basic expectations of functionality and comfort. When a hotel is presented as a Universal partner hotel, guests naturally expect a higher standard. Unfortunately, that standard was not met.

The front doors out of the breakfast area have been caution taped closed for the duration. The dryer was broke, may still be!?

Additionally, the so-called "free shuttle" service to the parks is misleading. If you do not utilize it in the morning, you are essentially out of luck, as it does not operate to the parks in the afternoon. This severely limits flexibility and undermines one of the main advertised benefits of staying at this location.

In sum, our stay was defined by repeated equipment failures, discomfort, and a lack of the conveniences we were led to expect. I hope this feedback is taken seriously, as this experience fell well short of what one should be able to anticipate from a hotel in this category and partnership.

As of 5:45 p.m. on June 12th I would like to update. Management has reached out placing the blame on the consumer and saying they have no report of these instances.... That seems odd considering each report has been fixed upon...