Hotel Monreale Express International Drive Orlando — Hotel in Orlando

2 stars because it could’ve been worse but we were not happy and would not stay again.

The positives: The rooms are a decent size for 2 people although bathroom is quite small. The fridge was great and it was useful to have a microwave. The safe was also a welcome addition to the room, along with nice big mirrors. The mattresses were fine and the water pressure and temperature were good so showering was always fine. Staff were always friendly and helpful. Parking was included and very easy although it did get very busy toward the end of our stay! The pool is fine. It’s very small so if there’s a family playing it’s a little cramped, but ok for a quick dip or to sunbathe. However there could be more loungers.

The negatives: When we first arrived our room had a leak in the ceiling - water dripping onto the floor next to one of the beds. It also had an adjoining door to the next room through which we could hear everything the family were doing and saying. Thankfully, we were moved immediately and also given a breakfast token each, which was nice. We were honestly shocked at the rooms compared to the pictures presented when booking. They are dark and dingy and in need of real renovation - not just a lick of paint over an old crumbling room. All metal work was rusty. There’s clearly a ventilation problem.

The room was dirty - recurring mold on the bathroom wall, dusty lamps, hairs on the floors and in the sink. I had to scrub the room myself before we unpacked, and we didn’t let cleaners in the whole time we were there because I didn’t want their pube mops infecting our floors after I’d scrubbed them. We just exchanged sheets and towels as necessary, and sorted our own rubbish.

Bed sheets actually seemed clean but the mattress cover was a Jackson Pollock of various stains. The sheets were very thin and you’re only given a sheet and a …’comforter’? A very thin decorative throw. This meant we had to keep the room quite warm overnight so as not to be cold, which resulted in humidity in the room. It was really soupy. Any cardboard boxes turned to tissue paper, it was remarkable. Not a pleasant place to sleep or get ready. Our clean clothes began to smell a little funky just due to being in the room. It was a sad place.

The air con worked fine but was super loud and the location of the smoking area in relation to our room meant our room became a cloud of whatever anyone was smoking, which was often dope/pot/weed. We were asked to keep the air con on 24/7 for humidity purposes which we had to do otherwise we’d have been swimming to our beds, but it concerned me from an environmental perspective. Not cool (no pun intended).

It was a very noisy place to be. We could hear the loud highway constantly and there were plenty of guests with no manners, shouting and screaming at all hours. Maybe that’s what you get at a budget hotel. It didn’t help that there are no external windows except onto the walkway, and doors were so thin with big gaps. The cleaning staff’s trolleys sound like a hurricane ripping through the building as they rolled down the walkway right past your window and door, so if you’re sleeping in be prepared to wake in a panic.

Breakfast is not worth $8 IMO (which increased while we were there - to $12 I think). They also use polystyrene plates and cups, with plastic cutlery and lots of cling film (plastic wrap) which all goes into a landfill bin - no consideration of the environment. If you want proper breakfast, go to IHOP up the road. God I miss IHOP.

We did get some bugs running into our room but only a few (that we saw!) due to the huge gap under the door.

The location is ok. It’s on international drive and you can get to everywhere from there but realistically, there’s little to do up the top end of I-drive. In hindsight I would stay further down next time, where there is more to do and the shops and restaurants are nicer.

All in all we had a great holiday but were glad to leave this hotel....

Oh Continental Plaza. Where do we even start? When we first walked into our room I was greeted with a strong odor of cat piss. The room was so sticky, grimy, and moldy that it felt it had been done artistically to drive home the roach motel aesthetic. Everything I touched my hand adhered to it. At this point I was about 6 cocktails into my evening and was literally unable to stop laughing at the poor decisions we just made. I opened a bottle of gas station wine, drank a glass, and walked back to the Apple Bees around the corner to keep getting drunk off of $3 vodka cranberries. I needed to be drunker to sleep there. I needed to be nearly comatose. I wasn’t there yet.

We told ourselves...we don’t need a nice room. Anything with four walls and a roof would work fine since we would be out until 2am every night anyway. We were wrong. The lampshades were tinted red with streaks of mold, stains on the sheets, no phone, no mini fridge, puke colored walls, and an ice machine that hasn’t worked in what I assume is decades. Eventually we found the culprit for the endless stickiness of the room. The AC was essentially an old grandmother sitting in the corner heavy wet breathing on us. It was less humid and hot outside in Florida in July. We suffered one night lightly asleep drenched in hot sweats and still too sober for this experience despite everyone having independent bar tabs higher than our room rate.

The door handle to the bathroom sticks and seals you in. The next day after someone in my party got stuck in the humid and claustrophobic bathroom for the 3rd time, she came out and nearly sobbed out the words “I just can’t anymore. We have to go.” We went downstairs and requested another room. We told the gentleman upfront our plight. We expected a reaction but instead he nodded. He knew it was all true. He has seen room 242 before and knew what horrors it held. It was not malice that made him lead us there, but rather an inability to feel any human emotions resulting from breathing the moldy air of the Continental Plaza Hotel. We knew this was the case. We all felt it too.

He led us to our new room. We walked in only to be greeted by the largest roach I’ve seen. It was dead on the floor. Legs stretched upwards to the heavens letting you know that not even the earth's most resilient creatures could live here long. This hotel can not sustain life. It only takes from its occupants. As the gentleman walked away, he muttered that this place was changing with some distant future renovations. “All of this won’t rightly be the same soon. They are fixing it all” he talked as if in a dream state. He has said it to himself a million times. He believes it even though he knows it isn’t true. He left us with our thoughts and our new room.

We gladly and happily stayed in the new room. The AC worked. The bathroom was disgusting but not a prison cell that locked from the outside. The stickiness was less overwhelming, and after a night at the Continental Plaza hotel the apathy inducing mold had taken its root in all of us as well. We were content. We finished our stay after spending our night out as much as possible and putting ourselves in the state we knew we needed to be in to slip into an unsatisfying light slumber.

The next morning we got up 15 minutes before checkout. Our bodies knew to minimize our conscious time. We dropped our key off and drove off. It all still feels like a haze. Would I return? No I don’t think so.... and you never should come. If you are reading this from the crusty sheets of the hotel to reaffirm what you are now seeing with your own eyes, I wish you the best. Your only hope is to find Robb at the nearest Apple Bees. Ask him for the most amount of alcohol the least amount of money can buy. He will get you were you need to be to survive a night at the Continental...

This experience should not have been what it was, and I am shocked and upset to have to write a review in order to get a response from anyone at this hotel. I normally don't write negative reviews, because simply I don't enjoy tarnishing the reputations of places, but this experience I had at this hotel simply has no reason behind it.

First off, I understand that the hotel is going through renovations and has a lot going on, but what happened to me was a huge disappointment in customer service, information transparency. Originally, I had booked this hotel through a third party months in advance, for my birthday weekend getaway. I drove over 5 hours to get to the hotel and when I walked in, Valerie at the front desk checked me in, had me sign a form for the amount I had paid online, plus an additional fee I knew nothing about (not a big deal to me) and everything seemed great at the time, so me and my best friend went to our room for a couple of hours to rest then went about our way in Orlando vacationing and exploring. At this point nothing was said about a problem of my reservation or anything of the sort.

The following day as I was checking out, (only spent 1 night) I went downstairs to return the key, where I was welcomed with news that my booking never had went through, and it was canceled. Which really makes no sense as how did they check me in, give me a key, and no indication anything was wrong of the sort for the entire time I was checking in. On top of that, Valerie, the same girl that had checked me in then told me that she charged my card again for a different amount which was almost double what I had paid for and physically signed at check in. They had charged my card without my acknowledgment or advising me that anything was happening, and I never got a receipt of this transaction either. (So I basically ended up paying twice for one night, and they wouldn't even honor the amount I had paid for originally either months ago, although they did have a record of that, imagine that.)

I have attempted to call the GM several times, emailed her with my personal number, and even spoke to other associates (gave them my number as well) in order to communicate with the manager. But it seems that no one feels my situation or experience is worth helping me with. What is upsetting in this, is the lack of information transparency until AFTER it happened. They could have resolved this before I had left the lobby at check in and before I physically left the property. Two times they had missed opportunities. I received no calls or emails or even a voice message in the room I was in informing me of any of this, despite the front desk saying they called numerous times. (again no voicemail as proof to back this up) Needless to say my birthday trip ended on a sour note as I traveled 5 hours back home trying to understand why this situation was handled in the manner it was without my consent or acknowledgment. I hope that now I get some attention and answers to this situation.

I would advise that anyone checking into this hotel think twice. As it just seems to me they rather check you in, have you leave the lobby, and then proceed to charge your card for a canceled reservation, and not inform you and charge whatever amount they claim is the lowest for the night. Oh also, be sure to double and triple check that your booking is actually good to go, as apparently when I was told everything is good to go, and given a key, that everything was not good. I would also advise to find other hotels in the area that are not in renovation mode that offer more quality customer service, and actually make an effort to attempt to fix challenges had by their guests, so no one else is exposed to a situation that I did not expect...