Hi all, I was wondering whether anyone has been to the Doubletree at the entrance to Universal this year and could clue me in on what service to expect as a Diamond. I'll be checking in middle of this week and checking out this coming Saturday.

I've reserved a Universal View Room and my preferences ask for a high floor, but I noticed the high floor is a "stand-by upgrade" for an extra $5.00 a night. The "stand-by upgrade" page doesn't indicate that I should expect any upgrade for free even though my preferences are set for upgrade/breakfast. (Normally, the stand-by pages for other hotels show my already checked "free" upgrade and then other options for $$$.)

How is the breakfast?

Anywho, sorry for the new thread but one of the two threads in the sticky is dead and the other doesn't have any posts after winter 2003/04.

I ran through a search for you, too, since I had stayed at that hotel several years ago and didn't like it because they catered towards busloads full of affinity groups (like school groups, etc.). I found a recent comment on the hotel in another thread dated October 8, 10, 2:05 pm post #62 by The _Banking_Scot. Here it is (in italics):

Hi,
I stayed at 2 DTs in the past fortnight in MCO;
(1) By Universal Studios- very nice, rooms are in two towers with a large pool. Rooms have been renovated since the last time I was there ( 5-6 years ago) and looked like the refurb was very recent


The refurb info is good to know, but I, too, would like to see more recent info and whether others have had busload group experiences. That DTree is convenient to Universal but I would recommend staying at the Hilton Garden Inn that happens to be very nearby. HGarden Inns seem to never attract large groups, perhaps because HGarden Inns seem to be an almost invisible hotel choice in the Hilton family. Most people don't seem to know quite what to make of them. IMHO, the HGarden Inns are mostly occupied by business or individual families. YMMV.

Thanks sallyerd. I was thinking about the HGI or even the Hilton Bonnet Creek but since we're spending all of our time during the day at Universal and we can walk from the Doubletree to the gates I decided on it.

Thanks for doing the search and coming up with something that I had missed when I did mine!

I'll post here next Saturday or Sunday after my return.

Not a bad property but not great from this Diamond's perspective. Property itself ok but the service a disaster. Front desk kindly offered an upgrade to a 'suite' due to my wife's birthday, but asked us to check in later for it to be available. Hours later, I check in, key not coded properly, down to front desk again, repeat several times, and it's a regular room. Down to front desk again, clueless staff, eventually get the upgrade and the 'suite' is 2 interconnected regular rooms, with the 2nd room having all the furniture removed. It was practically empty apart from 2 very small chairs - most bizarre. We never used that 2nd room. Wouldn't have bothered if they hadn't made such a big deal of the upgrade to begin with. One of many bizarre incidents.

Cheap rates though everyone working for a tip, in a not very subtle way. Not a great walk to Universal (good 10-15 minutes, several lizards in high heat!) If $$$ permits stay at the Hard Rock.

Hi,

I am the poster that sallyerd referred to^

I stayed there from the 3rd to 6th October ( a lowly silver but got the Universal view for $89 per night)

The view is not bad but before you view Universal you have the car parking structure and the windows could do with a bit of cleaning.

Maybe I was lucky but I did not see any bus tour groups when I was there.

The breakfast buffet was pretty good with the usual fruits , cereals ( incl Froot loops!) bread and pastries and a made to order omelette station which was good.

When the breakfast bill comes ( I think it was about $15) the bill is stamped " Gratuity included-I think it was 18%) -it was 16% at the Doubletree at Sea world.

I did not mind the walk ( esp as the rates were less than half price of the on site Universal hotels)

Regards

TBS

Thanks TBS. As you did, I looked at the onsite hotels but the cheapest onsite was almost $300 a night and I'm only paying $79 a night (AAA rate) for the Doubletree!

I'll post a hotel report when I return.

Sorry for the delay...my stay was not without trouble and I wanted to wait until my issue was resolved before posting a review.

Anywho, day before arrival was offered the chance for online check-in. I checked the rooms but was only offered 2 bedded rooms on floors 6 and below. Decided to wait for check-in.

Arrived at hotel after midnight and was welcomed warmly. Upgraded to 18th floor (top non-penthouse floor). The room was a standard king but the higher floor was considered to be an upgrade. Room was of a good size, clean and functional.

Breakfast was in Pompano's restaurant. Staff was very friendly, especially the host who remembered my wife and I from day one to day two.

Only problem was on check-out. We needed a cab to the airport at 4:15am. Since I know that cabs can sometimes be hard to find at that hour I called downstairs to the valet desk at 3:55am and spoke with the staff member on duty who assured me a cab would be available at 4:15.

My wife and I went downstairs at 4:15am and there were no cabs. However, there was loud rap music blaring from the valet office. I knocked on the door and met the staff member whom I had spoken to earlier who as I watched made a phone call for a cab. Cabbie (company contracted by hotel) shows up around 4:30am. Once my wife and I are in the cab and have left the hotel the driver informs us that he is going to make another stop to pick up more passengers. I protest loudly but the driver has none of it and we stop at a Best Western and pick up two more passengers. The worst part is we get to the airport and the driver does not unload our luggage until we pay him the full $45 fare! I was tempted to ask for the police but we needed to get inside to check our luggage and make our flight.

ANywho, as soon as we get home I call HHonors customer service and file a complaint. Within 24 hours I hear from a manager at the hotel who seemed genuinely interested in addressing my issue and credited back 1 room night to my credit card. A fair resolution in my mind.

If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them.

I've often been tempted by their cheap rates at this hotel, then I see that they charge for self-parking. They have their own parking lot and they charge?! That cheeses me and I have never stayed there even if total package (w/ prkg.) is lower.

Instead I stay at either the HI or the Hyatt Place (closer than HI).

We've stayed at this property and would not again. Just wasn't happy with overall service. We prefer Disney Hilton, it's a distance but worth it for us.