Holiday Inn Select Orlando-univ Of Central Fl.

Carson and Diana at the buffet were welcoming and kind, and helped us feel comfortable and enjoy our stay. Management greeted us right away too. The breakfast buffet is worth recommending. Affordable stay, and hospitality and customer service were 10/10. One of the best hotel experiences I’ve had.

What happened at DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando was the opposite of hospitality, and I’m sharing this to warn other travelers, especially anyone with a disability or service animal. My husband and I are Hilton Honors members and usually choose Hilton when we travel. On Christmas Eve, after driving nearly four hours while I was recovering from severe food poisoning and exhausted from lack of sleep, we were denied our confirmed stay because we had our ADA-protected service dog, Molly. She’s a 15-year-old Yorkie, a toy breed with health issues related to her age, and cancer. Staff told us there was a “no pets/dogs policy” and that it didn’t matter she was a service animal. Around 6 or 7 pm, we were essentially told to leave, with no solution, compassion, refund, or respect. Service animals are protected under federal law and aren’t pets. Hilton corporate handled it poorly too. They offered to find us another hotel, but said we’d have to pay out of pocket again while they kept our original payment. We replied, “thank you, but if that’s the way to handle this situation, and not transfer our payment, we would rather find a different hotel to stay ourselves”. American Express later recognized how serious it was and approved our refund. Amex had to escalate because the customer service rep kept calling, but the calls were answered and then disconnected. They also said an employee was extremely rude to them on the phone, which was unusual and unfortunately matched our experience. We’ve had wonderful stays at Hilton properties around the world, including an exceptional one at Hilton Milan in Italy, so this was a stark contrast. Being made to feel unwelcome on Christmas Eve while sick and worn out is something no guest should face. The hotel looked empty, with no visible guests in the lobby and an empty parking lot. Policies shouldn’t override basic humanity, respect, or the law.

We stayed five nights. The beds were comfortable, the bar was nice and reasonably priced, and breakfast had limited choices but tasted good. The pool and outdoor area looked dated. The pool stayed a bit dirty during our visit, and the chairs seemed to be falling apart. Signs pointed to vending machines, but there weren’t any. The stay was decent overall, and I’d recommend it.

The rooms were clean and kept up, but there was no fridge, so I had to store my insulin in a cooler with day-old ice packs to keep it good. Staff seemed helpful at first, then charged me $250 for smoking even though I absolutely did not smoke in the room. I do sometimes smoke cigarettes, but I left them in my truck and only smoked outside. That bogus fee caused a lot of trouble during my vacation. I still haven’t gotten a response. Stay away, they’ll charge you for whatever they think they can get away with. And thanks for the canned reply, DoubleTree. There was no smoking in the room, so no extra cleaning was needed. Still dishonest, still thieves. I’m never staying here again. 0/5 stars.