This is my sixth stay of 5 days at this hotel since July. The govt. agency picked this place for our group project and I'm glad they did. Yes, it is beside the interstate and that makes it convienent. Yes, it is beside the railroad tracks that run through the edge of downtown. Shutting the room darkening curtains cuts down on some of the noise. During my last two stays I was fortunate enough to be in one of their "corner" rooms with windows on two sides overlooking the lakes outside the hotel. The view is outstanding.

"Occupy Orlando" has been using the park across the street from the hotel for their demonstrations and it appeared that the hotel staff even treated them with respect. On Sunday of this trip they set up a stage complete with huge loud speakers to play a "concert" and allow people to speak. The police shut them down after dark and the park was completely clean the next morning. They were gone the rest of the week.

The staff is outstanding. Richard, one of the managers, often works the desk. Doris, as always, is friendly and efficient, as is Ruth, Heather, and the others. All are extremely helpful from providing warm cookies to providing information about resturants. I'm impressed with their ability to handle the crowds, and their ability to give each person personal attention when it is their turn at the desk. The hotel provides a complimentary van (yes, tips are appreciated) for locations close to the hotel. Their new van holds at least 10 comfortably. The evening drivers (Dave and Gary) are especially pleasant and helpful.

The resturant continues to improve from the days when this hotel was a Sonesta a few months ago. The breakfast buffet was outstanding, especially the fresh fruit each morning. Included are eggs to order on request (they make wonderful omlets). The grilled salmon was outstanding (ask for the sauce on the side), as was the steak -- with prices comparable to resturants downtown. Soup and sandwiches are available at the bar. Heather, in particular, obviously enjoys serving her customers.

There are several resturants within walking distance, including a wonderful New York Deli in the lobby of the office building across the street that serves breakfast and lunch.

The beds are extremely comfortable and the showers have plenty of hot water. The bath area has two counters, one outside the main toilet shower area where the coffee pot is and large areas on each side of the sink. There was plenty of hot water, towels, etc. They use the top of the line "Citron" brand soaps, shampoos, and hand cream.

The conference rooms are nice and the staff responsive to our needs.

I look forward to my next trip there.

We (my husband, my 9-year old son and myself) stayed at this hotel, not by choice, but it was included in a timeshare pre-presentation package we received. (I think it was more or less a ploy to make sure that the timeshare option would look more appealing compared to a hotel stay). Anyway, this hotel is very noisy and rooms need updating - desperately. Our room was on the 5th floor by the elevator. The room looked like it could use a new make-over as it looks like it has never been touched since the 70's (with the exception of the beds - they were very comfortable) (old wallpaper, limited space on the bathroom counter (very short), bathroom door never stayed open on its own, no fan in bathroom, could not hang anything as the so-called closet was just a rod with hangers inches above the room safe located in the bathroom behind the bathroom door. This room may have been an "accessible room" (we did not request an accessible room). Parking was $15 per night (too much for my taste). Train going by every night (had the A/C running all night to cancel out most of the train whistle noise), constant noise from the elevators (A/C helped block some of that as well) and on one occassion, very noisy neighbours late one night (A/C did not help with this) so had to make two calls to the careline to take care of that. It was also a 30-minute drive to and from the Disney area, where we spent most of our time.Loved the warm cookies and the staff were great however, this is not a hotel I would return to. Lobby was bery nice but the quality in the room was just not there. I thought Hilton would have higher standards. There are plenty of other options closer to Disney with the same or better price and quality.

Just after unpacking a family of 4 planning a 3 night stay, we noticed a large patch of black mold on the ceiling just above the AC. It had been previously painted over and was now bleeding back through. We notified the staff and they were willing to make repairs. As it was late in the day, I asked that they postpone until the following day as we would be gone most of the day. The following afternoon we returned around 5pm to find not only had the repairs not been made, they did not even clean the room. The last night of our stay, the AC began blowing hot air along with the cold and we woke up sweating at 3am. The next morning I advised the staff at check out of the problems to which they replied, thank you for letting us know. Nothing more, nothing less. The room doors looked like someone was trying to break into each room with a hammer. This would not have been a suprise if we were shopping a Motel 6 for $30/night.

Obviously the staff places no merit on appearance. This was our first and last stay at a Doubletree. For that matter, Hilton can have back the HHonors club card if this is how they want to treat their customers.

This is my second stay at this hotel. This will be my last stay at this hotel.

My first trip I wrote a review regarding the paper thin walls, and incodsiderate clientele that partied all night in my hallway and the local train that ran at 1 in the morning. The saving grace was the staff. I met Doris, Anne, Eon and a few others.. They were all wonderful, and I considered this when making a second reservation after receiving a note from Mark M(Manager) in July letting me know that the next visit I would be well taken care of and to not worry.
Well, I called the hotel before I arrived. I learned that Mark was no longer with the company, and the manager was on holiday. The acting manager would be Richard. I left a message for him, but did not receive a call back.

When I arrived I was greeted once again by the ever cheerful and professional Doris. There were a few others there, and were all very friendly. I was introduced to Richard, whom I had left a message for. I was surprised at his lack of enthusiasm and manner about having someone repeat a trip to the hotel was met. His automated response, without even looking at me was “…if there is anything we can do to make your visit pleasant please let us know” and he walked away, not waiting for a reply of any sort. The staff remained professional with me, but I could tell they were put off by this lack of customer service….
I will point out the following as I have done in the past.
Excellent service received by the following:

Front Desk: Doris (always a joy), Eon (helping with the bags and directions)and other staff members all were wonderful

Dining Room: My servers were wonderful! My daughter and I loved the breakfast and the staff who were attentive and considerate.

Parking Attendants: Informative and helpful

Substandard Service:

The Bar and the Management of the Hotel.

Room: Comfortable and well decorated. The bed was very soft and the bathroom was clean, fresh linen (which was an issue last stay). We were on the 11th floor this trip, and were still unable to avoid the train noise in the early hours.
There were a lot of young people from a wedding, but there was no noise on our floor.

I will not be returning to this location. I have enjoyed other doubletree resorts, and since there are plenty of places to stay in Orlando, I will not roll the dice again with the Downtown location. The staff was wonderful, I wish Doris and the rest of the team the very best.

sincerely
Holly C.