Tinkerbelll
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2005
DBF and I just moved to Florida a couple weeks ago, so we decided that we should take a relaxing weekend trip to Orlando to visit the mouse. We just couldn't justify spending $80.00+ a night on a Disney hotel because it wasn't really a vacation, but more like a last minute trip. So we made the mistake of using priceline. I know that many have had good luck with this in the past but we were not as fortunate. We ended up "winning" 2 nights at the Radisson Worldgate in the Disney World Area for $45.00 a night.
The first room that we got had two double beds when we requested a King. The furniture was falling apart, the air conditioning unit was loud and half working, and it was dirty. We requested a different room right away.
It was worse. We got to the new room, which had a "Sleep-number" bed that Radisson recommended for $10.00 more a night due to the fact that we didn't want to sleep on the cardboard beds that were in the previous room. The sleep-number bed didn't even work. We also found 2 little black bugs in the sheets of the bed and the room had a horrible damp musky smell. Sure enough, right there in the corner... MOLD
And to add to it, in the corner of the room, there was exposed insulation. Here are some pictures to show you that we are not exaggerating.
The mold on the carpet in the corner
The exposed insulation
Finally we requested to be moved to a different Radisson property because obviously this hotel had some major issues. But the manager on duty assured us that she would personally take us to a room until we were satisfied, and that all Radisson properties are franchised and that moving to another one was out of the question. This took 3 more rooms and we ended up in what they called an "executive suite." Basically this room was just cleaner, on the corner of the hotel, and had a few furniture upgrades. The big difference was that this room had central air conditioning, which was perfect because the individual air conditioning units in the other rooms we saw were all run down, leaking, and smelly. Make sure if you ever get stuck at this hotel you request an executive suite. There are only a few of them, but they were the only rooms that were not disgusting and/or falling apart.
The main pool area was decent. They had fire torches burning around the pool at night, but after seeing the quality of the rooms in this hotel and the lack of cleanliness in general, I could not bring myself to use it. Also the spa was broken and was roped off with ribbon. The second pool area was just disgusting and we didn't see anyone in it the whole time we were there. It was obviously not tended to and was completely unusable.
The only good thing about this hotel was the location. We could see Expedition Everest and the Tree of Life from our 5th floor window. It was literally in the backyard of Animal Kingdom and about a three minute drive to the front of the park using back roads. Hopefully they can completely renovate this property because the location is really amazing. In fact, with a little exploring we found that literally in the back of the parking lot of the Radisson was the Disney World Merchandise Building. And across the small street was the Entertainment Building (I think this is where they hold auditions and practice rooms for performers). It would be interesting to see exactly where the Disney World property ends and Radisson's begins. I am assuming the hotel is right on the border.
We would never stay here again and will steer clear of all Radisson properties in the future (although the manager did mention that Radisson properties are franchised and are independently owned and operated, which means it could be hit or miss). Also, we probably will not use the priceline service again because this hotel was listed as a 3 star hotel, and it was no where near the standard for that star rating. Just for reference purposes, the Value resorts on Disney property are all listed as only 2 and a half stars. No way that this hotel was even close to the standards of Pop Century. We have stayed at much nicer off-site hotels for under $50.00 a night, such as the Holiday Inn Sunspree.
The first room that we got had two double beds when we requested a King. The furniture was falling apart, the air conditioning unit was loud and half working, and it was dirty. We requested a different room right away.
It was worse. We got to the new room, which had a "Sleep-number" bed that Radisson recommended for $10.00 more a night due to the fact that we didn't want to sleep on the cardboard beds that were in the previous room. The sleep-number bed didn't even work. We also found 2 little black bugs in the sheets of the bed and the room had a horrible damp musky smell. Sure enough, right there in the corner... MOLD
And to add to it, in the corner of the room, there was exposed insulation. Here are some pictures to show you that we are not exaggerating.The mold on the carpet in the corner
The exposed insulation
Finally we requested to be moved to a different Radisson property because obviously this hotel had some major issues. But the manager on duty assured us that she would personally take us to a room until we were satisfied, and that all Radisson properties are franchised and that moving to another one was out of the question. This took 3 more rooms and we ended up in what they called an "executive suite." Basically this room was just cleaner, on the corner of the hotel, and had a few furniture upgrades. The big difference was that this room had central air conditioning, which was perfect because the individual air conditioning units in the other rooms we saw were all run down, leaking, and smelly. Make sure if you ever get stuck at this hotel you request an executive suite. There are only a few of them, but they were the only rooms that were not disgusting and/or falling apart.
The main pool area was decent. They had fire torches burning around the pool at night, but after seeing the quality of the rooms in this hotel and the lack of cleanliness in general, I could not bring myself to use it. Also the spa was broken and was roped off with ribbon. The second pool area was just disgusting and we didn't see anyone in it the whole time we were there. It was obviously not tended to and was completely unusable.
The only good thing about this hotel was the location. We could see Expedition Everest and the Tree of Life from our 5th floor window. It was literally in the backyard of Animal Kingdom and about a three minute drive to the front of the park using back roads. Hopefully they can completely renovate this property because the location is really amazing. In fact, with a little exploring we found that literally in the back of the parking lot of the Radisson was the Disney World Merchandise Building. And across the small street was the Entertainment Building (I think this is where they hold auditions and practice rooms for performers). It would be interesting to see exactly where the Disney World property ends and Radisson's begins. I am assuming the hotel is right on the border.
We would never stay here again and will steer clear of all Radisson properties in the future (although the manager did mention that Radisson properties are franchised and are independently owned and operated, which means it could be hit or miss). Also, we probably will not use the priceline service again because this hotel was listed as a 3 star hotel, and it was no where near the standard for that star rating. Just for reference purposes, the Value resorts on Disney property are all listed as only 2 and a half stars. No way that this hotel was even close to the standards of Pop Century. We have stayed at much nicer off-site hotels for under $50.00 a night, such as the Holiday Inn Sunspree.
Remember, if you are put into an unacceptable room, say something right away. We were brought to four unacceptable rooms before we were satisfied. I think we ended up in an "executive suite." Apparently, the Radisson has a "If your not satisfied, you don't pay" policy. There were little signs in the rooms during our stay. Obviously if the policy were 100% effective, we would not be out $150.00, but all is well. Try not to stress too much. You will probably be spending way less time in the room than you think anyway. Hope you have a magical vacation!
