Our entire purpose was to go to the Ritz and spend a couple of days at the great spa. We have been to the spa many times before, and they are fantastic when they get it right, but REALLY ANNOYING when they get it wrong, which seems to twenty percent of the time. Yesterday we were at the spa pool and never had a server come over to us, although a group of six women seemed to have three servers fawning over them. After chasing down a server and ordering two glasses of wine, we waited 45 minutes - no wine. Back inside to find out where the wine was, yes, the server apologized, and they gave us a bottle of wine, but, that was not the point. The group of six women seemed to be drunk, horsed around like kids in the pool, screaming and swearing. Another couple around the pool must have had enough of it, and must have called the hotel, because a 'manager-type' came up to us and asked if we called the hotel. It wasn't us, but someone came out and spoke to the group of women. Later, as we sat in the outdoor hot tub, two of the group got back in the pool and started squealing, when one of their group told them to hush, one in the pool said "[--] them, I'll make noise if I want to". One of this group was also smoking all afternoon. This is a non-smoking area, but evidently the spa personnel does not seem to want to enforce a 'spa-like atmosphere' when it comes to groups of women. I tried to overlook all of this, until, someone from the spa came out and asked me to move over to the side of the spa pool where this group was, since there was a private event going to occur at the pool and they were closing the area I was sitting in. I didn't want to sit down wind of the smoking, swearing party girls, so I just left. Even a call to the General Manager of the Ritz, did not really get us anywhere. We have been regular visitors of the Spa at The Ritz, but are hesitant to go back again. The personnel in the Men's locker room are evidently incredible, but the women's side is just lousy. BEWARE! - Although they have told me cameras are not allowed in the locker rooms, these groups of women are using cameras in the locker rooms to capture who knows what - I suggest you use the private changing rooms, if you don't want pictures of you showing up who knows where!

I stayed here with my family when it first opened-and it was not very busy. Apparently that was a good thing because it was really top flight. I just had the displeasure of spending three days there on business. What a clunker-mistake after mistake. They delivered my bags to the wrong room and it took hours to find them; my smoke detector kept going off and was finally replaced after two service calls; the phones required a service call as well. WOW! That was just the first night. Here is the rub: it is a BIG hotel..and the Ritz concept doesn't work in a convention hotel. Ritz is owned by Marriott and it shows..there has been a "dumbing down" of everything-the food, the housekeeping-even the newspapers available. (And you really are paying for much better than this!) BUT is there anything better in Orlando? Probably not.

Stayed at the Orlando Ritz for 3 nights 4/08. Attended a business conference solo and was very impressed with this hotel. I received a quick orientation from one of the managers after check in and on the way to the elevator - nice touch. Room 351 was a oversized king room that faced the spa. Furnishings, fixtures and attention to detail was perfect. Upon getting up to the room I realized I had left my Blackberry in the rental car - one phone call and they ran it up in 5 minutes. I rented a car but did notice that there were always at least 10 or so “black car” Lincolns by the entrance. Conference food as well as a meal at the Vineyard Grill was fine as well. All staff encountered could not have been more pleasant.

Most guests were in on business events and the lobby bar was packed at night - although no service complaints. Don’t get me wrong there were plenty of children as well and this Ritz has extensive children’s programs. Its just that the Ritz has a much more adult feel to it. The pool was sedate, well attended and spotlessly clean. Very relaxing, never crowded and most importantly - no “saved” chairs.

The Ritz shares the property with a JW Marriott and they connect at the meeting center. The JW is larger with a free form pool and looks nice as well. The Ritz golf course was great. Although caddies are mandatory - which I usually hate as they seem to lose interest in beginners; our caddie Dean was outstanding and put us at ease right off the bat. Further, for $20 you can get rental clubs and all day access to the driving range, putting and chipping greens.

In short, I really enjoyed the Ritz. I have stayed at several Disney properties; Swan, Shades of Green, Grand Floridian, etc. and must say that the Ritz is a refreshing change “off property”.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. As previous reviewers have noted, the hotel uses an outside company that supplies town cars for transportation. We attempted to pre book our arrival pick up and departure on line - and it was bungled at every turn. It is too long to relate all the negatives with this (and I am sure most would not believe all the things that went wrong) - but my first piece of advice - pick up the phone and call the concierge if you are trying to arrange something; and even then be prepared to never quite get what you think you are getting when using the concierge or the car service.

The next negative was the description online vs the actual room we received. We booked club level, lake front, king room (609 USD for March spring break). Here is my second piece of advice - make sure you get what you pay for. For example if you really want to be on the same floor as the club lounge - not the floor below (so that you don't have to navigate either a stairway or elevator to bring your loved one a glass of wine back to the room) - then specify that is what you want. Club lounge is on the 14th floor (actually the 13th), our room was down on the 12th. "Lakefront" also does not capture what we received. True - our room did face towards the lake, but the view was decided "Lakeview" (a difference of $30 USD per night).

This brings us to the "last straw". The first morning, we had found the duvet on the bed too heavy for our taste and asked house keeping to bring us a blanket we could substitute for the next evening. They delivered a tattered and worn out blanket that looked more appropriate to be spread over the back seat of the car for your dog to jump on after a swim in the lake. This brings me to my last piece of advice - complain. I took the blanket downstairs with me and asked to speak to the on duty manager. We had a brief discussion of my disappointments and he offered to reduce the rate of the room to the regular rate of $459. With only two small caveats (more on these later) - the general trend of our stay started to alter course.

So lets review the positives. The hotel itself is very nicely done, very grand and well laid out. (Indeed my wife and I can't remember ever being in a hotel that had such grand public washrooms - we even snuck into each other's to see the mosaics and furnishings).

The spa fitness building and it's associated private pool deserve special mention. The gym is extremely well equipped and very clean. The men's and ladies private rooms were spectacular - with saunas, whirlpools, private waiting rooms. The general waiting area is one of the most remarkable spa rooms I have even been in (the website features a picture that only hints at it's charms). The pool area (which unless you have a treatment booked for the day is 20 USD) is peaceful and serene - adults only. This complex alone is worth a positive review.

The hotel staff are extremely well trained and seem genuinely happy to serve. The grounds are beautiful and the entire property was well cared for. The club lounge is especially remarkable in the food that they present. I am quite prepared to believe that some club level guests who never purchase any food while on the property. If so they are missing out.

We ate in three of the properties restaurants. Primo's for our second evening (its over at the sister hotel - the Marriott), Bleu (the casual restaurant near the pool) for lunch, and finally Norman's for our final night. All of these did an fabulous job and both me and my wife highly recommend them. (I note a previous reviewer did not like the service at Norman's - our experience with our waiter was completely the opposite - he was very helpful and very professional).

In conclusion - the Ritz Carlton is a big luxury hotel with some very nice amenities, great food, and willing staff. If you are looking as we were, for 3 days of relaxation in the central Florida area, we would recommend this luxury choice. But be forewarned, it is a big hotel - with all the problems that 'big' can bring.

The last two issues? When I went to check out, the rate had been adjusted for only 2 of the promised 3 nights, and the blankets - the second set that were delivered - even after the complaint to the Manager - were for twin beds!