I stayed at this property while on business attending a convention. The hotel was remarkable in comfort, services, safety, cleanliness, style and overall value. I have stayed coast to coast, in all kinds of properties. I have been to the islands, Europe and London, from Canada to Mexico to fantastic rooms on cruise ships. I haven't been everywhere but I have experienced a lot, and I can say without any fear of contridiction my experience for six full days was first class all the way.

Specific detail is paid to guest services and the overall appearance. The staff is very well versed in five star service and I personally witnessed and experienced (day after day for six straight days) consistent and highly professional service.

I just wish to thank the staff and management for everything they did to make my stay comfortable and wish to express to everybody reading this post that this particular property may be branded as a Holiday Inn BUT it is run like an Intercontential Hotel (which actually directly manages the property).

As a GOLD member of the IHG program, and having been a past guest of Intercontential properties in Chicago, NYC, Baltimore, I can stay I felt the level of service and effort at this hotel is superior to those properties. While there are some stray signs of this being a Holiday Inn, every effort is made to rise above the Holiday Inn status.

The fact is this property is special. It is rare to find such responsive, personal, 10+ service anywhere today, and I honestly believe as a 20 year veteran of traveling to Disney for personal and pleasure trips, this Holiday Inn surpasses some of the Disney properties in terms of service and comfort.

It is worth mentioning I have never ever never seen an entire hotel team work together in such a supportive, complimentary manner as this team, and I experienced all shifts. From housekeeping and the front desk to the valet and window cleaners, from the breakfast waiters to the bar to the gift shop, everybody and I mean everybody is first class, top notch, A+++.

I was frankly blown away from my experience. The gym is open 24/7 and while appointed like a traditional Holiday Inn, everything worked and was clean. The king room I had was modern, clean, well appointed and very comfortable and quiet. I would have easily enjoyed six days with my family in king room I had. While the pullout sofa is really just a single bed, there is ample room for a cot, and plenty of floor space should someone bring a sleeping bag and/or need a crib.

I was on the 6th floor facing the pool and enjoyed my view of downtown Disney. If I were higher I would have been able to see 75%+ of the Disney fireworks display (there are two parts to the the hotel, the main building and the "addition", my room was located in the "addition").

The pool area provided plenty of comfort and the pool itself is simple but appropriate, clean and relaxing. The bar and food was very reasonble, tasty, fresh and of quality. While I did find the breakfast buffet to be simple, the staff is very alert and highly professional. The dinning area itself is simple yet modern, clean and comfortable and I had service with a smile and fresh, quality food for every meal.

I had an extraordinary stay and very positive experience, if only all hotel experiences were like this, traveling would be so much fun.

Simply put, this property must be a model for all of IHG, it must be where the future leaders of the industry are trained and mentored because the level of service and comfort truly made it feel like a 5 star stay.

I say "Job Well Done Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista", you receive my highest recommendation and congratulations on obtaining the highest degree of professionalism in your industry. I suspect this property is the pride, the crown jewel of the Holiday Inn brand.

Oh, one last thing, you cannot beat the location. Downtown Disney is literally walking distance. A Whole Foods and Walmart are a very easy 10 minutes away. As for the hotel itself, it's a perfect size, not too big and not too small.