Typical resort property. The Gaylord is visually pleasing and the staff is very attentive. The reason for 3 stars is mainly based on the condition of the mattresses in the room. Unfortunately, the mattresses were well used and needed replacement. The issue was not with the cleanliness, but lack of support. One side of the queen sized mattress I slept on had noticeable dips, the other side was somewhat firmer. Of course, the resort pricing of the food was a pain point, but not unexpected. I debated a lesser rating, but in all fairness I wasn't able to justify it.
I stayed here during a conference for 5 nights accompanied by my wife. Check in was ok and we were given a room overlooking a parking lot. The room itself was very modern and very clean. We really wanted a room with a balcony overlooking the amazing foliage and interior of the hotel as my wife wanted to sit and read whilst I was working. The hotel staff were not up to moving us so I swapped rooms with a colleague. The room we stayed was in had 2 great beds and was clean. It was a bit dark and in need of some refurbishment but had a good view overlooking the atrium. The atrium of the hotel is the highlight. It is amazing and has to be seen to be believed. I have never before seen alligators and turtles inside a hotel - it is enormous. There are also good swimming pools, slides and a lazy river which I would have liked to use but the opening times were too late in the morning for me to use them as I had to be at a conference. This was a real shame as traveling from UK, I was up at 5am with jet lag! We ate at several of the restaurants. No complaints about the quality of the food but the costs are way too high. After discovering the cost of the first breakfast in the hotel, we 'ubered' to the local diner in Celebration, which is only 5 mins away and way cheaper for a party of 4 to do this. In conclusion, an amazing experience but loses the 5th star due to high food costs, pool opening times and in need of a little updating.…
This place is beautiful! The plants, trees, flowers are exquisite! Our check in was smooth, the man accommodated all of our requests, Everglades section, rooms close.and a high floor. We faced the atrium and it was quiet. Our rooms were very quiet. Usually I need earplugs to sleep when I stay in a hotel. We ate at Wreckers, the grill at the pool and got a pizza from the marketplace. Prices were as expected. The portions at Wreckers were large. The pool area is fantastic. Four hot tubs, open till 10pm. The “lazy” river is a blast! The current is strong and fun! The slides and river close earlier than the pool. Yes it’s hard to get a chair because families take 4-6 chairs and there are never anyone in the chairs. Our group of 4 found one chair to pile our belongings on. You really don’t need a chair as you are in the water the whole time. I was skeptical after reading negative reviews but pleasantly surprised at our great experience at this property.…
Service at the hotel was sub par. At check in we had been provided a free of charge room upgrade based on our gold status. We had originally booked a 2 Queen bed room approximately 450sq ft with a "Florida View". The upgrade was in a wing of the hotel furthest away from any of the dinning experiences, lobby and the pools. Certainly a less desirable location than our initial room. Room itself was 2 queen beds 450sq ft. Nothing special but apparently the wing had been recently renovated. The Gulf Stream view was of a highway on one side and the parking lot on another. The hotel has a "considerate done" phone service. Hold time to request 2 drinking glasses be delivered to the room was 20 minutes, only to be told the front desk would need to handle such a request. After trekking across the grounds and waiting on line at the front desk (5pm check in crowd) the gentleman was very welcoming and detailed, he typed away for close to 5 minutes about the request for glassware and said they would arrive shortly. Sadly they never did! That night we used the automated service to request a 7:30 am wake up call, so we could pack, have a nice breakfast and utilize the water park and pools before checkout. It too never happened! A leisurely and relaxing start to the day turned into a mad dash.. Upon checkout, this newly renovated room lacked the ability to checkout via the TV/Infotainment center. A call to the "Consider it done" line was never answered, we ended up checking out via the chat feature on the app. I am not sure when Marriott acquired the Gaylord Palms but Marriott 10 out of 10 times gets the basic things perfect or quickly adjusts. This was not the case. Latter that evening a $75 charge hit my credit card from the hotel. Concerned it was for glassware or a late check out fine of some sort I quickly contacted the hotel to question the charge and to express my disappointment with the stay. My reservation was pre-paid and at the time of payment I was made aware that it was a non refundable $348 in total all taxes and fees included special phone rate. A Gaylord Palms rep contacted me the next day explain he pulled my folio and it was a $38 resort fee along with a $30 self parking fee and tax that I had been billed. He indicated that he would share my comments about glassware and a failed wake up call with his team, so they could provide someone other than me with better service. But pretty a well yup it happened but if you come back it might not happen again type response. I replied via email that I was told upon pre-payment all fees including parking, resort and internet type charges were included. Here is where things got weird, same agent replied back that he needed my confirmation number and had no record of my stay. Huh? Previous email you pulled my "folio" and new exactly what the charges were but now you have no record? Was my response to him Then he replied, Oh I found it, you used a 3rd party to book it. Please provide me with a screenshot of where it said includes all fees included? After indicating it was booked over the phone we exchanged numerous emails stating he was doing all he could! In the end all he could do was tell me he has no record I prepaid for a room and the $75 was a valid charge. Again you can't tell me who I paid or if I paid, do anything about the stay but you can be 100% sure I parked and used the resort and didn't pay for that? If your planning on staying here with a family, make sure you see the location of your room 1st, need nothing additional like a glass or a wake up call and confirm numerous times who your booking with and what the payment truly covers!…
The front desk graveyard staff was horrible to me. They were not welcoming at all! I was at the Gaylord for a conference. I made the reservations months ago with my credit card. My coworker was arriving a day before me, so I added her name to the room. When I arrived, they told me they could not allow me in the room- mind you- it was 1:30 am. I was upset because I knew I had made the reservation under both names. After having a back and forth for 15-20 minutes- I was let into the room. My name was on the reservation the whole time! If it weren’t for the conference being held here, I would have chosen a different accommodation. While I don’t like to throw around the race card, I am starting to believe it may have been the case. I will say that the rooms in the gulf coast area were very nice and the room was clean and attended to each day. The bar drinks were ok- the piña colada machine was not frozen- it was liquidy. Also the mango margarita I ordered was not good- don’t order it!…
When we stayed at Gaylord over the holidays, the metal bed leg was exposed and caused my 2 years old to get injured. I have stayed in over 200 hotels and resorts and never been exposed to such a hazardous environment. They couldn't replace the bed and we end up sleeping on the floor. The next morning we spoke with the front desk MGR (Jesus P.) and he assured us that he would follow up on the incident and provide us with a detailed report. It's been months and we haven't received any correspondence from the hotel management. When I called last week to inquire on the incident, I was told that Jesus was transferred to housekeeping and the new MGR would call me back. The next day I received a call from Kylie, the new MGR, and she was the most uncaring and rude person that have spoken too. She didn't show any sympathy toward the situation, had no interest in hearing my concerns, and hang up the phone on me. This explains all the recent negative reviews. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE!…
I often book suites for my family vacations because we like the space of the room. The executive suite we booked looked nothing like the pictures online and in defense of the resort they did state that the room may not look like the one in the pictures. I just had no idea how much of a downgrade from the pictures we would be getting. We were stuck by an elevator in a corner and the layout of our suite had the bedroom area shoved back like you were in a closet. Not only did the bedroom not have a view of the atrium but there wasn’t even a window at all. There was barely room for suitcases in the bedroom. When I say we felt like we were sleeping in a closet I literally mean that. There is no way that this executive suite should have been the price of an executive suite where the bedroom area has a view. I am disgusted at the cost of this room. We spoke with a manager and they could not move us because the hotel was full due to a convention. That manager was very robotic and had a prepared speech as if they were used to having this conversation. I was very disappointed with her tone after the amount of money we were spending. We had also purchased an adjoining room for my mother-in-law so our total cost (for only rooms) was almost $5k for 3 nights. That’s not airfare, dining or anything else so this was not a cheap trip for 3 nights. It took me calling corporate to get any concession which was only a $75 dining credit. I ended up getting an additional $200 credit because someone from housekeeping busted in our room at 11:00 one night hollering and woke us up. They had the wrong room 🤦🏼♀️. Another tip…I did not know that the atrium views are not all views of that center atrium. Our living room balcony overlooked the key west atrium not the main atrium. If I had known this I would have requested a suite in the main atrium and one where the bedroom had a view. At a minimum these executive suites should have tiered prices. This was way too expensive to feel like we were sleeping in a closet. The grounds were beautiful and the water park was great but because of the way the manager handled our situation with a very snide attitude I would never stay at this resort again.…
I recently stayed at Gaylord Palms for a large conference. This is a beautiful resort with a gorgeous atrium. My issue was with the cleanliness of the room. We arrived to our room late and exhausted after traveling all day. I pulled the comforter/blanket up and noticed a stain on it near my face. I pushed it away from me because I was too tired to deal with it that night. The next day I noticed that on the other end of the comforter there was smeared food. It obviously had not been washed after the last occupant. I called the “smiley face” button on the phone, advertised on the hotel info tv channel but that number was out of order. I was finally able to reach the front desk and they did send housekeeping very quickly with new linens. Another cleanliness issue was around the toilet. There was an inch wide of mold and mildew on the floor in the caulking. This was a maintenance issue, not housekeeping. I emailed Marriott a week ago with this information but have not received a response. The price paid for the room should at the very least guarantee a clean room. The staff I encountered from check in to housekeeping to bell service were all friendly, helpful, and professional. The prices at all the resort restaurants were crazy expensive. Just order Uber Eats or Grub Hub. Even with fees and tip, it will still cost half of anything you will find at the resort.…
We have stayed at this hotel in the past (it’s been about two years) and always loved it. When I realized I had a free room expiring in a day, we made a last minute reservation for two nights. Moses checked us in and he was absolutely wonderful! He made sure our room was upgraded and I didn’t even have to ask! The valets were very pleasant and took care of our luggage. It was a very pleasant checkin experience. POSITIVES: The hotel is absolutely beautiful. The numerous restaurants make it very convenient and we don’t feel we have to leave the property for anything. The FedEx office center was convenient when a work issue arose. NEGATIVES: The pool chairs: the front row of every pool is reserved as “premium seating”. It costs $50 to reserve. I could count on one hand the number of people using those chairs when we were there. They were all empty. It is such a money grab and a waste of space. They need to open them up as general seating. It seems like Marriott is just looking for another way to make money and this was very disappointing. Also, we arrived back late (from Disney) on the second night (07/01/22). Our room key had to be “re-keyed”. I dropped off my teenage daughter at the front while I went to park the car. I asked her to take care of it. There was a gentleman at the front desk (in Bonvoy line) who was very condescending and rude to her. It’s obvious he treated her that way because of her age, which is completely unacceptable. It sounds like he was also miffed that she got in the Bonvoy line. She is still a guest of the hotel and she knows I’m Platinum Elite, so she had every right to get in that line. He needs a lesson in kindness and customer service. It was disappointing to hear that my daughter was treated poorly by a snotty front desk clerk. I wish she had gotten his name. Overall, it was a good stay and we will probably return if ICE returns this year. We love the atmosphere and amenities. It’s also close to the Disney parks.…
The hotel is great. Our family of 5 plus in-laws came for a staycation an hour away from home. The rooms is clean and nicely remodeled. The resort water slides and pool are amazing and lots of fun. And there’s some fun things to see when walking around the atrium (alligators, turtles, fish, etc) The hotel does have some scheduled activities- sunrise yoga, pirate encounter, alligator feeding are offered. Most activities are offered on Saturday. I do wish they had more or at least the ones they have be more often. Be aware there are lots of added fees: $30 for self parking and $40 for valet per night, $40/day resort fee, and the food is pricey!!! The childrens menu has $20 and $30 meals- no $6-$15 options like most restaurants. The steakhouse has $60 steaks with a few cheaper options of $35. This goes for just about all the restaurants in the resort. Be prepared to spend lots on food.…
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