My parents and I stayed at the Red Roof Kissimmee - Lake Buena Vista
South (on Kyng's Heath Road) for one night in mid-March 2013. Because we
were a party of three adults, we were undecided between reserving two
rooms (for approximately $50 per room), or reserving one 2-bedroom suite
(for approximately $90). We ended up reserving the suite, thinking that
it would give us more room to socialize in the living room area. We
booked our room on-line, and we received TripRewards points for our
stay.
Our room choice was a huge mistake! Despite telephoning the
hotel and being told that there were two bedrooms, when we arrived, we
found that there were NOT. Although our room had two areas, one of which
was a sitting area with a sofabed; the other space was a room with two
double beds. There were no sheets for the sofabed in either part of the
room, although there was a blanket and a pillow. A trip to the front
desk and a conversation with the night manager just before bedtime
remedied the sheet situation, although I did have to accompany him to
the laundry room and wait while he retrieved the sheets.
Our
two-area room, although supposedly recently renovated, was in poor
condition. There was no door between the two rooms (nor was there
intended to be); if you travel to this hotel with a family, perhaps with
small children who need to nap during the day, there is no way to close
off the sleeping area from the living area. The bedroom area featured
two double beds, a TV, small table and two chairs, and a small
refrigerator and microwave (two separate pieces, but with the microwave
on top of the fridge), whereas the living area featured a sofabed,
coffee table, side table, and TV. It would have been more logical to set
up the living area with the small table and chairs, refrigerator, and
microwave (along with the sofa and coffee table) rather than putting the
living items in the sleeping area. The TVs were not flat-screen, as was
advertised in the on-line description that we read; they were still the
old-fashioned huge cube variety. Each room had an iron/ironing board
holder mounted to the wall; however, there was neither an iron nor an
ironing board present in either holder. When I asked the day manager
about it when I checked out, he said that guests can come down to
request those items but that they are not in each room. I guess they
expect guests to walk back to their hotel room (and up one flight of
stairs, in our case) toting an ironing board! The fridge was larger than
a dorm-size cube but still a small size.
The sink and vanity
were outside of the room housing the toilet and bathtub. The metal
faucets on the single (not double) sink were crumbling and
disintegrating, with sharp edges that seemed both hazardous and
unsanitary. The closed-off bathroom area (containing the bathtub/shower
combo and toilet) was tiny. The floors were a laminate material made to
look like hardwood; thankfully, no carpeting was present in the room.
The mattresses were not comfortable, and the pillows were small and flat
(with only two pillows per bed - no extras). There was a plastic ice
bucket and plastic-wrapped disposable cups on the vanity, along with a
wrapped bar of soap and two packets of combination shampoo/conditioner.
No other toiletries are provided, and the soap and shampoo were low
quality. The rooms did not even feature hair dryers! This Red Roof is
really a bare-bones property, and surely you can find something better
for a similar price. In retrospect, we would have gladly paid a bit more
to have a better room.
The electronic key lock for the door to
our room was not functioning, so we were given an old-fashioned metal
key, which was not even attached to one of those hard-plastic
diamond-shaped key chains. The desk agent told us that the batteries in
the door unit needed to be replaced, but that the engineer had gone home
for the day (it was only 2:00 pm when we checked in!), so we were stuck
with the metal key for the night.
The pool area is probably the
best feature of this hotel. The pool has an interesting shape, rather
than just the standard rectangle that we expected from a hotel of this
category. The pool area has a hot tub, although it was out of service
when we visited and was surrounded by yellow caution tape. When I
inquired to the night manager about how long the spa had been out of
commission, he told me nearly 10 days, and that the hotel had a service
contract with a local company to do maintenance, so the company was not
rushing to fix it because the cost was included in the contract. There
were not a great number of lounge chairs around the pool, which could be
a problem if many people used the pool at the same time, although there
was plenty of space to add additional chairs if the hotel has them
stored somewhere. In the fenced-in pool area, there are a few tables
with umbrellas and chairs. There appeared to be restrooms near the pool,
as well as vending machines.
The lobby area is attractive,
another of the better features of this hotel. There is a leather sofa
and chairs, and some high-top tables and stools, although the purpose
for these is not readily apparent, because the hotel does not offer any
type of breakfast (neither complimentary nor a la carte), although it
does provide complimentary coffee, as well as a microwave and a toaster
for guests to use in the lobby. Behind the front desk, the hotel
features a small pantry area where they sell drinks and snacks, and
there are lots of informational brochures and booklets about the
surrounding area. The desk features a TV playing a slideshow with
photographs of the hotel rooms, and although the photos were definitely
taken at the property, they show the rooms in the best possible light to
attract potential guests and did not truly resemble the room we were
assigned.
The hotel is located about 20 miles from the Orlando
(MCO) international airport. The location of the hotel is great for
visiting the Disney parks, which are 8 miles away. There are many shops,
convenience stores, gas stations, and casual/fast food restaurants
within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel has plenty of parking,
in parking lots surrounding the building. This hotel accepts pets, and
we saw many guests with dogs of all sizes - in fact, we seemed to be one
of the few rooms without a pet in tow.
The staff was friendly,
though, and clearly wanted the guests to have a pleasant stay. (Maybe
even too friendly - the night manager saw me carrying a pack of
cigarettes, and not only requested one, but also asked to use my
lighter.)
With the great number of hotels and rooms in the
surrounding area, we suggest that you look elsewhere to find something
better for a similar price.
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