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.
