Do NOT stay at Econolodge on I Drive!

scoopmorgan

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
696
Never, in my 60 years have I been treated so abysmally as I was at this hotel. I have traveled the world, and am easy going about most things, but WOW! This was a nightmare.

To begin with, I had called post-Irma to be sure the hotel was functional. During this conversation, I inquired about storing our luggage on check-out day, as our flight was not until evening, and we hoped for one more day in the parks. I was assured that was standard practice and not to worry.

On check-in day, however, we were told quite rudely that because there were four of us they would not hold the bags. Mind you, we had two double rooms booked. Four suitcases did not seem sensational, but according the desk clerk it was. She yelled at us for trying to take advantage of the hotel.

Having traveled overnight, we had been awake for more than 24 hours, and an argument seemed too taxing. I assumed the clerk had had a bad day, and was simply blowing off steam.

That night, there was a violent domestic dispute in the room adjacent to ours. I could hear screaming and things breaking. I called the front desk to inform them what was happening, and I was asked, "Why are you bothering us at this time of night?" Silly me, I thought they might be interested that their room was being torn apart and perhaps the police were needed. Still reeling from jet lag, I dismissed the rudeness and went back to sleep.

Next day, we went for the free advertised breakfast. The dining room was very small, crowded with three tables and ten chairs. We navigated our way to the counter to discover about a dozen mini-muffins available for breakfast. My daughter got OJ and nearly spit it out. It had gone off, and tasted horrible. We grabbed coffee and a couple of muffins and headed back to our room, as there was no available seating.

As we departed, the same rude woman from the day before began scolding us, loudly and in front of all the guests that were not allowed to take food from the dining area! She made it sound like we were stealing her muffins. We pointed out there was no where to sit. Some other guests started to take things to their room, too. Distracted by trying to stop the other guests, we were able to slip past the crazy clerk and went to our rooms.

As we left for the parks, the elevator was acting up. The doors would not stay closed. I require a walker or wheelchair when I travel. I can only walk short distances and I have trouble standing for any length of time, so the elevator was very important to me, as we were on the third floor. We told the desk clerk, a man this time, that the elevator was being funny. He told us he would call maintenance right away.

When we came back, we stopped and spoke to a clerk named "Edgar." We asked about the luggage on check-out day. Confused, he told us that was standard procedure and not to worry about it. We relaxed and carried on.

Each day the elevator seemed less stable, but I had no other option. My daughter checked the permit, and, lo and behold, it was expired. We took a photo of the permit and reported it to the desk. They seemed terribly annoyed but said all the right things and we left.

On the last day, we went to check-out. The angry woman started yelling at us (again) saying she had told us, "NO!" I reported Edgar's remarks and she yelled for a man, sitting in the office. He said he was the owner. I explained the situation to him. He said, "If she said no, then, no." My daughters boyfriend asked the owner if they were in the habit of lying to guests and just saying things to get rid of us.

At this the owner began shouting. He said we were causing a commotion, and if we were not off his property immediately he was calling the police. This entire show played out to a full dining room, humiliating us. Trust me, I am not the kind of person who has the police called on them.

I was so angry, I knew I could explode if I did not leave, and that would give him the push he needed to have us arrested. We had to rent a car to store our luggage until our flight. I have reported them to the BBB, the elevator regulators of central Florida, the travel sites I could leave reviews, and now I am letting all my social networks know, too.

Oh, and my granddaughter left with some sort of rash or bites from the bedding. Stay in the streets before you consider this hotel. I kept turning the other cheek, until my family and I were threatened. Now, there is no stopping my rampage.
 
There are a number of 1 and 2* hotels in Orlando which are sketchy. Sometimes spending an extra few dollars a night is well worth it. Your experience, prehaps not including luggage storage is exactly what I would have expected. What did you pay per night?
 
Good to know, thanks. Sometimes we do a quick night off site and it is hard to tell which hotels are cheap because of a lack of amenities and which are just bad hotels.
 
Never, in my 60 years have I been treated so abysmally as I was at this hotel. I have traveled the world, and am easy going about most things, but WOW! This was a nightmare.

Sorry about your stay!

Be sure that you go to choicehotels.com and enter a review for this hotel (just copy/paste most/all from your post above); it may or may not help the hotel change its ways but it will help to inform other prospective travelers to keep them from booking there.
 

There are a number of 1 and 2* hotels in Orlando which are sketchy. Sometimes spending an extra few dollars a night is well worth it. Your experience, prehaps not including luggage storage is exactly what I would have expected. What did you pay per night?
It was part of a bundle with airfare. I figure it was around $50, but still, I expect humane treatment.
 
Sometimes a package deal, hotel with air, is cheaper then air alone. Some travel experts refer to the hotels as throwaway.

My point is there are other hotels offering a similar experience to the econolodge.

JMO but any hotel much lower then $100 per night needs careful research before booking. Triple check anything under $50.
 
I am sorry this happened to you. It seems to be happening more and more often which is sad.
 
My point is there are other hotels offering a similar experience to the econolodge.

JMO but any hotel much lower then $100 per night needs careful research before booking. Triple check anything under $50.

I usually go by the Hotels.com guest ratings. Unfortunately, the tourist areas (I-Drive/Universal and 192/Disney) seem to have unreliable ratings.

I stayed at one place on I-Drive that was rated a 3.7, which in most other places would be a good (not fancy, but still good) hotel. The A/Cs in the hallways were set way too high and were hot as h*ll. Plus, no elevator, so I had to drag my luggage up and down the stairs. I had never even considered that a Hotel (not a Motel 6) wouldn't have an elevator. There is no way I would rate that above 2.5. I looked through the reviews afterwards and there were a number of them that mentioned serious defects (A/C not working, etc...) yet still rated it 5 stars. How could someone consider that 5 stars??? I took a chance on another hotel on 192 which was rated 3.3. I liked it and have gone back again. There is no way that hotel deserves to be rated lower than the hotel above. Now, when I find a good place, I tend to give them repeat business.
 
Never, in my 60 years have I been treated so abysmally as I was at this hotel. I have traveled the world, and am easy going about most things, but WOW! This was a nightmare.

To begin with, I had called post-Irma to be sure the hotel was functional. During this conversation, I inquired about storing our luggage on check-out day, as our flight was not until evening, and we hoped for one more day in the parks. I was assured that was standard practice and not to worry.

On check-in day, however, we were told quite rudely that because there were four of us they would not hold the bags. Mind you, we had two double rooms booked. Four suitcases did not seem sensational, but according the desk clerk it was. She yelled at us for trying to take advantage of the hotel.

Having traveled overnight, we had been awake for more than 24 hours, and an argument seemed too taxing. I assumed the clerk had had a bad day, and was simply blowing off steam.

That night, there was a violent domestic dispute in the room adjacent to ours. I could hear screaming and things breaking. I called the front desk to inform them what was happening, and I was asked, "Why are you bothering us at this time of night?" Silly me, I thought they might be interested that their room was being torn apart and perhaps the police were needed. Still reeling from jet lag, I dismissed the rudeness and went back to sleep.

Next day, we went for the free advertised breakfast. The dining room was very small, crowded with three tables and ten chairs. We navigated our way to the counter to discover about a dozen mini-muffins available for breakfast. My daughter got OJ and nearly spit it out. It had gone off, and tasted horrible. We grabbed coffee and a couple of muffins and headed back to our room, as there was no available seating.

As we departed, the same rude woman from the day before began scolding us, loudly and in front of all the guests that were not allowed to take food from the dining area! She made it sound like we were stealing her muffins. We pointed out there was no where to sit. Some other guests started to take things to their room, too. Distracted by trying to stop the other guests, we were able to slip past the crazy clerk and went to our rooms.

As we left for the parks, the elevator was acting up. The doors would not stay closed. I require a walker or wheelchair when I travel. I can only walk short distances and I have trouble standing for any length of time, so the elevator was very important to me, as we were on the third floor. We told the desk clerk, a man this time, that the elevator was being funny. He told us he would call maintenance right away.

When we came back, we stopped and spoke to a clerk named "Edgar." We asked about the luggage on check-out day. Confused, he told us that was standard procedure and not to worry about it. We relaxed and carried on.

Each day the elevator seemed less stable, but I had no other option. My daughter checked the permit, and, lo and behold, it was expired. We took a photo of the permit and reported it to the desk. They seemed terribly annoyed but said all the right things and we left.

On the last day, we went to check-out. The angry woman started yelling at us (again) saying she had told us, "NO!" I reported Edgar's remarks and she yelled for a man, sitting in the office. He said he was the owner. I explained the situation to him. He said, "If she said no, then, no." My daughters boyfriend asked the owner if they were in the habit of lying to guests and just saying things to get rid of us.

At this the owner began shouting. He said we were causing a commotion, and if we were not off his property immediately he was calling the police. This entire show played out to a full dining room, humiliating us. Trust me, I am not the kind of person who has the police called on them.

I was so angry, I knew I could explode if I did not leave, and that would give him the push he needed to have us arrested. We had to rent a car to store our luggage until our flight. I have reported them to the BBB, the elevator regulators of central Florida, the travel sites I could leave reviews, and now I am letting all my social networks know, too.

Oh, and my granddaughter left with some sort of rash or bites from the bedding. Stay in the streets before you consider this hotel. I kept turning the other cheek, until my family and I were threatened. Now, there is no stopping my rampage.

I would've loved it had they called the cops. You could take them and show them all the expired things you found. It would've probably shut them down right away. You should've called the cops on your own about the domestic dispute. In the end, this was a learning experience and remember, you get what you pay for.

We always do a bedbug check before we take anything in a hotel/resort room. Being this was post-Irma, I know the bugs have been SUPER bad from other threads. So it's not surprising. They probably use generic dollar store detergent to clean sheets (nothing against that stuff if anyone uses it with success) but if anyone has allergies or conditions, that stuff will set them off in a hurry with rashes, etc...
 
This has been my experience with every Econolodge I've ever been forced to stay at.

They are on my "never ever will I ever" list.
 
Thanks for the great post. The problem with hotels like this is that they don't charge a lot and thus they don't pay their staff a lot. They don't train them well, they skimp on food, and it results in an all-around poor experience for you -- the customer.

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay per night?
 
I usually go by the Hotels.com guest ratings. Unfortunately, the tourist areas (I-Drive/Universal and 192/Disney) seem to have unreliable ratings.

I stayed at one place on I-Drive that was rated a 3.7, which in most other places would be a good (not fancy, but still good) hotel. The A/Cs in the hallways were set way too high and were hot as h*ll. Plus, no elevator, so I had to drag my luggage up and down the stairs. I had never even considered that a Hotel (not a Motel 6) wouldn't have an elevator. There is no way I would rate that above 2.5. I looked through the reviews afterwards and there were a number of them that mentioned serious defects (A/C not working, etc...) yet still rated it 5 stars. How could someone consider that 5 stars??? I took a chance on another hotel on 192 which was rated 3.3. I liked it and have gone back again. There is no way that hotel deserves to be rated lower than the hotel above. Now, when I find a good place, I tend to give them repeat business.
I suspect the lower end motels have a range of rooms. Some are horrible and some almost acceptable (or slightly better) Some people base their rating on the price of the hotel. For $29/ night a expected an almost edible breakfast and my expectations were met.

More then 20 years ago I stayed in a hotel (Kights Inn) which sounds similar to OPs experience. When I'm on the boards a try to warn people who are looking to save a few $ and book those kinds of properties. One poster kept talking about the free breakfast. I finally said you know the breakfast is probably stale bagels, OJ made with a powder and undrinkable coffee. Worse then you can imagine is the way I describe those properties.
 
To the OP.... I am so sorry you had to endure all of that on your vacation. I would advise to write a review on TripAdvisor and include any pictures you have. I would also call the headquarters to complain. If you don't have the names of the employees you want to complain about, then just give dates and times of the incident. They will figure out who was working the desk and who was manager. That type of treatment is unacceptable. Also complain where you made your booking. If you used a travel agent or did it yourself, complain to where your payment was made. Do not leave a stone un-turned. At the least, I hope you get some type of refund or restitution for what you endured. You deserved a vacation with far better hospitality than you received. Good Luck and I hope this NEVER happens to you or anyone else again. :sad2:
 
This has been my experience with every Econolodge I've ever been forced to stay at.

They are on my "never ever will I ever" list.

I've stayed at EconoLodges that were acceptable (for the price). Don't expect any amenities and the front desk person can be hit or miss. I've found some that are nice and helpful, but as the OP found others are rude and consider doing their job an imposition. This is true for many cheap hotels.
 
This has been my experience with every Econolodge I've ever been forced to stay at.

They are on my "never ever will I ever" list.
Yup. I agree. As soon as I saw the word Econolodge, I knew this was not going to end well for the OP.

Scoop...I'm really sorry to hear how bad this was. Not acceptable at all the way they treated you. I would've totally lost it and gone off on the first person to throw any attitude at me. I don't know how you kept it together! I do hope the rest of your trip was fun. I've read several of your posts on the Universal boards and I know you were excited and looking forward to your trip.
 















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