Ever Stayed At Howard Johnsons?

[CheapMom]

HoJo's maingate is so cheap. $30 rooms and kids eat free. That sure would free up a lot of spend money- but is it worth it? I've stayed at Contemporary, Coronado, ASMovies and Holiday Inn Nikki Bird. Am deciding between ASMovies or HoJo's for December 2004. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[kapica3]

Horrible, Horrible, Horrible,

Last year, we were going to arrive in Orlando late at night and didn't want to "waste" 1/2 a day paying for a Disney Resort.

Well --- BIG mistake. Stayed 1st night at Howard Johnson, 2323 Highway 192 - think is was aka Irlo Bronson...anyhow... one of our rooms had bedding that obviously had not been changed. Also found used tissues in the bed and blood on the sheets. When we asked for the sheets to be changed eventually after waiting 1 hour for sheets in the middle of the night someone finally came and handed sheets to us to make our own beds. We finally put towels on the pillows and slept in our clothes on top of the bedspreads. It was just awful. Also the clientel was like something out of a bad movie. Roughneck fellas slugging from beer bottles and bouncing off the walls in the hallway. Had to keep checking that our car was still there. Awful place. Will NEVER stay off property no matter how late I arrive or how much money I can save. (By the way, I think we paid $32 per night for this horrific room.)

Can't say anything about any other Howard Johnson - but the one I stayed at was definitely a looser.

You get what you pay for.

 

[J&D]

kapica3- We stayed at that same HoJo in 2002 and had a similar experience.

We only stayed there the last night of our trip because of their free shuttle to the airport. If we would have had longer reservations, then we would have checked out immediately.

The room smelled horrible. There were stains all over the walls (some looked like urine). There were dead bugs on the floor. The door did not fit its frame, so we had to stuff the gap with towels to keep out the bugs and noise. Our 8:00 wakeup call came at 5:00.

I have vowed to never stay at another HoJo!!!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We stayed at one of the HoJos on 192. I'm not sure it was the Maingate. BUt at any rate it was nasty. The room was filthy. The paint was practically chipping off the wall. There was a certain stink, especially strong around the pitifully small pool. It certainly ws cheap, but we will never stay there again.

 

[jgates]

Yikes! I think you have a good set of answers there.

Why don't you try the HIFamily Suites? I know they would cost you more than the AS but I believe they serve breakfast and kids eat free at other meals? HIFS

My other suggestions would be one of the Marriott Properties in Little Lake Bryan. They have 3 Properties. I checked for 12/11 to 12/17 or something like that and found the following rates.

Fairfield Inn - Double Double - 56 to 75 (Cont. Brkfst )

Springhill Suites - 82 to 109 (Cont. Brkfst) By the way - this is my new favorite hotel. Fairfield has moved to 2nd place - we loved the one in Nashville. Ours had 2 TV's - don't know if they all do - but they have a fridge/micro etc.

Courtyard - Double Queen - 74 to 109 Suite 119 to 129 (no breakfast)

These are all newer properties within the last few years - I think they opened in winter 00-01.

I didn't check AAA or Gov't rates but the lowest end on the above rates are for advance purchase then slightly higher for the other rates but not above highest I listed.

Just go to www.marriott.com and put in Lake Buena Vista - they are the 3 properties at 8623 Vineland Ave.

Don't mean to sound like a Marriott salesperson, but I did check into these very heavily - waited for them to open when we went in '00 but they weren't ready - then checked again when we were planning on going to a conference in Orlando that fell through.

 

[CheapMom]

I am probably going to stay at All-Star Movies-- I was just curious about HoJo's because it's so cheap. We stayed off site once at Holiday Inn Nikki Bird (Maingate) They had Kid Suites that were great.
Do I understand this right- HoJo's has free shuttle to airport? Do they also have shuttle from airport to the hotel? That is a big perk-- any other hotels with this feature?

 

[J&D]

Do they also have shuttle from airport to the hotel?

The HoJo by the airport (2323 McCoy Rd)does, but I don't think all of the HoJos in Orlando do. I think most of the hotels near the airport have free shuttles, but most of the hotels near WDW don't.

I would go with All-Stars. If you are wanting something cheaper, try Hampton Inn Maingate West or Comfort Suites Maingate. They are very nice hotels that offer a fairly large free continental breakfast. We stayed at both of them during the Christmas/NY rush, and we would definitely stay there again. Both hotels also offer free shuttle service to the parks, but both are a very short drive to WDW if you want to take your own vehicle. Hotelkingdom.com offers great rates for these hotels.

 

[CheapMom]

I made my reservations at ASMovies this morning. am very happy with my decision. My kids loved it (so did we) last time. It is a great value too. THANKS EVERYBODY FOR HELPING ME WITH MY CHOICE!

 

[kapica3]

CheapMom,

Enjoy your stay. I loved ASMovies and ASMusic when my DD was little. Just wanted to say Good Choice

Reminder: Keep a close watch on mousesavers for any new codes to become available which you may be able to apply to your room for an additional discount. Call as soon as the code is released for the best chance on applying it. If you have AAA you may want to try to apply that discount in the mean time incase nothing else becomes available.

 

[CheapMom]

Originally posted by kapica3
CheapMom,

Good Choice

Reminder: Keep a close watch on mousesavers for any new codes to become available which you may be able to apply to your room for an additional discount. Call as soon as the code is released for the best chance on applying it.

thanx for the tip