i-drive

[mouseuk1]

hello there any one stayed on i-drive holiday inn hotel we are going with virgin in october this year looks nice in the broucher just was wondering if any of you guys had any opions on it , it is a virgin flag ship hotel any replys would be great

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi Lee

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in 2005. It is a nice enough hotel. If you can, ask for a room in the tower as those rooms are slightly larger and you will have less problems with noise. The hotel is really well located and handy for walking to several restaurants on I-Drive. We didn't eat at the restaurant because there was so much choice of places to eat within walking distance. The only slight negative is the fact that the fridge in the room is in a cupboard unit and tends to rattle - it didn't bother my DH but it did keep me awake at night (I don't tend to sleep well when we're on holiday anyway though).

 

[AnitaCB]

My friend stayed there last year and really liked it. Like the post above says, stay in the tower if you can. She was put in one of the other rooms and didn't like it so got moved to the tower and said it was much better. Good views from upper floors of fireworks at night apparently.

 

[Still thinking......]

We stayed here in 2003 in a room in the tower.The room was quite large and we overlooked Universal Studios in the distance.It was very clean and the staff helpful. We had breakfast in the restaurant most mornings and it was very good. Wet 'n' wild water park is just across the road and a number of places to eat nearby. Hope this helps.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We stayed there several years ago, it is one of the nicer hotels on the busier end of I-drive.
However, personally I don't like the location, if I had to stay on I-drive I would choose the quieter south end, just my opinion.

 

[wayneg]

Agree with Johnny, Area we would stay away from. Prefer South I drive or our fave area LBV.

 

[Andy Lou & Meg]

Another vote for the south end (especially at they have redone Point Orlando).

 

[floridalol]

Insist on a tower room the others are awful. I don't recommend eating at the hotel it looks very poor but the bar is good. Pool is great. Plenty of restaurants within walking distance and a short drive brings you to many more. For the price it's great value.

 

[mouseuk1]

thankyou for all your replys has any one got any opions on virgin holidays just booked with them for october just been looking round the forum and there is a lot of unhappy people out there with flights mostly any advice would be a help as we still can canx



lee

 

[JohnnySharp2]

thankyou for all your replys has any one got any opions on virgin holidays just booked with them for october just been looking round the forum and there is a lot of unhappy people out there with flights mostly any advice would be a help as we still can canx

lee

Hi Lee,

We fly Virgin every time, mainly because they fly direct to our preffered airport - MCO.

I think most of the criticism comes from the Customer Service side, personally I feel standards have dropped over the past couple of years, especially since the call centre's were introduced.
It is common, or so it seems for errors to be made on invoices etc
However, we still prefer them over other airlines, BA for example do not fly direct from Manchester.
Many carriers also fly to Sanford, whereas we prefer MCO.

To be honest you will always get mixed reviews of many airlines on here, all of them from time to time have problems/delays.

 

[Soprano]

We flew with Virgin and stayed at the Holiday Inn in '04 and '06. Had no problems with the flights. Staff fine, food average, entertainment system excellent, no delays, seats were fine also.

The hotel was good for us. We didn't stay in the tower block, but I have no complaints about noisy traffic, both times our rooms were closer to I-drive rather than the freeway. We all really liked the pool and are not usually the types who hang around for a swim. Nice central location to shops and attractions. You can walk to Universal from the hotel. Some of the shops on I-Drive between hotels are pretty poor and are just selling tourist trash. But further north you have better ones. Some hit and miss, but fun exploring. In the south you have plenty of other shops and outlets. We only ate at the hotel once as we found it not great value for money. But there are tonnes of other places to eat. Tony Roma's sell nice quality burgers.

 

[wayneg]

We fly Virgin to US upto 4 times a year. We have done it all ways, Package, Flydrive and Flight only.
I can't comment on Customer service as I have never had to ring them, Always booked online never a problem. Been using them for about 12 years. Their onboard service has got worse every year, I can't even eat their food now its so bad. one flight we came back on last year they took over 2 hours before the 1st drink came around and the pasta was like bullets.
We now take our own food from home and sit near the drinks station to help ourselves.
Staff can be hit and miss, they have a difficult job and some dont seem to handle it well, others are great.
The last return flight we took at Easter we could not use the entertainment system in 2 out of 3 seats. The plane really needed lots of attention.
We have had much better flights with BMI +others but they are all indirect.
Having said all this they are our #1 choice. They are the only company we can use direct to Orlando Int from Man for 25 nights. #1 because there is no choice, I pray for the day they get competition.
If I was going for a standard 14 night holiday I would probably use someone else, all depends on the price.

 

[Andy Lou & Meg]

Well from my point of view I can do nothing but praise Virgin.

On our last 3 trips we booked through VH and always found everything acceptable.

We also find the flights to be good. Yes they are not as good as they once were (I remember going with them as a child when they first started out and you used to get fresh cold milk with your cornflakes!!!) but we find that the baggage allowance, down town check in, online check in to be invaluable.

This year we are taking the plunge and booking everything separate but I am still flying with Virgin.

I think the general feeling with Virgin is that its a bit hit and miss but with us we have only ever had hits (fingers crossed for our trip later this year).

I would also recommend that you become members of their flying club (just go the VA website)

 

[wayneg]

I would also recommend that you become members of their flying club (just go the VA website)

This is the main reason a lot of people stick with them. Our last flights cost £291 each (+2000 miles)for Easter school hols, no one else can touch them for price a lot of the time.

 

[Donnababe]

It's unlikely anyone will know, but does the Tower have wheelchair friendly rooms? I doubt it, it being a tower lol, but I'm worried about being allocated a yucky room now.

Re Virgin Flying Club? Does it cost anything to join, and can you have the miles of your pending trip allocated to you after joining?

TIA

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Re Virgin Flying Club? Does it cost anything to join, and can you have the miles of your pending trip allocated to you after joining?

TIA

No cost to join just go to
https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/frequentflyer/joinnow/index.jsp

and follow the instructions.
When you have flown with Virgin, the miles will turn up on your account at the Virgin Atlantic web site
If not, you have six months to claim the missing miles

 

[Pegasus928]

We have only ever flown Virgin and have only good things to say about them. We have booked a flydrive this time as it was cheaper than going through Virgin Atlantic (we'll just leave the car at the airport as we already have one booked through another site)
We chose Virgin for the same reasons as others on here - good baggage allowance, on-line check in and Downtown check in, and you can now even print off your own boarding cards - which makes life even easier.

Pegasus

 

[wicket2005]

I often use tripadvisor.com for reviews of hotels. I am sure you will find reviews of your hotel there but be warned people expect different things and have different standards so they will be bound to be some negative comments. I often find American reviewers are harder to please than the Brits so I would just concentrate on the British reviews to be honest.

We stayed at the Rosen Centre, on IDrive South, the last 2 years. Johnny here recommended it and one or two others. On tripadvisor practically all the Americans hated it for one reason or another but all the Brits loved it. Needless to say we loved it too and can recommend it. So don't be disheartened if you read some bad reviews.