Oh, please help!

[MouseEarsJenny]

I have learned already how wonderful and helpful the people on this board are while planning my upcoming vacation. So I hope you can help me to help my sister.

Her well-meaning but highly misguided husband has booked them one of those time-share pitch Florida vacation things. They're going to Universal instead of Disney (because they are freaks, in my opinion - they have a 6 month old and a 6 year old - just seems like Disney's entertainment is a bit more age appropriate... but I digress....). But just lately, she decided to check out the hotel they are booked into on-line. Well, apparently, it's completely revolting. I mean, the reviews were talking about mold, intermittent periods of no water due to construction, horrible downtown Orlando location in a bad neighborhood, filthy rooms, no customer service, bring your own toilet paper!!

She confronted her dh and was told that they were going anyway. She said if it was really like that, she was NOT staying there with her babies. He said "Then we'll turn around and come home."

So. I just told her that if these reviews ARE accurate (and they sure look it from the pictures on tripadvisor), to CALL me, and I would book her into a hotel in Orlando, and pay for it. (She says there's no way they can afford something else because they had to pre-pay for this "deal".) They were supposed to stay 8 days, I think. I really can't afford anything very expensive. In fact, as inexpensive as possible would be good. But it HAS to be clean, and appropriate for a family. That's more important than price. With my own vacation in the works, I don't wanna completely blow the budget, but I will not let my sister and my baby niece stay in roachville.

Can ya'll please direct me to a nice, low-cost hotel near Universal???

Many, many thanks!!

 

[crazelion]

Check out the Courtyard by Marriott thread. They got rates for 59.00 dollars if booked at certain time.

hotelkingdom.com
hotelmartusa.com

Both have good rates that you can choose from.

 

[dznygurl]

Do you know the name of this hotel/resort? ....Just wondering......We also booked a "deal" with the timeshare presentation BEFORE checking TripAdvisor. It sort of sounds like the reviews I read for Silver Lake Resort.

We've already decided that we will check out our room immediately and NAG the "you-know-what" out of them if it is not as advertised.

 

[maggiew]

You can get the Holiday Inn Convention Center Universal for $54 with an Entertainment Book rate.

Maggie

 

[kilee]

Do you want to say where it's at?? The one thing to remember is that people who are unhappy usually have a lot more to say than those that are happy. KWIM. Anyhow, the LBV Comfort Inn gets a lot of nice reviews on here as being a no frills, clean, budget friendly place to stay.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Awesome! Thank you all for your suggestions! Hopefully, if the hotel is as bad as it sounds, I can get them out of it to one of these! I'd just book now, but they want to check and see at their original hotel (and brother-in-law would be annoyed with me, anyway - that won't matter if I comes down to it, but for now, I'm letting him do it his way).

For reference, the hotel with the bad reviews is called "The Ivanhoe"? I am only going on what I read online, so I don't know if it's as bad as advertised, but it SOUNDS nasty!

Again, thanks!!

 

[minniedisney1]

We stayed at the LBV Comfort Inn the first & last night of our trip. It was something like $42 a night on travelocity. It was a regular no frills room. Both of our rooms were clean, looked like they had recent "facelifts". The price also included a breakfast in the morning. The usual cereal, fruit, juice, etc. The rooms had a small frig & microwave in them. I think it is maybe 10-12 min. from Universal?? Not sure. Good Luck!!!!

 

[GrandFloridianGirl]

My DH used to work just off of Ivanhoe Blvd downtown. The whole area is just scary as you describe. I'm guessing the hotel takes it's name from the road it is on? Anyway, it is downtown and not very close to Universal at all. Why don't they stay closer to Universal- when DH and I were looking for homes here, we stayed at the Comfort Inn just off I-4 and Sand Lake Rd and we loved it. It was really clean (which I loved) and closer to Universal for your sister. I always said if I had the opportunity to recommend that hotel, I certainly would. Check it out online-sorry I don't have the link here right now.

good luck!

 

[phamton]

The Comfort Suite is on Turkey Lake and is close to Universal. It also has a shuttle that runs to Universal. http://www.comfortsuitesorlando.com/

The price is around $80.

 

[dougsmom98]

We stayed at Fantasy World Villas and booked through hotelmartusa.com and the price was $69 which included tax. It was a 2 bedroom villa and it was wonderful with kids. It is a basic villa, nothing extravagent, but had lots of room, a nice pool, clean and safe.

 

[spiceycat]

they are being charged to do a timeshare tour.....that doesn't sound right.

what are they paying and for what?

there is a Best Western across from US

here are its reviews
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?l...=Best+Western+Universal+Inn&txid=42208&ssrc=r

 

[Hannathy]

Please be careful getting into a husband wife disagreement even if it is your sister. I think it is great what you are offering but Your sister is a big girl and needs to work this out with her husband. You gave your opinion and offered to help that is all you can do. Believe me if this becomes a problem or brings other problems, in the end neither one will be happy with you for interfering and you will be blamed ( have seen it happen too many times) This is just my opinion of course.

 

[MossMan]

Please be careful getting into a husband wife disagreement even if it is your sister.

This is very good advice.

One of the reasons I like the "Hotel and Attractions" board is because the people who regularly post here seem to understand that where you sleep does not neccessarly make or break your holiday. It's the attitude you bring to Orlando that will ultimately determine how much fun you have.

To that end, if this couple brings the wrong attitude, then it won't matter where they stay. They will have a terrible time no matter the condition of the hotel room. The danger for the OP is that if they decide to take her advice, she will only end up getting the blame if the trip is less than successful.

I would stay as far away from this as possible.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

I appreciate your advice about not interfering. However, there is a greater danger here than being blamed in a family dispute. My niece suffers from severe allergies and asthma. Sleeping in a moldy hotel room could seriously endanger her, so it's not just a matter of attitude.

At any rate, my goal is simply to give my sister a third option. Her husband has limited her to A) stay in a possibly dangerous room or B) go home. I'm just giving them a C) have a hotel room on Aunt Jenny - and forget about birthdays for the rest of the year! Whether or not they accept my offer is a matter I will leave entirely to their discretion, and not get involved in their choice.

As to why they're paying in a timeshare deal, my understanding was they paid a heavily discounted rate - like a couple hundred dollars? for the vacation. If they hadn't gotten the deal, they wouldn't have planned the vacation because my sister isn't working right now because she's still home with the baby. So they really don't have a vacation budget, and just thought they got lucky to find this deal... *shrug*

I do appreciate all the room suggestions and the advice - I'm just trying to expand my kid sister's choices in what might be a bad situation.

 

[VacationDad]

I always wonder how hotels that get terrible tripadvisor reviews get any business at all. I guess it shows that still only a small percentage of travelers consult hotel reviews when deciding where to stay. You are right, the Ivanhoe got mostly bad reviews. I tend to toss out bad reviews if the reviews are mostly positive, but with the Ivanhoe it is mostly bad reviews with a sprinkling of positive ones.

I know if I were a hotel manager, I would be doing everything I could so that people left good tripadvisor reviews.

Is the Ivanhoe a timeshare? Don't they usually have you stay in the timeshare that they want you to buy?

 

[caa1000]

I read all the messages and gave me the idea that you where referring to the Radisson Ivanhoe Plaza Hotel in Downtown Orlando. The reviews could be 50/50 good or bad. I have never stayed out there. But, if the Timeshare company is offering the stay there, I would take it. But, again only if you know where you are going. By the way, this hotel is the official of the Citrus Bowl games. I don't think it is a bad reputation hotel.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

My sister is in Orlando, and the hotel is nice, according to her! So everything's fine, doesn't cost me anything, doesn't cost my sister's marriage, lol, and the babies are safe and having a good time.

Thanks again for your help, all!!

 

[PolyPal]

I stayed there many times when it was a Radisson and our office was right across the street in that nice office building.

We called it the "ratty-son" because it was pretty run down and worn out. Our company only paid $69 per night and I suspect that those kind of rates were not adequate to maintain the property and they lost their Radisson franchise.

The neighborhood is not bad. But the trains will keep you awake at night and the parking garage is kind of creepy.

I wouldn't stay their with my family (small kids) even if it were free. O.K. for a night or two of business travel.