Esteri
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2006
- Messages
- 1,078
We're still at the world, but I thought I'd get a jump start with this review...
We stayed at the Ramada Maingate West one night - OK, 9 hours - on Aug 19, 2007. We arrived on the red eye from CA and needed to crash before checking into Old Key West. When I was looking for a place it didn't need to be fancy, just clean, reasonably priced, and have beds for DH, DS10, DS6, and myself.
Off a 3 1/2 star review from travelocity I looked into the Ramada Maingate West - I was able to reserve a "Kids Suite" for $59 (before tax) for the night (or rather morning).
To Summarize: I found this to be what I was looking for, clean, reasonably priced, with half decent beds. I've certainly stayed in many worse places for $59 a night. (The EconoLodge in Salinas CA comes immediately to mind - YUCK!) This is clearly an older property. However, they are keeping up with the maintenance, walls were freshly painted, public areas were clean, carpeting was older, but clean and servicable. Overall - a good value for the price.
Now on to the Details:
We checked in at 2am after having some trouble finding the hotel - our fault (old maps) - not the location's fault. There is another Ramada across the street (Ramada Crowne Plaza) which can be a bit confusing. (Who puts two of the same brand across the street from each other??
) There is a separate kid's checkin where, I believe, they give the kids little gift bags - but ours were asleep so we didn't use it.
Entrance into the hotel is easy, the driveway ends at a stop light, making getting onto and off of 192 simple. In fact it was the easiest entry and exit of any hotel / business in the area. There is an IHOP, Perkins, and Bob Evans all within walking distance. The hotel is located on the West side of WDW - which didn't seem to be as built up (= less traffic) as my memories of the East side (which are a year old). Access to WDW was quick and easy - well signed.
The lobby was clean - with a surprising number of people up and about at 2am! I checked in (we had asked for a quiet room on the reservation) and received room 3099. The hotel is 4 (or 5?) stories of rooms on a roofed, open central core. The central core contains a mid-sized pool with waterfall, spa, sports bar, and restaurant. It did not smell musty, or like chlorine, or feel overly humid - which I think are primary dangers with this kind of layout.
There is one set of two small elevators off the lobby, and external stairs at each of the corners of the buildings. There is no access through these stairs after a certain time (6pm, 10pm??? - well certainly well before 2am
), they are locked with no card key access.
Room 3099 is towards the back of the hotel, and faces east (so we got the morning sun
). The kids area is themed "Dinowood" and features a bunk bed and a twin, a three drawer dresser, small desk, and smaller tv. The boys said the beds were comfortable. It isn't a wall the separates the room, more like a partition (about 5 ft tall) that is open at the top. Grown-ups get a king sized bed, 6 drawer dresser, and larger TV in a stand with a small dorm sized fridge below (hidden behind cabinet doors). I found the bed to be a bit too firm for my taste - but DH had no trouble. Linens were clean and comfortable. There is a coffee pot in the bathroom, which was decently sized for a hotel in this price range.
The towels were on the thin side (not paper thin), but soft, and got the job done well. I only needed one towel to dry off after my shower. (At this price, I was expecting sandpaper - so this was a pleasant surprise.) Call, me strange - but I'm all about the towels in a hotel. It's the one thing I always judge a hotel by. Don't be making me pay $350 a night for a room, and give me Holiday Inn towels! I'll let you know about it, and not stay there again. (And, yes, it's happened. And, yes, I did. )
The bathroom was clean, I saw a couple of cracked tiles, but nothing terrible. The faucet in the shower was a bit funky, but they have instructions on using it above the handle. The water wasn't all that hot - I had to turn it all the way to Hot and back it off only a little. Of course, we were showering at 10am - so that might have something to do with it. Or, it might be a safety thing. In any case, it was certainly hot enough to make a comfortable shower.
We were only able to find two downsides: the AC was noisy, and there was a noticable disinfectant smell when we walked in. We quickly got used to it - or it disapated with the AC, so it wasn't a problem at all. It just kind of hit you in the face walking in the room - so I thought I mention it.
We checked out at 10:30 am - no wait. Another friendly staff person. We hit the nearby Bob Evans for breakfast - well brunch. So, I can't comment on the food at this hotel.
So, there you have it. I would stay here again.
We stayed at the Ramada Maingate West one night - OK, 9 hours - on Aug 19, 2007. We arrived on the red eye from CA and needed to crash before checking into Old Key West. When I was looking for a place it didn't need to be fancy, just clean, reasonably priced, and have beds for DH, DS10, DS6, and myself.
Off a 3 1/2 star review from travelocity I looked into the Ramada Maingate West - I was able to reserve a "Kids Suite" for $59 (before tax) for the night (or rather morning).
To Summarize: I found this to be what I was looking for, clean, reasonably priced, with half decent beds. I've certainly stayed in many worse places for $59 a night. (The EconoLodge in Salinas CA comes immediately to mind - YUCK!) This is clearly an older property. However, they are keeping up with the maintenance, walls were freshly painted, public areas were clean, carpeting was older, but clean and servicable. Overall - a good value for the price.
Now on to the Details:
We checked in at 2am after having some trouble finding the hotel - our fault (old maps) - not the location's fault. There is another Ramada across the street (Ramada Crowne Plaza) which can be a bit confusing. (Who puts two of the same brand across the street from each other??
) There is a separate kid's checkin where, I believe, they give the kids little gift bags - but ours were asleep so we didn't use it.Entrance into the hotel is easy, the driveway ends at a stop light, making getting onto and off of 192 simple. In fact it was the easiest entry and exit of any hotel / business in the area. There is an IHOP, Perkins, and Bob Evans all within walking distance. The hotel is located on the West side of WDW - which didn't seem to be as built up (= less traffic) as my memories of the East side (which are a year old). Access to WDW was quick and easy - well signed.
The lobby was clean - with a surprising number of people up and about at 2am! I checked in (we had asked for a quiet room on the reservation) and received room 3099. The hotel is 4 (or 5?) stories of rooms on a roofed, open central core. The central core contains a mid-sized pool with waterfall, spa, sports bar, and restaurant. It did not smell musty, or like chlorine, or feel overly humid - which I think are primary dangers with this kind of layout.
There is one set of two small elevators off the lobby, and external stairs at each of the corners of the buildings. There is no access through these stairs after a certain time (6pm, 10pm??? - well certainly well before 2am
), they are locked with no card key access. Room 3099 is towards the back of the hotel, and faces east (so we got the morning sun
). The kids area is themed "Dinowood" and features a bunk bed and a twin, a three drawer dresser, small desk, and smaller tv. The boys said the beds were comfortable. It isn't a wall the separates the room, more like a partition (about 5 ft tall) that is open at the top. Grown-ups get a king sized bed, 6 drawer dresser, and larger TV in a stand with a small dorm sized fridge below (hidden behind cabinet doors). I found the bed to be a bit too firm for my taste - but DH had no trouble. Linens were clean and comfortable. There is a coffee pot in the bathroom, which was decently sized for a hotel in this price range. The towels were on the thin side (not paper thin), but soft, and got the job done well. I only needed one towel to dry off after my shower. (At this price, I was expecting sandpaper - so this was a pleasant surprise.) Call, me strange - but I'm all about the towels in a hotel. It's the one thing I always judge a hotel by. Don't be making me pay $350 a night for a room, and give me Holiday Inn towels! I'll let you know about it, and not stay there again. (And, yes, it's happened. And, yes, I did.
)The bathroom was clean, I saw a couple of cracked tiles, but nothing terrible. The faucet in the shower was a bit funky, but they have instructions on using it above the handle. The water wasn't all that hot - I had to turn it all the way to Hot and back it off only a little. Of course, we were showering at 10am - so that might have something to do with it. Or, it might be a safety thing. In any case, it was certainly hot enough to make a comfortable shower.
We were only able to find two downsides: the AC was noisy, and there was a noticable disinfectant smell when we walked in. We quickly got used to it - or it disapated with the AC, so it wasn't a problem at all. It just kind of hit you in the face walking in the room - so I thought I mention it.
We checked out at 10:30 am - no wait. Another friendly staff person. We hit the nearby Bob Evans for breakfast - well brunch. So, I can't comment on the food at this hotel.
So, there you have it. I would stay here again.
I'll let you know how it was, in January.
