Ramada Maingate West Kissimmee

[IamErica]

Hello
I am looking into this hotel as it is one of the few that have the shuttle to Busch Gardens. We are staying in Orlando due to cheaper flight prices.
I have been reading the reviews and they are HORRIBLE!
Anyone have experience there?
THanks!

 

[Jonell]

We stayed there a few times over the years and it was ok until our last visit in Sept 2012. This hotel has gone downhill very quickly. We arrived at 3am after a 11 hr drive for a 1 night stay. We entered the room and it was just dampness and mildew smell. The sheet even felt damp . We asked to change rooms and the second room was the same. If it had not been 4 am by this time we would have left, but we were exhausted and slept on the damp sheets. It was GROSS!!! We checked as soon as we woke up. I voiced my complaint to the the front desk and vowed to never return!!!!!

 

[Lewisc]

Hello
I am looking into this hotel as it is one of the few that have the shuttle to Busch Gardens. We are staying in Orlando due to cheaper flight prices.
I have been reading the reviews and they are HORRIBLE!
Anyone have experience there?
THanks!

Will you have a car? If yes drive to bg. No car? Will you be going to wdw or other Orlando parks? Pick a hotel with good price good reviews and good shuttle to parks. Walk or taxi to bg shuttle stop. How many days? What parks?

 

[TamaraQT]

We stayed there a few times over the years and it was ok until our last visit in Sept 2012. This hotel has gone downhill very quickly. We arrived at 3am after a 11 hr drive for a 1 night stay. We entered the room and it was just dampness and mildew smell. The sheet even felt damp . We asked to change rooms and the second room was the same. If it had not been 4 am by this time we would have left, but we were exhausted and slept on the damp sheets. It was GROSS!!! We checked as soon as we woke up. I voiced my complaint to the the front desk and vowed to never return!!!!!

Wow, that is terrible!! My own personal belief is that hotels give the late arrival people the rooms that everyone else turned down. Some people bellieve that rooms are assigned already and written in stone. But if that were the case, they wouldnt offer you an alternative room. Just something to think about. I hope the rest of your vacation was a lot better than your first night!

 

[IamErica]

Will you have a car? If yes drive to bg. No car? Will you be going to wdw or other Orlando parks? Pick a hotel with good price good reviews and good shuttle to parks. Walk or taxi to bg shuttle stop. How many days? What parks?

I would probably rent a car and just drive back and forth. The days are flexible depending on the airfare. Maybe 3-5 days.
I have been researching other hotels since this one had such bad reviews.
We have done the Disney parks, Universal and Cocoa Beach. So we want to hit the west coast action.

 

[Lewisc]

The drive to BGT is easy. The hospitality area with free beer is ancient history. Really no reason not to drive.

You absolutely won't drive. Consider hotels within a 10 minute drive of the Publix location. I doubt you'll have a problem leaving your car in a supermarket parking lot. The Marriott Village by Lake Byran is only 1.2 miles. The Doubletree in DTD is only 2.5 miles. 5 minute drive according to mapquest. Literally dozens of hotels to pick from.

Will you be going to Seaworld? A number of hotels are in walking distance, or have a free shuttle to SW. You could take the BG bus from SW.

TamaraQT Orlando is overbuilt. My belief is older properties have two choices. They can spend $$$, renovate, add amenities and hope to be able to charge a profitable rate. Nick hotel is probably the best example. They can let the hotel run down and hope a low price will fill the rooms.

A few of those hotels might be sort of OK (for the price) and many others are more disgusting then you can imagine.

edited to add: Are you planning on spending more then one day at BG? Book a hotel near BG for one (or more) of your nights.

 

[villavic]

I stayed in june 2012 and it was fine. Cleaning and security are main factors to me, so I'd remember if it smelled or was dirty. The room was fine, not like Jonell described. I'm worried after reading his post cause I'll be again there on this march 27. And maybe it's too late to change hotel and find a cheap good alternative.

 

[spiceycat]

I would probably rent a car and just drive back and forth. The days are flexible depending on the airfare. Maybe 3-5 days.
I have been researching other hotels since this one had such bad reviews.
We have done the Disney parks, Universal and Cocoa Beach. So we want to hit the west coast action.

then would stay closer to BS - Tampa has a bunch of hotels = remember the cost of gasoline has gone up - so staying in Tampa might actually be cheaper than driving that far daily.

bs is not like Disney - some of the inexpensive hotels are walking distance.

 

[villavic]

I stayed in june 2012 and it was fine. Cleaning and security are main factors to me, so I'd remember if it smelled or was dirty. The room was fine, not like Jonell described. I'm worried after reading his post cause I'll be again there on this march 27. And maybe it's too late to change hotel and find a cheap good alternative.

I have to update, I agree with most of what Jonell said. The room was clean but the corridors smelled. The staff is really rude, I asked by phone for help cause the security box didn't work (and after 2 fixes I gave up, it never worked well). The wifi never worked at the room, nobody wanted to help. The buffet sucked. The pool has a strong, really strong smell of chlorine or bleach that reaches the corridors. They charge you $10 additional for "amenities", per day (ordinary coffee and soaps :S )

I have to correct also, I wasn't there before, I got confused. I had been in the Ramada across the street, the Ramada Gateway, in 2011, and it was far better.

 

[2girlsmom]

Yep, we stayed there last year, and while my kids adored the pool area, the room was subpar. It was cleanish, but carpets were stained, they short sheeted the beds, etc. We will not be going to this one again. We are locals to Tampa, so I can't tell you how good the hotels are in Tampa, but if I were in your situation, and depending of course on how late your flights are, I would rent a car and drive to Tampa, and stay in one of the BG partner hotels, they are very close, offer shuttles to the hotels, some are on the beach in Clearwater/St Pete area, and they have specials including all day dine, etc.

 

[Dani Lamberto]

Google tripadvisor and also google "Circle of Doom Dan Lambert"- he's the owner.

Major timeshare scam going on in south Florida.

We stayed there a few times over the years and it was ok until our last visit in Sept 2012. This hotel has gone downhill very quickly. We arrived at 3am after a 11 hr drive for a 1 night stay. We entered the room and it was just dampness and mildew smell. The sheet even felt damp . We asked to change rooms and the second room was the same. If it had not been 4 am by this time we would have left, but we were exhausted and slept on the damp sheets. It was GROSS!!! We checked as soon as we woke up. I voiced my complaint to the the front desk and vowed to never return!!!!!

 

[vleeth]

I googled it and didn't find anything other than other websites saying to Google this.