Holiday Inn and Suites Across from Universal Orlando

Lila Oaks

The lobby gives a deceptively fresh, modern look but this hotel is old, outdated and in extreme need of remodeling. Getting off the elevator at the sixth floor there is a musty bleach smell. The carpet is old and grimy. We did not even want to walk around our room without sandals on. The room furnishings were basic but fine. The bathtub was old and the porcelain had scrapes on it. The drain was corroded. The shower didn't stay hot after a few minutes of use, which was extremely disappointing. There was a weird noise coming from the pipes behind the bathroom wall. The doors to the other rooms slam very loud so we were jolted several times in the night. Parking was expensive - 28.50 per night and on the second night, I arrived back to the lot around 5 pm to find only two parking spots available - they lease part of their lot to Budget Rent a Car. The hotel states they are undergoing "renovations" but they would need to do A LOT to make this a quality hotel worth coming back to. Period.

Kerry Groves

I first stayed at this hotel back in 2013 and the fact we came back again to spend Christmas 2025 and New Year into 2026 out of all the available accommodation to choose from in Orlando speaks volumes when it comes to this honest review. Before writing this I did also try contacting IHG but I am still yet to receive any reply. And as for trying to speak to the hotel staff themselves...........by far the most unwelcoming I have EVER experienced. And we spend a lot of time travelling and have spent a lot of time in IHG hotels. I fully appreciate that the hotel was being renovated and actually those renovations gave us no concerns or issues.......however.... The pool was not heated despite being advertised as heated. And I am not exaggerating. It was stone cold water. There was no heat. The pool was closed without notice on the 22nd December (despite a note under door the day before to say we would have no water that day. They could have added a note to say no pool also). We had no hot water all day on 23rd December. Read other reviews around this time which will back this up. The planned water outage on the 22nd December was much longer than the 3pm end time advised. This then led into the no hot water saga. The fire alarm in our room and the corridors was going off all day on the 22nd December. Our toilet flooded our bathroom and soaked through into our bedroom carpet via the wardrobe. The two exits from the hotel lobby closed on the 26th December at the same time with no warning. They were closed for two days. The lifts smelt like vomit. I think it was the temporary flooring that had been put down for the renovation works. Again I didnt care about the renovation works. The smell every time I entered the lift I did care about. Our suite room had nothing in the cupboards. No crockery, no cups, no glasses. What’s the point in a suite with nothing in it? We asked for glasses and we were told no even though they were loads sat on the bar that was waiting to open? Our room safe didn’t work for first two days of our stay. There was no lobby bar however we were only advised of no gift shop and no arcade prior to our stay. This wouldn't have been an issue except there was no provision for this. Not even a fridge was basics like bottled water. Had the gift shop been open then they had a drinks fridge. Except it wasn't. So basically you could not buy a single drink in this hotel. I find this bizarre! The male toilets at poolside were out of order for the duration of our stay. And to top things off the reception staff very sharp and unhelpful. It almost felt like we are being an inconvenience. You could not raise anything with them. They didn't care! I even waited for the day we checked out because I knew that by IHG standards they at least ask "how was your stay" but nope, the lady just stood and stared at us after handing us our final bill. I could go on and on. This is the first time I have EVER left a negative review about any stay at any hotel in my life. That just shows how bad this was!

Debbie Blass

I expected more from a Hilton Inn & Suites. I made reservations for my daughter's special birthday gift, that she was looking forward to for months. Upon her arrival the reservations that I had made for her were changed (they called it an upgrade). They did not use the card that I held the room with and my daughter had to put up her own card. When I called to clear up the matter both front desk employees that I spoke with were rude and snippy. I had to fill out a form and take pictures of my ID and credit card for them to put it back onto the credit card that I had originally reserved the room with. Meanwhile they could not refund my daughter's card for 3-5 business days. During my daughter's stay the fire alarm went off and on for 2 hours straight on the first night and again the next day. The elevator did not work and she had to walk through a construction zone to get to a different elevator. Clearly the hotel was under construction and equipment was taking up room in their parking lot, which is $38 per day. I'm extremely disappointed to say the least, this hotel was sub-par and I would never stay here again or recommend to anyone. The location was the only positive aspect of this hotel.

Capt Jim

I was extremely disappointed with my stay at this hotel. The room itself was very old, had an unpleasant smell, and the air conditioner barely worked — it didn’t blow hard enough to cool the room at all. The elevator also smelled strongly of dog urine, which was really off-putting. What made things even worse was that the entire property is under major renovation. Half of the parking lot is taken up by construction equipment, yet the hotel still charges $30 a night just to park. For the condition the hotel is currently in, that fee feels unreasonable. After seeing the room and the overall state of the hotel, I immediately requested a refund and chose to stay at the Hyatt across the way instead. Much better experience. I would not recommend staying here until the renovations are complete and the basic issues are addressed. Customer service I give 2 out of 5 stars. The girl at the counter was a bit rude when I asked for a refund and when I explained why.

Reece Pugh

This hotel is a mixed bag for me. For the positives I could list, it is very close to the Universal parks, and this is a huge benefit. the hotel also had mostly clean rooms and the accommodations were comfortable enough. The prices were also very decent for the area if you booked early, and the staff was kind and courteous. However, there are also some negatives. For one thing, the hotel is under EXTENSIVE renovation and construction. As others have said, this was not made clear to us before or after booking but we found out when we arrived, though they did disclose that certain amenities like the pool would be closed. But many other rooms were empty or were under renovation. For example there is no men's restroom in the lobby at all, but there are two women's restrooms. Much of the lobby, first floor guest areas, hallways, and even elevators are under renovation. There is exposed wiring, missing wall and ceiling tiles, construction paper, tools, boxes, and numerous other things strewn about even in the "finished" areas. The construction workers were nice but the work was almost constant it seemed. In addition to this, some of the hallways smelled as if there was a sewage leak. On top of all this, the walls were very thin, so much that you could easily hear pipes through the walls and hear nearby guests doing "activities" in their rooms next to yours or even across the hallways. The rooms also had some small issues, like scuff marks on furniture and spots on the carpets. My room in particular had a dirty towel with black spots on it on our first night, while my friend's was missing a microwave. It is also worth mentioning the big parking issue. The hotel uses a paid parking system that charges $30 a day and it is NOT included with the price you already pay for staying there. It uses a very inconvenient app and a tollbooth style gate that charges you for an entire day's worth of parking even if you just left for an hour and came back. So expect to pay top dollar just to park at the hotel you already paid for. I understand they want to keep non-guests from parking there and that there is a premium for being within walking distance of the Universal Parks, but there has to be a better and fairer way to treat hotel guests than this. Maybe introduce a pass or voucher system for guests or something because $30 a day on top of everything else is extreme. I understand that hotels have to stay open even during construction to continue to make money and stay afloat, but this is definitely an unfortunately case, and there are some clear measures they could have taken to improve.