Stay Report: DoubleTree Hotel Orlando Airport (Florida - January 2015)

Stay Report: DoubleTree Hotel Orlando Airport
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I had a long overnight in Orlando Airport so instead of spending the night in the airport I decided to get a nearby hotel. There are a lot of options to choose from ranging from hotels directly connected to the airport and those off the airport.  I choose the Doubletree because 1) the cookies (which are really good!) and 2) I found a deal online. Overall, it is a nice transit hotel with comfortable rooms and good service.

The Doubletree Orlando Airport is located off the airport in the ‘hotel zone’ where there are many hotels and restaurants situated.  The hotel does provide a shuttle from the airport to the hotel and it supposedly runs every 15-30 minutes, but our shuttle took a while and it took 2 calls for the shuttle.  The hotel is located about 5-10 minutes away from the airport.

From the outside, the hotel looks big and grandiose.  The hotel is shaped like a V with the check-in located at the point and then you have two sides of rooms overlooking an enclosed atrium that houses the lobby, the restaurant, and access to the pool and fitness center.  The odd thing about the hotel is the entrance because entrance is located in the back while the back is located in the front.  The back of the hotel, where the atrium, is faces the main street while to access the main entrance you have to turn off the main street.

 

When you enter the hotel, on the right hand side is the check-in counters.  When we arrived at night, there were two check-in counters but there were many guests and many airline crews that needed to be checked in so it took some time.  Across from the check-in is a small lobby along with the business center – two computers and a printer.  I had checked into my room online so all I had to was collect the keys. 

Beyond the check-in was the atrium area on which all the rooms looked down upon.  In the atrium were a restaurant, multiple sitting areas, and access to the fitness center and pool.  The pool was outside and looked small considering there was a lot of outside space.  The fitness center looked decent and had enough equipment for a decent workout.  The sitting area definitely needed to be updated because the furniture looked dated and was not comfortable at all (and also, there were a lack of outlets available).

After I checked in I took the elevator up to my room and my room was on the 9th floor – the 9th and 10th floor of the hotel had been termed ‘Hilton HHonors floor’.  I have been a HHonors member for a while but have never stayed in a designated floor and the only difference I can determine (from my research and experience) is that it’s a “typically a higher floor with other more established travelers and complimentary water.”  The complimentary water and the quieter room is always appreciated. 

I had requested a room with 2 double beds and when we went to the room it was a large, spacious room.  As you opened the door, on left was the bathroom and on the right was the closet.  The bathroom had the standard facilities of a sink, a toilet, and a tub and was very big and spacious.  As you walked further in, on the left were the two beds while on the right was a chest with the TV on it and a desk.  There was also a chair between the second bed and the window. The beds were very comfortable and very big and spacious so it was a comfortable night’s sleep.  The rooms had been updated with the latest Hilton offering. The plus points about being in an older-built hotel are the spacious room sizes.  The downsides are that sometimes they have not been updated or only the furnishings have been updated so it still looks like an older room, and in older rooms there are a lack of outlets.  This room had a serious lack of outlets that made it very difficult to charge anything near where you were sleeping.  In order to charge my phone near my bed, I had to unplug a lamp on the other side of the bed.

 

Another negative about the hotel is SLOW wifi speed.  We were offered a coupon for free wifi in the room, but the speed was so slow and it would take a long time just to load one page.  It was faster to either use the cellular data or just forget the wifi all together.  Overall, it was a nice comfortable stay for my transit period, especially given the deal that I got and the cookies that are provided.  Also, the location of the hotel is good as there are plenty of restaurants, pharmacies, and other things nearby within walking distance.