Tried non-branded hotel, big mistake

[qman6975]

We just got back from a week's stay in Orlando, two days at Universal and five at WDW. In order to save a few bucks on the Universal portion of the trip we booked three nights at the Grand Hotel Orlando on Universal Boulevard, big mistake.

The place looked run down with peeling paint and missing pieces of plaster on the outside of the building. We could not get into our first room as the door would not open. We room we were reassigned to smelled of cheap cleaning products and the bathroom fixtures were damaged (but functional). When I went to the front desk to get extra pillows they said "we don't have any". If we weren't exhausted from a day of travel we might have left right then, instead we booked the next two nights at the Hyatt House (very nice) at good price and left the next day.

Lesson learned, we will no longer stay at a non-branded hotel unless I get a recommendation from someone I know.

 

[kathy884]

Did your read reviews before booking on sites like booking.com and/or tripadvisor? If there are a lot of reviews on those sights that look legit (not one time posters, etc.) and on booking.com you have to have stayed there to review, I can usually get a pretty good feel of what to expect. I've found reading lots of reviews to be more helpful than sticking with a major brand for helping to insure my stay is going to meet my expectations. If you read reviews and were mislead, that's one thing. But if you didn't read reviews, that's something that I'd highly recommend doing next time (There is so much great information out there online these days, that is so helpful in making a more informed lodging decision.)

 

[MICKIMINI]

Staying on property is the way to go. Surfside has two bedroom suites (no living room but a table/chairs) for $150-200. It would get you on Universal property.

We had a bad experience in 1996 and bought DVC on the spot...IMO it is worth the extra even if you have to eat PB&J a few times to make up the difference LOL!

Yikes, that was sketchy!

 

[Lewisc]

The good non chain hotels in Orlando, Gaylord Palms and the Peabody got brought and are branded.

Unbranded are sometimes hotels which used to be branded. Some of them didn't meet requirements to stay branded.

This hotel used to be Radisson. JMO some hotels drop brand affiliation rather then spend.$$$ needed. Low prices until reviews catch up to the current status of the hotel.

Edited to add Rosen is the exception. Rosen hotels get good reviews. In some ways Rosen is now a brand

 

[Jml813]

The good non chain hotels in Orlando, Gaylord Palms and the Peabody got brought and are branded.

The Peabody is a branded hotel chain. They have several locations. I've stayed at the Little Rock and Memphis locations before. The Orlando hotel was rebranded to Hyatt.

Gaylord Palms is also a chain now owned by Marriott also many locations.

 

[Lewisc]

The Peabody is a branded hotel chain. They have several locations. I've stayed at the Little Rock and Memphis locations before. The Orlando hotel was rebranded to Hyatt.

Gaylord Palms is also a chain now owned by Marriott also many locations.

My point is in Orlando even the high end non-branded, lightly branded if you prefer, hotels wound up being sold to major brands.

 

[Beer Me]

Did your read reviews before booking on sites like booking.com and/or tripadvisor? If there are a lot of reviews on those sights that look legit (not one time posters, etc.) and on booking.com you have to have stayed there to review, I can usually get a pretty good feel of what to expect. I've found reading lots of reviews to be more helpful than sticking with a major brand for helping to insure my stay is going to meet my expectations. If you read reviews and were mislead, that's one thing. But if you didn't read reviews, that's something that I'd highly recommend doing next time (There is so much great information out there online these days, that is so helpful in making a more informed lodging decision.)

While you should always read reviews you have to take them with a grain of salt. Often bad reviews are based on petty complaints or are straight up fake and good reviews can be fake as well

Unless they skew overwhelmingly one way or the other it can be hard to know the truth. Sometimes it’s worth a bit of uncertainty to try it out and you find a gem for a good price. It just didn’t work out in OPs favor this time