Not all hotels are created equal.
World Center Marriott
The Orlando area features almost 150,000 hotel rooms, ranging from the tiniest motels to large luxury resorts. There’s the sprawling Disney World resort complex, the ever-growing Universal Resort, and seemingly every other brand one can imagine in the area. However, for every great hotel in the area, there are some that our readers would – – to put it mildly – – avoid.
We asked our readers “What’s an Orlando hotel we couldn’t PAY you to stay in?” and received a litany of answers, some more surprising than others.
For starters, our readers were split as to whether they would NEVER stay on Disney property or never NOT stay on Disney property. Reader Ada is strictly in the former camp, writing “Unpopular opinion: We no longer stay on property at a Disney hotel. We now exclusively stay in Vacation Homes. And rent a car from Hertz. We usually rent from VRBO It is, by far, a superior experience. And I don’t have to ride crowded transportation unless I choose to. Love the Monorail Don’t knock a great vacation home experience until you try it.”
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
However, reader Carolyn had the opposite take, saying they and their family wouldn’t stay anywhere outside the “Disney bubble”, writing, “… we love the free and frequent transportation plus being able to walk to some of the parks, plus the early entry.” A few readers chimed in that they would still stay on Disney property, but not on certain hotels. Specifically, several readers have cited the All-Star Resorts and other value-tier Disney hotels like Pop Century.
All-Star Sports
Outside of Disney, several readers said they wouldn’t stay at any hotel located on Orlando’s International Drive, AKA the tourist-heavy I-Drive area. These include hotel brands running the gamut from Ramadas and Morel 6 to more well-regarded “luxury” names.
Universal came away somewhat unscathed, though a few readers did bring up the resort. On reader named the Hard Rock Hotel, which is interesting since that property is one of Universal’s highest-tier hotels. Another, reader Daniel was even more blunt, writing “I used to love Universal. Now it’s a chore to go. Considering never going back to Universal ever again.”
Hard Rock Hotel
Finally, reader Graeme chimed in with the “Hollywood Tower Hotel”… presumably leaving his comment from the Twilight Zone….
Tower of Terror
We wanted to know where our readers wouldn’t stay in Orlando, and they definitely let us know. Stay tuned to DFB for more on the best… and worst hotel options.
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WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
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We have done the AirBnB route, off property hotels and Disney Hotels. My first choice is Fort Wilderness Cabins, then Pop Century. We won’t stay at the a Contemporary until the incredible theming is gone. It was better before when it was less Disney. Off property we stay at Hiltons usually, even the aged Disney Springs Hilton has a great Benihana and you can walk over to the springs. AirBnB we usually do like a five bedroom luxury townhome. Very close by. Definitely the most leisurely way to do it.
Just checked out of Universal’s Dockside (a value hotel). It’s so much better than Disney’s value hotels. It’s an actual hotel, with rooms that open to interior hallways, not exterior like motel style Disney value. Dockside’s food court blows any Disney’s All Stars out of the water, with things like a salad bar, fruit bar and made to order items, for all 3 meals. This was my 2nd time at Dockside, and I’ve literally never waited for a bus. At Disney’s All Stars, I’ve given up waiting for the bus, and ordered an Uber, pretty much every time. Disney seriously needs to improve their value hotels experience.