Rooms were comfy but there's a $12 daily parking fee! (DoubleTree Hotel (Orlando, USA))

Member Name: blondecaz

Product:	DoubleTree Hotel (Orlando, USA)
Date:	26/08/09 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Close to Universal CityWalk, clean & spacious rooms

Disadvantages: Parking charge is $12 a day for hotel guests!

My boyfriend and I stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel at the entrance of Universal Orlando for just one night in June this year before flying back home from Florida.

We chose this hotel due to its proximity to Universal CityWalk - the bustling restaurant, shopping, and entertainment area that forms the entrance to Universal Studios. It was just a 15-20 minute walk from the hotel to get there, and we spent an enjoyable evening at Universal CityWalk looking at the shops and having a nice dinner in one of the restaurants.

The hotel itself consists of two tall glass towers, joined by the reception area and hotel lobby on the ground floor. It's extremely clean and modern looking. Upon entering the reception, we were greeted by the receptionist and given the chocolate chip cookies that are given to every guest at a Doubletree Hotel. The cookies weren't very nice actually in my opinion and very dry - surprising as the company has apparently given out over 100,000,000 of them!

I was horrified to discover at check-in that guests are charged $12 a day to park outside the hotel as I have never encountered this before and I thought it was pretty bad really to expect hotel guests to pay parking in addition to their hotel room fees. Be aware of this additional charge if you book online - as I didn't see it before booking so it was a nasty surprise when we got there.

The room itself was nice - spacious, very clean and decorated in neutral colours. It was perhaps a bit too neutral for me as I prefer to stay in places with a bit more character, and you could imagine that every single room in this hotel looked exactly the same as yours. The floor to ceiling window was an interesting feature - one that I didn't like to stand too close to! The views of the Orlando skyline were nice though, especially when the sun was setting.

We didn't stay there long enough to try the fitness centre, pool, games room, or any of the restaurants/bars on site so I am unable to advise on these facilities, but please be aware they are available.

Overall, one night here was probably enough for me as it is a bit far out from the town to do much except visit Universal Studios. I was also put off by the parking charge, and for these reasons I will give the hotel three stars.

Summary: Convenient for Universal CityWalk but I'm glad we were only here one night.