Let me start by saying that I recognize that everyone’s experiences are different when they travel and what is important to me in a hotel might not be important to everyone else. Therefore, this review is solely a reflection of my experiences at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and not based on anyone else’s opinions.

The following is a list of areas I chose to cover in this review and my thoughts/comments. Why did I select these particular areas? Simple, because these were the things that most impacted my experience during my stay.

1. General Appearance (5 Stars) – Although I am giving this hotel a 5-Star rating for general appearance I want to remind everyone that appearance is only skin deep. The look of the hotel both outside and inside the main area was wonderful. The grounds are clean with well manicured lawns and the indoor “public” areas are very nicely decorated with new furnishings and a welcoming feel.
2. Layout / Floor plan (1 Star) – Yes, I gave this a 1-Star rating. The reason is simple – THE SELF-PARKING parking lot has to be at least a half-mile, if not more, from the main lobby. I get that they want everyone to use their over-priced valet parking, but come on – some of us don’t even want to pay the $14.91/day for the self-parking. There is no way I was going to pay double that to do valet parking. Besides my employer was paying for the hotel so… No, they were not going to approve valet parking. I know you think I am kidding, but I’m not. The walk from the self-parking lot was at least a half mile from the main lobby – then you still had to walk another quarter-mile to get to my hotel room… lets just say I got a lot of exercise this trip.
3. Customer Service (1 Star) – I’m actually not even sure I want to give the hotel a 1-Star rating for this, but I don’t like to give no stars. The thing is this – the service wasn’t all bad – it was just bad where it mattered to me. The first lack of customer service was the total disrespect they showed when assigning me my first room. Okay, I was there for a conference – and therefore my work was paying for the room, but that doesn’t mean you should give me the worst room in the hotel. I brought my family along, and we planned to make the week-long trip a family vacation (as well as a business trip). So, we walk into the room and what do we find? A note taped to the balcony door saying that it has been locked due to construction and that we are not able to use the balcony. When we look out the window there is PVC piping on the railing, and a ladder/ramp along the outside of the balcony. Therefore all the workers can see straight into our room as they work. Yeah, not happening. They should have known better than to assign that room to anyone. It just showed me that they don’t care about their customers. I was a paying customer – give me a good room! Then when I called down to the front desk to request a new room the gentleman said, “You can come down to the desk at one o’clock and maybe we can get you a better room.” Maybe? Maybe, are you kidding me?! When my husband went to the front desk and expressed our frustration – they quickly gave him a new room (a nice one I might add). You might be thinking that this should improve my customer service rating, but it doesn’t. Why? Because it just made me feel that, as a woman, they didn’t want to service me, but as a man my husband was taken seriously. Yeah, I’m not into the whole treat men and women differently thing. Next on the “customer service” rating – the cleaning crew was rude! I asked for some conditioner (BECAUSE THERE WAS NONE!) and what response did I get? “Call the front desk!” then she walked away! Last item on the “customer service” rating – When we returned to the room after a long day at Epcot the door to our room was open. I called the front desk, who quickly sent me to security. They came up and did a “test” on the lock to see whose card had been used in the lock last, and did they bother to tell me? NO! What does that say to me? Well it tells me one of their employees had been in my room, but they didn’t want to tell me that so they just ignored me!
4. Room – Okay, the first room received a ZERO STAR rating, but the second room I would give 3 Stars. Why a 3-Star rating you ask… Well, the layout was fine, but there was NO VENTILATION! When you took a shower everything in the bathroom was wet with steam. I couldn’t even keep my clean clothing in there to change because they would end up wet by the end of the shower. That meant that when I got out of the shower and dried off I had to step into the sink area (where there was no door for privacy) naked to get dressed. That is not fun with two children running around. The lack of ventilation didn’t contain itself to the bathroom. At night in the room the air was dry and thick with dust from the air conditioner. After the first night I woke up with a sore throat. After the second night I was congested and had a migraine. By the end of our stay I WAS SICK, as in taking Dayquil and Nyquil. Last on this list – I have to mention the cleaning crew again. When I go to a hotel I expect that when I return to my room after say… lunch… that my room will be clean, but NO, they never arrived until after lunch. They must have been understaffed, but come on – if you have a hotel that big HIRE MORE PEOPLE! Oh, wait… I do have one more thing to add… They had candy, water, etc. just sitting out and a refrigerator full of drinks (alcohol included – without a lock on the refrigerator – EASY ACCESS FOR CHILDREN). Anyway, the selection was great, but the prices were obscene! Seriously, who is going to pay $4-$5 for a bottle of water?!?!?! GIVE ME A BREAK!
5. Food/Restaurants (1 Star) – I have no idea how the food tasted at the hotel because OMG the price was ridicules. We were going to eat breakfast at the hotel, but for two adults and two children it was going to cost us $80 – $90. HELL NO! Come on, look at the government per diem rates for food in your area when planning your menu rates. You are WAY OVER PRICED!!!
6. Pool (4.5 Stars) – YES THE POOL WAS AMAZING! I should say pools because they had more than one and all of them were wonderful. My only complaint was about the guy manning the water-slide. My husband took my 7 1/2 year-old daughter up to the top of the water-slide and she was so excited… however, the gentleman at the top wouldn’t let her go down because he said that she was one inch to short. Yet, we saw (numerous times) children smaller than her going down the slide throughout our stay. Yeah, he was in a bad mood that day… I mean his job is sitting at the top of a slide all day… I guess I get it, but come on don’t crush a 7 1/2 year olds only wish for the day!
7. Business Center (1 Star) – I am only giving this a 1-Star rating because they do offer something, but come on this is the first hotel I have stayed at in a very long time that didn’t offer a free business center at least for minor printing needs. No, they offer a FedEx run business center that over charges for internet time and printing. Thank you, but no thank you!
8. Miscellaneous – These are just a few other issues I had: fruit-flies in the restrooms and lack of afternoon shuttle busses to the Disney parks.

Okay, overall I have to say that I was VERY DISAPPOINTED with my experience. The only saving grace – my company paid, and they had a Starbucks in the lobby!

So, my final rating is… 2 Stars