Rodeway Inn International: Keep Moving On Down the Road a Bit
Written: Dec 07 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great location, free shuttle to Universal
Cons: crummy rooms, awful service, most staff speaks poor English
The Bottom Line: The Rodeway Inn International has a great location but it has very little else going for it.
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| quasar's Full Review: Rodeway Inn International |
Located less than a block from Wet n' Wild on International Drive, Rodeway Inn International is very convenient for visits to Universal Studios, Sea World, and other International Drive attractions.
A large motel with two separate sections, the entire property is gated with very few entrances. The section I was in, the one not attached to the lobby, is only accessible from the street via stairs which is a bit annoying. The lobby area is located in the rear about as far from the street as possible. There's a small convenience store, arcade, and restaurant in the same section. There's also a small tourist information desk manned only in the mornings and the arcade closes at some point before 10pm. The services here are minimal, to say the least.
The check in process was confusing. The desk clerk helping me spoke English poorly and made odd comments about being in another building without explaining. She asked me if I was okay with a king bed and I said yes, but when I got to the room it had two double beds.
The room itself had a large window covering most of the outside wall and the aforementioned double beds with a single nightstand between them. There was a long, low bureau across from both beds with a smallish television. It offered minimal channel selection but it did have an Orlando travel channel that provided some good tips and views of all of the local attractions.
There was a round table with two chairs near the window. There wasn't a lot of room between the first bed and the table, but plenty between the beds. There was a small open closet over a mini refrigerator and tiny microwave, a sink area, and a small bathroom in the rear of the room. The closet placement was odd with half of the space overhanging the fridge so you can't really hang clothes there but the hangers couldn't be moved to use on the other side.
The bathroom was very small and the tub drips. There were no hand towels and only three washcloths (there were the reasonably standard four large towels). There's no shampoo provided in the room, but they will give you some if you ask at the front desk. That's really, really annoying. The bottles of shampoo they provide are only half full and they smell like sulfur. They work pretty well for a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner, though.
The shower spray is very low and comes out in a very narrow, very concentrated spray that cannot be adjusted. It provides so much pressure that it hurt my shoulders and back. It sounded like a buzzsaw on my head which was very disconcerting. In addition, the tub has no mat or appliques and was very slipper. I almost fell several times.
The room wasn't much better than the bathroom. The sheets were stained and very scratchy. The bed was hard and lumpy with plastic pillows. There were very few outlets in the room and most were filled with lights (at least those were plentiful). The air conditioner goes on and off based on a wide temperature range and isn't very effective. Even on the coolest setting it doesn't kick on until it gets really hot but stays on until it's slightly chilly at times.
The maid service was problematic too. They left the air conditioner untouched which was good and left the blanket off the bed most nights after I removed it the first time, but didn't pick up on other cues. The trash cans were always moved back to the default location each day even though I moved it by the bed every night. They removed an open soap bar one night and didn't replace it. They also didn't change sheets with blood on them which was very irritating.
The Rodeway Inn International provides shuttle service to Universal Studios, but they share it with three other hotels (including the Quality Inn International) and only run on a very limited schedule. The times made it difficult to eat breakfast before heading to the parks or to go to a dinner show afterward. Most of the nearby restaurants open for breakfast at 7am but you need to be back at the hotel and behind the lobby by 8am to get the shuttle or you have to wait until 10:20.
There's also a nightly shuttle to and from Universal CityWalk that only runs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The hotel tells potential guests that the shuttle runs nightly and I didn't discover otherwise until I tried to use it on Sunday night. By that time it was too late and I'd missed my chance. When I tried to complain, I couldn't find anyone at the desk who spoke enough English to understand me.
One of the reasons I chose the Rodeway Inn International was a promotion for double frequent stay credits. That should have been enough to earn me a free night's stay. However, when I checked out, the clerk refused to give me the credits. I asked for the manager who told me he didn't have to give them to me because I didn't pay the full rack rate for my room. I thought that was really scummy.
The Rodeway Inn International has a great location but it has very little else going for it. The rooms are pretty crummy, the service awful, and the free perks like shuttle service nice but not exactly ideal. Given the number of other options nearby, there's no reason at all to subject yourself to this place.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
quasar
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 in Books |
 - Top 100 |
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Location: Metro Boston, MA
Reviews written: 1981
Trusted by: 379 members
About Me:
I've been back from Florida for two years now :)
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