This is my very first hotel review as I don't do much traveling. When I do it's usually within the state and I am very picky about my hotel accommodations. I have no problem paying top dollar as long as I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

We were going to Orlando for the KBIS (Kitchen & Bath Industry Convention). I made my reservations about three weeks before the show (and this is a huge show) so there wasn't much left as far as nice hotels go. I decided to stay at the Sheraton World Resort because I knew the Sheraton name. We booked our room for two nights at a rate of $136.00/night. This seems expensive to me, but I figured what the heck it's a Sheraton "resort" and I'm sure we'll be pleased.

LOCATION

The resort is located about one mile from the Orlando Convention Center. It is also located close to all of the Orlando attractions. For those of you familiar with the Orlando area it's located off of International Drive between the Beeline Highway and I-4. There was a complimentary shuttle running to and from the Convention Center every 15 minutes.

GROUNDS

The grounds were well kept with lush tropical landscaping and several well kept waterfalls.

CHECK-IN

Upon arriving I was impressed by the main lobby of the hotel which housed most of the banquet and meeting facilities, however no rooms were connected to this building. This was very deceiving from my initial research on this hotel. We had requested a king size bed and were told that we were getting two doubles. After I grumbled a bit he seemed to come up with a room with a king size bed for us.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Another disappointment was finding out that we had an "exterior" room. There are several satellite buildings all housing rooms with exterior entrances. These reminded me of a lower budget holiday inn or a motel 6. I really had my heart set on staying in the main building. Some of the rooms had small rear patios but ours did not.

Our room had a king sized bed, small sofa with pull out bed, cocktail table, desk, dresser and mirror. The decor was pretty tacky but clean. There was a separate room with the toilet and shower and a small vanity area. On the vanity area was a coffee maker, coffee and glasses for water and mugs for coffee. The room also came with the standard ice bucket and a small fridge.

The bed was hard as a rock and it was a good thing we brought our own pillows. I'd have to say my back killed me for a week after this stay! There seemed to be a lot of traffic walking by our room and this made me very uncomfortable, as our room was on the first floor.

AMENITIES

Since we were only there for two nights and on a business trip we didn't have much time to enjoy the amenities, but we did take a stroll around the grounds to check most of them out.

There was a mini golf course which we did not have a chance to visit so I cannot comment on it.

There were three pools, all which were supposed to be heated. Being a Floridian I can tell you that these pools were definitely NOT heated. There was a small spa in one of the pools clear across the property. You would think with such a large amount of rooms, they would have a larger spa.

The weight/fitness room was a total joke. I got up one morning at 7 a.m. and headed over there. It took me ten minutes to try and figure out how to get in. The equipment was antiquated and by 8 a.m. the place was so packed with sweaty people that you could barely move, let alone get on any of the machines. I tried to use the elliptical machine and it wasn't keeping the pace correctly.

There was a Tiki bar, but much to my disappointment it seemed to be closed the whole time we were there. Apparently it is only open during "season" and I guess we weren't there during season.

The hotel advertises "massages" but all I could find was information in my room about a place called ALAR - Advanced Learning and Relaxation. ALAR has a floatation pool, private changing area and massage therapy by appointment. They also have a relaxation room with soft music and herbal tea. Every time I walked by this small facility it didn't appear to be open. I was really in need of a massage!

BANQUET FACILITIES

The first and second floor of the main building housed several banquet and meeting rooms, all which seemed to have been occupied the night we checked in.

DINING

Once nice thing about the hotel is that you don't ever have to leave to eat. That is if you don't mind spending outrageous amounts of money on bare necessities.

First of all there is Max's Deli which has light breakfast items, deli sandwiches, pastries and salads. They also serve TCBY yogurt and Pizza Hut pizzas, wings and breadsticks. In addition, this is the place to get your chips, sodas, wine and beer. I found this place to be extremely high priced. I paid about $8.00 for a small Reuben sandwich with a pickle. The deli is open from 6 a.m. until midnight.

The Blue Marlin Grille is the place to go for a nice breakfast buffet or an elegant dinner. I had the rotisserie roasted chicken for $15.95 and my fiance had the Sweet Potato Crusted Grouper for $18.50. These prices were pretty moderate considering the portions and the presentation. The food was tasty and filling.

After dinner, we decided to relax on the outdoor patio and order some drinks from Coconut's Bar Inside the bar, they were playing some calypso type music and we decided we weren't in the mood for that type of atmosphere. The drinks were reasonably priced and we had a great time mingling with some of the other intoxicated guests of the hotel. Apparently there was a wedding going on and everyone was telling the bartender they were with the wedding party, us excluded of course :)

All in all I would say that this hotel needs a lot of improvement. I definitely would not categorize this as a resort. I could think of at least ten better places to stay while in Orlando!

thanks for reading!
staysee



Recommended: No