(Kirkman Road location) The pictures for this hotel were completely misleading. It honestly looked like a decent place to stay for our girls trip, with it being advertised as so close to Universal. We get to this hotel and the lobby looks nice. We go to check in and the lady at the desk tells us we have a 4pm check in and at first we were upset because that is not what we signed up for, and then the lady snapped back at us that it was only 1pm and we'd have to wait. She was completely rude and I made it known to her that she didn't have to be such a jerk about it. She then walked away behind the desk and someone else was extremely nice and got us in to a room by 2:15pm. We get to the room and its disgusting. The room was damp and had a horrible musty smell. The sliding glass door didn't close all the way. There is a safe in the room, but with no key. I called the front desk and they said none of the rooms have keys for the safes, but we can bring down personal items to store in safety deposit boxes at the front desk. NO THANKS! The bathroom lights were missing the fixtures and the wiring was exposed, everytime you opened and closed the door the ceiling tiles shook (which was loud -- anytime anyone woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom everyone heard the door opening and closing), and the tiles in the bathroom were either not finished or just missing. I liked that there was a sink inside and outside the bathroom, until I saw a bunch of ANTS running around!!! We were changing and getting ready to leave our room to go out and we hear a knock at the door. We go to open it and instead this lady opens the room!!! We were all SHOCKED that she didnt even give us the chance to open the door! She says "oh i just wanted to see if the room was cleaned"... what??? Couldnt you give us a minute to open the door??? This happened not once, but TWICE while we were there!! Both times this woman just opened the door!! This made us all extremely cautious about what we left in the room. This woman who opened the door wasn't even from housekeeping! We have no idea who she was! This hotel brags about being right at the gate of Universal, but actually its a little bit of a walking distance. You have to cross the street and then walk about a half mile or so to get to the entrance! This hotel has shuttle service, however it only leaves at certain times in the morning and night, and not in the afternoon at all! It is also shared with other hotels so it takes longer to get to Universal and sometimes is too full for you to get on board. For the 3 of us girls, it cost $5-7 to get too and from Universal Studios. We are young and went out every night to the City Walk, however we always had to take a cab home because the hotel shuttle service only left at certain times. It sucked. For being a holiday inn, we expected better room quality and service. We will NEVER stay here again, and probably not a holiday inn again either.

We came with our middle school band. The hotel was very accomodating. Location couldn't be better. Beds were very comfortable. Bathrooms need to be redone. Hotel rooms could be cleaner. Other than that, we came to do stuff, not hang out at the hotel.

I have stayed at this hotel a few times as it is in a really good location, the pool is never busy and it has TGI Fridays right next door. I have stayed in a standard room which i wasn't impressed with at all but i have also stayed in a one bedroom and a two bedroom suite which were really nice, i found the staff really friendly and although the hotel maybe needs a bit of refurbishment, they are doing some, on one of my trips they were putting in new elevators and on another thet were putting in new carpets. It has to be remembered it is a 3* hotel and if people are expecting 5* then they shouldnt go there.

I was there with my family for 2 nights. I would have to say the best department in the hotel was housekeeping. The room was clean, and the housekeeping department did a good job at that. However, they need to put some money into this hotel. The furniture, fixtures and bathroom mainly. It looks like the lobby was redone, and they must of put some money into the carpets and some new chairs in the room. I'm guessing they did this to keep the Holiday Inn flag. But the bathrooms, doors, and beds are old. The locks are hard to open with. My phone was missing buttons, the TV is old. The location was good, it was right across the street from Universal. I am used to higher end hotels, and due to a last minute booking and availability I selected this Holiday Inn. So if you are used to luxury then this is not the hotel for you. If you are on a budget and looking for a good location then go ahead and book it, also if you are not planning on spending a lot of time in the hotel room. Take a shower instead of a bath, the tub didn't look that good. Also, when we checked in at the front desk the agent really didn't seem to care. Well actually let me correct myself, I looked at her name tag and she was the Assistant Guest Services Manager. I was shocked, it seemed like she was making $7/hr and could care less that we were there. I don't know if she even made eye contact with us. And I think the only time she really spoke with us is when she was asking us to sign the registration and asking if we had a car. Another agent who checked in my friend's room was really friendly to the family in front of us, but then with my friend didn't seem to care. Maybe because we had a low rate?! I can't say that the hotel was all together horrible, but there are so many choices in Orlando that you can easily find something better.

As soon as I checked in, my room was upgraded to A SUITE!!! It was impeccable with no smudges. The room was just beautiful. There were a small shop downstairs that sells basic stuff (shaving cream, sunglasses) in case you forgot to pack them. Nothing really scenic about the hotel itself, but literally, only a street away from Universal Orlando. (Cross Kirkman Rd and you're at the Parking dock area of Universal.) Although the only restaurants on the same block was TGI and Crocker Barrell, it is in a walking distance from ALL THE RITZY RESORTS IN THE UNIVERSAL AREAS!!! (TRATTORIA del PORTO, HARD ROCK etc.) You can dine there, and also take a free water-taxi to University Citywalk. I can recommend this hotel for anyone who wants yuppy for less and with strong legs. Once you get to Universal resort area, you have to walk a lot, as "one-block" there is almost like 4-blocks in New York...