Detailed review by craftydonna
craftydonna
United Kingdom98%
Rodeway inn hotel is a great Budget hotel located in Orlando Florida.
I stayed at this hotel in June 2004 and had a super time with my family here. The hotel is close to many attractions and others are very easy to reach from here.
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Hotel Location
Hotel can be found right at the centre of International drive (I-Drive) and is so easy to find not far from wet and wild. If using a taxi to this hotel we found not many knew where this was just say near wet and wild and they will soon know where to go.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS (Taken from website)
If coming from the North (Orlando / Daytona Beach):
- Take Interstate 4 to Exit 75A - Kirkman Road,
- To International Drive
- Turn right onto International Dr.
- The Rodeway Inn International will be approximately 1/2 mile on your right hand side.
If coming from the South (Tampa):
- Take Interstate 4 to Exit 74A - Sand Lake Road,
- Turn right onto Sandlake Rd.
- Turn left onto International Dr.
- The second Rodeway Inn International approximately 1/4 mile on your left hand side.
From the airport:
- Take the Beachline Expressway (formerly the Bee Line Expressway) West to International Drive North
- Turn right onto International Dr.
- The second Rodeway Inn International approximately 1.5 miles on your left hand side.
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What's in the Hotel?
The rodeway has 315 bedrooms, you can choose smoking or none smoking and pets are welcome and they have rooms for this request.
Palms Dining Room - We had breakfast here each morning, this was buffet style. Children under 10 ate Free which was an extra bonus to us. The breakfast had plenty of choice but quality was basic, I didn't like the bacon as it was always over cooked and full of fat but everything else was okay. Breakfast was 6:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.which gave you plenty of choice when to go down.
Shogun Japanese Steak House - Typical American steak house, this is great for families. Make sure you book a table as sometimes you can't always walk in. Service was fast and food was just super.
Shop - The hotel has a little shop which is next to reception, you can get a few bits and pieces here like snacks, sweets, papers, drinks, postcards. Was a bit over priced compared to the supermarket down the road.
International Pub- This hotel has a pub for you to chill out, We did not try this out so can't give this a personal opinion.
Swimming Pool - The hotel has an outside heated swimming pool, this was okay for the children but got very packed. The swimming pool isn't big enough for the hotel but wet and wild water park isn't far. You could find plenty of sun beds.
Video Arcade - Near reception you will find a small video arcade which is over priced and also eats your money so please avoid this as all costs.
Laundry facilities & dry cleaning service : You can either get someone else to do your laundry at a set price, see in room leaflet or on every other floor you will find a washing machine, dryer and powder machine. Washing cost $4, Drying $4 and Powder $2. My tip is too only wash as they come out basically dry and hang them in your room as you go out for the day or over night. Also get your powder for $2.50 at local supermarket, does several lots.
Phones - You will find one phone in reception you can get a phone card from reception which is cheaper than using coins.
Stamps - In reception you will find a stamp machine, don't use it as it costs more, by your stamps from the local shop.
Vending Machines - You will find these on every other floor and also has free ice machines. Some of these were not working, best option is to buy bottles from local super market and store in fridge.
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Rooms?
In your room you get the following:
2 comfy double beds
Fridge
Microwave
Wall Safe (Very handy)
Hair dryer
TV with Sat and Disney Channel
Coffee making items
Radio/Alarm clock
Room Temp control
on-suite has shower/bath and toilet
Sink is in main room
Table and 2 chairs
Plenty of hanging space
Plenty of draws
Our room was on the 1st floor we asked for a low floor as I can't stand being too high and we got what we asked for. We had an excellent view from our window over I-drive, it was wonderful at night time with all the amazing lights. I bet we would have got a better view higher up but wouldnt like to look out much being high up, must get rid of my phobia of heights.
On arrival we received four welcome goodie bags which include sample items including tooth paste, Snacks, sweets and stomach tablets (These did come in handy). The tooth paste was a lovely flavour which you can't get here.
Our room was very spacious compared to other budget hotels we have stayed at in the past. We was very surprised at what we received in our room as we were not expecting much being a budget hotel. The fridge was just so handy as the weather was very hot and kept our drinks bottles cold.
Room was very clean on arrival and was kept clean by the daily maid service, the maid we had was just lovely and helped us out with a few leaflets to local attractions and restaurants.
The Door to the landing does have a small gap at the bottom which means you can hear people on the landing more, we was okay but you could put something at the bottom to block any noise out. Normally by 11pm its quite other than a few people walking by.
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Staff:
Reception Staff were always helpful and on arrival was very quick to check us in with plenty of helpful information.
We had a problem with our blind as it would not open and this was fixed in 15 minutes of reporting to reception, the man who came was very nice and chatty and gave us a few tips on the local area.
Breakfast Staff: We was always greeted by name and they always knew what we wanted to drink. They chatted to the children asking them what they had been up to and going to do that day. We gave a good tip because of how friendly they were.
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Likes?
Friendly Staff
Fridge in room (Ideal for Hot weather)
Spacious rooms
Air con
Dislikes?
Swimming Pool
Arcade
Bacon, lol.
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Costs:
I can't give you the actual price of the hotel as we had a holiday package. We went with virgin and hotel for 14nights, Flights and Disney, Seaworld tickets cost us £2800 for a family of four.
Also Virgin office is in the hotel next door if you need any help and for your welcome meeting.
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Other Information?
Wet and wild is only a 5 minute walk away.
Food - You are very close to many restaurants including Sizzlers, Steak house, Wendys, KFC.
If you walk 5 minutes North on I-drive you will find a very large supermarket.
At each end of I-Drive you will find a shopping Mall, you can reach these by I-Tram.
You can reach Disney by Bus or Taxi, Bus's are not very reliable in Orlando so we used a Taxi which cost £26 for one way for a family of 4. A tip to cut costs is to get taxi to drop you off at Downtown Disney and use the Free Disney bus's for the rest of your journey,
The hotel provides a FREE Scheduled Shuttle Service to Universal, Seaworld and Wet N Wild but we used the I-Tram instead which visits these locations.
The I-Tram is a bus/tram service which travels the full length of I-drive you get a weekly ticket for this and jump on and off as you please at the many stops on route.
Also the pirates dinner show is only a 15 minute walk to the south and reception will help you to book tickets.
In the hotel reception is a lady who sells tickets to Universal if you don't already have some, do not use the street traders who sells these on I-drive, avoid as much as possible. In our 2 weeks we only got asked once and we just said already have tickets thanks and that was that,
Shops close by- These include a large Sports store, beanie shop, Several tourist shops. Bag shop, handy for buying another suitcase for all the bits you will buy. We got one even though we could have got one cheaper at home but its an excellent suitcase.
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