DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando East - UCF Area

We recently stayed here overnight one night. The building was neat, clean, and updated, and the front desk staff were very friendly. We were quickly greeted and checked in. Our room as nice and appeared updated. I read another review from just a week ago that described an outdated room and rusty bathroom fixtures. Apparently this may not be all of the rooms as ours was nicely appointed, newer and clean. The main reason I can't give it 5 stars was the bathroom. It was updated and appeared very clean, however, I noticed as soon as we entered the room there was an odor of mildew present. Upon entering the bathroom, I could tell this was the source. However, the sink, toilet, tub, caulk and floor all appeared to have been well-cleaned. But the strong odor of mildew was most prevalent in the bathroom. One reason may have been that it sounded like the air vent in the bathroom connected directly to other bathrooms near us. My wife commented that she could hear someone using the toilet in their room through the vent. Also, the bathroom had no fan, thus no way to ventilate the stale air. It may be that mildew was present in the vent system between the bathrooms due to the moist air not being vented properly due to the lack of a fan, and moisture not being evaporated by the constant use of A/C, which would be more prevalent in the summer. Whatever the reason, it was disconcerting and I'm glad we weren't staying for a long time, as this could have presented a health risk. Oddly, the hallways had a very "sanitary" odor, and reminded us both of a doctor's office. Although unusual, it was less concerning than smelling mildew. Water pressure in the bathroom was fairly low at the sink. The toilet paper holder was oddly placed very low next to the toilet, about 12 inches off the floor. There was plenty of room to raise it to the typical height, so I saw no reason for this inconvenient placement. Otherwise, I used the desk and chair, which was newer, for some brief work answering emails and it was fine. There was only one outlet on the desk, but luckily I didn't need to plug in more than one item. I have stayed at places that offered multiple plugs on the desktop (or USB ports for charging) which would be a nice feature to add here. The bed was reasonably comfortable, but a bit on the firm side. Of course, it's impossible to please everyone with something like bed firmness. Pillows and linens were clean and comfortable as well. We stayed here in December, and only used the heat, which seemed to work fine and wasn't too loud or distracting. We did hear some voices either from outside or in the room next door as we were getting ready for bed, but nothing too annoying. The walls did seem to be fairly "thin" due to the clarity of sound coming from outside our room. We brought our sound machine, so sleeping undisturbed was not an issue for us. I'd recommend one for sound masking any time you stay at a hotel if the sound of voices in adjacent rooms is something you prefer to avoid. I can't remember the last time I stayed in a hotel where I couldn't hear other people talking nearby, so this certainly isn't unusual. People, in general, seem to have forgotten the common courtesy of keeping their voices down in hotels, knowing that sounds carry and others not in their group are nearby and trying to relax or sleep. Luckily, this really wasn't an issue during our evening here. Overall, it was a decent stay, with a few nits that were annoying, and the mildew odor which was a bit more concerning. I'd probably stay there again if necessary, hoping that another room might have better ventilation and less mildew odor. I've certainly stayed in other hotels in this price range that were older, outdated, or not as clean.

Thus hotel as well as it's staff are truly amazing, professional and most of all kind and make you feel like a friend. Their bar and kitchen staff are friendly and the atmosphere surrounding this hotel is breathtaking and Soo close to the main street of many other stores, restaurants and services stations.