Best Western Orlando Gateway Hotel

Overall my family and I had an excellent experience. The front desk staff was very friendly when checking in and helpful in the morning when we needed a complimentary toothbrush for my daughter. The room was clean and in good working order except the sink receptacle was loose and wouldn’t hold the plug. In the morning when leaving a mature gentleman was quite abrasive and rude when demanding an email for the post stay survey/​questionnaire. He cornered my wife and wouldn’t allow her to pass without speaking to him. We don’t do well with demanding people. He said Unilocal doesn’t help the GM with understanding his guests but if the management staff was really interested in customer expectations and concerns they would read Unilocal,Trip Advisor, and other review sites.
The hotel restaurant had a breakfast buffet for $ 9.95 with $ 2 off with hotel stay. We decided to go out for breakfast but the restaurant and staff were helpful anyways. I’d recommend this establishment because each employee greeted us, with the exception of the demanding survey man.

OK so the location is great. lots of traffic which that I mean by ppl. has a gym such a plus !!! has a pool and jacuzzi although it should be 24 hrs to be able to use. in rms they offer coffee tea water. water they charge your card for. in the rm there is microwave and mini fridge. the carpet sucks sometimes the lights dont work, some of the doors don’t seem secure (dents, not ailined, door lock janky, some fixtures well may need to be fixed. would give more stars if these were adequate. especially if the ac unit is noisy or the fan in bathroom. there’s a basket ball court and tennis court. the breakfast isn’t too bad a Lil bland, and they serve meals until ten pm. drinks until 12. you can drink with open container anywhere on property. if you get too buzzed there are unmarked cars that offer drivers always in the front. has security oh and don’t go out to smoke a cig unless you bring your rm key or feel like going all the way to the entrance for side doors you need key. parking lot isn’t adequate for all the guests for its always full. they have complentary water with lemon in the front as well as a Lil snack shop/​convenient store to grab something to eat or perhaps pick up something needed. the staff is great, all have awesome attitudes!

The hotel was all right. But you get what you pay for since it was cheap. It was good walking distance from universal very easy to walk there. My biggest complaint is that the walls are paper thin. At 2am the people next to us had their TV blasting trying to hide the loud noisy sex they were having. Well the TV didn’t drain it out and it went on for over a hour. I’m a deep sleeper and the noise of the sex woke me up. So if you wanna get any sleep I wouldn’t suggest here if you are easily awaken. I banged on the wall and we called the front desk and even went down to the front desk. Also don’t fall for the tour of a resort for a 100 dollar gift card they offer you, it’s a timeshare scam.

This Best Western is about a 25 minute drive (not taking the toll highway) to MCO airport and about a 5 minute drive just over a mile away to Universal Studios and basically across the street from Wet N Wild. You could walk to Wet N Wild in your bathing suit.
The hotel lobby seems pretty quiet with an open seating area and a small check in counter. There is a concierge booth that seems to have local attraction information and possibly tickets sales from the looks of it. The first floor also has a snack bar with seating as well as other things for sales like cold drinks.
The room we were given was decent, nothing huge and no desk but a small table with only one seat. We had 2 sinks, one in the bathroom and one outside with a small coffee maker. The dresser console had a mini fridge which is always nice.
The parking was pretty full but we were able to find good spots each time we looking to park.
Overall this hotel was reasonably priced (through Hotwire) and it’s a good place for a single night stay.
By estimating where we were it’s probably about a 15 minute drive to Mall at Millenia, Florida Mall, Epcot, etc.
The wifi worked well enough. The AC I found to be a bit loud and basically shut it off at times because it cooled the room really quickly.

Hotel rooms were okay —- sleep-​able.
There was a mini-​fridge, microwave, table to eat at, and the best part, it was down the street from Universal Studios.
There are restaurants and convenient stores all around, so it’s not secluded.
The reason I personally chose this restaurant was because it advertised that there was breakfast. Not until we checked in, did we a see a sign that the breakfast buffet was NOT free. You do get a discount if you show your room key though. However, the breakfast was pretty satisfying.
I’d stay here again, if we got a good deal.

I went to this hotel with the mindset of thinking it would be horrible. But honestly my experience was better than I thought. My room was clean and the staffing was very nice. They accommodated me very well. I feel like the price was reasonable and the location was good because it was close to a lot of places and across the street from Wet n Wild. The only thing I don’t like is you have to pay for your breakfast there is no complimentary breakfast but hey there’s an IHOP and DENNY’s up the street. The wifi and parking were both free. The water gets very hot in the shower and the bed was comfortable. If you’re on a «Budget» vacation this place isn’t bad to try out.

The hotel is just meh.
We stayed two nights and it was fine just to sleep after a long day at Universal/​Islands.
PROS: Huge bathroom with huge shower; very close to Universal and a short drive to WDW; Clean (ish); comfy bed; fridge and microwave
CONS: room feels small due to huge bathroom; the A/​C smelled dusty; the closet sticks out and my husband put something on top of it and when he removed it, it was super dusty; shampoo and conditioner was not replenished the next day
Notes: The day we arrived, we stepped into our room and it reeked of cigarettes. 1) We didn’t want them to try to charge us for something we did not do. 2) The smell is just gross and difficult to get rid of. My husband asked to switch our room. Even though, they were able to switch us easily, my hubby said the attendant looked annoyed. Dude, even if you’re annoyed even after my husband asked you nicely, just keep a poker face. It’s good customer service to at least do that. A smile is a lot better though.
Also, I have really long hair and wash my hair daily. I expect, like all other hotels, that shampoo/​conditioner is replenished daily. They did not replenish them and I thought maybe I’d have enough but I was wrong. I only had enough to work a good lather of shampoo on the top of my head and that was pretty much it. I was disappointed with that. Even WDW hotels replenish shampoo daily.
I wouldn’t stay there again, to be quite honest. It’s right by International Drive, so obviously, traffic is annoying and really busy at all times.

Stayed recently for a trip to universal and must say one of the best touristy area hotels I’ve been to. We booked on
and were given a suite, I had no idea. I paid the same price as other members of our party and our room was great! The service at the front desk was really fast and helpful also. The room was clean and the layout was perfect. There’s a big part of me that wishes we would’ve stayed more nights from how much I liked it. Also the breakfast buffet is totally worth it! They make real eggs, not that carton crap, and the home fries are delicious! I would seriously recommend this hotel to anyone going to the area!

So after two nights at this hotel and working on a third, I have to say I am wholly unimpressed.
I’ll start with the positives. The room was clean, the shuttle to Universal is very convenient. It’s relatively quiet, and it’s close enough that we actually walked back from the parks one night. The staff is very friendly and they do try to be helpful.
Now the negatives. The room needed some better maintenance, the closet door was missing a roller and was unusable. The breakfast is really just awful. It is everything I expect from a free continental breakfast except they charge $ 10 for it. I wouldn’t eat that again if they paid me.
My biggest issue is the wealth of misinformation that I got. There is absolutely No communication between the front desk and the Universal desk or the front desk and the restaurant.
Make sure that you check with EVERY desk to get a question answered. I will bet you get a different answer at each. There is a ton for confusion on the shuttle schedule. I ended up getting overcharged for my crappy breakfast because no one informed me I needed to show my room key.
I went to the bar one night, but it was really a pointless endeavor. Any draft beer stronger than Miller lite was cashed, and the bartender obviously had no interest in changing the keg. This was at 9:00 PM. I overheard him tell 3 different dinner guests that they were out of what they wanted while I drank my beer, which to my surprise was nice and cold.
Anyway, don’t stay here. They need to get their act together

I stayed at the hotel March 7 – 9, 2016. One room with two separate twin beds. Room 305.
I don’t know why this place has only 2 ½ stars, this was a great hotel especially for the price. I read a lot of bad reviews before booking this place, so it was a risk but I found this place is not like any of the bad reviews at all!
The outside is that of a 3 – 4 star hotel. And the lobby is very lovely. The rooms look exactly like in the pictures. Room 305 has a sub-​par view but it doesn’t matter because we are not even in the hotel except to sleep– in which the blinds are closed!
The (black) lady (with medium length curly hair) at the front was really nice and helpful and gave us lots of information that we didn’t even use but was very good to know (shuttle info, other stuff I can’t remember). She gave us her card and told us to review her on tripadvisor. Unfortunately I lost the card! (I’m sorry miss front desk woman, you were awesome with customer service.)
Check in was super quick and easy. Our room was clean and set up properly. One problem was the shower didn’t work but we called the desk and they fixed it right away. So that is another thumbs up. There was a mini fridge (and microwave too)?! Which was very convenient and much appreciated as I brought loads of fruit from home for the trip. There was also a hairdryer which is nice for me! And the a.c. worked very well. The elevator is so fast I’ve never been in such a quick yet graceful elevator, honestly.
The hotel is a perfect distance from Universal. 15 minute walk, which is very lovely full of nature and one busy bridge that fine though, few stop lights to cross, and easy to conquer even after 8 – 11 hours of universal walking. We saved $ 60 by not driving and parking at universal. ($ 20 a day for parking I read online). It’s also a short distance from ihop, but the ihop wasnt very good. If you go to ihop be very clear with the waitress about your order. They probably won’t remember specifics even if you told them three times clearly, but very nicely.
After going to universal, the walk home can seem daunting but me and my boyfriend were motivated by the hot tubs they have. There’s two hot tubs separate by a wooden fence for privacy, I guess, and they can really help your feet after a long day of walking!
The t.v. didn’t work well, but we managed to find one channel that was stable. We didn’t mind though because we didn’t really need the tv, we were there for universal and islands of adventure! Besides we were so tired when we get back we only had the tv on for 20 minutes (the whole trip) before turning it off and giving in to sleep.
Last thing– we put the «do not disturb» (or in their case: it says «quiet please») sign on our door the entire trip. We didn’t mind our room being messy or reusing towels from the night before. We just didn’t want anyone to come in our room and steal our stuff or anything. But mysteriously on the second day we had new towels rolled up in the place where the old towels were, (we still had our old towels though where we left them, there was just also new towels as well) but our room messiness had remained unchanged. I don’t think they took anything, but just gave us new towels. That was nice but we didn’t even use them and I believe that they should not have broken our privacy if we left the sign on the door.
Lastly, check out was perfect. They slip a receipt under your door that you sign and bring to the front desk (I believe) (I forgot this part for some strange reason), and I got charged a couple days later for the exact price I booked on
no extra fees or any bullshit. So I was happy to see they were not sneaky about prices or anything.
Overall, great stay. I gave it 5 stars but really it was a 4.5 but I rounded up because none of the problems were major. I will be staying here again in the future and would recommend it to anyone who wants to save money and still get a good hotel.

As usual, I go to Trip Advisor to check out hotels, because Unilocal doesn’t usually have a lot of hotel reviews. I checked out a lot of hotels in the Orlando area, and even though we are going to Kennedy Space center today, we stayed in Orlando last night due to a cheaper price. It’s bike week in Daytona, and the East coast beach hotels are packed and the rooms available are too high in price.
So we arrive early, and was told our room wasn’t ready, which is expected, but more times than not, when you try you can check in a little bit early. So we drove around I drive and Old Town.
We come back, and check in was about ten minutes, and pretty easy, as was the online booking process. We arrive in our room and I did my usual bed bug, any bug, clean sheets, mold/​mildew, dirty floor, dirty sheets, and hair anywhere check, and the room was spotless. There were a few minor patch work areas in the bathroom on the ceiling above the shower and sink, with a few wall and doorway repairs, but it’s expected, and wasn’t an issue for us. I’d rather it be fixed, than be an issue.
The water was hot in all faucets, the mini fridge was cold, the microwave was clean, and the A/​C was ice cold! We had a third floor room overlooking the pool and Wet N Wild water park across the street. The hotel is one block away from I drive, and off of the busy streets. The pool is a good size, and clean, with a hot tub near by, which has a fenced in basketball court next to it.
Last night we went to the convenience store downstairs, and they had items such as bottled Coke products, Cheetos, Doritos, assorted other chips, hand dipped ice cream, panini sandwich pressed sandwiches (they have a mini deli), candy, coffee, and health and beauty items.
In the morning from 7 – 11 am they have a breakfast buffet for $ 9.95, $ 7.95 if you show your room key, which includes a drink. We didn’t try the buffet, but it seems pretty popular. They also have room service in the morning, but its very limited, and pricey for what the items listed are. Not to mention the $ 4 delivery fee, plus 20% added gratuity charge to your order. We didn’t order that either.
The only con I have, is the $ 15 hotel fee, which most have in the tourist area, and this hotel also charges a $ 4.50 per day «service charge fee» per night for daily self parking, shuttle service to local amusement parks, USA today newspaper at the front desk in the morning, in room safe, and use of hotel amenities, even if you don’t use any or all of them, you still get the fee tacked on per night.
Overall, I would stay here again. The grounds, building, and room were clean, well kept, and properly maintained. All the employees we came in contact with were nice, and helpful, and the convenience store down stairs was open until midnight, and fairly priced for a tourist area. I would definitely recommend staying here, and we will stay again when in the area. I knocked off a star, because of the fees, and the patch work in the bathroom.

I keep coming back because it’s cheap and not dirty. However, they have one employee at the front, a young girl, that was not the slightest bit helpful. She needed both of our signatures for the check in, I asked if it would be okay for me to sign my name and then go to the car so my wife can come and sign her paper. She said no. We both have to be present at the same time. I explained that I have 2 sleeping kids in the car after a busy day at Disney and she said we both still needed to be present.
Great. Now I have to wake up over tired kids to stand at the front desk for 15 minutes to check in. Because they’re quite slow with that process as well.
I later went to buy water at the vending machine but instead it gave me Sprite. I tried again in a different floor and it gave me Powerade. At this point I go to the lobby pretty upset but the rude girl was replaced by a young man. He refunded my money and gave me a free water. now that’s customer service! The previous girl should get a training from him.

Over my two night stay here literally every employee I interacted with from the front desk to the security guard was so friendly! Rafael especially was so nice! The second night I stayed I payed double what I did the first. because 1 I didn’t wanna bother moving and 2 I was so impressed with the hotel overall and the staff.
Beds are comfortable which is important to me.
Thanks best western !! Great JOB !

Great hotel for the money. We paid $ 49 a night, staff was friendly, it was clean and in a great location. Free shuttle to downtown universal. It is a little outdated but honestly, how much time do you spend in a hotel while in Orlando? The pool is heated and pretty big, although it was a little to chilly to use. The breakfast was worth the $ 7.95 per adult, my daughter (11) was $ 5.95 and my son (8) was free. I wish they would have explained to us that the people behind the counter can make eggs to order and omelets. By the time we figured it out, we had already eaten enough. I enjoyed my fresh waffle. There was plenty of things to choose from. I also like that they had 4 different Torani syrups for the coffee.
All in all I enjoyed my stay and will be back.

Hotel was old and outdated, restaurant was rundown, as well. Location was awesome, AC & WiFi worked fine, and the direct park shuttle was fairly convenient. For Best Western, I didn’t have high expectations and would probably give this hotel 2.5 to 3 stars.
1 star is for the shady experience from the Club Wyndham Timeshare booth located in the lobby hotel. I can’t believe the hotel allows this awful Timeshare booth inside their hotel. This unfortunately hurt the overall stay experience, and reflects very poorly on the hotel.
I wanted to buy Disney tickets and the booth mentioned that they’re an official Disney tickets seller. I thought that it should be legit since it’s located in the lobby. The lady on the counter didn’t mention anything about being Timeshare. She asked for my and my husband’s IDs, saying that she needed our IDs to buy tickets. Again, without mentioning that this is a timeshare scheme. She said there were some issues with her system and asked us to wait. After 40 minutes and after entering our information on her system, she revealed that it’s a timeshare.
I’m not interested in Timeshares and was upset about wasting 40 minutes of my time, and also concerned that they might misuse our information.
I complained to her and instead of apologizing, the lady gave us a dirty look & attitude, lifted the sheet up and made a show of tearing it up, and said «okay, you don’t have to worry about your information».
Just a few days ago, both my husband and I received letters from Club Wyndham at our home address stating that we’ve been pre-​approved on a loan to purchase a vacation ownership.
So they most definitely did not purge our information. I Will report this to FTC and BBB as this is a violation of our privacy, on top of getting our personal information under false pretense.
If you want to buy tickets, buy directly at the theme park or online. There are a lot of shady Timeshare booths in Orlando.

Best hotel for the money in the area. Read some bad reviews on this hotel but I don’t honestly see what all of the fuss is about. The staff is super friendly and always pointing people in the right direction. It’s conveniently located close to Universal, and they have a complimentary shuttle. Even if you miss the shuttle, it’s about a $ 6.00 cab ride with is better than paying $ 17.00 for parking at Universal. When we come back, we will stay here again for sure.

First impression from the moldy window curtains, carpet peeled back, sheets that don’t fit the bed and the rickety bumpy elevator is this place is a quarter step above trailer trash. After being dropped a couple floors on the elevator and the idiot at the front desk neither caring to mark it out of order nor knowing where the stairs are located and add to that a random $ 13.50 fee that showed up on the last day and it’s right on par with the Best Western namesake.
(I was dumb enough to get back on a second elevator two days later on the way out with bags but our family and another went on a bouncy ride to random floors for a good minute before it finally stopped on the 2^nd and opened the doors long enough to get out. But on a positive note, they removed the $ 13.50 fee for my elevator trouble.)
BUT! If you’re used to staying in hotels with names like Days Inn, Knights Inn, Quality Inn, etc, then you’re in for a treat! As far as we could tell, there were no bed bugs and aside from mold, it was relatively clean.
Don’t expect the standard base amenities like free water and tasty tea/​coffee but do appreciate the location near Universal and the microwave with only minimal cooked on food.
As far as bottom of the barrel hotels go this one is near the top. We accidentally got stuck with it from a botched Priceline booking and decided to give it a shot. No matter how you spin it, this is bad. Are there worse hotels? Yes — I’d give them 1 star too — and expect to pay a lot less.

Look, we all know full well that you’re not looking for luxury when you’re considering staying here. It’s a Best Western. At $ 68 a night, you get what you pay for. The only reason we stayed here was its proximity to Universal (only a mile away) and because our bank account was already hurting from all the tickets to the theme parks.
If you want clean-​enough (which by this I mean no bed bugs or anything else vile) budget accommodations close to Universal and other Orlando attractions, then this is a fine option.
Oh, and take the stairs. The elevators were acting up when I stayed here.

For $ 70 a night, this place was pretty good.
Check-​in and check-​out was super smooth. Staff was courteous enough.
The room was clean, quiet and comfortable, and had a mini-​fridge, microwave, coffee maker and flat screen TV with plenty HD channels. Plus parking was free, so was the wifi.
The amenities were very nice as well, there as a groceries store, restaurant, nice gym, pool and jacuzzi.
The location was perfect, right off I-​4, around the corner from the International Drive, and super close to Univeral and a whole lot of places to eat and shop.
I would definitely stay here again.

Close to the Universal resort (the reason we stayed there). Nothing too fancy here, good accommodation’s, they had a heated pool I did not check out, and overall the room was very clean.
The next morning we went downstairs and they offered an all you can eat breakfast buffet which was fantastic. They offered, waffles, pancakes, biscuits & gravy, bacon, eggs and all seemed extremely fresh! :) I would definitely recommend this hotel.