Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa Universal Studios Area

My family and I went to this hotel last week. We stayed at the lakes. At first arrival we were pretty happy. It’s close to Disney and universal. About 15 mins away from both. There are also shuttles going to universal NOT Disney. The shuttles also take 3 other hotels, so a 15 minute trip to and from universal turned into a 45 min trip each way. Definitely uber my advice to you if u don’t wanna sit on a bus for 45 mins…. Every thing in the hotel is extra theater money … water park extra … the mini golf extra …. the bowling extra… the paddle boats extra…. everything is NOT INCLUDED.
The women at the front desk asked us to do a timeshare presentation and we would get 125 towards the amenities we had time to kill so thought why not Lear about timeshares we absolutely knew nothing… They were so AGGRESSIVE! It was insane and made me and my family VERY UNCOMFORTABLE!!! At the end we thanked them for their presentation and went to leave, she told me we have 15 minutes to decide to buy the timeshare and when we declined we were called selfish for doing the presentation if we weren’t buying something and told we wasted everyone’s time. I apologized and went to leave and we were told we had to be signed out to receive the gift card for the amenities. She told me she REFUSED TO SIGN ME OUT OF WE DONT BUY A TIMESHARE!!!! I would never take 15 minutes to pay 35,000 for an every other year timeshare. The sales women also was insistent I liked flying…. Apparently I just need some Xanax….. NOT PROFESSIONAL!!!
There are not shuttles to places in the resort so you have to walk everywhere. My littles weren’t happy about this. Specially after a pool day and they had to walk back to the room in there bathing suits.
I tried to call for shuttles to the front desk I was told they would send the shuttles and they never came.
Unfortunately not many places to eat in the resort. The food at the one sit down restaurant was decent priced we went there for dinner a few times.
The pizza place wasn’t to good hard pizza that tasted like it was sitting for days.
All in all I’m not to sure how this hotel has 4 stars…
The hot water wasn’t working as well… mostly cold showers… the drain in the bathroom didn’t drain so we had to wash hands and brush teeth in the kitchenette…
The room has a nice tub in the room if u take a bath at night and don’t let the water run to long it will be hot…

The location is great and the resort is big, the gym is actually a decent size for a hotel and lots of equipment.
However the rooms are very dated and dirty. Our 1 room villa had 0 natural light in the sitting area, broken plug sockets and missing equipment. It was also right next to the elevator plant room so very very noisy all of the time due to that.
The pools, mini golf and other amenities were all closed while we were there due to the cold weather but still charged the hefty resort fee.

This was a great trip. We flew in early and got to the resort at about 9 am we were just going to drop our bags off and to the parks but they had a room already ready. That was great. The room had a Great Lake view from the patio and all the rooms. There was a small store on site that had almost all we needed. The location was great and centrally located and not far from anything. I had a great time and stay here. The room was clean and comfortable. The only thing bad I could say was that the TV in the room were not smart TV so I could not stream the Games. But overall I would stay here again.

No time share presentation / old outdated room offered. Our room was not clean…it was tiled throughout but we had to wear our shoes the whole time or our feet / socks were filthy. There was a suitable bathroom; however, there were no other mirrors in the room. The televisions were also outdated. Hallways were not vacuumed and elevators dirty as well. The grounds were well maintained and the pickle ball courts great. When I asked about laundry facilities, I was told there was an option on two of the floors in my building. On floor #4, the washer didn’t spin the clothes! Maintenance!

We stayed at this resort for two nights, attracted by the low price and excellent location, which were definite positives. We booked a one‑bedroom villa based on the photos, expecting a spacious room with a large bath, but unfortunately it was much smaller than anticipated and only had a shower. The bed was also extremely soft and quite uncomfortable.

There were a few issues that affected our stay. At times there was a strong smell of weed around the building, and building 80 had an unpleasant damp or “wet dog” smell when entering. Our room was interconnected, although we weren’t using the adjoining room, and we were woken on both nights between 1–3am by loud shouting from a female voice, either from the corridor or the room next door. When we raised this at checkout, the response was simply an apology, with no further explanation or resolution.

On the plus side, the resort does have security, a bar, and a small marketplace, which is convenient. With some investment and better management of noise and upkeep, it could be a good place to stay, but at the moment it feels a bit run down and on the trashy side.

Great resort. Beautiful lakes with beautiful birds. Helpful staff, nice pools with hottubs and kiddie pools. Mini golf, pedal boats, fishing, water park

We stayed at Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa for New Year’s Eve, and the photos truly did not do it justice. The moment we walked in, jaws literally dropped—our unit was huge! I hadn’t realized that a four-bedroom is actually three separate units, which ended up being absolutely perfect for our family of seven adults. It gave everyone privacy while still offering a spacious common area where we could all gather and relax together.

Our unit was on the 5th floor overlooking the lake, and the view was stunning. Sitting on the balcony in the morning, listening to the birds while sipping coffee, was so peaceful and relaxing. The fireworks on New Year’s Eve were spectacular—and we had a front-row seat to the show right from that same balcony. It was truly magical.

The unit itself was impeccably clean, with very comfortable mattresses. The kitchen was well equipped and perfect for preparing meals, and having a washer and dryer in the unit was incredibly convenient. After long days at the parks, the in-unit hot tub was a much-appreciated luxury. We also noticed that security was consistently present and attentive, which added to our overall comfort and peace of mind.

Although we didn’t have time to take advantage of the many on-site activities, there was always something happening and plenty of options available. This resort struck the perfect balance between relaxation, convenience, and excitement.

We couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay for such a special family gathering—and we would absolutely return.

Loved everything about this Resort, the rooms were great and the living area was also very spacious and nice. The service if we needed anything additional was prompt and even the garbage removal was so efficient (we would leave outside the door and it would be removed within minutes). The bathrooms were really spacious as well and because we got a lake view even the view was perfect a nice morning coffee.

The cart services bell men Brian, ChaZZ, Gabe location was great, could do some updates needed , would like more entertainment, shuttle was go have to reserve, pizza shop e

Great location! Going back in February. Love the pool and hot tub.
Large clean rooms. Friendly staff, great food. All exclusive hotel, very nice.

My husband and I ended up at Westgate resorts in Kissimee after we were offered gifts for a "tour" of the facility durkng our trip to Universal park. The purpose of the tour was to "Encourage us to book their hotel in future", rather than the perfectly amazing Avanti hotel we stayed in during our vacation.

What was meant to be 90 minutes ended up as a 3 hour barrage of pressure, boasting and an attempt to intimidate us into buying what we later discovered was a timeshare.
The salesperson Mark, I found was often rude and when it became apparent we weren't giving them a dime, he walked off without any acknowledgement and sent yet another random saleswoman our way.
At this point we insisted we were leaving.

I cannot believe that such scrupulous behaviour is still tolerated in 2025 from what should be a big hotel chain.
What an absolute shame and faff.

We had planned our family vacation to be a great experience but it was ended the second we checked in. We requested a room called twice prior to our trip to confirm room all was good until check in. We were immediately met with hostility as the room that was booked was wrong even though when we confirmed twice with on the owners line it was correct on our end. We dealt with that issue and then moved on to try to enjoy our vacation. We had requested towels and extra linen during our stay only to be sent with dirty linen and sheet that looked like someone threw up on. Again we dealt with it and went about our day. Then 2 days before we are scheduled to leave we get a text that we are supposed to leave tomorrow (we were in a park and at dinner) so immediately we left the park to run back to the hotel to figure out what was going on, had to pay for dinner we never ate and lost money leaving the park early. We had spoke to the manager Nick at the front desk trying to address the issue when he was nothing short of rude and condescending. He said it was our fault we got the text and responded. Like what?!! He was seriously absolutely useless and did not rectify any situation. I would not recommend this hotel to my pet hamster at this point. The way we were treated was terrible and very unprofessional not a way I expected to end my vacation. Do better Westgate!

⚠️ WESTGATE LAKES RESORT – HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR TOUR! ⚠️

I want to warn everyone about how terrible this company and their “tour” experience truly are. This was, without question, one of the worst and most unprofessional encounters I’ve ever had with any business.

My family attended their “presentation” today, and it quickly turned into an aggressive, high-pressure sales nightmare. At the end of the tour, my husband politely explained that we were interested in possibly purchasing in the future, but not right now — I’m a high-risk pregnancy, we’re paying medical costs out of pocket, and we’ve had unexpected financial burdens recently. Instead of being understanding, the so-called manager immediately became hostile.

When I told him his behavior was leaving a bad taste in my mouth, he snapped back, “Good, I hope it does, and I hope you don’t come back.” He raised his voice repeatedly, tried to bully us into buying, and even yelled over my husband every time he tried to speak — so much so that our 3-year-old became visibly upset and started crying.

The manager actually called us “idiots for not buying today,” and when we still refused, he told the sales rep, “Get rid of these people. Don’t ever come back here.” Absolutely disgusting behavior. There is no excuse for treating customers this way, especially over a sale.

Other guests who left at the same time said they also had terrible experiences with this same manager and felt “lucky to escape.” Clearly, this isn’t an isolated incident — it’s a pattern. After looking online, I now see that this kind of treatment is a common practice for Westgate, and that says everything you need to know.

It’s shameful and inhumane to bully families — especially one with a pregnant woman and child — just because they aren’t ready to buy on the spot. If this is how Westgate trains their staff to behave, it’s beyond unacceptable.

Additional Important Details:
• ⏰ The “90-minute” tour is a complete lie. Ours lasted over 4 hours.
• 🍽️ The food is awful. Breakfast was powdered eggs and cold, mushy home fries.
• 💰 The pricing is sketchy. We were told the price was $34,000 with $6,800 down and 18% interest. My husband said that was ridiculous, especially given our current situation. Suddenly, the “manager” magically dropped it to $24,000 with $0 down and 0% interest. That kind of dramatic change is extremely suspicious and shady.

🚫 SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE:

After I posted about this awful experience on their official Facebook page, instead of reaching out to make things right, Westgate deleted my comments and blocked me from their page. That says everything about how this company handles criticism. They silence unhappy customers instead of fixing their unethical practices.

This entire experience was unprofessional, manipulative, and emotionally upsetting for my family. Please save yourself the stress and avoid Westgate Lakes Resort at all costs.

We stayed in a mobility accessible room 716 A. The bed was the right height, the counters were accessible, the shower, the toilet, the screened porch, everything was accessible.

We had only a few issues.
This unit has a fixed shower head and it was difficult to use because the water did not reach the seat. Thankfully my husband was able to stand to shower.
It would have also helped to have a rubber gutter to keep the water inside the shower.

The kitchen sink was leaking all over the floor from the drain and we kept mopping it up with towels but it needs to be fixed.

It also would have been really nice to have a clock in the bedroom. Our phone died and we did not have a way to tell time other than the sun!

The unit was clean. The property was well maintained and the location was really great for everything we wanted to do.

We stayed at this hotel for 3 nights and 4 days, where we attended a presentation as part of an online offer we booked.
The positive aspects were the excellent location, the spacious rooms, and some of the facilities, which were comfortable.
However, the negative part was a very unpleasant experience during the presentation, where a hotel employee named Carolina displayed discriminatory behavior, a lack of courtesy, unprofessional conduct, and mistreatment toward us as customers in an attempt to pressure us into purchasing a timeshare package.
We believe that situations like this damage the image and reputation of Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa in Orlando, FL. For this reason, we would not recommend their services to other travelers. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst experiences we have had compared to other hotels in the area.

We stayed at Westgate in Orlando, and from the minute we arrived, it was awful. We pulled up to wait for my mom who was checking us in — there were other cars parked there, so we didn’t think anything of it. A security guard started yelling at my stepdad, who was sitting with my 8-month-old sister on his lap. He told him to drive off with the baby on his lap or hand her to me in the passenger seat — both illegal. He then walked around, knocked on my window, made rude gestures, and muttered under his breath. Later, management reviewed footage and confirmed we did nothing wrong.
When we got to our room, it was disgusting — piss stains on the sheets and a dirty tub. Then came the timeshare nightmare. They lured us in with a promise of Universal tickets for a 90-minute presentation. The time didn’t start until after a 2-hour breakfast, and they pressured us nonstop to put down $30,000. When we asked for written numbers to show an attorney, they refused. After nearly 2 hours, they said we wouldn’t get our tickets, disabled our room keys, and we ended up paying out of pocket instead.
They also lied about how to get to Universal, sending us to the wrong park. Trash rooms, rude staff, shady timeshare scams — avoid Westgate Orlando at all costs.

I booked a trip for my family never having stayed at the Westgate before. I was unaware that it was a pet friendly hotel, which was my mistake for not researching. I have significant allergies and was initially presented with a room that most definitely had just been stayed in by a family with a dog. I contacted reception and they sent over housekeeping who could not be more sweet and accommodating. The housekeeping manager Carline also noticed the issue with the room and was immediately able to help me transfer to a different room. The new room I was transferred to appears to have been recently updated and was lovely accommodations for me and my family. I greatly appreciate service of this nature and would come back just due to the fact that the staff was so helpful and so understanding.

Place is an absolute dump. Dingy gross and disgusting. They don't tell you you have to "share a common space" with other strangers either and then will fight tooth and nail to refund you your money. You'd be better off sleeping in your car than here.

Free shuttles and close proximity to universal and sea world. Family friendly and a-lot of activities for the entire family. Fire pits, mini golf, bikes, pizza and ice cream all without leaving the property. Adults can enjoy yoga, Starbucks, the pool bar and drafts bar & grill. I would stay again in Orlando.

lots of traffic at resort. broken air conditioner, room was hot