staySky Suites - I Drive Orlando

Although there was a crazy guy that burned hus room on fire lots os police and firefighters

Front desk staff (several different ones) were less than helpful. They seemed to be unhappy with their job and frustrated, overall. Beds were uncomfortable. Carpet was gross.

I was not sure what to do expect based on the reviews. It turned out to be ok. Not the greatest place and not the worst place. I was in town for a volleyball event with my daughter. The room was clean and provided us with beds and a shower. It was dated and needed some TLC but at the end of the day we got what we paid for.

On Friday June 27th at around 6pm, I arrived at Stay Sky Suites to check in to my reservation that I made through Hotels.com that same day due to a mix-up with a previous reservation for that day. 

I had the most unpleasant experience with one of the front desk staff when I was informed at check-in that my room would not be available for the entire stay and that I would need to change rooms with 3 young children in between my stay. Since this was a birthday trip, and there were plans to decorate the room, it would have been incredibly inconvenient to uproot my party in that manner - especially because my reservation was made earlier that day long before check in or before reservations closed, it would have made better sense to inform either myself or Hotels.com that this would be my only option. 

Upon check - In, after being informed of the inconvenience, I asked the agent if there would be any additional accommodations that can be made. I was then informed that "my poor planning is not the hotels responsibility since I arrived so late after check-in begins"

Please note: Check-in is documented on both hotels.com site as well as stay sky suites site to begin at 4pm and I arrived for check-in at 6pm after driving through  thunderstorms  and traffic for 3 hours. I was only informed to contact the property if I was arriving after 10pm. 

I asked for the agent's name and he let me know that he is the night auditor and his name is "Blue Balls." He then informed me that I am no longer able to check - in as he deleted my reservation. I asked him to let me know what the reason for cancellation was and if I violated any policy (I will admit I did get agitated and raised my voice once I was blamed for 'poor planning' and 'arriving too late' at 6pm) I then ask for the legal information to contact, with my lawyer on the phone, he tells him he can't give him any number he "knows nothing."

After much kerfuffle and confusion, I called Hotels.com and let them know what was happening. When they tried to contact the agent I was working with, I watched him pick up the phone and then hang up without answering. They called a second time and when asking the agent what was the reason for cancellation, he chose not to cooperate or provide any information. Thankfully, Hotels.com switched our reservation to a nearby and comparable property at no extra charge. The gentlemen, realizing I was sharing the incident with legal as well as Expedia, suddenly had a room available for me to "check out and see if I like it" but it will take him up to 4 hours to reinstate since he canceled it and Hotels.com has to update it. They never received any notification of a cancellation, so it was revealed he was simply flexing and chose NOT to service me simply because he was annoyed at my balking at the change of rooms in the middle of my stay with 3 small children.

Once he found I was being relocated, he took the key back and shrugged and said "I tried to help you" This was at about 7:30pm...an hour and a half after I arrived and asked for his help to adjust this issue that I did not put myself in from the beginning. I attached his photo so that you will be able to recognize who Mr. Balls is.

As someone with over 10 years in hospitality, including the night audit, I am certain, not being at the desk when guests arrive, not wearing any identification on your person, lying about your name, hanging up on guests as well as the OTA's the property works with, and blaming guests for the hotels own missteps, are ALL considered unacceptable forms of behavior by their staff. 

I also noticed there was water leaking from the light fixtures in the lobby without any 'wet floor' signage present. Several guests arrived after and also were not able to check in to their rooms due to similar issues. I don't know if there was something with rooms control or availability, but it is clear this hotel needs a refresher on proper communication and check in procedures.

I am sending this review to the front office manager, Cindy Gonzalez as well, whom I was informed by a front desk agent named Ricardo was to contact.

Good service

The stay was ok the cleanliness was ok. The staff was nice. The main issue was the A/C did not work when we commented that the A/C was not working they advised they were not able to help.

Property seems outdated. No air in hallway. Carpeting throughout building was filthy. Room smelled old, pull out bed was hard and didn’t come with blankets and upon asking the front desk for blankets was told they didn’t have any, but that they could provide an extra set of sheets. Thankfully I always travel with my own pillow and comforter or the stay would’ve been even more miserable. Only stayed the 1st night because we were already charged and told it was non refundable otherwise we wouldn’t have checked in at all. We finished our trip a different hotel.

I gave this place 3 stars, because my room at least was clean tidy comfortable and the refrigerator and full kitchen and living room with dish washer is pretty cute! Even a kitchen table!! The price was good for a suite sized room.

No problems checking in. However, and I do think it’s just never gone back to normal after the Covid lockdown downs;

No room service unless requested and no one on staff in the PM so fresh towels? Got to go down to the front desk. Can’t get coffee refills for the morning, because there’s NO housekeeping NO maintenance at night. They don’t give free breakfast or any breakfast even though they have a beautiful dining room for for some awesome Belgian waffle makers and a hot bar! But I knew that beforehand (no breakfast). No biggie, we went and got some oatmeal, couple of eggs and instant coffee and milk for the morning.

Pros: the pool is open until 10pm so if you have kids-that’s a plus. I don’t so it was awful for me.

You cannot hear any noise from other rooms. The last hotel Sheraton had me in a conjoining(?) room and I heard screaming toddlers my whole stay. So this was nice. I like the price I got through my vacation club membership, I like that it is a mini apartment, I f you stay here keep in mind to ask for extras of coffees or shampoos that you need and to request housekeeping first thing in the morning.

Great location!

The lady in the front desk shouldn’t be there, no nice, first room smell a cigarette, then ask for another room and the lady in the front desk was very rude, second room smell like dirty socks. The only nice thing was the pool

This hotel has gone down a lot in my estimation, we used to stay here before the lockdown and it was great back then but on our last trip in 2022, it was dirty, staff very unsociable, beds never got changed in 21 nights we stayed and no vacuuming had happened either. We know this because the sheets had a click and a fabric knot that never changed EVER so no laundry services. We deliberately left some fluff on the carpet, this stayed there for 21 days. Rubbish was left outside elevators. No free breakfast and very poor overall. We now stay at Rosen Centre, 100% better. The total opposite of this ONCE good hotel.

Stains everywhere, bad odor, poor customer service and an employee decided to use a key card to access our room in the moddle of the night without consent while we were sleeping which is NOT normal. Gelt very unsafe and will not be returning

Had to request additional hangers. Only 4 hangers for 2 women staying for 14 nights.
Furniture is very tired. Needs serious updating. Towels only changed every 3 days.
Staff I interacted with were friendly.
I would not recommend to anyone due to the worn and tired furniture. Kitchen worktop had burn stains and was badly chipped.

The keycard lock didn't work, it took 3 sets of keycards before the door card reader was repaired. No breakfast was provided, the hall and room carpets were stain spotted and in need of cleaning or replacement. We stayed at this hotel couple of years before covid19 and was very satisfied with it and expected at least the same this time, it was not

There are much better options in the area. The pool and hot tub were good. I did overhear a conversation between reception and a pest removal company representative, which means that there is an issue, but they are doing something about it. What bothered me most is on one occasion they printed off two sheets with no issue or cost. When I went back to ask again, they told me that it is $1 per page. They wouldn’t allow me to add it to the room bill, they wanted payment right away. On another occasion I asked for clean towels, but had to go back to my room to get dirty ones to exchange for fresh ones. In general I will say that the front desk attendants do not smile. I will not be returning.

Property needs upkeep.

Huge red flag when I sent three separate messages to this location and didn’t receive any response. When I arrived, it was a little out of the beaten pathway on a little sketchy road. Front desk, totally inhospitable. Hallway carpet gross! Entered the “apartment” to see a sofa chair and ottoman that couldn’t possibly have been changed in the last 30 years. You have to wonder how many years it takes to turn chair arms that black. I can’t imagine anyone sitting on it. You could put this on the curb and say free and there would be no takers. The little baby is sitting in a frame that doesn’t fit it. The keyboard on the cupboard is on the floor the cupboard under the sink look like it had been chewed by a dog. I pulled back the covers and there’s a clump of hair and the covers are totally wrinkled. When you look at the photo I posted please note how wrinkly it is, and I had not sat on it yet. I called down to the office on the nasty room, phone and ask for housekeeping to bring me new sheets. They said they didn’t have housekeeping, but they would bring me sheets. I said that would be fine. I waited and waited and waited. I finally called back down to the front desk and they said oh we don’t have any sheets. We tried to call your room, but your phone is not working. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I made reservations at another hotel and I checked out at six in the morning. I hope I save someone else from having the same experience just awful.

Great Location

Everything was great. Our room was perfect and we were able to cook our meals which saved us alot of money. The front desk men were nice and helpful. We were close to everything which was a bonus. I definitely will stay there again.

Location Location and Location