Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee

I took my fiance for a romantic weekend, and it was GREAT. Our room was upgraded for no charge when we arrived, and was beautiful, overlooking the Atrium. Everything was immaculate. We ate at Old Hickory our first night, and to this day, we consider that one of the best meals we've ever had. I really doubt you could be dissappointed by the Palms unless you're trying really hard. We'll absolutely be going back.

We live in Orlando and I wanted to take my partner "away" for a nice trip for our 10 year anniversary. I chose the Gaylord Palms Hotel because of the reviews and amenities. We stayed at resort from Friday, June 5 to Sunday, June 7 and we never even left the property the entire time. We had alot to do and with the relaxed atmosphere, it made the weekend perfect. The resort was running an anniversary special where you pay for the first night and the second night is free which helped make the decision to stay there. We even had our anniversary posted on the big screen monitor in the atrium that ran the entire time we were there which was awesome. The annoucement ran with paid advertisements and other anniversarys but it was still cool. The food at the Old Hickory Steak House was AMAZING! I would highly recommend eating there. The breakfast at Villa de Flora was okay and overpriced but a nice change and the same for the Sam's Fish house. The pool area was nice and well maintained with nice clean towels everywhere. Pool water was warm which was nice. We would highly recommend this hotel for a short stay. Long term would probably break that bank! The rooms have mini refrigerators in them so bring drinks and snacks to save money.

We booked a king-size bed on the Internet through the Gaylord Palms Web site. We checked in believing that we were receiving a king-sized bed, but when we arrived at our room, we found two queen beds. When we called to complain, we were told the reservation was not “guaranteed” and that the only room with a king-sized bed was a "handicap accessible room." I understand contracts and fine print, but what's the point of reserving a room (and paying for it, and then flying to Florida) if you don't get what was promised to you. They take your money up front, but claim they have no obligation to supply what you believe you were paying for? Gaylord Palms can certainly rely on fine print, but hotels should avoid that, because relying on fine print almost always results in poor customer service. With regard to billing, there are some pretty significant hidden fees. It was borderline humorous to review the bill. Fees included property tax assessments against the hotel property that they were passing on to customers. It was borderline absurd. It's not a time share, people. Passing on your property taxes to a tourist may seem like a good way to pay for schools, but don’t put it on the bill, just disclose it to customers when they reserve a room. Likewise, the overnight parking fee was over $12.00 per night and the "resort fee" was over $16.00 per night. Just add the stupid fees into the room fee, rather than hiding them as an after-the-fact charges on the bill. With regard to security, one of my wife's necklaces was stolen from the bathroom counter. We could only presume it was the cleaning staff who took it. We discovered it had been stolen when we packing. My wife went to the front desk to file a report, but no one from security was available to take the complaint, so we eventually left because it wasn't an expensive necklace (fortunately) and we didn’t want to waste our time. Still, any hotel where anything disappears is cause for significant concern. Finally, and it's a minor issue, but the toilet paper dispenser in the bathroom was loose and falling out of the wall when we arrived. It was the recessed type (where the drywall has to be cut out to install it) and it could be pushed back into the hole in the drywall, which is apparently how the cleaning staff was handling the problem.

Pros: (1) Looks nice from a far (2) Close to Disney theme parks (3) Decent conference areas (4) ICE (5) Nice Christmas decorations at the attrium (6) In room computer with free internet access Cons: (1) Way too pricey (2) Lobby is below average at best (3) Room is average - nothing fancy (4) Service is average - toilet tissue was not refilled on 2 days and did not get new bottle water on 1 day (5) One white parking attendent was nice but 2 black parking attendents were nasty. They intentionally parked cars around mine when I didn't left my key with them. Just went up to my room to drop off some stuff. (6) Extra $15/day resort fee for 2 water bottles, newspaper and computer usage is not justifiable (7) $12/day parking on top of the room price & resort fee (8) Internet was very slooooooow and couldn't open large files (9) Toilet water runs - a little annoying & waste water. Cleaning staff didn't care to get it fix. (10) One sink drainage was bad (11) The "room service/do not disturb" switch has a missing screw. Had to hold it down to press the switch. (12) Resort is isolated so family had no where to go when I was in conference. Overall, poor experience for a very pricey hotel. 3-star service for 5-star price. Will not recommend this hotel to anyone.... unless you have a conference there.

The resort fee and the parking fees are stupid. Add this all up, plus if you want to get a similar room to the ones on the Disney property plan for a room upgrade at the Gaylord Palms and you will far surpass staying in a Disney property. Don't stay at Gaylord Palms unless you absolutly need to because you will get better service and value out of the 'one fee' for a Disney property hotel.

After an 8 day cruise our family decided to extend our vacation by another 1 ½ days and go to Disney World. We normally stay in one of the Disney Hotels but were unable to book a room. I found the Gaylord on a website that advertised a room for $99.00. Looking at the Gaylord’s main web I realized that this would be an awesome deal in the price. We loved our stay here. Location is perfect for a Disney visit. The room was lovely, clean, larger then normal and over looking the atrium. I must admit that due to time constrains that we did not use any facilities like the pools and also did not have a chance to even stroll through the atrium. The front desk clerk was very nice and the concierge also was very willing to print our Southwest airline tickets while we enjoyed Disney. The only thing that I did not agree with is the extra charges for parking and resort fee. I know that they could lump these prices into the room rate and charge more each night; but I just hated seeing them as a separate charge on my bill. I would defiantly stay here again and hopefully have more time to enjoy the hotel.

This hotel was one of the best we stayed in, it's like been in another world, the service was great, eating in was very pricey but overall it was great, the front desk crew very kind, conseige was very helpful, our room was nice and clean, spacious, nice bathroom, on a scale of 1 to 10, this hotel deserves a big 10. Will go back in a heart beat, parking is $12 and hotel fee is $15. Internet service was very slow. I really didn't mind paying the fees because the service was just great.

I am writing this at 1:50 am as I am awake for the 4th straight nite while the bar below my room/balcony(Key West) is full of patrons and the same buffet songs playing hour after hour. By no means do I blame it on the folks having a great time - they are at a bar. However, why is a wing of rooms located in an echo chamber overtop a bar for business travelers? The hotel is booked for a convention and for my 4th straight request since arriving I have been told all rooms are sold out thus I can not move to another room. Avg sleep time 3.5 hours per nite as I must awake to begin my daily routine of business meetings at 6am, however, at 5:15 the cart for housekeeping and workers begin to shuffle on the board walk and remind you of the lack of peace and quiet in this hotel. I read a few reviews on this site about the expensive food - it is absolutely expensive. Choice for breakfast - either an overprices java hut with 2 tables with 2 day old boxed bagels or a buffet for $18.50 per person. Need not get into lunch or dinner. I have been traveling for business both stateside and abroad for many years - this is by far the worst bang for the buck and my company is even paying for this trip. I feel guilty expensing a $3 water and approx $25 for an egg, toast and coffee as it is very unnecessary. If money is not an option, you are a heavy sleeper and do not mind poor service - it will be just fine. For the experienced traveler - your review will be the same. Safe travels to all.

Wonderfully friendly staff for whom nothing is too much trouble. Came for NAVC conference on my own and discovered a truly beautiful and relaxing environment in which to study and feel welcome

Everything about my stay was great. our room was perfect. the entertaiment was great. i came to visit Disney, I enjoyed Gaylord Resort more. Everyone on your staff were helpful and always had a great big smile. The ice show was the best.