I spent two nights at the DoubleTree in Downtown Orlando as a result of being mandatorily evacuated due to Hurricane Ian. Most of the other people staying in the hotel were in a similar situation. I felt that the hotel did a good job of dealing with the huge surge of stressed out people. The DoubleTree wasn't our first choice, but when we decided to evacuate to Orlando, many other gulf coast Floridians were making similar choices, and we got turfed to this DoubleTree with a different Hilton property. The location is pretty good. It's close to downtown, close to the Lake Ivanhoe area, and close to I4. There were a bunch of restaurants within walking distance. The parking isn't exactly connected to the hotel, which wouldn't be a problem in non-hurricane situations. There was no valet when we arrived. There were staff available to help with bags, etc., although the person was helping the car in front of me, so I unloaded everything myself (which was fine). My parents were able to check in early for both rooms, and from what I observed in the lobby, they had enough staff that no one was waiting for too long for check in. They were definitely well stocked with bottled water and cookies for everyone checking in. We had two connecting rooms so that my parents could help with the kids and we could pool resources. The rooms have refrigerators which are pretty spacious. The rooms were a bit dated, but the beds were reasonably comfortable (although the pillows could have been more supportive), there was a practical set up of seating, and everything looked clean. Because the hotel was booked to full and because the Hurricane was going to go through Orlando as a tropical storm, there was no standard housekeeping available, but you could request new sheets/towels/amenities to be delivered to your room. I spoke with a bartender, and the Hilton had several employees who stayed in the hotel for the duration of the storm warning and storm to make sure that things were running for guests. I very much appreciated that they kept the kitchen (albeit with a very limited menu) and bar (full bar still available) running and that maintenance was available the whole time. While I didn't love the limited menu at the restaurant, at least we had the option of hot food! The hotel is on the same power grid at the local hospital, so we never lost power. The cable flickered a bit once the winds became strong. The window in my parents' room did spring a leak during the storm, but thankfully the amount of water that came in was manageable with a couple towels. The downstairs cafe and lobby became very waterlogged during the storm. But from a safety perspective, we all came through the storm. And when we elected to check out after two nights instead of the three we booked, the hotel graciously didn't charge us for the final night.
51 Reviews