Hotel Stay at Ramada by Wyndham Kissimmee Gateway in Florida

Great experience! I would recommend this hotel because of it's amenities and distance from Disney. I will come back!

Great budget hotel that could be so much better with a few changes I visited the Ramada Kissimmee Gateway with my 6 year old. Prior to arriving, I emailed to ask for an upgrade to a tower room and agreed to pay the cost when arriving, which was all confirmed via email. When we arrived I was informed that there was no tower rooms overlooking the Disney parks available and they couldn’t accommodate the request which was frustrating. I was then informed I had to pay a security deposit which was 450USD. I questioned this as online it says much less and I wondered if this included the upgrade cost, but was told it would be refunded at the end of our stay if the room wasn’t damaged. A manager came and agreed that we could approach reception in a few days to see if they can move us to a tower room free of charge. I spoke to other guests who was charged 150USD safety deposit. So I returned to the reception as agreed a few days later and spoke to a really helpful guy called Dalton. He sorted everything. Apologised for the mix up and went out of his way reorganising rooms, so we could move to a tower room free of charge as a way to make up for the situation. He informed me that the 450USD included the upgrade fee and immediately refunded it. We moved to the tower room, so I can compare the differences of the rooms. The standard rooms are part of what I would describe as a motel. The room was very dark, low lighting and what felt like from an American movie (a bit creepy), but after a day or two we got used to it. The room was clean and spacious. The tower room was on the 8th floor and was bright, airy, clean and spacious. The beds was also more comfortable too. The standard rooms are closer to the pools and car parks. Personally I would always go for the tower rooms because it felt more hotel like than motel. Plus the views over Disney for the fireworks was really nice when tired after a full on day. I couldn’t thank Dalton enough for sorting this for us as it made our holiday that extra bit special. The hotel grounds are well maintained and clean. There’s a large reception area with lots of seating, free coffee and water. The water wasn’t topped up enough, so ran empty a few times. We asked the lady maintaining the area to fill it but she would disappear and not return, even after an hour when we was spending time in the arcade area. This was frustrating, as she could I’d asked for someone to help if she couldn’t manage it. There’s a small gift shop and another shop where you can buy meals for the microwave if you are too tired to continue. The days are really full on. We ate breakfast at the hotel on one occasion. We didn’t return as the food wasn’t the greatest. Very limited with scrambled egg, very crispy bacon, beef type sausages and potatoes. There’s also donuts and pastries and cornflakes and rainbow hoop cereal. They also offered fruit but it wasn’t fresh and was the runners type. This could be improved as lots of guests wanted breakfast there but all said they went once and wouldn’t return. There’s a Starbucks to the left of the hotel main entrance and a bakery to the right. We went to the bakery most days as it was reasonably priced and the food was good. There’s also a Walmart five minutes walk away at the back of the hotel. You go left out of the main entrance and then left again through a car park, passing Starbucks and a steak restaurant. We used the hotel pool once. There’s plenty of sunbeds. One of the pools is heated which is great. Theres also a giant chess game nearby and an outdoor cinema, where the hotel played movies some evenings. We used uber and lyft to get to theme parks as the bus service offered limited times for universal in particular. We used the bus for Disney only. Check both lyft and uber as they vary in who is the cheaper option. Sometimes you have to wait a while for a driver to be allocated and in some occasions lyft cancelled last minutes which was annoying. So we found a driver who worked the hotel. He was so helpful and took card payment. He also charged the same as uber/lyft if you show him the cost online. I’ve attached his details in the photos as he is takes pre bookings for the airport too and was very reasonably priced. I highly recommend him. Overall the hotel is a great budget hotel offering easy access to the theme parks. There is a fair amount of traffic getting in and out of Kissimmee, but this wasn’t anything major and is apparently how it always is there. There’s a few restaurants nearby, but you have to cross the road which can be daunting because of how many cars there are. We booked Disney Magic Kingdom day tickets at the hotel. We had to change them at guest services at Disney, but this got us through the massive queues more quickly. The cost is the same if you book at the hotel or Disney I was told. I would return to the Ramada but only in the tower rooms, both the motel rooms. They could do with a make over. This is a great hotel for anyone travelling on a budget and only wants a place to shower and sleep. We enjoyed our stay there and was very sad to leave.

Tired smelly room Room 495 was tired and in need of a refit. Cables and sockets were loose and the room smelt damp. Shower dripped despite reporting this. Also noisy conditioning. Shame as the hotel is right by Walmart and plenty of shops/restaurants nearby