Waldorf Astoria Orlando

My check-in experience truly set the tone for my stay. Dolton checked me in and truly delivered customer service that was top notch. I was there on business and got a corner room and each night it was so quiet. I ordered room service that was top notch. I used to struggle finding a nice place to stay in Orlando but not anymore. Thanks Dolton and the staff for a great stay. Greg Read less

My wife and I stayed for 5 nights during a family Disney World trip from March 8-13th. The rest of my family stayed on Disney property but we didn't want to be surrounded by Disney 24/7. We found the Waldorf to be a PERFECT getaway from the noise and commotion of the Disney properties and can't wait to return in the future. Our room was spotless and very well-appointed, service from the desk and bell staff was top notch, and both Oscars and Peacock Alley were fantastic in terms of both food and service. We utilized the Disney shuttle service on a few occasions without any issues, but used UBER/Lyft a lot too as we didn't always have time to wait for the next shuttle to or from. We had a top floor room with views of the parks so we were able to see the fireworks on a few nights that we returned to the hotel earlier. Location-wise, the Waldorf is in a great position between Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. No rides to the parks took more than 15 minutes. We had a fantastic stay and really enjoyed everything put out by the property. I would recommend to a friend or colleague in a heartbeat. Read less

I wanted to love the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, having enjoyed stays at the Waldorfs in NYC and Shanghai, but the hotel had too many failures on my two night trip to warrant anything higher than three stars. Too bad too, because the hotel is beautiful, and we were upgraded to an unbelievable suite. But the trouble started when we pulled into the portico and no one came to help us with our bags. A bunch of valets were running around but none of them so much as nodded in our direction, and there was no bellman in sight. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, I generally prefer to handle my own bags, but we had a lot of stuff and this is a Waldorf, not a Hampton Inn. After waiting for five minutes or so, I saw an empty luggage cart and grabbed it and loaded the stuff from our car onto it. No one stopped me, and so we wheeled the cart into the lobby and I checked in. Imagine pushing your own loaded luggage cart through the front doors of a 5 star hotel - it was an odd feeling. Of course a bellman eventually showed up while I was checking in and insisted on bringing our bags up. I should have asked him for a tip. Our room was stunning. I had reserved a regular room and thanks to having Diamond status was upgraded to a very large suite that faced the golf course and Disney parks. We were able to watch two different fireworks shows each night from our balcony, albeit from a bit of a distance. Pretty cool. The furniture, bedding, toiletries, etc. were all top notch. And the hotel is very quiet, a great place to sleep. There is no Disney theming whatsoever and very few kids running around so if you’re into that this isn’t the hotel for you. Our sink drained very very slooowly but we never reported it so it didn’t get fixed. This is something the room attendant would definitely have noticed so it’s disappointing they didn’t fix it without our notification. That was really the only complaint with the room. The parking situation here is troublesome. You have the choice between expensive and indifferent valet service or a not unpleasant but rather long 10-15 minute indoor walk to expensive self parking shared with the Hilton next door. Because we were here for the Disney parks and I read reviews on how slow valet was in the mornings, we opted to self park. The walk got old, but what was worse was that our room key failed to open the garage gates every single time we entered or exited. That was like 10 times in three days, and was very frustrating. Plus it’s like $30 per night for this privilege. After our first night we got up at 6am to eat breakfast and get to Hollywood Studios early. Sadly, the breakfast restaurant doesn’t open until 7am - 7am! - that’s way, way too late for Disney park goers, especially when the parks open at 8 and you need to walk 15 minutes to your car, wait 10 minutes for someone to get you out of the garage, and drive 15-20 minutes to a park’s parking lot. Fortunately they offer the croissant and pastry bar as another option starting at 6am, but a full breakfast sure would have been nice. They offer Diamond HHonors members $40 each morning in pastries if you don’t eat at the restaurant. This was very fair (most items were about $5) and allowed us to get a number of items that were more than enough for three of us to eat. And the pastries were great! Also the ladies working the pastry bar were the best employees I encountered at the Waldorf, very friendly and helpful. We returned the first evening at around 5pm and our room key didn’t work (after it also failed 15 minutes earlier to open the garage gates). Off to the front desk. I got new keys, which worked, only to discover our room hadn’t been cleaned. We had been gone 11 hours. My wife tried to call the front desk but it just rang and rang. On I think the third try someone answered and they serviced our room while we went to dinner. The manager offered to give us a very generous late check out, which we accepted and was actually tremendously helpful. But then the same situation the second day - key failed to open the garage, didn’t open the door that night, and the room hadn’t been serviced. Aargh. That was a pretty angry walk back to the front desk. I would probably be willing to give the Waldorf a second chance - it’s got to be one of the nicest Disney hotels and because of my Hilton status the perks are tremendous. The rooms are beautiful and the property is very nice. Also loved the Bull and Bear! But I would really expect better service and for the key situation to improve. And breakfast really needs to start earlier! Read less