Waldorf Astoria Orlando now open
For the first time since the Waldorf Astoria hotel was opened in the heart of New York City in 1931, there is another luxury hotel bearing the iconic name—and it’s right here in Orlando.Officially opened on October 1, 2009, the Waldorf Astoria Orlando takes up 482 acres of lush Central Florida property surrounded on three sides by the Walt Disney World® Resort. And even though the hotel is not surrounded by the urban bustle of Manhattan, there is at least one carryover from the Big Apple: a lobby clock handcrafted by master artisans, much like the lobby clock that has adorned the original Waldorf Astoria since 1931.
In addition to the personalized, 24-hour service that the Waldorf Astoria is famous for, guests at the new Waldorf Astoria Orlando can enjoy amenities such as a cabana pool and a zero-entry pool, jogging trails, bicycle rentals, premium retail shopping, fitness center featuring aerobic cardiovascular training equipment, personal fitness trainers and complimentary classes including yoga, aerobics and water aerobics
Other hotel features and amenities include the Championship Rees Jones Golf Course, the 24,000 square foot Waldorf Astoria Spa by Guerlain®, and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando Kids activities fro children over the age of five. On-site dining includes Waldorf Astoria New York favorites such as the Bull & Bear Steakhouse, Oscar’s, Peacock Alley, and Sir Harry’s Lounge, plus the poolside grill Aquamarine.
posted by Floridaescape.com at
10/12/2009
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1 Comments:
We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando in November 2009 for 14 nights. The first unexpected surprise was the Valet ONLY parking at $20 a day despite the web site failing to mention this fact. Actually the web site was pretty vague about the hotel in general. Not only do you pay $20 to have your car parked whether you like it or not but the service is poor and slow, Valet staff leave mud in the car as they have to run a gauntlet through unfinished areas of the grounds and then work you for tips (this service is provided by AAA and seems to be beyond the hotels control). The hotel is beautiful but they have failed to get finishing touches right and staff in some areas seem to lack customer service training. The room we had been given was facing the Disney parks (1117). On arrival we were surprised to find the room without a fridge despite the fact that the furniture which had been placed in the room had been designed for a fridge to be fitted. After 3 calls to reception a fridge was finally installed. (We were advised that we should have asked for a room with a fridge, not really what you would expect from the Waldorf Astoria and very odd considering the furniture had obviously been ordered with the intension of a fridge to be fitted.
Breakfast was taken in Oscars only once. Whilst the quality of food was good the service again was imposing. We were approached by 5 different members of the serving team asking if our food was ok and if we were enjoying our breakfast (we would have enjoyed our breakfast if we had been left in peace for 5 minutes). This was not the effortless service we have previously experienced from the original Waldorf Astoria in New York. My partner decided to make use of the Guerlain Spa area at $30 a day per person (this cost is just for the steam room and Jacuzzi) but he was disappointed to find the steam room was not working and maintenance engineers were trampling through the shower and relaxation area. Hardly the tranquil experience he was expecting and as a result of this and the initial poor handling of his complaint he chose not to make use of the spa and treatments again.
Above all else the worst thing about the hotel is the house keeping. They seem to follow no standard when servicing the rooms and its hit and miss as to what is done and more important what isnt. They don't seem to follow the information provided by the hotel advising guests on what to expect from there stay. Information in the room advised that a full change of linen would be carried out every 3 days. This wasn't the case and we had to ask for this to be done. Bath towels ect would be changed if placed in the bath tub like most hotels but this wasn't always the case and we had to poor mouth wash onto bath linen to get the maid to realize we wanted them replacing and not just hung up. Long black hairs were found in the bath after the apparent cleaning and the vanity unit round the sink was not cleaned throughout the stay as when we re packed our toiletries there was dust and dirt marks where they had been. We also had to ask for the room to be vacuumed. These are just the basics of good house keeping and something that really should be addressed.
Its disappointing when you choose to splurge on a little luxury for a vacation and find that you could have got better service from a lower grade hotel. I work in the travel industry and spend two thirds of my working year in hotels around the world and really expected better from a hotel with such a heritage. The final straw was being woken by the in room alarm clock at 7 am on a Sunday morning despite non of us even touching the clock radio during our stay. We viewed this as a petty response from house keeping to our complaints. Despite raising these issues early during our stay with the duty manager it is our view that the Waldorf Astoria staff failed to turn the situation around and were slow to respond. Very disappointing and if i were the Manager of the Waldorf Astoria New York I would be concerned for future damage to the brands reputation.
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