I'm going to try and be as objective as I can, though my thoughts are colored by the sleazy cruise outfit that brought me here in the first place. I'll get to them later - first - the hotel.

We ended up here after the Ramada Maingate West was oversold and this was the alternate provided by the package company. It is a 1970's vintage property - low end, low service economy accomodation. We had to walk up the outside stairs to the second floor room. Dated decor, worn linens, carpet stains and a bit of a musty smell. The maids appeared to have done the best they could and the room appeared to be as clean as you could get it with one exception - a long dark hair that sat on the outside of the toilet bowl, untouched for the 3 night stay. I don't think the daily cleaning is as good as the one between guests. The mattress was decent and the room location at the back of the property was quiet.

We never got to eat an evening meal in the restaurant (limited hours) but our included coupons allowed us to get a meal in the bar - a minimal selection from a bar menu. The burger was edible and filled a hole - which is as complimentary as I can get. Two mornings of breakfast, both buffet, were a tale of two cities. The first was very good - omellete cooked to perfection, a good selection of fruits and cereals - in a pleasant clean room. The next morning was a zoo - two less staff working and nothing was refilled, tables were dirty and dishes everywhere. The only thing good remaining was the delightful omellette cook.

They allege to have wi-fi but there was no service in the room - you had to take the laptop to the lobby to get reception. We did not use the pool or any amenities.

All in all, I could see spring breakers here, looking for a cheap place to crash and people booking based on the promo ads. If you shop, there are much better values out there. Look for other reviews on the rest of this stay in the Kissimmee area.

About the sleazy tour company: We had only ended up there from a "congratulations, you have won a free cruise" telemarketer. If you get the call, hang up and disinfect the phone as a precaution. The cruise is on the Bahamas Celebration. What they don't tell you is it isn't free (oh, surprise! - in fact it is expensive for what you get), it is all second rate (like this hotel) and they have stupid rules (like the package includes a one week car rental - but you can't choose your rental week - you have to bracket the cruise dates - so you pay rent for 4 of the days while the car is sitting parked in port - at $15 parking charges per day). They also don't tell you that you must sit through a morning of time share presentation. Then, when our reservations were incorrect, we had to pay a $20 fee to get them to correct their mistake - or sit through a different time share presentation at another resort. Avoid these people like the plague!

(As an aside, the boat itself is a smaller, dated, low service vessel that goes back and forth between West Palm Beach and Freeport. It has a casino and sort of a night spot. The food varied, with a selection of restaurants. Lunches were the low point and a very nice dinner was the high point. Watch for cheesy little add-on charges - like having your ice cream in a cone instead of a cup. It is not the Love Boat - and if you are booking, book it yourself, NOT in a package with any Ramada).

Do NOT stay at this hotel if you don't want a comfy bed for the night, decent pools, spacious rooms, cheap beer....DO stay if you want all of above!

We stayed here for 14 nights at the start of May and were a little worried due to some of the reviews. When we got to the hotel, the front desk staff were lovely, got checked in very quickly.

When we opened the door to the room (235, upper floor, tiled room) we were very pleasantly surprised! The room was large, with 2 double beds, fridge with little freezer compartment, microwave, TV, coffee maker (with coffee supplied), packaged plastic cups and a box for any ice you needed from the ice machine down the stairs.

The room was very clean, bathroom was spotless with plenty of towels (which were replaced daily). All of the fittings worked and even had an iron and ironing board there for us to use.

There was however, no battery in the smoke alarm and the safe didn't work...but we walked down to reception to tell them and the time it took us to get back to our room (2-3minutes) the maintenance guy was already there sorting it! Very impressed with that!

The air con worked very well, the beds were comfy, plenty of space and the rooms were cleaned every day! We didn't really have a problem with bugs....a few here and there...but it is Florida!! If you go on holiday here, you have to expect bugs!

The pools were fine, the indoor one was heated (i think) and was clean apart from a few bugs and leaves that had flown in - but it was cleaned out. the outdoor pools were lovely and the hot tub was ok. The heat was fine but the jets didn't really work in it. more like a hot bath with a few weak jets! But we were fine with that :)

We didn't try any food so can't comment on that, but we did sample the bar! Kim (barmaid and server) was such a lovely lady - really made our night when we went in! The beer is cheap and just keeps coming!

The nature reserve is gorgeous! There is so much wildlife there and it is huge...we just kept walking and seeing so much. There are plenty of paddle-boats...we thought there was only the one, but as we kept walking, we kept finding little mini lakes everywhere with extra boats, chairs and places for fires.

There is also a kids play area (we didn't try it out!!) that looked fun, clean and safe...located by the inside pool.

In reference to location....we found it brilliant. There is a Walmart not far away, Target is even closer as well as a Walgreens (i think its called that!). Easy to find Disney and Universal...certainly not within walking distance as some of the people on here may think due to reviews of people complaining about it...but people seem to forget that when places advertise "only a few miles from Disney"....they may be...but Disney is HUGE...when you get to the disney gates you still have to drive miles to get to the parks! The hotel do offer free Disney shuttles and a shuttle to Universal at a cost...but we highly recommend hiring a car to get places.

The hotel is dated, but as long as you are using it as a base to get your head down for the night, maybe have a swim in the pools etc, then it will be perfect. For the price you are paying, you can't complain really!

One of the best places to eat and drink is a bar 6 minute walk (as you are facing the road with the hotel to your back...walk to your right and keep going past the petrol station and its next to macdonalds!) and is called Houlihans. Believe it is a chain but we loved it and it quickly became our "local" :)

The staff are friendly, the food is good and the beer is great! There is happy hour from 5-10pm on the inside bar (2-4-1 on beer). Richard is a bartender there who is lovely and will do anything to make your evening enjoyable!

Overall, we would definitely stay in this hotel again - thought it was great!