Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center

Recently on a trip to Orlando, I stayed at the Glaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida for a conference that was in the attached convention center. This hotel is what I consider a mega property. Its designed to be all inclusive and offer a little bit of everything for everyone.

It is designed to be all inclusive and offer a little bit of everything for everyone. It includes 1406 guest rooms, large outdoor pool with slide (never made it to the pool), 4 restaurants, large atrium with alligators, and many shops.

When I arrived at the hotel, they were in the process of moving the Marriott Bonvoy Elite checkin counter from the far right side to an area opposite of the current counter. (the next morning it was moved back to the main counter). At Checkin, I was provided with a map of the resort, a flyer of upcoming events and a wrist band to grant me access to the pool.

My room was in the St Augustine area of the hotel. The hotel contains four areas in total, St. Augustine, Key West, The Everglades, and Emerald Bay. You can read more about the hotel areas over on Wikipedia. There was two ways to get from the front desk to the area where my room was. I could either walk in the hotel hallways or walk in the atrium over to the “B” elevators. I chose the atrium walk as it did not have carpet. (Have you ever tried to wheel a suitcase over some of these hotel carpets?)

My room was on the 8th floor of the hotel and featured an Atrium view / balcony. The room contained all of the basics including a mini fridge and safe. The bed was very comfy and easy to fall asleep in. The Pillows did seam a little small for the size of the bed. There was a closet too that had a good amount of hangers and a spare blanket.

The Bathroom featured a double vanity with good size shower.

On the desk in the room there was a nice charging center that featured power, and usb. However the USB did not work.

The hotel did provide free bottles of water.

The only issue I had at this property is the self park. The gates would never open with my room key. The front desk re-issued my keys 3 times, the valet tried to help re-configure my key as well to no luck. It just simply said No Parking Contact found. Since the gate has an employee at it 24/7, they were able to override the gate and let me out. The hotel did credit back my parking costs with an additional $25 F&B credit for the inconvenience. I spoke with one of the parking agents and she said that I was not the only one having issues this week with parking. She showed me a binder that had over 6 pages of people with parking issues. The Hotel advised me that the issues were caused by a 3rd party’s software who manages the parking lot system.