Jason Ast

Review of Crowne Plaza Orlando Downtown

The following review will sound like ranting chaos...

The following review will sound like ranting chaos from a deranged individual...you know, a man who hates everything and everyone---I assure you this is not the case. Our stay here has been terrible--so much so, that I literally can't post this review as I'm writing it due to the fact that the Internet service to this hotel is non-existent. We actually have to leave our hotel room to find service. With that said, I hope you find humor in our ordeal because my wife and I surely have not enjoyed our stay (24 hours in).

We are currently staying in this hotel, we checked in last night at around 8pm or so and was informed our room was sold and we were 'downgraded' to another room. My wife and I laughed it off and went about our evening.

We get to our room to check on emails we missed while in route...only to find a terrible Internet connection. We called the front desk and was forwarded to a 'help desk'. As per usual, the help desk asked us to run through the usual steps; 1> Restart your computer, 2> turn off wifi, turn back on...etc etc etc. She then told us that our service to the hotel was 'narrow'. I understood this as, the Internet is being 'throttled' (limited) to the hotel.

Over the next hour, the wifi didn't get any better. I called the front desk and asked for a manager. I was on hold for a bit before the lady said the manager was busy and would call me back.

Around 12:30am my wife and I finally stopped waiting--the Internet was no better, and probably a bit worse. The manager --> never <-- called us back.

This morning at around 7:30 am we tried to get some work done again. (remember, we're on a business trip...with business people...at a trade show). Internet still doesn't work well, very slow and kicks you off every 30-60 seconds. *You can see the Internet speed in the below image.

I called the front desk again...asked for a manager. The call was finally answered by a manager that seemed irritated all ready. She was condescending at every turn. "Sir, you weren't -downgraded-, we just gave you a different room than you asked for and reserved"...."sir, it's only been 1 day.

My wife finished in the shower and began to dry her hair while I fooled with the Internet. We didn't bring a hair dryer because we were told that each room had one. They were correct...there was a hair-dryer shaped instrument in the bathroom--it's just that it barely blew air...and the dang thing refused to blow warm air, let alone hot. Par for the course I guess.

I went down to meet with the manager in person. "You're the only person that can't get on the Internet" was her response. Obviously this annoyed me. After a few more minutes trying to understand why our stay was going so poorly, my wife and I were asked to return to our room and wait for a technician to visit us and try to help.

We headed out for the day to conduct business, stopping by the vending machine on our floor. Sometimes a cold Coke does wonders to get your day started.

Sold Out.

Yep, our stay is getting better and better!.

Upon arriving back at the hotel 8 hours later, we checked to see if the Internet problem was resolved.

Nope.

Now we're simply laughing at our 'journey', trying to make the best time while we're here. I've decided to allow this review to serve as a quasi-journal of our experience here.

I've noticed other people have left reviews with similar complaints as mine, at least that makes me feel better since the manager on duty lead me to believe I was a one-in-a-million oddity.

So as to not come off as a negative-nelly, I'll share some positives of our stay;

1> There is a bed, with pillows
2> The toilet works
3> A social media practitioner will respond to my review below in a few short moments consoling me with empty gestures..."I'm so sorry we let you down"..."We have many positive reviews..."

Here goes the 2nd 24 hours...wish us luck :)