Holiday Inn Club Vacations - Orange Lake Resort Orange Lake Resort Tablets stolen from room. Poor security. Poor room conditions. Management does not care about the safety of the guests. Kissimmee Florida

Re: Orange Lake Resort

Holiday Inn Club Vacations

Orange Lake Resort

Confirmation Numbers: 3521064, 3521063

Dates of Stay: 12.31.17-1.5.18

Room Number: 5318

Good Afternoon,

Recently my family and I stayed at Orange Lake Resort (December 31, 2017 – January 5, 2018), my parents had given us the stay as a Christmas present as they have been IHG owners since 2004 (Originally South Beach Vacation Club). We had stayed at Orange Lake in the past and loved it so we requested to stay again. We arrived very late on the 31st as we were at Disney for the New Year’s Eve celebration. When we arrived in our room, we were extremely disappointed with the condition of the building and room. I will gladly supply photos of the following: The elevator is old and rickety, the exterior is not well kept, there were holes in our wall, our bedsheets had 2 holes and what appears to be blood stains, the air filter had mounds of dust (it looks as if it has not been changed in years), the toilet did not flush properly, the light fixtures had dead bugs in them, the cabinet doors did not open properly- one drawer did not open at all, and the appliances were old, dented, and worn out (in other words, everything was disgusting). The refrigerator actually froze anything that was placed in it. Nothing in this establishment was maintained, yet the owners are charged $700.00 in annual maintenance fees.

The next day, my husband went to the front desk to voice his concerns. At this point we had also asked about the security measure taken as there is not a card required for entry into the rooms from the exterior. There had been people up and down the hall all night. Kids were screaming and running around the next morning as well. Our issues were dismissed and he was told that we had been placed in this section due to the points used and that security was not an issue. If we noticed anything – we should just make them aware. In retrospect, I wish we had pushed the security issue.

As Orlando was extremely busy and we had no other options for accommodations, we stayed verses cancelling our reservations and going elsewhere. Tuesday night, we had requested more towels. We were told there was an $8.00 fee per set. We said never mind. I understand that this is policy but when maintenance fees are paid each year, the conditions of the hotel should be kept up and there should be no charge for exchanging towels. On Wednesday morning, VIP services had called, when my husband had told them what was going on, they told him that we were due for an upgrade because of the owner’s status and we should not have been placed in the club house area in the first place and that we were entitled to the upgrade at check-in. We did not press the issue or asked to be moved as it was already Wednesday and there was no point in moving at that point. We had already voiced our concerns and it did not seem to matter to the staff or management.

Thursday night, we returned late from the park. It looked as if our luggage had been riffled through and our clothes were piled up and messy. We repacked everything and decided that we would look through everything Friday morning prior to check–out as it was late and we were exhausted after the long day. While we were packing up on Friday morning, we noticed that our children’s tablets were missing (value of apx. $500). They had been placed in my husband’s backpack the night of the 31st when we arrived and we had left them in the bag the entire week. I would also like to mention that we had left the “do not disturb” sign up the duration of our stay so that no one would enter with our belongings in the room, as the tablets would not fit securely in the safe.

Friday morning, my husband went to the front desk to report what had happened, the manager on duty Dave, would not come out of his office to handle the issue. Finally, after my husband repeatedly insisted, he came out to speak with him. Dave’s attitude was basically “too bad”. He had no concern about the fact that there had been an apparent theft. He stated that he would have security call us. They never did call.

Later that day, my husband spoke with another manager, Franky, who stated he would follow up with security. Again, Security never called as promised. In the meantime, my mother was dealing with Jennifer (Operations). My mother was complaining about the room conditions and the security factor along with the theft. The issue was escalated to Nacey (Head of Operations) who told my mother that she had spoken with me (that never happened and that Dave stated we said the tablets could have been left at the park – also, never happened). My husband had explained to Dave that he had left them in his back pack in the room during our stay. This was twisted several times. It seems that everyone is trying to cover themselves and it is concerning to me that the staff is so casual and dishonest about the complaints. The entire situation has been handled in a severely unprofessional manner.

We were told that the time logs only show us entering and leaving the room so nothing will be done. We were also emailed a table of the log times/dates. I find this completely unacceptable and disappointing. We know that someone was in our room despite what the logs state. We also noticed a random log stating that the room was entered during a time when we were at Disney, this has yet to be addressed. The cameras should show an entry to our room by someone other than us.

Another area of security concern is that most chains will enter the room after 2 days of a displayed “do not disturb” sign as a security measure. The staff insists no one entered the room. After doing research, I learned that this is also a security issue that should be addressed, as most chains have this policy in affect to protect their guests. The lack of policy on this issue shows that Orange Lake has no concern for the security of its guests.

There are a number of issues ranging from cleanliness/maintenance, staff incompetence/professionalism/customer service, security, etc...These are major issues that need to be handled appropriately. The staff seems to need training on customer concerns, security, and safety. Browsing through past reviews, this is extremely evident that I am not the only patron who shares in these concerns. I have never dealt with such poor customer service. The fact that the BBB complaint percentage is at 80% negative is alarming in itself. This is not what I have come to expect from anything attached to the Holiday Inn brand. While I understand that this is an IHG partnership and not an ownership, I would hope that the IHG Corporation would be proactive with these concerns.

My expectation is that the tablets are replaced and my parents get some, if not all, of their points returned. I would also like reassurance that the staff has been dealt with and trained. Professionalism is key.

I reached out to Holiday Inn Corporate on 1.7.18. I asked that the correspondence be forwarded to the manager and general manager. I made them aware of the steps of actions that I would be taking should this issue not be resolved. No one has returned any form of correspondence. Nacey had promised that she would be in contact on 1.8.18 and never returned the call. I do not feel that Orange Lake is meeting a consumer obligation of safety, customer service, or maintenance (since maintenance fees are applied annually).

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or -concerns that you may have. I would also like the opportunity to share with you the photographs showing the mentioned maintenance issues as Orange Lake Resorts did not seem to be bothered by the conditions. I would recommend doing a google search on this resort "2012 Orange Lake Electrocution".