I booked the Imperial Palms through Interval International on a trade as a Marriott Vacation Club owner. I was looking for a 3 bedroom unit to accommodate our party size, and I was looking for something close to Disney.
I have to say that in terms of proximity to the Disney parks you cannot find a closer resort than the Marriott Palms properties. The 3 bedroom at the Imperial Palms was more than ample in size, with room to spare. We were a party of 7, 4 adults and 3 kids. I have no complaints on the location and size.
I did however find this property to be very dated, and lacking in terms of service. Having stayed at several other Vacation Club properties, I would say that this property is in need of attention, and would place it in a lower tier.
Upon entering our room we were met with a VERY strong mold and musty smell. Now, I realize this is Florida and that with the humidity and hurricanes that its common place to have a musty smell in hotels. Having said that, I have never had a room smell this bad! I called down to the desk to see if another room was available, but due to spring break season the resort was full. They did send housekeeping to the room to check on it. When she arrived she told me that most rooms have a strong smell like ours. She left behind a bottle of fabric cleaner and air freshener. After saturating the carpets, curtains, and other fabrics in the room it did smell a bit better. We did notice though that returning each day the smell was still very strong. Several of us with sensitivities to allergies from mold struggled for the week.
Cockroaches, yep they were out in full force! luckily we did not find any in the room. We did however see them all over the hallways, and in the doorways trying to find a way inside the rooms. Probably has a lot to do with the amount of garbage being left outside of peoples rooms instead of being placed in the garbage shoot near the elevators. That issue leads me to the next issue at hand which is service and staff training.
I was given a lot of non-consistent and misinformation from the staff. Prior to visiting I called ahead and asked about grocery delivery. They said it was no problem as they receive order all the time. They even said they would place items that needed to be frozen or refrigerated away for us until we could pick them up at the check in desk as there was plenty of room for those items. When I arrived to check in I told them a order would be coming. Then man checking us in said they only have a very small fridge and freezer space and that they would "try" to store things if they could. It ended up working out as we got back to the resort only minutes after our order was dropped off so nothing frozen thawed out. Upon check in I did inquire about the location of the garbage shoot asking where to place garbage. The gentlemen said its ok if we leave it outside the room as housekeeping would come by and grab it. That did not seem correct to me. Hence the problem with the cockroaches. I mentioned this to another staff member a few days later and was told this is absolutely not correct, never leave trash outside your room. I did have to call down the desk and request more toilet paper and garbage bags. I was told someone would be right up. I ended up having to call again the next day as no one ever came. It took 3 calls to get more. Everyday the cleaning staff would congregate outside near the elevators and talk. Seems like they spend a lot of time there, and not much time spent keeping the hallways clean as there was always several bags of trash that could have been tossed helping keep the roaches away.
We did use the main pool up at the Marriott World Center Hotel one day. We went down to the main desk to request the "on demand" shuttle to take you back and forth. When we got to the desk the shuttle was there, but no one could seem to locate where the driver went. We go tired of waiting and started to walk over. Upon our walk we were picked up by the shuttle.
Would I stay at this resort again? Probably not. I did love the location, and size of the 3 bedroom, but outside of that it was not a great expierience compared to other Marriott properties.
I have to say that in terms of proximity to the Disney parks you cannot find a closer resort than the Marriott Palms properties. The 3 bedroom at the Imperial Palms was more than ample in size, with room to spare. We were a party of 7, 4 adults and 3 kids. I have no complaints on the location and size.
I did however find this property to be very dated, and lacking in terms of service. Having stayed at several other Vacation Club properties, I would say that this property is in need of attention, and would place it in a lower tier.
Upon entering our room we were met with a VERY strong mold and musty smell. Now, I realize this is Florida and that with the humidity and hurricanes that its common place to have a musty smell in hotels. Having said that, I have never had a room smell this bad! I called down to the desk to see if another room was available, but due to spring break season the resort was full. They did send housekeeping to the room to check on it. When she arrived she told me that most rooms have a strong smell like ours. She left behind a bottle of fabric cleaner and air freshener. After saturating the carpets, curtains, and other fabrics in the room it did smell a bit better. We did notice though that returning each day the smell was still very strong. Several of us with sensitivities to allergies from mold struggled for the week.
Cockroaches, yep they were out in full force! luckily we did not find any in the room. We did however see them all over the hallways, and in the doorways trying to find a way inside the rooms. Probably has a lot to do with the amount of garbage being left outside of peoples rooms instead of being placed in the garbage shoot near the elevators. That issue leads me to the next issue at hand which is service and staff training.
I was given a lot of non-consistent and misinformation from the staff. Prior to visiting I called ahead and asked about grocery delivery. They said it was no problem as they receive order all the time. They even said they would place items that needed to be frozen or refrigerated away for us until we could pick them up at the check in desk as there was plenty of room for those items. When I arrived to check in I told them a order would be coming. Then man checking us in said they only have a very small fridge and freezer space and that they would "try" to store things if they could. It ended up working out as we got back to the resort only minutes after our order was dropped off so nothing frozen thawed out. Upon check in I did inquire about the location of the garbage shoot asking where to place garbage. The gentlemen said its ok if we leave it outside the room as housekeeping would come by and grab it. That did not seem correct to me. Hence the problem with the cockroaches. I mentioned this to another staff member a few days later and was told this is absolutely not correct, never leave trash outside your room. I did have to call down the desk and request more toilet paper and garbage bags. I was told someone would be right up. I ended up having to call again the next day as no one ever came. It took 3 calls to get more. Everyday the cleaning staff would congregate outside near the elevators and talk. Seems like they spend a lot of time there, and not much time spent keeping the hallways clean as there was always several bags of trash that could have been tossed helping keep the roaches away.
We did use the main pool up at the Marriott World Center Hotel one day. We went down to the main desk to request the "on demand" shuttle to take you back and forth. When we got to the desk the shuttle was there, but no one could seem to locate where the driver went. We go tired of waiting and started to walk over. Upon our walk we were picked up by the shuttle.
Would I stay at this resort again? Probably not. I did love the location, and size of the 3 bedroom, but outside of that it was not a great expierience compared to other Marriott properties.
Last edited:
