The Wyndham Resort (aka RT 2009 hotel)

Through the random coincidence generator of Hotwire, hubby and I stayed at The Wyndham Resort in Orlando this weekend. A few writer type peeps who are going to this years Romantic Times convention asked for some details; here’s what I’ve got.

Note – As mentioned, we booked our room through Hotwire. I would not be shocked to find out that we had the worst room in the place; in fact, for the sake of everyone paying full or near-full convention price, I hope we had the worst room in the place.

First – the good:
The very best thing I can say about this place was that the workout room rocks. Half a dozen treadmills, at least as many elliptical and bikes, and both free weights and a full wall of various body-part-specific machines. Four tv’s, and you are welcome to change the channel to whatever you want. Water cooler and fresh towels, and sani-wipes at each station. Yoga mats and balance balls. More that I can’t remember. Temp set low enough to stay comfortable after you break a sweat. A great view of the pool in front of you, and while I was in there, some serious man candy as well (the calf muscles on the man in front of me distracted me for the entire C25K session I had committed to.)

They also offer massages although I didn’t have time to check that out. The woman’s locker room had both steam and sauna room. The shower area was nicer than what was waiting for me back in my room, and I was wishing I’d carried my bag over so I could shower and clean up there.

The convention area itself seemed entirely suitable for the RT convention. There was no convention going on while we were there, so I can’t speak for how that part will go. Likewise, the restaurants weren’t being taxed by hundreds of readers and writers, so no idea what they do that will or won’t make that part a success.

Our guest room had hardwood floors with a few area rugs. I actually liked this because I could tell the floor was clean, and didn’t have to worry about what was hidden in the carpet.

OK, if you only wanted to positives, you can stop reading now.

The bad :

No wireless internet in the rooms. Too far from any other hotels to hope to “borrow” a signal.

The guest room itself was on the small side, but we weren’t doing anything but sleeping there, so we coped. It was 2 beds, a tv cabinet, a table, 2 chairs – your basic room. Three standard pillows per bed, plus 2 decorative. The linens were hotel standard, not the luxury level I’ve gotten used to from staying at Marriott and Loews.

The bathroom was a nightmare. It’s only redeeming feature was a large countertop. The tub caulk was flaking off in several inch long strips. The tub itself had some sort of black dirt ground into the surface that I couldn’t wipe out, so the kids were told to take showers for the weekend.

There were several fire ants (one of which had the courtesy of suiciding in the toilet, but that freaked my daughter out and made her all but refuse to go to the bathroom for the weekend.) There was a mystery bug that stayed up on the ceiling where I couldn’t get to him. People who say “Florida hotels always have bugs” – no, they don’t. I spend about 30 hotel nights a year in Florida, and rarely find bugs in the clean ones.

The ceiling had two spots where the popcorn surface was coming down. The one right outside the bathroom was only cracked and slightly sagging. The one over the tv was already gone in one gaping spot, and was losing the fight in several others.

The walls – oh my, the walls. I’ve slept in tents and had more privacy. The neighbors on one side had children, one of which was of the “up all night and going to cry in several pitches and at the loudest possible decibel” variety. The crying from the baby didn’t bother me nearly as much as whichever parent it was that took to screaming at him around 2am.

The neighbors on the other side were relatively quiet in comparison. I don’t think the kids noticed.

The upstairs neighbors were of the “wild monkey” variety. I’m not talking about their eating habits. Believe me, they were making the earth move. Or at least their furniture. My kids were out of the room when they had go-round-one, and I *think* they were asleep through round two.

Something that I wouldn’t like in a convention hotel but which didn’t really bother me either was for our stay was the way the place is laid out. It is of the “many buildings each surrounded with it’s own parking” layout, not a tall vertical building with floor after floor of guest rooms. I would not want to trek from building 4 or building 6 all the way over to the convention hall in the Florida sun. Or in the Florida rain. Or in a fairy costume.

Oh – there was one more positive. When the hotel room safe stopped working, security was there in less than 10 minutes to get it open for me. So, fast security! If you need it.
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If you’re going to RT, I suspect you’re going to have so much fun with the actual convention that these details will be at worst a minor annoyance, and not the sort of thing that makes or breaks it for you. But I’d recommend you request a room near the convention, and take advantage of the health club. If nothing else, it will make a great backup shower if you’re splitting the room with a few friends.