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admin July 11th, 2007

At approximately 9pm, the Continental Airlines plane touched the ground of Orlando. The first thing that I realized was that the Orlando Airport is far more beautiful than Newark Airport, John F Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia Airport which are all located in New York. It’s up to the same level as KLIA with having an extra star for it’s train shuttle design. It was purple, blue and red in mixed color, which makes it look awesome! However, I forgot to take the pictures =(

We took a taxi to our reserved hotel - Best Western Maingate East, only to realize that it was so far away from the main attractions and the room is not as big as it seems in the picture. However, I would congratulate this hotel for having a very good customer service at a very cheap price. We only paid $200 for 5 nights and the room is cleaned and the towels are changed everyday! In my opinion, that room should worth more than $200 for 5 nights - we got a pretty good deal. They have a separated Guest Services table than the Front Desk, which makes it easier for us guest to inquire about services, taxis and attractions without having to lined up with all the other people who want to check in or check out. They even helped us to reserve taxis and shuttles without much hassle. They even gave us a whole bag of samples (lotions, bars, facial wash, etc) - I shouldn’t have brought mine all along.

Aside from the good customer service, there is some things that I don’t really like about this hotel which are that they don’t provide complimentary continental breakfast (okay, for only $40 a night, what else would you ask for?) and the unreliable free shuttle. The free shuttle is provided by a different company, Florida Sunset Shuttle. Seriously, I HATE this company. Why? Read on.

This shuttle serves about 20 different hotels using only one shuttle. Living in Best Western Maingate East, we were among the first ones to be picked up by the shuttle before the driver drives to the rest 18 hotels along West Vine Street. So, instead of just 15 minutes to go to Disney World theme parks, it took us one and a half hour to get there. That is what you get for taking free shuttle. Wasted one and a half hour of your life. It’s not just that, when we were at Epcot, the bus left before the schedule time which is 10.15pm (they left at approximately 10.10pm) and I was standing right next to the bus without the bus driver telling me to get into the bus. Then, we went to Magic Kingdom to catch the 11.30pm bus, while the bus showed up after midnight. 30 minutes late. From the way the driver drove the bus, it made me think that the guy had never drove a bus before. The bus went up on a few borders and nearly ran into light posts. It was dangerous. They even didn’t show up when we booked them to go to Universal Studios. Oh my, I’ve never seen a company this unreliable.

I would suggest you to book a room at Best Western Maingate East since this room can fit approximately 6 people (2 double beds and a queen sofa bed) ONLY IF you have a car. You’ll get a very good deal, cheap nice room, towels are changed everyday, room cleaned everyday and a free parking. Don’t rely on the bus or shuttle. Almost all the hotels on West Vine Street and Polynesian Isle uses the same company, so it’s a big NO-NO. If you don’t have a car, you’ll waste more than $100s on transportation. (You have to pay for taxis to go somewhere else besides Disney World). Spend a few more dollars to find some hotels on the International Drive and you can ride the public transportation that is available every hour for only a buck per ride. You’ll save more money and time this way even though the hotel room might be about $10-$50 more expensive per night.

So, the summary is, Best Western Maingate East is good for people who have their own car and the shuttle service really makes the hotel look bad. I like the hotel but definitely not the shuttle.

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