The Peabody Hotel

We just got back from a 4 night stay at the Peabody. Overall, the hotel appeared very nice. There was some remodeling going on, but the hotel was clean. Front desk staff, valets, bellboys, and cleaning staff were friendly and did their jobs well. Here are the two reason I would not return to the Peabody in the future. 1. The restaurants were overpriced. The B-Line Diner (the "cheaper" of the restaurants) was still pricey. A small glass of juice was $3.50. A glass of milk was $3-4. We ate at the restaurant the first morning, and never went back because of the cost. When most hotels have a free breakfast, I would not chose to stay at a place where my option is an overpriced breakfast. 2. The noise was awful. There is a gap under the doors of the hotel rooms. Almost everything from the hall can be heard in your hotel room. We were about 12 rooms away from the elevator, and on the opposite side of the hall from the elevator. Yet whenever the elevator arrived, we could hear the "ding/chimes" that it arrived, and the door opened. We could also hear our neighbors talking on the phone in a normal voice, hear their phone ring, ect... The hotel was not constructed with much insulation between the rooms. My nephew, who was a few doors away, woke up almost every night, some nights 3 times because of noise. This is definately not a place to stay with children, unless you want to be up often with them during the night. Our last night there, some people from across the hotel were so loud in the hallway (singing, yelling- yes, they were drunk!)- that we had to call the front desk 3 times. Later I found out my sister had also called the front desk. It took this many phone calls to get security to come up. So, despite the fact that it's a nice hotel, with comforatable beds, great pools, the 2 negative things far outweighted the positive things for us.

I'm from the UK and I have been to Orlando more than 15 times. I have stayed in many different hotels in Orlando and always wanted to stay in the Peabody. This time I finally did it. It is a wonderful hotel. It was a cut above. The music in the lobby in the evening is wonderful and lends it self to the atmosphere of the whole hotel. The cocktails are really great too! We ate in the b-line diner which was good, the shakes are fantastic. Meal was OK. The beds are the best in Orlando. I want to know their secret! The room decor was understated but you get a feeling of luxury. The pool was closed due to the hurricane (It had lots of leaves in it.) Over all a really good hotel. If you want something extra special about your holiday then I would highly recommend it. The ducks are really charming too!

Our family (which consists of my hubby, 4 yr old and 7 year old) had the pleasure of staying at the Peabody Orlando overnight August 14. This was the day after Charley hit florida and we had spent all day at the airport only to be turned away from a flight. We did not want to go back to out econotel (Doubletree). The people at the airport Sheraton recommended the Peabody so we checked in. Because of the hurricane they had a special rate of $149 per night. The first plus was that the electricity was still on...and from the reports from the employees never went off during the hurricane (they have a back up generator). The employees were all wonderful!! The first person to greet us was a very helpful bellman who helped us from our cab. We were very impressed with the beautiful interior (even though it is under construction). The bellman warned us that we were staying at one of the best hotels in Orlando and we would not want to go back to the cheap stuff...he was right! The room was a bit small for the four of us but it was very clean and the bed was a DREAM!! The kids loved the t.v. in the bathroom and the duck soap and lotion was very nice. The service was excellent as was the food at the B-line cafe (though it is a little pricey). The duck march was also a very nice touch. We hung around the hotel most of the day it the staff appeared to regularly clean up after the duckies. My husband and I are going back to Orlando in November for our anniversary and we are seriously considering the Peabody. I am going to try to get a good deal on line. You should try this place atleast once.

I stayed at the Peabody in July, 2004. I was part of a group on a trip to "check out" the new convention center for our early spring conference. This was my second time staying at the Peabody in 16 months and I have to say that the quality of service and cleanliness has gone WAY downhill. First off, our group (one of several vanloads of people from my organization) arrived at the Peabody and were welcomed by hundreds of teenagers departing from a church conference. They clogged the main artery to the entrance (only one entrance in the front is open, thanks to ongoing renovations) and it took several minutes before they could clear the teens away from the door for us to get off the bus. The convention entrance of the hotel (which is what our group has used on several occasions), with its dedicated bus areas and low traffic, would have been a much better choice to handle this crowd and the hotel should have pointed this out. Okay. Now we are inside the hotel. We walk past the construction and the duck fountain (which is covered in duck droppings). Not only is this a health issue, but a safety hazard as well, seeing as the droppings were on the POLISHED MARBLE FLOOR. Staff just walked right past it. I checked in and was given a room on the 23rd floor. Not too bad, I thought. Well, I was wrong. My husband and I got off of the elevator and was hit in the face by a VERY strong smell of Chlorine. It was as if I were in an indoor swimming pool. My nose and eyes burned. I got to my room and opened the door to find that they smell was worse in my room. I had to open the window (which actually only opened about three inches and turn on the furnace/air conditioner fan to air it out (we left for several hours to ensure that it was properly aired). It was in the high 80s with even higher humidity. Needless to say, my room was like the rainforest. In my previous trip to the Peabody, my room was nothing like this, was cool and smelled wonderful (like the duck soap). And speaking of air conditioning, even after we aired out most of the chlorine gas from our room the air conditioner barely worked. We had it set to 65, which was the lowest it would go. I slept in a t-shirt with no blankets or sheets as it was so warm. And I was one of the lucky ones. Several members of my group still did not have a room at dinnertime and was "compensated" with a smallish sitting room with a fold-down bed. At the rates my group paid, that was an insult. Okay. Now for the service. We ate at the B-line diner, as it was convenient and relatively inexpensive (although I still can't believe I spent $11.00 on six small pancakes [about the diameter of the top of a yogurt cup] and strawberries). Great food. Lousy service. On two occasions we stood at the doorway and waited several minutes to be acknowledged. Eventually a confused person would wander over to us and ask us if we wanted to eat. Lovely. So we sit down and are served (I use that term lightly) by the most incompetent waitstaff I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. Parts of our dinners were missing, cold, or just plain incorrect. One late night (11:30 p.m.) we went down to the B-line to get a snack. Our order consisted of a small pizza and a sundae for my husband. My pizza was delivered by another waiter and was not accompanied by the sundae. We were never checked on. I was finished with my pizza and was presented with the bill. No sundae. The waitress turned to my husband and asked him if he still wanted the Sundae. At at that point, he got up and left. This was pretty much par for the course. We kept returning for the food quality, hoping each time that the service would be better. It actually got worse. The best service we received all week was by one waiter who was non-challant and even overly casual, but at least got our order correct. HE got a tip. In addition to the above problems, there were several others that just made my overall impression of the hotel just a little dimmer. Like the area near the Hertz desk that smelled of Cat urine, the elevator that smelled of human urine, the duck poop, etc. All in all, it was not a good experience. I will return only because of business.

Walking to the old or new convention center is easy from the Peabody. Standing on your feet all day is not easy, but the Peabody will take care of your fatigue with their down filled beds, 24 hour room service, top shelf liquor in the mini bar, large marble bathrooms with TV, wireless access in the room, etc.. etc.. This hotel is a pleasure($$) to stay at. The 50's style deli is convenient with large portions of good food, the pool is quiet and clean, the lobby includes a crooner and lots of interesting water features with plenty of cozy rattan seating for informal gatherings. (the water can be noisy, choose your seat carefully) The staff is very accomodating if you don't mind paying, the drinks are not cheap but if you need to be pampered during a convention and impress your clients at the same time, this is the place to stay. In fact I would stay for a vacation it's so comfortable. Pricey but worth it if you want to aviod screaming kids and Disney crowds, this is a classy adult hotel on the edge of town. You can catch the trolley out front every 20 minutes or so for $1 to shop the strip. There's also a rental car office on site. (book in advance) Look up and you'll see a duck emblem on the building, you can't miss it...

I have one thins to say and one thing only about my beloved PEABODY hotel.. 2 TIMES TO THE PEABODY!! Not only was the bed THE NICEST bed I have ever slept in BUT ALSO the free roabes made the expierence that much better. One more time ... 2 TIMES TO THE PEABODY ! I loved it so much I made a song up about it I sing everytime I see it in Orlando. dj robb diggitty dogg

We stayed at the Peabody over Memorial Day weekend, 2004. When we arrived at 5:30 p.m., we were told our room wasn't ready. After some discussion, we were placed in a smoking room (the reservation was for a non-smoking room) but the smell wasn't terribly offensive and we were exhausted after a day of travel, so we lived with it. When checking out, I was asked if everything was satisfactory. When I mentioned the fact I was disappointed with having been placed in a smoking room, I was ignored and told to have a nice day. Just an aside: Arrgh! Management, if you're going to train your employees to ask "how was everything?" or "did you find everything you need?" please also train them to actually respond to any potentially adverse responses! Trust me--when the customer is IGNORED after answering the question truthfully, you're not making the best impression. There was a conference going on while we were there, and it seemed as though staff was unable to keep up with the messes conference-goers were leaving behind. We found hallways and lobbies littered with garbage; the pool area had probably hundreds of towels and garbage strewn about. It took several minutes at times to get an elevator. Our room was decent--just your typical hotel room, really. The TV in the bathroom is really just a teensy black and white thing--cool nonetheless. I've saved the positives for last. First off, the beds were the most comfortable I've EVER experienced in a hotel, and I've stayed at a lot of places. Amazing. The pool was great--huge and clean. Lots of clean warm towels for our use. We enjoyed it a lot. We made it to the duck march as we were checking out. Totally cute and fun to see. We were incredibly busy and hightailed it out of our hotel room the morning we were going to Disneyworld, and we left a pretty big mess in our wake--clothes strewn about, etc. We came back to an immaculate room. The service staff certainly went above and beyond--kudos for that. So it wasn't an all bad experience, but in a place that's supposed to be so top-notch, I did expect better--we left a bit disappointed.

We only stayed one night at the Peabody (8 May 2004) but wished it were longer! The beds were the most comfortable we have had in an hotel! We ate in the 50s style B-Line Diner and the food was great, as was the decor and the music. The waiting staff were very attentive. ... and of course, we got to see the Peabody Ducks! If we return to Orlando we shall make a point of staying at the Peabody.

My husband and I stayed here when attending the American Association of Orthodontists convention in May. It was definitely the best hotel in the location and if we were coming to Orlando again we wouldn't even consider other hotels. We had a huge room, more like a suite, overlooking the pool. The hotel has a choice of three restaurants including a diner open 24hours a day and serving take out food which is very useful. The staff were very helpful and we had a delightful week.

Have just spent the last four nights of our family holiday in Florida at The Peabody and have duly returned very disappointed. We had booked this hotel as an upbeat way to end our trip and both of the other hotels we stayed in surpassed it completely (Doubletree Universal and The Vinoy in St Petes). The lobby, bar and restaurant areas are admittedly very nicely done and promise great things to come as far as the rooms go, but here is where the hotel lets you down rather comprehensively. Whilst the rooms do have two beds suitable for four people they are by no means as large as others we have seen and the size of the room means that there is very little space left over for anything else. The width of the room is so tight that there is very little space at the end of the beds; you cannot fit a man's shirt into the wardrobe and close the door; and, most annoyingly, you have to be a veritable contortionist when it comes to sitting on the lavatory! When it comes to the bathroom, the hyped television in there looked as though it originated in the seventies and, more importantly, didn't work as either a television or a radio; the basin taps were of such a design that you had to use a towel in order to turn them on and off; and the drainage in the bath was so bad that when showering the water level was soon at mid-calf height. On a positive note, the B Line Diner was a good family-friendly choice and the musical entertainment in the bar area (Weds-Sat) was a nice way to round off the evening. Overall however, The Peabody was a case of too much hype and not enough substance to back it up - even the much-vaunted Duck Parade is at 11a.m. and 5p.m. and who is in their hotel lobby at those times during a busy Orlando holiday?