Review: Conrad Orlando - 1 King Bed Suite

This is my review of the brand-new Conrad Orlando Evermore Resort. I had an awesome stay--despite a few initial hiccups. My family looks forward to returning to this property later this year.

Regular readers will know that these blog pages are huge fans of the Hilton superchain's Conrad brand. Trying the most recent addition to the Conrad chain in the United States was a must. The hotel opened in January this year.

I got a brilliant deal at this property, booking a standard king bed "nature view" room for 90,000 Hilton Honors points a night. As a diamond member, I received the fifth night free, so the total cost came to 360,000 Hilton Honors points for five nights.  At the time of booking, standard rooms were selling for $900+, giving me an outsized redemption value of 1+ cents per point. 

The Conrad Orlando is located in the Evermore resort, southwest of downtown Orlando, and a short distance from the Walt Disney theme parks. I found it useful to have access to a rental car during my stay; there's not much within walking distance. The hotel charges $50/night for valet parking; there's no self-parking option. 

The first impression was awesome. On arrival at 5pm, the friendly valets escorted me and my luggage to the front desk. The lobby is an amazing, light-flooded space with awesome views of the pool and lagoon. 

Check-in was friendly but concise. Without having to ask, I was upgraded from a "nature view" room without a balcony to a pool-view room with a balcony on the top floor. That was a fantastic start. But it would have been good if the check-in agent had also explained the property's amenities, Hilton Honors benefits, and the resort fee for instance. 

To be sure, a benefit of Hilton redemptions is that resort fees are waived. At the Conrad Orlando, this saved me $50 a night or $250 for the stay. But it would have been good to know what the fee waiver actually got me. I later found out that the daily resort charge includes:

• WiFi 
• 1-hour kayak rental
• 1-hour paddle board rental 
• 2 bottles of water daily 
• Disney Theme Parks shuttle 
• $20 off golf club rentals 
• 10% off apparel & merchandise at Grand Cypress 
• 20% off spa treatments.

The initial room I received had a lot of potential. Located on the top floor, I could see the daily Disney fireworks between 9 and 9.30 p.m. Although the hardware was amazing, the room felt like it had not been cleaned at all since the construction workers left. The plastic covering at the top of the door had not been removed after the paint job, construction stickers were still on wood and window panels, wood shavings were all over the closet, and to top it off, the previous guest's food had not been removed from the mini-fridge. 

Thankfully, the hotel addressed the situation quickly, eventually upgrading me to a 1-bedroom suite on the fifth floor to apologize for the bad first impression. 

What an upgrade that was! The suite was bright and pristinely clean, featuring a reception area, a guest bathroom with a walk-in shower, a large living room, a balcony overlooking the pool, an awesome bedroom, a huge bathroom with a tub, a separate shower, and a closet. The living room came with a dining table, a Nespresso coffee machine, a TV, a kettle, and a comfortable sofa.  There were plenty of power sockets with USB charging ports throughout the room. The toiletries are by Byredo (Mojave Ghost). Don't these photos just speak for themselves?

The hardware at this property is quite simply--wait for it--amazing! The hotel has a large, heated pool, an even larger (unheated) laguna-style lake, a well-equipped gym, and several fantastic restaurants. I tried the Sophia's Trattoria outlet for breakfast and dinner (the overnight oats and Napoli pizza quickly became my favorites!), the Papaya Club (the poke bowl and Papaya burger are delicious), and Apero. Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond members receive a $25 daily credit per person instead of a continental breakfast. The credit can be used anywhere in the hotel, and goes quite some way toward a modest meal. For instance, the overnight oats cost $15, and a pizza $21 or so (excl. taxes and tips). The quality of the food was outstanding throughout.

The hotel has a well-equipped and spacious gym and probably also has a fantastic spa area. I say probably because to get access to the spa facilities like the sauna and steam room, you need to book a treatment. But the treatment list in the room and at the spa reception does not give prices, nor does it mention that on-property guests receive 20% off. Since no one had explained the resort fee to me on check-in, I only found out about the 20% discount on my final day when I asked for the treatment prices. At this point, there was no availability before I had to head to the airport for the flight home.

This brings me to my only complaint: the software (service) felt erratic at times. For example, sometimes the housekeeping replenished the bottled water, tea bags, and coffee capsules in the room, but on two of the five days, they didn't. On some nights, the turndown service left delicious chocolate pralines on the bedside table; on most nights they didn't. On the first night, there was no turndown service whatsoever. And although the housekeeping team changed the bedsheets every day, they consistently forgot to replace the bathrobes. 

The Papaya Club had a frozen cocktail on the menu, but when I ordered it, I was advised they didn't actually have that one. 

It would also have been nice to be told about the Hilton Honors benefits and the resort fee amenities at check-in. And the spa menu really should feature the prices. Granted, these are teething problems, and will hopefully sort themselves out quickly. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my five nights at the Conrad Orlando, and I can't wait to return to this property later in the year. This is probably my new favorite Hilton hotel in the United States at the minute.