A guest booked an Orlando JW Marriott partly because of an advertised resort amenity. After booking, the hotel told them it hadn’t been offered in two years.
For better or for worse, resort fees are here to stay. And although it’s “nice” (/sarcasm) that your resort fee will cover local phone calls and 2 free bottled waters per day, there are some times when your resort fee may actually offer something of value.
But what if a hotel advertises a certain amenity as part of its resort fee, and that amenity works so perfectly with your travel plans that it’s one of the reasons you book the hotel in the first place?
And then, after you’ve booked, the front desk tells you that amenity hasn’t existed in two years?
And—here’s the kicker—this is happening at a JW Marriott?
That’s exactly what happened to one Redditor not long ago.
The title of their post, in the Marriott subreddit, was:
JW Grande Lakes Orlando advertises a shuttle to the parks as part of their $55/day resort fee. Called the front desk after booking and they said that hasn’t been available for 2 years. What should I ask for as compensation?
The author, who went by the name Sea-Newspaper-7643, explained that they booked two nights for a weekend getaway with their wife, aiming to keep out-of-pocket expenses to a minimum. They used two free-night certificates to cover their two-night stay and already had two free SeaWorld tickets, so they planned to pay only the resort fee and hotel parking.
They booked the JW because the hotel advertised a free shuttle to SeaWorld for guests (SeaWorld is less than two miles from the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes). That meant they wouldn’t have to pay to park at SeaWorld, which would help offset the resort fee.
Shortly after booking, Sea-Newspaper-7643’s wife called the front desk to ask how the shuttle service worked. She was told the hotel had stopped offering it two years earlier.
The wife explained that the shuttle was literally listed on the hotel’s website as one of the things covered by the resort fee. According to Sea-Newspaper7643, the employee simply repeated that the hotel no longer offered the shuttle, without offering an alternative or even an apology.
Sea-Newspaper-7643 thought that was unacceptable for a property as upscale as the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes and planned to call back later that day and ask to speak with a manager.
They were particularly frustrated because the hotel already charged $42 per day for self-parking on top of a $55-per-day resort fee. Now they potentially faced paying another $50 to park at SeaWorld because the complimentary shuttle advertised as part of the resort fee was no longer available.
I did some searching and Sea-Newspaper-7643 is 100% correct.
The funny thing is, Marriott’s own page for the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes doesn’t mention a shuttle. But the separate Grande Lakes Orlando website—which covers both the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes—does.
And it’s not as if that website has been abandoned for the past two years. Its FAQ specifically mentions Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe, which didn’t even open until 2025.
And yet the front desk said that amenity hadn’t been available in two years???
Redditors’ Advice
Sea-Newspaper-7643 had written to see what sort of compensation they should ask for and, of course, Redditors had all sorts of advice that ran the gamut from asking the hotel to waive the parking or resort fee to canceling the reservation entirely (OP lives in Tampa; it wouldn’t be that far-fetched).
A Happy Ending
Fortunately, there was a happy ending.
Sea-Newspaper-7643 later updated the post to say they had spoken with the front desk again. This time, the hotel offered to arrange complimentary Uber or Lyft rides anywhere they needed to go in the surrounding area where the shuttle from the Ritz-Carlton next door didn’t already operate.
So, as Sea-Newspaper-7643 put it: “Problem solved.”
Funny Thing, Though…
Despite being told the shuttle hasn’t been available for TWO YEARS—and despite the hotel having to make a special concession for Sea-Newspaper-7643—”free shuttles” are STILL listed on the Grande Lakes resort’s FAQ page.
If anyone else stays there, make sure to ask about their free shuttle, LOL!
And if you’re charging guests a $55-per-day resort fee, keeping the list of what that fee supposedly includes up to date seems like a pretty reasonable expectation.
Especially when the amenity you’re advertising apparently disappeared two years ago.
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