Mo F.
Yelp
Surfside was the place. It was perfect for the price and length of stay. For 6 days and 5 nights; the cost was a little under $900 per room. This did not include food of which they had plenty at the Cafe located downstairs on the main level. There is also a shuttle that runs every 10 minutes to Universal Studios Parks. Those are pretty close by, but I wouldn't recommend walking. There is a walgreens store close by too. There is a nice size pool, fitness room, game room, gift shop and rental car station. It's all there!
From the moment we checked in, all the staff gave us A1 service. Our rooms were clean and well stocked with towels. We had requested two connecting rooms but ended up with rooms side by side on the 4th floor facing the beautiful pool and court yard downstairs. My room had two occupants and the second had 3.
On our 1st night, we had our 1st of many meals at the Cafe. I had some baked chicken with rice and veggies. This was my least favorite meal of the entire stay. By the way, this hotel offers unlimited drinks if you buy the cup for the length of your stay. We purchased one for $19 and change. This later became an issue with one of the cashiers Kendra this morning bek g our check out date. It also allows you to get a coffee in a disposable cup daily. Lots of condiments for your convenience at the refill station too. Back to what we ordered.. my son had a cheese pizza and chose to have that every night after that. It was that yummy. I on the other had opted to try as many options from the Cafe. Wouldn't be a yelper if food was not my thing. I had shrimp pesto pasta made by the chef named Sudan. Another night I tried the salad bar. I also tried the fresh green juice. Oatmeal, chicken sandwich. Again my favorite thing was the shrimp pesto pasta. I had that 2 nights in a row. By the way, I had the kids size meal and I had left overs. It also came with a drink. All kids meals come with a kids size meal.
I wanted to give a 4.5 star but I don't think that would be fair to all the staff at the hotel due to a minor incident at the Cafe this morning. I won't go into too much details but remember i had mentioned the reusable cup and a cashier Kendra. Well she was extremely rude to me, almost ruined my last day. The refillable cup wouldn't refill when I went to fill it up so I got in line and she got all irritated with me right away asking for a receipt and was speaking to me like I didn't belong there or i was trying to get free drinks. Infact, before it was my turn to be served, while I stood in line, she singled me out to ask me this "sweetheart, is there something you need? I explained after actually paying for the 1st two days for drinks and on day 3 purchasing a cup for our entire length of stay 5 days, the cup had expired. She was very unhelpful towards me. In short she had what I would call cooning/uncle ruckus behavior. Feel free to look those terms up. I wonder if anyone else has experienced it. She just seemed to have it out for me...dinning while black i guess and being policeced by the black cashier named Kendra. I was upset and did lose my cool and asked for a manager, I vented and then complained to the front counter again. Nothing a little training won't fix. A special thanks to all the other staff though, Angela the Cafe Manger, Alexis and her team at the front desk. Janice and her crew taking orders, ringing us up with huge smiles on their faces despite being busy. The cleaning/housekeeping crew and all the staff in the back we didn't get to see. Thank you for such a wonderful experience. I recommend this hotel! A1