Old Florida charm with quaint old-fashion lobby; creaky wooden floors throughout; wrap-around balcony in the heart of upscale Winter Park. If you’re scouting for an early-20th century movie set or are doing historical research on the area you might be happy here.

But then…
1) Only a thin wooden door between us and the neighboring room - we could hear everything they said and did - even bathroom stuff. Just entirely too close - we were afraid to speak or even flush our toilet. Uncertain whether the connecting door locked from both sides…didn’t feel safe or private through the night.
2) Potentially relaxing wrap-around balcony is only divided by planters, which might be enough privacy if you just want to sit outside for a moment, but our neighbors to the other side decided to celebrate their relationship rather vigorously, treating their section of balcony as part of their bedroom, and thus treating us - and everyone below - to an x-rated show that we couldn’t turn off.
3) Thought maybe our TV would be a good ‘white noise’ maker so we could at least whisper to each other in our room, but the remote didn’t work. Room service guy brought us another one that sorta worked…kinda. We quickly decided to give up and try to sleep.
4) We were awakened by neighbors on both sides around 1am - the ones on the other side of the connecting door talking and shouting and slam ming doors — the ones on the other side aggressively re-consummating their relationship yet again. We heard it all…
*There was one pair of foam ear plugs on the dresser - not two. Maybe we could have shared them - one for each of us?
5) I tried to shower in the morning. The bath handle spun around and around - no idea how to get hot water. I then tried to pull the knob to divert the water up to the shower head, but it was rusted stuck - couldn’t pull it with all my strength. Gave up on the shower.
6) Found long black hairs here and there in the bathroom; hair pins and used elastic hair binders scattered around the room. Made me wonder how clean the room was.
7) No self-parking option - valet wasn’t part of the $239 room fee.

…Probably a good thing the desk clerk didn’t ask how our stay was when I handed him the room key this morning.

My wife and I stayed for our anniversary. The bellman assisted us to our room and turned on the AC. After he left, we noticed that the previous guest had left a suit hanging in the closet and that the lamp in the suite did not work. We called and he came back up to our room. He took the suit, looked at the lamp, and noticed that the AC was not working. He moved us to another "better" room where the AC was working. While the room was decorated better, we later discovered that the sink in the bathroom drained so slowly that we didn't want to use it. Later that night, I discovered that the TV didn't work (error message said no connection to the internet). I didn't immediately report each of these because I didn't want to move again. I did report the TV to the front desk upon checkout and she said that they had just changed providers and had been having troubles. On the positive side, we loved sitting on the balcony watching the street scene. Also the bellmen were stellar. We loved the location and the history of this hotel, but frankly, it needs major work.

I was extremely pleased with my stay at this charming hotel right in the heart of Winter Park. The staff was attentive and accommodating with my requests, and the room I stayed in was beautiful. The hotel has the kind of character that you really only get from a place with the history like this. I cannot understate how beautiful the interior of the hotel is.

The suite I stayed in had a large four-poster bed which was extremely comfortable, a small area with a couch and a desk with chair, a bathroom, and balcony access with a patio table and chairs.

Because the building is old, outlets are a bit sparse, but were conveniently located enough that I did not have problems. My only issue was the lack of a refrigerator, which staff was able to work out a solution for.

Regarding the bathroom, what I was impressed by the lack of sulfur smell from the water. Central Florida water is notorious for its odor, and the private homes and hotels I have stayed at in the area all have the problem. The water here must be filtered somehow, but it was a pleasant surprise.

I am a big fan, and if I ever need a hotel in Winter Park again, they will be at the top of my list. A luxury hotel experience at far more reasonable prices.