In our quest to find reasonable rates at a decent hotel near Busch Gardens, we came up with the Country Inn & Suites on Bypass Road. The lobby was very inviting, and our room was great. The beds are comfortable and I loved the tall window and high ceilings! Everything was clean. Check-in/out were easy.

ONLY complaint is that breakfast is between 7-10 am and they do not keep providing all the food up until 10. We ate around 9:30 and all of the biscuits were gone, they only had one kind of muffin left, and the gravy (for would-have-been biscuits) was cold.

We stayed here two years ago and it was quite nice. I have stayed at Country Inns in several states while on business and have always been pleased.

But this location has gone downhill quick!

First, a non-smoking room was specified when making the reservation. This was emphasized again during check-in. So what does the desk clerk do... gives us a room on the 3rd floor that is mixed with smoking! The room itself was designated non-smoking, but when we entered, it smelled like nightclub/ashtray.

I called down to the front desk and asked the clerk to find us another room, which she did, but we had to wait for about a half-hour for one to be cleaned. The room we were switched to was on the second floor. When we entered it, the smell of deodorizer just about knocked us over!

Since we were on vacation with the kids, we did not press the issue. But by the next day, the smell had not gone away, so I asked them to run an ionizer in the room. That did help some.

The room was far from pristine, with cracks in the ceilings and wallpaper peeling here and there.

The other big issue was the breakfast bar. There was little, old lady who was just as nice as could be! She was a real gem! But whoever was responsible for grocery's must had been on vacation! One morning, there was no milk for cereal, or creamcheese for bagels, and a few other things. The waffle Iron quit working on day two! And this poor lady was taking all the heat!

And to finish it all off, management thought so well of themselves, that they would park their vehicles in the load/unload zone during the day. Upon our arrival, after unloading suitcases, I had to back out of it, due to a another guest parked in front of us, and the manager's car parked in the other lane.

So in summary, you can much much better considering the rates!

We stayed at this property for 2 nights while visiting Busch Gardens, which it is very close to. We have stayed at Country Inns before, and they have always been very nice. This one was not bad, but not as nice as some. Check-in was great, and the girl went out of her way to check the room before we went in, as another guest had briefly been in it before they decided on a king room. The room was in order, although it wasn't super large. It didn't really matter, as we didn't spend much time in the room. The air in our room worked great, and wasn't too noisy at all. The refrigerator worked fine. The coffee pot was unusual, but worked. I would have preferred real mugs instead of styrofoam cups, but it wasn't really a big deal. (We had just spent 3 nights at a Marriott Courtyard, which was nicer but more expensive, so I got used to little conveniences) The pool was clean, but too cold for me. It might have felt good on a really hot day, though. (We went late at night) The nicest part of our stay was the breakfast, although the breakfast area can get a little crowded. As the previous poster said, Miss Ivy was wonderful, friendly and helpful. She really made us feel welcome. I can't comment on the concierge, as we had made all of our plans already, so we didn't need that assistance. In general, I would stay here again.

The check in was easy. I give it a thumbs up.

The room was simply ordinary. It smelled stale and the air conditioning was not on (it was 80+ degrees outside). The air conditioning, when turned on, was so loud that when it turned on and off it would wake you up. The ammenities in the room were very sparce. A coffee pot stuck on top of a small frig, an ice bucket on the dresser - I felt like I was at the motor lodge back in 1975.

The bathroom needed some TLC. Caulking was coming off, shower curtain
had stains of unknown origin, etc...

The cont. b-fast was very basic and not stocked well.

Beware of the concierge...they are there to promote a timeshare.

I would compare this to a Red Roof Inn. And at least at the Red Roof Inn you are only paying about 1/3 of the price.