Hotels Near Five Below in Lake City

We have stayed here several times over the years as my parents decided to retire here. Now we just have my father and come a few times a year. This property has been up and down over the years, and it seems to be more down now. I will not come back no matter what. We always get one of their suites, and that is the best thing I can write about is the room you get with a suite, it works well for my two sisters an I to spread out. Check in was ok, but it took forever, as there was one person checking in the many that were standing in line. I did question the girl checking us in about payment, as we split the bill at the end, and this has never been a problem, she assured me that nothing would be charged to my card until we check out. More about that later. We were also told that there is no longer daily service unless we request it. This was fine for us. You put your garbage out daily and they pick it up, and you have to ask for towels. Arriving to our room, it is just not clean and it is very run down. The sofa had actual dirt and debris, like little sticks on it. There were stains and the cushions had seen better days as they were collapsing. The bathroom had so many issues, the baseboards were filthy, the faucet with the sink looked like it hadn't been clean, but trying to clean it ourselves didn't work. It looked like acid or something had simply ruined the finish. The wood was coming off of the bottom of the bathroom door. I thought there was hair in the sink, but realized it was tons of cracks in it. The duvet covers each had stains on it. The room was just generally run down and felt dirty. We would have check out, but could not find anything at that point. We had 3 towels for 4 people, so I called and asked for more, and they told us to check at the desk later and they would have them. We left for dinner and then came back and stopped at the front desk. We also passed a few police officers walking through the lobby. When I asked for our towels, they said that we may have to come back as they had an ”incident” and were busy. So we made our way to our room, realizing the incident was the room next to ours. The door was shut, but outside the room there was a dog bowl full of food, and one single upside down flip flop. We could hear shouting from the room. This went on for an hour or more, slamming doors, police outside our room, and then the room was empty. I don't know what happened, but I feel as if this is a transient hotel and some are long termers. Our stay was relatively quiet from that point on. We saw the same young girl at the desk every time we had to go there. While she was not unpleasant and I believe overworked. I joked about her always being there and did she ever get a break, and I got shot back, ma'am, how can I help you? I am sure they are just as short staffed as the rest of the world right now. Checking out was a disaster as two bus loads of kids were there and the person in front of us seemed to be checking them ou

Great room, nicely appointed and very clean. Digital check in works great, never had to go to front desk. There was some kind of security vehicle in the parking lot at night, which made an impression of safety. Breakfast was very decent, although the omelette pouches are grossly oversalted-even more than at the usual ”free breakfast for all” type hotels. Overall, very nice stay.

We called this hotel to find shelter from Hurricane Ian. Called the night before the storm. Day of storm the governor of FL told everyone to shelter in place. I called that morning explaining the situation and canceled the reservation. A day after I was notified that the hotel had charged my credit card over $1200.00. The entire stay for 2 rooms. When I called them again to question it I was told they couldn’t do anything because I booked through a third party site Hotels.com. I started calling them regarding the charges and was told the hotel charged us. After numerous attempts to speak to property manager and not one return call I had to have our credit card company get involved. I will NEVER use Fairfield Inn and suites, the Marriot corp or Hotels.com again. This has been a nightmare to deal with them! I DO NOT recommend them!! 🤬🤬🤬

Room was spacious with two beds, all the amenities and super clean

We stayed for a swim meet Thursday through Sunday. One of our best hotel experiences in Gainesville area. We booked a queen suite. I will say I was a little disappointed at how far this was from our event - 30 min, but it was my fault for not double checking the address when I booked. That said, our experience was so great and the drive to the event so easy, we will easily book here again. Hotel and room were super clean, beds were comfortable (plenty of pillows and in the drawers were extra pillows and blankets!), housekeeping was friendly and changed towels daily, lobby was always clean and very spacious. Staff was very accommodating with our extra blanket needs and for our son and his friends needing cards and change for a $1 in pennies to play poker. (No harm done, pennies all returned). Hotel is pet friendly and while we did not bring ours, we will consider it next time - there is lots of spacious clean areas for pups. Outside patio is large and spacious with grills, tables w/umbrellas, pool is a little small but looked clean. Workout room was decent for hotel - cardio machines and weights. Breakfast was the usual hot/cold servings - pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits/gravy, French toast, cereals, juices, oatmeal, coffee, pastries, fruit, yogurt, etc. We had to leave by 7 for son's swim meet and were told upon arrival that breakfast doesn't start until 7 on weekends. But both weekend dates, we came down around 0630-0645 and breakfast was already set up. So much appreciation for accommodating (there was a softball team there leaving early too so maybe they requested as well). This was a huge plus as we chose hotels based on breakfast availability for our swim meet weekends. Not sure what is around but it seemed many were dressed to go to the springs in the morning. Publix, pizza, DQ, gas station are within walking distance or a very short drive. Parking is tight - that would be the only improvement I might say is needed since there are a lot of utility/industrial vehicles parked, but each night we found a spot (and all parking is in front of the entrance so I felt like that is a plus). Highly recommend if needing accommodations in the area!