Gainesville Lodge

This is a MUST VISIT! This hotel has been re-imagined and reopened in April, 2026. If you see any reviews before that date, please ignore them. :) The new owners, the new management, the new vibe is all new, all cool retro and all FUN! Upon our arrival, Christy, the General Manager, personally escorted us to our room and provided a thorough overview of the room, the property and the amenities. Sydney, BJ and the housekeeping team all were generously kind, so very welcoming and provided a warm, thoughtful environment. The downtown Gainesville area is going through a cool retro renovation and this is one of the many newly re-imagined options. It has been so well-thought-out and is easy to walk to everywhere, both downtown and midtown. We cannot thank Christy and her entire team for the most wonderful stay and we can't wait to tell others about this cute retro hotel and the amazing staff! We will be back and cannot wait to tell others about it!

Well kept, affordable location for visiting UF and downtown Gainesville.

Can’t say enough about the hospitality and the manager Christy at this hotel. She went above and beyond to make sure my family had a great stay and felt right at home!!! my son was studying for finals and absolutely loved twist as a study lounge with great coffee!!! The room was clean and we felt very safe! Highly recommend this hotel and would come back in a heartbeat!!

The Gainesville Lodge has had a refresh since changing ownership. There are some genuinely nice improvements. The rooms are nicely decorated and have a more modern, thoughtfully designed vibe. The decorative touches are attractive and show attention to detail. Our bathroom had been remodeled. The white tile gave a clean and refreshing feel. The former pool area, filled in years ago, has been turned into a pleasant patio area with tables and umbrellas. The front desk area is now a very nicely decorated bar and coffee shop, adding to the overall atmosphere. That said, there are a few things that could use more attention. The paint on the doors and door frames appears to have been applied over multiple previous layers without adequately preparing the surfaces, so the finish is uneven in places. More importantly, the room listing indicates a refrigerator, but what is actually provided is essentially a very small six-pack cooler that looks more like a toy than a refrigerator. There is also no longer a microwave in the room. I think these basic amenities should be provided. Also football weekends command premium prices. However, some of the rates, the overall offering doesn't seem to justify the price. The surrounding area is somewhat tired and not particularly scenic. At some of the higher rates being charged, I think guests should reasonably expect a real mini refrigerator and microwave.

The check-in process was easy. The room appeared to be clean, the only things that I was not exactly happy with were the fact that the fridge in the room was literally one of those fridges that fit in a school locker or something like that, we had went out to eat before we checked in and we’re not able to refrigerate or save our leftovers. The air conditioner did work fine although it was very loud and noisy, and the only other comments I would make is that there is no microwave in the room. There may have been in the amenities, but we were there for a short stay for a medical procedure so we didn’t get to check that part out much but it would’ve been helpful to have one in the room as I’ve never stayed anywhere that didn’t have one. Lastly, I’m not sure that this is anything they can really do about it,but the water had a very sulfuric/bad egg smell as if the well was too shallow so that didn’t make for a very pleasant shower or brushing your teeth.