Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Floridays Resort Orlando, FL (Review)

Because there were so many family members making the big caravan trip up to Orlando, I tried to find a hotel that would suit everyone (5 adults and 1 toddler). My parents can be...ummm...particular about where they stay. Mike's mom couldn't care less and Mike and I just want something to accommodate Lilly.

I found a potentially great hotel online- Floridays Resort in Orlando. When I looked up the hotel reviews, they were a mixed bag, but I think guests are more inclined to post negative reviews than positive ones. They offered a FL resident discount, which pretty much sealed the deal in my mind. I also got the "thumbs up" from Dr. Gary so we booked it. Floridays is a timeshare/hotel resort that has 2 or 3 bedroom condos with a kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry, 2 bathrooms, plasma tv...etc. We had a ground floor 3 BR suite in the back of the property. It appears that they are starting another phase of buildings, but there was no construction going on when we were there.



The Resort has a restaurant, bar, main swimming pool and 1 or 2 smaller pools, exercise room, game room, and a mini convenience shop. It's located on International Drive, almost walking distance to the Orlando Premium Outlets, and about 15 minutes to WDW (it's only a few miles away, but it takes a little while to actually get there because of traffic, roads, stoplights etc.). Sea World is extremely close by. They offer shuttles to the theme parks which we took one day, and drove ourselves the other day. The shuttles are good, but you need to pay attention to the assigned pick up bus slots, verify the drop off hotel with the driver, and be flexible with a fixed schedule. It also saves you $12/day in parking fees.

So- the rooms- I really didn't know what to expect, but I think we were all thrilled with the accommodations. It felt like we were the first guests to stay in this room. It was spotlessly clean, well decorated and had just about everything you could ask for...except enough hooks to hang wet towels. Mike and I got to be the "grown-ups" and stay in the master suite which had a king bed, jacuzzi, glass shower, tv, chaise sofa and enough room for Lilly's "special bed" - her kid's aero bed.



Nancy and my parents both had rooms with 2 double beds and tvs. They shared a hall bathroom, which was a decent size. We had a handicapped accessible room so the hallway bathroom shower might be different than typical rooms, but I don't think anyone minded. There was also a screened in patio which was a nice place to relax and read or check e-mails.
The only strange thing that happened was on Sunday night 1/2 of the power went out in our room. There was a fuse box located in the family room, and I flipped the trip switches but did not have any luck restoring electricity. We got ahold of the desk and they sent someone over to fix it, the maintenance guy arrived in about 10 minutes and worked his magic. Apparently you have to "tap" the fuse switch...hey- I tried....
Here's the overall pros and cons of the Floridays Resort...
Pros:
Price- we got a 3BR for $170/night (FL resident rate) plus taxes and "resort" fees, so the total per night was about $190. The rack rate posted was $550/night.
Size- great for a large family, multiple families traveling together or families with older kids who might want their own space.
Personal amenities- they provided Crabtree & Evelyn and Indigo soaps, shampoos and lotions. Plenty of towels, dishes, utensils, tide for laundry, dishwasher detergent, and Starbucks coffee to brew in room.
Kitchen- ideal for those staying at least a few nights, you can cook your own meals, go grocery shopping (there's a Publix around the corner).
Cons:
Hooks- there was 1 hook and 1 small towelbar in the master bathroom. No handtowel hooks or anywhere to hang more than 2 towels.
Walls- the walls/ceiling were pretty thin so it was a little noisy here and there. Nancy could hear the upstairs rooms water running, and I could hear people walking upstairs. it wasn't enough to be bothersome, just a notation.
The bottom line:
I would stay here anytime. There's nothing more that we could have asked for and I would easily rate it a 4 or 5 star resort. Definitly one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in...equal to Paris Hotel in Las Vegas in my mind. Heck- they even have golf carts that will drive you to your room. Plenty of restaurants close by and not in a overly congested area.




1 comment:

Caits said...

It sounds lovely!!!!!

Have a safe trip home!