Comfort Inn, Lake Buena Vista

[mzliza3]

We stayed at the Comfort Inn, Lake Buena Vista, week of July 4, 2006. It was a last minute trip, and since we had already booked a trip to Europe for later in the summer, we were looking for comfortable, affordable accomndations near WDW. We had tried to get an on-site property, but since our trip was last minute, there were no rooms to match our budget. The Comfort Inn was clean, quiet, and quite a steal @ only $68 per night. It is about a mile away from Downtown Disney & all of the parks were a short drive away. The free shuttle service to & from WDW & to Universal & Sea World was quite good. While not as plentiful as WDW transportation, the shuttles were reliable, the drivers incredibly friendly (btw, they do expect tips, but all the drivers we had deserved it), & had frequent departures to WDW. The coaches were well maintained & clean. Nothing too fancy, but they got us to where we wanted to go. However, I would recommend a car rental if you plan on returning to the hotel for a dip in the pool or to relax or if you have to tote strollers.
This property is over-all, well maintained & comfortable. The grounds are quite nice, with fountains and well-manicured lawns. The check-in area & lobby (one and the same) were very small, and could be very crowded at times. The staff weren't as bubbly as WDW cast members, but they were generally friendly & helpful. There is a small convenience store selling sodas, a small selection of alcohol, & snacks, which were well priced as compared to the other resorts. There is only one restaurant & a small lounge on the property. The restaurant is buffet style, and reasonably priced, $7.99 for breakfast & $9.99 for dinner. The selections were limited, the food basic, but edible. Every morning, from 7 to 9, a free continential breakfast is offered. This can be a huge money saver, if you're willing to brave the crowds & long lines. The continential buffet featured juice, coffee, tea, muffins, cold cereal, milk, & toast. We generally bypassed this due to the crowds. There are also several large, national restaurant chains & smaller local restaurants within walking distance. Many offer delivery to the hotel. We ordered out Chinese (had to pick it up in the lobby) & it was yummy & our bill came to $26 for 4 dinners, plus tip. There are menus in the rooms for the nearby restaurants that offer delivery.
The rooms could use some updating, but were clean & comfortable. They were about the same size as WDW moderate resort rooms, but not as elaborately themed. Our rooms had 2 double beds. There weren't a lot of amentities, but for $68 at peak season, we couldn't complain. The hotel, despite having several teen-aged tour groups from Brazil, was pretty quiet. The Comfort Inn, LBV, is popular among international tour groups. We had the opportunity to chat with several families from the UK, Japan, & Brazil. For me, that only adds to the experience. The Brazilian kids were giddy, giggly, loud, but they were having so much fun & our teens had a lot of fun hanging out with them. It was like a giant slumber party! But once we got to the rooms, all was quiet. The rooms must be sound proofed. The pool area was nice, but not very big. One drawback was the parking. We had a considerable hike to get to our car, but you can't go to the WDW area not expecting to walk a far amount. For young parents lugging strollers, this could be a bit of a problem.
Overall, Comfort Inn, LBV, was an enjoyable experience. Not fancy, nothing spectacular, but a tremendous value for the price. I would recommend it especially for teenagers & college age people due to the price. If you're looking for a great value & don't care about fanciness, then this is the place for you!

 

[sunlver]

Hey we were there just this past week, and checked out yesterday.


I was almost afraid to stay there because of some of the reviews. We were in building 3, and had a family suite. Its a funny name, its the same size room, just had a set of bunk beds and a single bed, that was separated by a wall. There was also a queen size bed. It worked well as we have 3 kids, all had their own bed and tv. Our room could of used some updating. It was clean for the most part. I checked the bedding as soon as I came in for bed bugs and such. Didnt find a single bug all week. The bathroom was clean, though I did notice some mold high up on the shower wall..

Check in was bad for us. Our room was not ready at 3pm(check in time), at 3:30 we were still waiting. They explained the room was not ready as the previous guests left the do not disturb sign so it wasnt clean. At 3:45pm, I am fuming. I speak with the asst manager, she gives us another family suite. So we trek up to the room ,and the keys dont work ..Now I am beyond mad. I tell the same women I traveled hrs to get to this hotel, I made a reservation over 4 months ago, my 2 yr old is in need of a nap, and I EXPECT my room to be ready. She finds me another family room. We got to the new room at 4:15.My parents were with us, and my mother needs a handicap room as she uses a walker. This means its not a tub shower, but a roll in shower. She confirmed on the phone this request. They say "no problem":. She checks in, and they do not give her ahandicap room. The lady at the desk argues with her that it is indeed a handicap room...
My mother talks to the official manager of the front desk. He tells her they have none available for that night, but can put her in another hotel for her stay. She said No, her grandkids were there. So he said he would have one availabe the next day. They took the first night off their bill.

Other then that.. things were good. The pool was wonderful, and extremely clean. The water was so warm as well. My kids loved it. We never encountered any lines for the breakfast buffet . We normally got down there at 7:30,and were out the door before 8am. 2 days we paid for the hot breakfast, it was ok, nothing special. We did not take the shuttles but prefer to drive to the parks.

The room was cleaned everyday, but not restocked. One day there was only on bath towel left. We are a family of 5, we need more. They never restocked the toliet paper either. One day we were down to a half roll, we called and they said "ok, we will be right up".. and hour later my husband called again and lied and said "We are completely out and we are a family of 5 and we need it NOW"...they brought it up.They did good at picking up all the dirty towels and making the beds, but not at restocking.
We had a room facing the parking lot, and it was quiet. We did hear some voices now and then at night, but nothing kept up awake. ALthough the room looked old, the ac was brand new, and the fridge looked new as well..

The hotel is in an awesome place ... so close to everything. We had no trouble parking. There seemed to be plenty of spots everywhere.

We did pay for the dinner buffet 2 times. Nothing special. The waitress told us, the chicken tenders came from a box, as well as the pies. It was ok for the price, expecially that kids eat free. So we paid for 2 adults and our 3 kids ate free.

Its a good hotel for the money, a good value. I loved the location.

 

[mzliza3]

Nice to hear from someone with children who stayed there. I didn't know about the family suite. I think this is one of best LBV bargains for families. The location is GREAT. I was kind of put off by the negative reviews I had read, too, but since our options & budget were so limited, but took the chance & I'm glad we did. If you take into consideration that this is a budget property & not going expecting conceirge service, etc, etc, then I think one would be quite pleased. It was obvious that the food came out of a box, but if food is a huge priority, there are SO many places around that are a short drive away. Golden Coral, Pizzaria Ono, TGI Fridays, & others I can't remember are al right there. Glad you enjoyed your stay at Confort Inn!