marriott harbour lakes

[chimommy]

has anyone stayed here? Any suggestions on building request? Anyone know what building a have been refurbished recently? Thanks!

 

[chicagoshannon]

We love harbour lakes! It's a small resort so I don't think it matter much which building you're in. I would just request to not be on the first floor. The windows can be pretty close to the road if you happen to face that way.

The pools are nice and the mini golf is fun.

It is very close to Sea World.

 

[gorjus121]

We've stayed at the Marriott Harbour Lake twice in the last few years. We are going back this April! It's a great resort for families with young children. I always say it feels like we are in the Caribbean when we are there. It's also in a great location, close to Sea World, Disneyworld, Mall of Millenia, and also not far from restaurant row and Universal. Make sure to plan resort days!

You can find the property map at the top right above request information: http://www.marriottvacationclub.com/vacation-resorts/marriott-harbour-lake/overview.shtml

As mentioned earlier, it is a smaller resort and no matter where you stay you should be pleased. I have stayed in Buildings 28 & 12. I believe 12 & 13 have renovated kitchens and 12 faces the lake which was lovely. I have been told more than once that 12 & 13 are frequently requested and given to Marriott Vacation HL Owners first, but it never hurts to ask. I personally would avoid buildings 14 & 15 that are closer to the highway. I had read from several reviews to avoid those buildings due to highway noise.

 

[chicagoshannon]

We've stayed I'd buildings 30 and 31 each tme we've stayed there (3 times). We liked those buildings. We never made any requests so they are probably the buildings they put "no one special" in, lol. We just didn't like the first floor room in the one building because it faced the entrance all of the cars had to drive past.

 

[lindsmom]

When we stayed, we requested a "high floor". We got the second floor LOL. But there were only 3 floors in our building. I was glad we weren't on the bottom floor, as others have mentioned. I would recommend away from the pools, as they were really loud later into the night (our kids went to sleep by 9 each night). The resort is small enough that even FAR away from the pools isn't a long walk. At all.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Do all of the buildings have 1 bedroom villas?

Has anyone stayed in building 10? That looks like a good location.

When requesting a building/s is it good to say what you don't want or better to list what you do want? We really just want to avoid the buildings by the highway.

 

[lindsmom]

Do all of the buildings have 1 bedroom villas?

Has anyone stayed in building 10? That looks like a good location.

When requesting a building/s is it good to say what you don't want or better to list what you do want? We really just want to avoid the buildings by the highway.

That was the building we stayed in - 10. It's a short building (I think 3 or 4 floors), but it was nice. You do have the traffic entering and exiting along the main road in to the main clubhouse. We were on the second floor, didn't use the balcony too much because of being on the main road. But the clubhouse was right next door if we needed anything, and the pools are 2 minutes away.

 

[dioxide45]

Do all of the buildings have 1 bedroom villas?

Has anyone stayed in building 10? That looks like a good location.

When requesting a building/s is it good to say what you don't want or better to list what you do want? We really just want to avoid the buildings by the highway.

Here is a direct link to the resort map.

https://www.my-vacationclub.com/resort/PdfLinkServlet?file=\resort\ho\099+no-display\ho_resort_map.pdf

Only buildings 28, 29, 30 and 31 have lock off 2BR units. It is those lock off units that make the 1BR and studio units. So if you have a 1BR unit reserved, you will be guaranteed to be in one of those four buildings. The lock off units are also located on the ends of the buildings. For example, in buildings 28/29 (which is really just one building with an elevator bank in the elbow of the L), there are four on each floor. Two on the outer ends and two in the "corner" of the L.

When making a villa request, it is best to call the property and have them note your reservation. The property may send out a pre-arrival email, but they are pretty generic with not many options to select for villa placement requests.

We own at Harbour Lake, but have only been there a couple of times. Our Fall 2015 news letter indicated that buildings 28 and 29 would be refurbished in 2016. Our Spring 2015 newsletter indicated that buildings 10, 12, and 13 would receive refurbishment starting in September 2015. So I would expect that work is now complete.

 

[dioxide45]

Here are some photos of our visits to Harbour Lake in 2008 and 2012. Don't worry, they removed that albatross of a rear projection television and have installed LCD.

Harbour Lake 2008
Harbour Lake 2012

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Here is a direct link to the resort map.

https://www.my-vacationclub.com/resort/PdfLinkServlet?file=\resort\ho\099+no-display\ho_resort_map.pdf

Only buildings 28, 29, 30 and 31 have lock off 2BR units. It is those lock off units that make the 1BR and studio units. So if you have a 1BR unit reserved, you will be guaranteed to be in one of those four buildings. The lock off units are also located on the ends of the buildings. For example, in buildings 28/29 (which is really just one building with an elevator bank in the elbow of the L), there are four on each floor. Two on the outer ends and two in the "corner" of the L.

When making a villa request, it is best to call the property and have them note your reservation. The property may send out a pre-arrival email, but they are pretty generic with not many options to select for villa placement requests.

We own at Harbour Lake, but have only been there a couple of times. Our Fall 2015 news letter indicated that buildings 28 and 29 would be refurbished in 2016. Our Spring 2015 newsletter indicated that buildings 10, 12, and 13 would receive refurbishment starting in September 2015. So I would expect that work is now complete.

Thank you! Wonder if the 28/29 refurb will be done by March. I will request that building but will be OK if we don't get it.

Are there lots of ducks and birds near the lake? If so, are we allowed to feed them? That was one of the kids favorite things to do at Sheraton Vistana last year.

 

[dioxide45]

Thank you! Wonder if the 28/29 refurb will be done by March. I will request that building but will be OK if we don't get it.

Are there lots of ducks and birds near the lake? If so, are we allowed to feed them? That was one of the kids favorite things to do at Sheraton Vistana last year.

I don't think they will be. Going back through past newsletters it seems that all villa renovations start in September of each year. This makes sense since they want to do work when the resort is at a lower occupancy. Good news is that buildings 30/31 had a soft goods refurbishment in the fall of 2013. Those two buildings also have 1BR units. The only down side to those buildings is that they are further away from the pools.

Even if a unit hasn't been recently refurbished, Marriott keeps their units in great shape. Marriott also has a five year refurbishment cycle. Alternating between a soft goods refurbishment and a hard goods. The villa photos in my Harbour Lake 2012 album linked in my prior post are from building 29 which was previously refurbished in the fall of 2010.