I'm assuming you're refering to offsite....
You'll get a hundred different opinions, I'll qualify mine. I think it's important to understand why someone picks a hotel. With a $100 maximum, I'd pick the Courtyard Marriott Village at Little Lake Bryan. The website is
http://www.marriottvillage.com/. There are three hotels, we prefer the Courtyard.
We stumbled onto this hotel two years ago. It was brand new in late 2001. The rooms are clean, spacious, and bright. I say bright because so my main complaint with the $40 per night garden variety I192 hotels is you can't see your hand in front of your face even with all the lights on. The in-house ammenities are decent...a restaurant with a nice breakfast buffet and a small bar. Next to the bar is a TV area with couches. The service ranged from excellent to exceptional.
Outside the hotel is a food court which is really nice, with a Pizza Hut, several other counter restaurants, and a convenience store. Right next door (easy walk) are several 'sitdown" restaurants including the Bahama Breeze and Golden Coral restaurants.
The location is incredible. You're right of I4 yet kind of sheltered. You are a one minute drive from the entrance to Downtown Disney, and the Crossings, a well-equipped strip mall (more restaurnts, a grocery store, etc.).
The most impressive part of the hotel is the pool area. The hotel wraps around the area, so it's entirely closed in. The Pool is a "walk-in," sort of like the beach. The pool goes from outside to an inside area, seperated by a waterfall you swim through. There's an indoor and an outdoor hot tub, an outside lounge (only open in busy season), tons of various tables and gazebos, tropical plants, etc. We found it a great place to hang out. It's not a Disney Resort style pool, but it's very nice.
Downfalls: Mostly food-related. They offer breakfast only in-house. And the food court opened late morning and was always closed when we got back from the parks. We found this to be a non-issue, but those who like on-site amentities might take umbrage. Of course, the restaurants next door to the complex serve elongated hours. The only other complaint I have is that the folks at the timeshare booth are pushy. But hey: either push back, or ignore.
Cost: I just ran through our June dates and rooms were $60 to $89, the deepest discount was for 90 day or more advanced reservation.
Hope that helps!
Pat