Best Marriott near Disney?

[olliesmom]

We are likely planning to use our Marriott reward points for our next Disney vacation. We've only ever stayed onsite, so I'm not very familiar with local offsite hotels. Just by doing a quick search on their site, it looks like there are quite a few Marriott branded hotels that are pretty close to Disney, but wondering if anyone has any feedback or recommendations to help guide us in the right direction? Not sure if some are better than others!

Thanks!

 

[Maineiak]

Not sure if you can use your points or not, but hands down, Marriott Grande Vista.

 

[littlestar]

The Marriott Vacation Club resorts are wonderful if you can use your points for those. They are Marriott Grande Vista and Marriott Harbour Lake (which have studios, one bedrooms, and two bedrooms), Marriott Cypress Harbour (all 2 bedrooms) and the Marriott World Center vacation clubs Sabal and Royal Palms (2 bedrooms) and Imperial Palms (all 3 bedrooms). Marriott Lakeshore is very nice but a little farther away from Disney.

 

[ellie05]

Whatever you do just don't use it at Gaylord.

 

[lindsmom]

We liked Cypress Harbour best. Right across the street is Harbour Lake - great choice for small children, due to the multiple pools, slides, and splash pad. We felt it was a lot louder in general, which is why we like Cypress Harbour more.

 

[Ametista]

I also liked Cypress Harbour best (for all families and humans), then Harbour Lake (for young kids, not older ones), and Grande Vista was by far my least favorite. All are very well located for Disney and Seaworld, Universal.

 

[writerguyfl]

"Best" is a subjective term. For some, best might mean the most spacious rooms. For other folks, it might mean the cheapest rates. Still others would define "best" as the hotel with the best service.

You may get better recommendations if you provide a little more details. Things like: number of adults and children, must-have amenities, ballpark dates/time-of-year for your trip, and whether you will have a car.

 

[lindsmom]

"Best" is a subjective term. For some, best might mean the most spacious rooms. For other folks, it might mean the cheapest rates. Still others would define "best" as the hotel with the best service.

You may get better recommendations if you provide a little more details. Things like: number of adults and children, must-have amenities, ballpark dates/time-of-year for your trip, and whether you will have a car.

Allow me to clarify: We liked Cypress Harbour "best" because the service was impeccable. Any questions were answered immediately. Staff were always smiling and saying hello regardless of where we encountered them. The rooms were enormous, more spacious than how Harbour Lake felt, although similar. Drawback was that the second bedroom was a queen and a pull out, which is why we prefer other locations so DS doesn't have to sleep on a pull out couch. Location was par with Harbour Lake because it is literally across the street. Environment was quieter which is subject to each person's preference. We like to be able to sleep by 9:00, but we couldn't at Harbour Lake.

Harbour Lake had excellent selection of pool and splash pad for youngsters to swim, however the fellow guests there had children that were rougher in general, perhaps more comfortable with the environment so my children were hesitant to avail themselves of the water slides etc because the other children there weren't very polite - waiting turns, etc. Our room at Harbour Lake was right on the main road and second floor so we heard nearly every car drive by. We were next to the clubhouse which was convenient for check in. Staff less responsive - we requested bed rails, had to call 3 times and when he showed up he handed them to us without installing them which was annoying. Other questions went without responses.

Also, poolside service was much better at CH - we had a personal attendant who worked only around the pool to refill drinks and food. We saw no pool service at Harbour Lakes - there was a restaurant next to the main (pirate ship) pool with fair food. We had to order and bring to a table ourselves. Not a big deal, but at CH it felt more luxurious, more vacation for us.

Hope that clarifies what I consider "best".

 

[MKCP5]

We have stayed at cypress harbor and grande vista. Both were lovely, both gave us excellent service, we would go back to either (and are) in a heartbeat. That being said, I think if you have young children cypress harbor might edge out grand vista. I feel it is slightly more adult friendly. You really can't go wrong with a Marriott property though. We have always had good experiences, no matter where in the USA we have stayed with them. Going on a mother daughter trip in two weeks to grand vista!

 

[chicagoshannon]

The Mariott World center is really nice and is just down the road from Downtown Disney. If you have to use the points at an actual hotel I'd choose that one. Sabal Palms and the other Palm time shares are located at the World Center and can use all of the hotel amenities.

 

[disneysteve]

Whatever you do just don't use it at Gaylord.

Why do you say that?

We spent a few days at Marriott World Center in November. It's very nice there. Gaylord Palms is a lot nicer but both are excellent properties.

 

[ellie05]

Why do you say that?

We spent a few days at Marriott World Center in November. It's very nice there. Gaylord Palms is a lot nicer but both are excellent properties.

I think this one of the hotels that even if they give me an extra night I would pass. First the valet area was chaos so after waiting a while we asked where could we just go park ourselves. We end up having to walk a ridiculous amount with our luggage, because of this. On top of that the atrium has a million different types of floors that make it even harder to roll the luggage.

Finally we get to the front desk super long line and there is 2 agents. I go use the lobby bathroom. It was disgusting I seen gas station bathroom cleaner and prettier than those. We asked the front desk agent if they had an upgrade since we are gold members. He said they already did it when they assigned rooms. No one offer us assistance with our luggage. So now back hauling our bags through the atrium . We get to the room and we knew that the upgrade never happened on top of that there are a few housekeeping issues including a white stain in the bed runner, there was no way I was taking everything to the front desk again. We were only staying there one night and we had places to be otherwise I would immediately call to talk to a manager. Between this whole thing we have lost over 30 min of what we estimated so we had to rush to make it to our time for ICE. Their atrium Christmas show was terrible, but it was free so whatever. Now it was time to eat so DH and I went to pick a burger for DH at the sport bar. The 1 burger and 1 draft beer (nothing fancy) plus tip it was $40! Now mind you we had been paying Disney prices the whole week prior. The beds were comfortable.

So after redeeming points you still end up paying over $50 a night between the resort fee and parking fee, but the worst slap in the face is that if someone came to the hotel to eat they will validate the parking if they spend $50. Yet you pay for food and a room and they still charge you for parking. To end this wonderful stay the housekeeper knocks on our door at 7 am the next morning while the do not disturbe sign was on. Eventually I was contacted through email after filling out a survey for Marriott. How did person that contacted me got the job is beyond me. It seem like a 5 year old wrote the email. There wasn't even an I am sorry your stay was not pleasant. We were begging to go back to Saratoga springs after that we won't ever go back.

 

[mckennarose]

We're at the Sabal Palms right now and have stayed here before. We love it here!

Quick note: not sure when your trip is but we were told they are remodeling all the units at Sabal beginning in August.

 

[disneysteve]

I think this one of the hotels that even if they give me an extra night I would pass.

We actually had a pretty awful arrival/check in experience at World Center in November that led to me complaining to a manager on site who gave us a credit on our bill and I contacted corporate when I got home and got thousands of extra reward points to compensate us. I'll spare you the details but let's just say their customer service was horrendous every step of the way. I would much rather have been at the Gaylord. I would not willingly return to World Center after that experience.

 

[ellie05]

We actually had a pretty awful arrival/check in experience at World Center in November that led to me complaining to a manager on site who gave us a credit on our bill and I contacted corporate when I got home and got thousands of extra reward points to compensate us. I'll spare you the details but let's just say their customer service was horrendous every step of the way. I would much rather have been at the Gaylord. I would not willingly return to World Center after that experience.

I am confused not you are saying you won't go back world center but above you call it an excellent property ?

 

[disneysteve]

I am confused not you are saying you won't go back world center but above you call it an excellent property ?

I have very mixed feelings. I think the property is beautiful. We were there for a convention and the facilities are very nice. And after our check in fiasco, everything else was just fine. I just felt they handled it so poorly that I wouldn't rush back there. For the money, there are places I'd rather be.

 

[danajay]

We have stayed 3 times at the Grande Vista and loved it (we have 2 young daughters). No slides at the pools, but great "beach" area that my kids enjoy playing in. Kids area very nice with activities (gatorland talk, pottery, plus a great indoor climbing structure). In April, we stayed at the Lakeshore reserve for 2 nights after a Disney cruise. Gorgeous property with beautiful rooms/villas. They have slides at the pool and also a lazy river. You can also use the facilities at the JW Marriott and Ritz right there (they can take you there by golf cart or you can walk). I was actually blown away by the staff at the Lakeshore reserve (I thought I was back on the cruise). They really were super nice and went out of their way for us (example: we were in the marketplace there looking for stuff to make s'mores--they have a fire pit. They told me they don't have the stuff, but if we come on Monday, they do s'mores by the pit as an activity and provide the stuff. I said thanks, we won't be here, no big deal. A few minutes later, someone came down from the kids club with all the stuff to make s'mores as they heard we wouldn't be there on Monday--so nice!). I would say they are about 20-25 minutes from Disney. Can't go wrong with either one.

 

[winterwhite]

we are checking in tomorrow at the springhill suites flamingo crossings - the new western entrance hotel. I was able to get it for 20k points a night, with free parking and free breakfast. I have stayed at some of the fancier ones but after years of business travel, the lower end hotels often have better service, better breakfasts, and usually don't charge resort or parking fees.

 

[disneysteve]

we are checking in tomorrow at the springhill suites flamingo crossings - the new western entrance hotel. I was able to get it for 20k points a night, with free parking and free breakfast. I have stayed at some of the fancier ones but after years of business travel, the lower end hotels often have better service, better breakfasts, and usually don't charge resort or parking fees.

Please report back on this. We like Springhill Suites. I think it is a very good moderate chain. Comfortable rooms with plenty of space. Good breakfast.

I totally agree that you usually get more for your money at the moderate end of the spectrum without all of the stupid add on fees which are always on top of higher prices to begin with. It has never made sense to me. I'd much rather pay less and get more.

 

[HeatherC]

I love the Grande Vista. But I also think the Residence Inns are great for families. They offer free breakfast, happy hour freebies, full kitchens, etc.
If you are using points and dont need an elaborate pool area, they are great. I have also heard good things about the Courtyards, etc. at Marriott Village.