Has anyone stayed at any of these hotels...?

[soccerchick]

Hi,

We'd like to do a short escape this spring from my sister's house in Jacksonville down to Seaworld. I found some good rates at the following hotels. Can anyone comment on cleanliness, proximity to SW, shuttle service (if applicable)?

Thanks a bunch!!

Embassy Suites Orlando Intl Dr.
Sierra Suites - Lake Buena Vista
Comfort Suites Orlando
Residence Inn by marriott Orlando Sea World

 

[AJA55]

Here is the report that I gave last year. Hope this helps and if you have any other questions please ask.

My mother and I stayed at Sierra Suites 9/11/02 through 9/21/02 (10 nights). It’s located on Palm Parkway just a hop and skip from The Crossroad. We timed the commute to the parks and it ran 10 to 15 minutes. It’s more of a convention hotel. (had a pilots convention going on when we checked in) But this place was perfect for us. They have light housekeeping. We are not messy travelers and prefer not to have the sheets changed every day. The place was very clean even with the light housekeeping concept. A full cleaning was done every fourth day. The room was large with a king and a pull out queen. We prefer to have a kitchen where we stay and the prices for Disney property places with this amenity are a bit out of our range. The kitchenette had: coffee maker with tea, coffee, sugar and creamer, toaster, micro, full sized fridge with ice maker, stove top, dish washer, garbage disposal and all the dishes, glasses, mugs silverware, pots and pans that you would need. Oh salt and pepper was also provided. It was the last hotel on this particular hotel strip, so the traffic going by the hotel was a bit less. But you have to watch out for fast moving locals' traffic along Palm Parkway when you pull out of the parking lot. That was the only negative that we could find. We had a room on the second floor facing the pool and never heard any noise from the pool. The breakfast was apples, some times bananas, muffins, some times other pastries, bagels and cream cheese, three to four cereals, two kinds of milk, three types of juice, coffee (regular and decaf) and tea. There was a WinDixe and an ABC just down the street. Better prices than at The Crossroads! Last but not least was the staff. They were pleasant, friendly and helpful with any questions and we actually had a good time talking with them. Any other questions please let me know. Oh I paid $65.95 a night.

 

[kylara]

I have stayed at Sierra Suites and thought it was a good hotel, so much so I recommended it to my sister for her family and she stayed there a couple of years ago.

The hotel is very basic. Has studio suites with the kitchen area. Also serves a continental breakfast. Most of all I like the staff. Every time I have stayed or gone into the place they have been great...very friendly and helpful. Also when my sister stayed there, since I made the arrangements, they gave the a special rate they were running for "returning guest" at the time. I was surprised since I told them I was just making the arrangements since I lived in the area.

 

[BigDave]

We have not stayed at the RI at seaworld, but the location is closer to Sea World than Sierra Suites -- it opened spring 2002. We stayed at the RI in Lake Buena Vista (next to Sierra Suites) and loved it. There is a full breakfast buffet included and we really liked the full kitchen. We stayed in a 2 bedroom. The living room was small but adequate since there was a kitchen table too. The pool area was very nice. The room and hotel was very clean. We had planned to try out the one at Seaworld but could not make it to FL this year. We did drive by it last year and it is probably less than a mile to Sea World.

We loved the Residence INN and would stay again at any one of them.

Hope this helps.

 

[soccerchick]

Thanks so much for the fantastic replies! So much info...It looks like we are going with the Residence Inn. I'll bw sure to post a report when we return (not until May though!)

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate your time to respond.