We spent three nights at the Hawthorn Suites Sea World in June of this year (3 months ago). We actually were quite pleased.
We paid $58.00 night through hotelkingdom.com. First the negative: The hotel is not new. The guest rooms are tired. That being said, the rooms were very clean. I thought that housekeeping did a terrific job, which is not always easy in an older hotel, especially when there is a kitchenette involved. The suites themselves are very well designed. You enter the living/kitchenette area which has a sofa bed and TV. Also a small
stereo and nintendo. (Rentals are available in the lobby.) The kitchenette is small but well equipped. A small table which seats two is there. The refrigerator is not full size but it is bigger than a cube. There is a small dishwasher, 2 burner stove top, coffee maker, microwave and toaster. There are plates and utensils for four and cookware and cooking implements (spatula, can opener, etc.) There is a small hallway where the sink/vanity area is located in front of the bathroom (toilet/tub.) Then the bedroom is a completely separate room, not just partitioned off like some other "suite" hotels. It has its own door. We had two double beds but I think they have some king rooms also. There is a second television in the bedroom and an iron and ironing board in the very large closet. Drawer space is very good also.
As to the public areas: These have been renovated and are very well maintained. They have an average size free form pool which goes from 3 to 5 feet. Not huge, but adequate. There is a kiddie pool and children's playground area. Nice touch. There is one hot tub. The deluxe continental breakfast is very good. The breakfast area is quite large and newly renovated. There are a number of hot breakfast items each morning; scrambled eggs each day with a different breakfast meat, one day sausage, one day bacon. French toast some mornings, waffles others. Each day there are bagels, toast, etc. (Here's a tip: If you plan on spending the day at the pool, grab some white bread and peanut butter and jelly from breakfast. We made PB&J's for the kids because other than chips and stuff, there's nothing available to eat onsite.) Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are available in the breakfast area 24/7. The small shop has sundries, newspapers, magazines, etc. Videos and video games are available from a machine in the lobby. There is a very small game room with about 4-5 video games and also a small self-service laundry.
We had a nice couple of days there. The hotel is close to Sea World and within reason to Universal. We would stay there again.
I've probably gone too long on this one but I wanted to give as much info as possible.
