Review of Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa
I stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and Spa with some friends on Dec 3-12. The group consisted of me, my friend and her partner and their 9 year old daughter, and another friend. We rented the 3 bedroom, 2 bath Barbados Suite. We were in Building 5 on the 9th floor in a corner unit. We asked for a unit with a view of the pirate pool. We were able to see it only from the side of our balcony. It was unseasonably cold the week we were there so no one was in the pool. Given those circumstances and the fact that we were hardly ever home the view did not matter much.
Overall, the Resort and suite suited our needs. We wanted space to spread out, have a place to lounge in the evening, and have facilities to make quick, easy breakfasts and make lunches to bring to the parks. We ate dinner out every night except for take out from Pizza Hut Express one night.
Our review
Proximity to the parks:
10-15 minutes to a parking space at all Disney parks. Distance to Universal was about 25 minutes. Getting to the parks was a breeze. Getting home each night was a challenge. The routes out of Disney to I-4, Rte 535 etc are not well marked. We ended up taking the scenic route nearly every night. We got home, but only after probably taking a longer route than we needed. Not the fault of the hotel, of course. We finally got the route down pat by the end of the week but it was frustrating to leave a park late at night, exhausted and just wanting to get home to bed, only to end up driving around more than necessary. Frankly, I think Disney does this on purpose so that next time you decide to just stay on property to avoid the hassle.
Parking
There was underground parking at building 5, not sure of the other buildings. Only time we were able to make use of it was when we arrived on our first day from the airport at about 4pm. There were spaces. In the evenings when we returned late from the parks, parking was hard to find, especially on the weekends. By mid week it was not too bad but Fri/Sat/Sun nights you could not get a space underground and getting a space close to the building was a challenge as well. One night we had to park in front of the main building where the lobby is. The resort clearly needs more parking.
Characteristics of the Suite
The 3 bedroom 2 bath afforded us plenty of room to spread out. The family contained themselves to the Master Suite, and the other friend and I each took a bedroom and shared the 2nd bath. We tested for bed bugs the moment we arrived and found none.
We appreciated having our own bedrooms. Each bedroom has a television and one in the living area as well. They were not the latest and greatest in electronics but we hardly ever watched the TV so it did not really matter. Turned it on for a bit of news and weather was about it, and we were able to hook up the video camera on the set in the living room to watch some of the video taken each day.
Each bedroom also has ample closet space with several hangers (both regular and pants hangers), a dresser, night table, lamps, phones, and an alarm clock.
The closet in the master bedroom houses the iron and ironing board, vacuum cleaner and a safe large enough for a lap top.
The bathrooms were clean and spacious. The guest bath has a good size linen closet for you to put belongings. The vanity was a sufficient size that my friend and I each had our own space for tooth brushes, etc. There is a hairdryer in the bathroom. Tub/shower area was clean and we had enough space for our shampoos etc. The tub did not drain terribly well but it was a minor irritation.
The Master bath is part of the Master bedroom. There is a vanity with double sinks, hairdryer and makeup mirror, shower area, toilet closet, and a Jacuzzi right in the bedroom itself.
While the guest bath had a towel rack in the tub area and another on the wall behind the door, the Master suite lacked a towel rack except for one in the shower. This created a situation where there was only 1 place (in the shower) to put towels after use. The room needs another towel rack and the inhabitants of this room found the lack thereof to be quite inconvenient.
Each bathroom had a roll of toilet paper on the rack and a spare one in the vanity along with a box of tissues and a spare in the vanity. They also only provide a starter set of shampoo and soap. You would need to purchase more from housekeeping.
The kitchen area was well equipped for our needs. It had place settings, utensils and glass ware for 8, basic cooking utensils, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, tea kettle, blender, can opener, knife set, and some pots and pans. Dont think you could make a gourmet dinner here but all we wanted was to make light breakfasts, make sandwiches and we could have made easy dinners if we wished. There was also a full size fridge, stove top and oven, sink, garbage disposal and dish washer.
They provide a starter set of coffee although it was not to our liking. There was also a roll of paper towel on the towel rack, pot holders and dish cloths, place mats, a small container of dish washer liquid and a small dish detergent and a couple of extra trash bags. I think we ran the dishwasher once and just took turns doing the dishes in the sink since we did not really cook.
There was also a mop, bucket and dustpan and brush in the kitchen closet.
What was lacking, however, was cabinet space. Since people choose these accommodations because of the ability to make meals, you have groceries. The few cabinets held plates, glass ware etc. We made do by putting lots of stuff on top of the refrigerator.
There was also a stackable washer and dryer with a starter set of detergent and softener. We made use of this several times.
As previous reviews mentioned, the carpets were filthy. They could all use a deep clean or a replacing. But we were forewarned from reviews we read and wore slippers or flip flops while we were in the room. We found everything else to be clean, however.
There was a light broken in the living room, the tub in the guest bath had a bit of trouble draining and the ceiling fan in the master bedroom was broken. One member of the group tried the Jacuzzi and the spigot broke.
As for housekeeping, these units are self catering. Housekeeping is an extra charge and you must schedule it a day in advance. The info is on their website. For a nominal fee, we opted only for a towel and toiletry refresh mid week. We had an ample amount of towels to start with and we exchanged those for another ample set. You also remove your own trash, unless you want to pay them to do that. The trash chute was at the other hand of the hallway, accessible with our room key.
As far as doing our own housekeeping, there were 5 of us. We took turns tidying up, doing dishes, getting rid of the trash. It was really no big deal. We actually prefer it this way and do not really like having housekeeping enter our room every day.
Security
The buildings were only accessible by room key. This gives the illusion of security. However, each night we came home to at least 2-3 pizza flyers under our door. We found that a bit disconcerting but from what I have read, it is a problem for all resorts in the area and not unique to this one.
Other Amenities at the resort
The resort features a spa and fitness center which we did not make use of. The grounds are beautiful and the pirate pool looked like lots of fun, though it was quite cold the first week of December. They do have a pool bar with a light food menu as well. And a hot tub.
There is a convenience store on site with a Pizza Hut Express. The store sells a wide variety of food stuff, liquor, personal care items and some souvenirs. It is expensive. A package of Kraft sliced cheese cost me $4.27!
The Pizza Hut served good food. We got a large pizza, a personal pizza, a Cesar salad to share and 2 pans of pasta for $40. That was $10 each for dinner that night.
By far, our favorite amenity was Frankie Farrells pub. We ate there 3 times. A varied menu, great food, fabulous service and reasonably priced. Sally the bar tender took very good care of us!
One of our priorities in selecting a place was that it had a restaurant on site so we could come back from the parks and just grab dinner. Between Frankie Farrells and Pizza Hut Express, this resort met our expectations.
Staff
We had little interaction with the staff except for check in and check out. They were efficient and friendly. A waning, the taxis they call are quite expensive. Might be worth finding one in the yellow pages and calling it instead could be cheaper.
Area
The resort is located on Rte 535. It is close to everything but you need a car. There is a factory outlet mall next door with maybe 30 shops and a food court. Walmart is down the street but it is not a safe walk. You are within a 10 minute drive to many restaurants as well.
Overall Impressions
We were looking for a place to spread out, do some light cooking, have a restaurant on site, was clean and was close to the parks. This place met and exceeded our expectations. We were not home much and when we were we were exhausted and pretty much heading to bead. Except for the filthy carpets and a few broken items, we were quite pleased. We just wore something on our feet in the suite and the broken items, while irritating, were not deal breakers for us. We were pleased. I gave it 4 stars. If it werent for the filthy carpet and the few broken items that were a minor irritation, I would have given it 5 stars. If you are looking for what we were looking for and are not overly picky, especially given that it is mostly a place to sleep and shower, you will be pleased too.
I stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and Spa with some friends on Dec 3-12. The group consisted of me, my friend and her partner and their 9 year old daughter, and another friend. We rented the 3 bedroom, 2 bath Barbados Suite. We were in Building 5 on the 9th floor in a corner unit. We asked for a unit with a view of the pirate pool. We were able to see it only from the side of our balcony. It was unseasonably cold the week we were there so no one was in the pool. Given those circumstances and the fact that we were hardly ever home the view did not matter much.
Overall, the Resort and suite suited our needs. We wanted space to spread out, have a place to lounge in the evening, and have facilities to make quick, easy breakfasts and make lunches to bring to the parks. We ate dinner out every night except for take out from Pizza Hut Express one night.
Our review
Proximity to the parks:
10-15 minutes to a parking space at all Disney parks. Distance to Universal was about 25 minutes. Getting to the parks was a breeze. Getting home each night was a challenge. The routes out of Disney to I-4, Rte 535 etc are not well marked. We ended up taking the scenic route nearly every night. We got home, but only after probably taking a longer route than we needed. Not the fault of the hotel, of course. We finally got the route down pat by the end of the week but it was frustrating to leave a park late at night, exhausted and just wanting to get home to bed, only to end up driving around more than necessary. Frankly, I think Disney does this on purpose so that next time you decide to just stay on property to avoid the hassle.
Parking
There was underground parking at building 5, not sure of the other buildings. Only time we were able to make use of it was when we arrived on our first day from the airport at about 4pm. There were spaces. In the evenings when we returned late from the parks, parking was hard to find, especially on the weekends. By mid week it was not too bad but Fri/Sat/Sun nights you could not get a space underground and getting a space close to the building was a challenge as well. One night we had to park in front of the main building where the lobby is. The resort clearly needs more parking.
Characteristics of the Suite
The 3 bedroom 2 bath afforded us plenty of room to spread out. The family contained themselves to the Master Suite, and the other friend and I each took a bedroom and shared the 2nd bath. We tested for bed bugs the moment we arrived and found none.
We appreciated having our own bedrooms. Each bedroom has a television and one in the living area as well. They were not the latest and greatest in electronics but we hardly ever watched the TV so it did not really matter. Turned it on for a bit of news and weather was about it, and we were able to hook up the video camera on the set in the living room to watch some of the video taken each day.
Each bedroom also has ample closet space with several hangers (both regular and pants hangers), a dresser, night table, lamps, phones, and an alarm clock.
The closet in the master bedroom houses the iron and ironing board, vacuum cleaner and a safe large enough for a lap top.
The bathrooms were clean and spacious. The guest bath has a good size linen closet for you to put belongings. The vanity was a sufficient size that my friend and I each had our own space for tooth brushes, etc. There is a hairdryer in the bathroom. Tub/shower area was clean and we had enough space for our shampoos etc. The tub did not drain terribly well but it was a minor irritation.
The Master bath is part of the Master bedroom. There is a vanity with double sinks, hairdryer and makeup mirror, shower area, toilet closet, and a Jacuzzi right in the bedroom itself.
While the guest bath had a towel rack in the tub area and another on the wall behind the door, the Master suite lacked a towel rack except for one in the shower. This created a situation where there was only 1 place (in the shower) to put towels after use. The room needs another towel rack and the inhabitants of this room found the lack thereof to be quite inconvenient.
Each bathroom had a roll of toilet paper on the rack and a spare one in the vanity along with a box of tissues and a spare in the vanity. They also only provide a starter set of shampoo and soap. You would need to purchase more from housekeeping.
The kitchen area was well equipped for our needs. It had place settings, utensils and glass ware for 8, basic cooking utensils, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, tea kettle, blender, can opener, knife set, and some pots and pans. Dont think you could make a gourmet dinner here but all we wanted was to make light breakfasts, make sandwiches and we could have made easy dinners if we wished. There was also a full size fridge, stove top and oven, sink, garbage disposal and dish washer.
They provide a starter set of coffee although it was not to our liking. There was also a roll of paper towel on the towel rack, pot holders and dish cloths, place mats, a small container of dish washer liquid and a small dish detergent and a couple of extra trash bags. I think we ran the dishwasher once and just took turns doing the dishes in the sink since we did not really cook.
There was also a mop, bucket and dustpan and brush in the kitchen closet.
What was lacking, however, was cabinet space. Since people choose these accommodations because of the ability to make meals, you have groceries. The few cabinets held plates, glass ware etc. We made do by putting lots of stuff on top of the refrigerator.
There was also a stackable washer and dryer with a starter set of detergent and softener. We made use of this several times.
As previous reviews mentioned, the carpets were filthy. They could all use a deep clean or a replacing. But we were forewarned from reviews we read and wore slippers or flip flops while we were in the room. We found everything else to be clean, however.
There was a light broken in the living room, the tub in the guest bath had a bit of trouble draining and the ceiling fan in the master bedroom was broken. One member of the group tried the Jacuzzi and the spigot broke.
As for housekeeping, these units are self catering. Housekeeping is an extra charge and you must schedule it a day in advance. The info is on their website. For a nominal fee, we opted only for a towel and toiletry refresh mid week. We had an ample amount of towels to start with and we exchanged those for another ample set. You also remove your own trash, unless you want to pay them to do that. The trash chute was at the other hand of the hallway, accessible with our room key.
As far as doing our own housekeeping, there were 5 of us. We took turns tidying up, doing dishes, getting rid of the trash. It was really no big deal. We actually prefer it this way and do not really like having housekeeping enter our room every day.
Security
The buildings were only accessible by room key. This gives the illusion of security. However, each night we came home to at least 2-3 pizza flyers under our door. We found that a bit disconcerting but from what I have read, it is a problem for all resorts in the area and not unique to this one.
Other Amenities at the resort
The resort features a spa and fitness center which we did not make use of. The grounds are beautiful and the pirate pool looked like lots of fun, though it was quite cold the first week of December. They do have a pool bar with a light food menu as well. And a hot tub.
There is a convenience store on site with a Pizza Hut Express. The store sells a wide variety of food stuff, liquor, personal care items and some souvenirs. It is expensive. A package of Kraft sliced cheese cost me $4.27!
The Pizza Hut served good food. We got a large pizza, a personal pizza, a Cesar salad to share and 2 pans of pasta for $40. That was $10 each for dinner that night.
By far, our favorite amenity was Frankie Farrells pub. We ate there 3 times. A varied menu, great food, fabulous service and reasonably priced. Sally the bar tender took very good care of us!
One of our priorities in selecting a place was that it had a restaurant on site so we could come back from the parks and just grab dinner. Between Frankie Farrells and Pizza Hut Express, this resort met our expectations.
Staff
We had little interaction with the staff except for check in and check out. They were efficient and friendly. A waning, the taxis they call are quite expensive. Might be worth finding one in the yellow pages and calling it instead could be cheaper.
Area
The resort is located on Rte 535. It is close to everything but you need a car. There is a factory outlet mall next door with maybe 30 shops and a food court. Walmart is down the street but it is not a safe walk. You are within a 10 minute drive to many restaurants as well.
Overall Impressions
We were looking for a place to spread out, do some light cooking, have a restaurant on site, was clean and was close to the parks. This place met and exceeded our expectations. We were not home much and when we were we were exhausted and pretty much heading to bead. Except for the filthy carpets and a few broken items, we were quite pleased. We just wore something on our feet in the suite and the broken items, while irritating, were not deal breakers for us. We were pleased. I gave it 4 stars. If it werent for the filthy carpet and the few broken items that were a minor irritation, I would have given it 5 stars. If you are looking for what we were looking for and are not overly picky, especially given that it is mostly a place to sleep and shower, you will be pleased too.
