Marriott Grande Vista vs Marriott Horizons

[Nom]

Background: My parents are owners at Grande Vista, but this year we traded for Horizons. It looked nice on the website, but as vacation time drew closer I started to get nervous about trying something new. Well, we're back, and I have to say, I liked Horizons. I think both resorts have their own plusses and minuses, which to me even the two resorts out. I think a choice just comes down to what is important to you when you vacation. So here is my comparison:

SERVICE: Hands down, Horizons wins here. Every time we had any issue (we did not have many, but we had a burnt out light and a stopped clock), the service person came immediately. I have never had this responsive a service experience ever, not even at the Grand Floridian! I was very impressed.

ROOM: Hands down, Grand Vista. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the laminate kitchen countertops at Horizons. Not the biggest deal in the world, but when you are used to Grand Vista's luxe accomidations, you can feel the difference at Horizons IMO. Mind you, Horzon's is not dirty, or 'motel 6'- ish, but I don't see it as deluxe. Don't get me wrong, Horizons is very nice, but Grande Vista feels more 'posh'. Size of the two units is comperable.

PROXIMITY TO DISNEY: Horizons has a slight edge here, IMO, as you just jump on the freeway and are there.. no lights like Grande Vista.

EATING FACILITIES: Hands Down Grande Vista. The service at the little grill at Horizons was terrible. The food was ok. Does not open for breakfast until 8:30, at which time we were usually on our way to the parks- that was a pain. I think the service issue is that it is a tiny grill, for a large amount of people. This needs to be addressed quickly IMO. Grand Vista has a better grille, and Nick's (sit down restaurant). This is a big plus for Grande Vista.

CONVENIENCE STORE ON PROPERTY: Grande Vista has one, Horizons does not. This was a bit of a pain for us, but not the hugest deal- just need to plan for what you want to have in the room.

POOL: Horizons has a better pool for kids, by far. Grand Vista has nice pools, but Horizons is a kiddy paradise.

SIZE: Horizons, hands down. I love how you can walk to everything. I always thought the sprawling size of the Grand Vista was a major drawback. We enjoyed walking around the Horizons dock at night- very romantic.

COMMON AREAS: Grand Vista wins here. There are nice areas for activities, a big indoor kids gym, beach with bonfire etc. The Horizons activities areas were small and dirty at the end of the night, and we chose not to partake in evening activities because the common areas were pretty nasty. However, Horizons does has a mini golf course (free to Horizons owners, charge for all others) and an outdoor playground.

I think that is about it! Both resorts are all-in-all lovely, with good water pressure in the showers and comfy beds... I don't think you will do wrong with either. They are just different! I am personally glad we tried Horzons, but we will probably go back to the Grand Vista the next time we come to Orlando.

Hope this helps, and feel free to add your own comments as well!

 

[maciec]

Our stay isn't over yet and we have also stayed at both. I am going to wait until our week is over to add comments, but I think that this is going to be a good resource for people in making their decision on where to stay.

 

[maciec]

Background: My parents are owners at Grande Vista, but this year we traded for Horizons. It looked nice on the website, but as vacation time drew closer I started to get nervous about trying something new. Well, we're back, and I have to say, I liked Horizons. I think both resorts have their own plusses and minuses, which to me even the two resorts out. I think a choice just comes down to what is important to you when you vacation. So here is my comparison:

Background: My parents are also owners at Grande Vista. They were gifting us a week and we chose Horizons over Grande Vista mainly because of the pools. We have a 4 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I wasn't nervous about our trip at all because I had read countless reviews on Tripadvisor, TUG, and here and the overwhelming majority were all positive. We were in Orlando this vacation to relax. We only did 1 day at AK, 1 day at Sea World, and 1 night at MK for MNSSHP.

SERVICE: Hands down, Horizons wins here. Every time we had any issue (we did not have many, but we had a burnt out light and a stopped clock), the service person came immediately. I have never had this responsive a service experience ever, not even at the Grand Floridian! I was very impressed.

I also agree about the service. I lost a tank top some where inbetween pools. I think it was on our first whole day there. Anyway, I went to the front desk and filled out a quick lost property sheet. A little later I was contacted by Bob from loss prevention stating that he got my paperwork and he would be on the lookout for my shirt. I went all week without hearing anything and at 9pm the night before check out I got a call from Bob saying that they had found my shirt. I was needless to say very happy. Anyway, I was very grateful for the contact and the ability to report my lost item and the report not get pushed to the side.

Also, the guys that work at the Grille were very nice and friendly.

ROOM: Hands down, Grand Vista. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the laminate kitchen countertops at Horizons. Not the biggest deal in the world, but when you are used to Grand Vista's luxe accomidations, you can feel the difference at Horizons IMO. Mind you, Horzon's is not dirty, or 'motel 6'- ish, but I don't see it as deluxe. Don't get me wrong, Horizons is very nice, but Grande Vista feels more 'posh'. Size of the two units is comperable.

Grande Vista is much more posh in the room decor and the rooms are bigger. However, with that being said we were very comfortable in our room. I think that the villa reminds me of the Beach Club because of the decor, but my husband says no. We were on the first floor of Building 12 and we loved the location. For the 4 of us we were very comfortable. My wish list for the villa: 2 sinks in the master bath, a quieter garbage disposal (ours sounded like a lawn mower), a door leading outside from the back porch. Oh, just a side note, you do not have to bring a hair dryer. The one that they provide was nicer than any hotel I've ever stayed in. Plenty of power.

PROXIMITY TO DISNEY: Horizons has a slight edge here, IMO, as you just jump on the freeway and are there.. no lights like Grande Vista.

I agree. You are also 2 minutes from Sea World.

EATING FACILITIES: Hands Down Grande Vista. The service at the little grill at Horizons was terrible. The food was ok. Does not open for breakfast until 8:30, at which time we were usually on our way to the parks- that was a pain. I think the service issue is that it is a tiny grill, for a large amount of people. This needs to be addressed quickly IMO. Grand Vista has a better grille, and Nick's (sit down restaurant). This is a big plus for Grande Vista.

I am going to disagree about the service at the Grille. Both times that we ate there, the bartenders we very nice. We didn't have to wait long for our food either. The food that we had was nothing to write home about, but it wasn't bad. It was definitely edible. I had the steak sub (which I liked, only wish I had asked for lettuce and mayo), DH had the wings (they were good - they come "medium" with carrots, celery, and bleu cheese). We all split a big basket of onion rings which I thought were nothing special, but we ate almost all of them. My daughter ate a personal pizza (which she liked very much) and my son had the chicken tenders which came with fries and they were good. On another day, we got a big basket of cheese fries and they were good. We did order 3 frozen drinks and they were all good. We were able to charge everything to our room.

We didn't eat breakfast there because we went to the biggest Walmart I have ever seen in to get our groceries. It was about 2-3 miles away. We also went to the Publix which was 2 miles away and very nice, but it was more expensive of course than Walmart.

CONVENIENCE STORE ON PROPERTY: Grande Vista has one, Horizons does not. This was a bit of a pain for us, but not the hugest deal- just need to plan for what you want to have in the room.

We went to the Publix and the biggest Walmart I have ever seen to get our groceries. The Publix was of course more expensive and it was 1.8 miles away. The Walmart was abut 3 miles away. We didn't eat out for breakfast or lunch.

POOL: Horizons has a better pool for kids, by far. Grand Vista has nice pools, but Horizons is a kiddy paradise.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!! My kids would have been content never leaving the pools. For pool with the pirate ship there are no height requirements. For the big slide you have to be 42". There is an attendant there to check and they are very strick.

SIZE: Horizons, hands down. I love how you can walk to everything. I always thought the sprawling size of the Grand Vista was a major drawback. We enjoyed walking around the Horizons dock at night- very romantic.

We too, loved the size of Horizons.

COMMON AREAS: Grand Vista wins here. There are nice areas for activities, a big indoor kids gym, beach with bonfire etc. The Horizons activities areas were small and dirty at the end of the night, and we chose not to partake in evening activities because the common areas were pretty nasty. However, Horizons does has a mini golf course (free to Horizons owners, charge for all others) and an outdoor playground.

I think that Grande Vista also wins. With that being said, the only time that we found any place dirty was after the Ice Cream Social in Horizons Hall. This, btw, happens every day from 2-3pm. If you decide to buy the refillable cup it's $10, however, if you just buy day by day, the price was $3. They have vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream. The toppings, were rainbow sprinkles, m&m's, reese's pieces, crushed oreos, gummy bears, ready whip, and chocolate syrup.

The mini golf is $25 unlimited play for the people staying in the villa for the week. The course was nice. Nothing too challenging for the kids. Marriott really needs to do some maintenance here. The places with water had a ton of algae in them and some of the greens needed to be replaced.

I think that is about it! Both resorts are all-in-all lovely, with good water pressure in the showers and comfy beds... I don't think you will do wrong with either. They are just different! I am personally glad we tried Horizons, but we will probably go back to the Grand Vista the next time we come to Orlando.

Hope this helps, and feel free to add your own comments as well!

We enjoyed staying at Horizons and were not disappointed in any part of our stay. There was not one let down. We had a very relaxing time at Horizons and tons of fun between both pools. We were asked once at check-in if we wanted to do the tour and then again about half way through our stay. Both times we said no and were never met with a challenge. No pressure at all.

As soon as I can, I will post what pictures I have which is a lot. I even went so far as to take pictures of what comes in the cabinets and drawers. Just because I know someone will want to know!

Here's the link for my photo's of Horizon's the password is horizons Horizon's