Nickelodeon Suites Resort: Honestly, is it really that bad??

[2Pirates2Princesses]

First off, I know (as I have read) that this is a hotel/resort for the kids and to expect a lot of noise and controlled chaos. I expect and don't mind that, it is after all Nickelodeon; but I am looking for some balanced, objective views from people that have actually stayed there. I went on Trip Advisor and so many reviews seem clearly extreme on both ends of the spectrum. There are reviews and photographs where the rooms seem clean and well maintained then there are some reviews where people are saying the rooms are dirty and smelly There are also reviews where people are saying the grounds need updated/refurbished and reviews that claim the opposite. What troubles me are the reviews (there are several) that claim that a lot of the patrons at the Nick resort aren't even staying in the hotel rooms (day guests I suppose) and that there are a lot of patrons that are rowdy and unclassy (not the kids). The reason for this post is that my kids are really big Nickelodeon fans. They probably watch the Nickelodeon programs more than Disney ones. We are considering either surprising them with 2 days at the Nick hotel during our week at WDW or if that doesn't work out we would like to try to plan a Nick hotel/Sea World/LegoLand vacation for early summer next year. We definitely want them to have a Nickelodeon experience since they are such big fans of this network's characters/shows.Thanks

 

[toontoy]

The resort is very similar to the All star resorts and Pop Century resort.

They all are pretty clean, well maintained and have decent service. They are loud and things but all in all I prefer the nick suites.

The nick suites are pretty nice, they are what I would say a clean 2 star resort. Its not as dirty as most 2 stars but has limited amenities. The water park is fun and is very noisy and kids everywhere (which I expected as its a family resort). I would say that if you expect it to be a bit nosy its going to be great. I liked it better than the All Stars, but it and the Disney Values cannot be compared to a full service resort and the price doesn't make it so anyways. I would recommend it.

 

[gatormom2tots]

We stayed there 2 days after spending 5 days at BLT.


Well, BLT its NOT!!!!

We went into it with the attitude that it was for the kids, not for a luxury hotel stay.

The room was about a 2 star motel quality. It was clean in the sense that the toilets were clean and thre bathrooms were clean....but the floor was kinda sticky without shoes or socks on, the furniture was worn, your sheets are of the cheapest quality wal-mart brand, etc. Absolutely to be expected in about a 2 star hotel.

If we had gone into expecting a 3 or 4, we would have been greatly disappointed. But our expectations met the quality we received.

There were some......I guess unclassy is the word, to describe some of the hotel guests. Basically the biggest problem we had were kids running around screaming and yelling with no apparent adult around. Just kinda rude behavior and no parent to redirect the kids- and I am talking about ages like 8-12. I had problems with some of the kids pratically knocking down my 4 year old in the zero entry area in the pool. These types of crowds were more prevelant in the later afternoons and evenings.

But there were plenty of others who were monitoring the children and showed basic manners in the public areas.

So it was really a mixed bag. Would we stay again? Maybe for a day or 2 as long as the kids are still infaturated with spongebob. But it certainly would not be where we would stay for a week vacation.

Also- I must make note that the hotel staff was extremely polite!

 

[Ed J]

I've never meet a kid who said the Nick sucked. I've spoken to a few parents who said it did, but they were also people who tended to have that perminate look of smeling something bad on their face so I tend to ignore those types when they offer an opinion on anything .

Food is OK, my advice is order off the menu for dinner as the buffet was meh, but the steak or salmon was good. Breakfast buffet was OK, lunch at the pool was OK, but we tend to drink a lot so that helps with the quality of the pool side food .

The pools are great fun for little kids and adults alike. But be warned there can be a turd floating at any time, but this is the kind of chance you take at the Nick........ Or any kid themed pool oriented resort.

Our last trip we stayed for 2 days (perfect amount of time to stay) wife bought me new board shorts, dark blue for this trip. When we got to our timeshare they were light blue <true story> do to the coupouse amounts of bacteria killing chemicals the staff inject into the Nick pools to keep the feacial count low enough for you to swim. But you see that doesn't bother me even a little bit, and maybe you can understand why lunch tastes so good as I tend to drink a lot when on vacation.

I'd never go there for a week, but I'd go there for 2 days to start or wind down a Disney trip as long as the kids want to go. That said we have 3 days extra on this Novs trip, we haven't picked the Nick yet, not ruled it out either.

I say go, giggle at the grossness which will show itself in one way or another during your visit, but grin ear to ear while your kids just enjoy the hell out of the place. Prmice me that you'll order 2 or 3 doubles one afternoon and let your better half deal with the kids, get loaded with the satisfaction that your kids get to be kids at a really cool place .

 

[GJM]

We stayed there a couple of years ago when it was Holiday Family Suites, and loved it!

We went back for 1 night when it was Nickelodeon, and that was 1 night too many.

The pool got closed 3 times because of a "floating object"! Screaming kids, nobody watching their kids, it was awful!

 

[angeleigh]

We just returned from a week there. It was very kid friendly and we all had a good time. The only problem we had was my son lost his shoes at the pool. They were picked up by someone by accident and never to be seen again. The room was nice. The housekeeping could have been a little better but it was far from gross just not disney. There were many things for the kids to do and they loved the pool. Our children are 6, 12, 15. They were never bored and had a great time.

 

[momtoejanda]

We were just there in February. Everyone has said it all. 1-2 nights BEFORE staying at a nice hotel is good. We stayed 2 nights and went to Sea World, then went on the Disney Dream, then to WDW. I am very happy that we did it in that order.

It was clean, it was fun but it was not even close to luxurious. The pool was fun and clean. It seemed to be very well supervised. Food was fair and expensive but I wouldnt expect more. We did the character breakfast, very cute, you can make reservations in advance (which I did being the disney planner and all) but they were not necessary. My kids LOVED the night time shows too.

I highly recommend this hotel for the characters (if your kids like them) and the pools. But definitely not for more than a night or two.

 

[MaleficentRN]

You'll probably see the same gamut of reviews here that you saw on Trip Advisor.
I liked Nick Hotel. My kids LOVE it! We stayed here our last two trips, the last being last October. OUr room was always clean, the pool was clean.There was one time that someone threw mulch chips in the hot tub. That's the problem with these kids resorts. People let their kids trash the place.
The kids loved the water park. We spent one day just hanging out there. They have poolside activites and a snack bar with adult beverages, too! Score for mom!!!
The food court is the pits! But the rooms have a fridge and microwave. We had all out breakfast and a couple of lunches in our room. A few years ago DH and DS did the Sponge Bob breakfast. The food was OK, but DS saw all his favorite characters and had a great time.

 

[MaleficentRN]

I was thinking about what you said about the day guest. I don't think they even do that. I may be wrong or maybe they do it for residents in the area for a few days in the off season? I know they do it at Great Wolf Lodge.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I was thinking about what you said about the day guest. I don't think they even do that. I may be wrong or maybe they do it for residents in the area for a few days in the off season? I know they do it at Great Wolf Lodge.

From my research (and after contacting the Nick hotel to find out) you are right in that they don't offer day "passes" where you can just pay to use the facilities and not have to pay for a hotel room; but for a nominal fee (I think $15 or so) they do allow day "guests" for hotel patrons that have paid for/are registered to a room. So you can see how this "arrangement" (when coupled with lower rate specials for FL residents or rate specials on Expedia/Travelocity) can create a crowd of "interesting" clientele.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Ohhhh. I can see how that may go bad. I wonder if they have a cap on how many passes one room can buy?
At any rate, I never had a problem there. We had a great room with a great water park for a great price. Hope you guys have fun, too!

 

[vicki_c]

We stayed there a couple of years ago when it was Holiday Family Suites, and loved it!

We went back for 1 night when it was Nickelodeon, and that was 1 night too many.

The pool got closed 3 times because of a "floating object"! Screaming kids, nobody watching their kids, it was awful!

This was our experience as well - thought as the HI it was fine and reasonably priced for what it was. Thought as the Nick it was much worse and WAY overpriced for the same exact room & furniture, just some new wallpaper (and of course the new pool).

 

[dester]

Took my daughter and her friends for a two day stay for her birthday and had a great time. The room was not as big as i had expected but it was clean and the facilities were good. The pool does get packed at certain hours and but no issues there.
When traveling with a family I would suggest using the offairportcheckin facility down the road at the lake buena vista outlet mall. It sure was nice not to have to do the bag drag to the airport with the kids in tow and then stand in line an hour at southwest to check in.

 

[cjsteiger]

We stayed there in 2009 for 2 nights and my kids loved it!! For me it was OK. The room was fine. I do love the suite option. We had a room on the 4th or 5th floor right behind the big slides I thought it was a great place. My only issue was at the Character breakfast we were on the later side of the breakfast and I was a little disgusted that they left tables full of dishes and also some people are just slobs when they eat at a buffet. I also have a problem with kids running around in a resturant even if it is a buffet and a family resturant. We would go back but my kids have kind of outgrown it they will be 10 1/2 and 13 1/2 when we go in Feb. I don't think I could stay there for a week, 2 nights and 3 days was enough for us.

 

[bumbershoot]

From my research (and after contacting the Nick hotel to find out) you are right in that they don't offer day "passes" where you can just pay to use the facilities and not have to pay for a hotel room; but for a nominal fee (I think $15 or so) they do allow day "guests" for hotel patrons that have paid for/are registered to a room. So you can see how this "arrangement" (when coupled with lower rate specials for FL residents or rate specials on Expedia/Travelocity) can create a crowd of "interesting" clientele.

Their FAQ states:

Q. Do you offer Day Passes?
A.No, our resort is reserved for the exclusive use of our guests.



But...at their rates, even including the $25 resort fee, IF I had a room elsewhere, I could imagine paying for a night to get two days of fun at their resort, even if I didn't stay there.

People do it at Universal resorts, and they aren't cheap, because it gets you two full days of the hotel-based express pass plus...or on cruise forums you see people paying for a night's stay (that they aren't going to use) at a hotel next to Atlantis because it gives them a day pass to Atlantis.

 

[Nadia_disfan]

This is interesting reading, as I have just booked a night during our 2 week stay at emerald island, I've read the reviews and read between the lines that basically it's a kids dream place, much madness, good staff and mom can have a cocktail or two ... What's not to love! I'm secretly hoping to be slimed too,
I think it'll be fun and if it's awful we can just drive back to the villa to sleep and come back for breakfast! Haha, open mind and fun loving heart is all you need to enjoy I reckon

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Bumping my own thread for recent feedback from anyone who has stayed here recently
We are still looking into doing a Sea World/Legoland trip next summer and are still considering Nickelodeon as a hotel option. My kids are big fans of all the different Nickelodeon characters and shows! Thanks

 

[living20057]

We stayed this past summer in a 2bedroom. The room was fine. The location was by the larger pool area. The food court was congestion, because it was raining. They did have really good drinks. The rough part was checkin, it was very long. Then if you want to see some shows, you have to sign up at the concierge office. Which took forever, because the you can book shows and character breakfast too. My kids loved the pool. It was large and a quite a few watersides. I did go down myself a few times.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

We stayed this past summer in a 2bedroom. The room was fine. The location was by the larger pool area. The food court was congestion, because it was raining. They did have really good drinks. The rough part was checkin, it was very long. Then if you want to see some shows, you have to sign up at the concierge office. Which took forever, because the you can book shows and character breakfast too. My kids loved the pool. It was large and a quite a few watersides. I did go down myself a few times.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[ledzef]

Wow! the resort is like a kingdom. Absolutely fantastic. Great view and love the place.