Off-site Orlando hotel expertise needed!

[firecracker]

I teach at a small school and our Seniors want to go to Florida on their Senior trip next May. We currently have a quote at the Rosen Plaza hotel on I-Drive for about $65 per room per night.

We will be going to US/IOA and Wet n Wild, but not Disney.

The thought of researching other hotel options is daunting because we almost always stay on Disney property.

Can any of you experts tell me the following things:

1. Is $65 a good deal for the Rosen Plaza?

2. Is there a comparable or better hotel (nice pool, well-located, weight room) for the same $$ in the I-Drive area?

3. Is there an even better option that I'm missing?

I'm grateful for your help! We're taking a 35 passenger motor coach w/beds, bathroom and a 46" plasma TV on board! I'm SO looking forward to the trip!! (Yes, traveling with 30 teenagers is a little crazy...but they're great kids!)

TIA! Carmen

 

[disneysteve]

Carmen - I'm not that familiar with the US area as we always stay in LBV or Kissimmee (couldn't imagine going to the area and NOT doing Disney). But I strongly suspect that you can get a nice place for under $50/nite. Try browsing the offerings at hotelkingdom.com.

Steve

 

[CarolA]

I am not sure about the hotel.

However, having taken some youth groups on trips. I have a weight room warning. Lots of weight rooms will NOT allow people under 18 to use the weight room without an adult due to liablity issues. If this is important, ask.

My suggestion is to look for a tour company to help you. I know there are tour companies that specialize in this. They can arrange the bus, find a hotel with free breakfast etc.... (All of the ones I have worked with spealize in Savannah so I don't have any personal recommendations.)

We did have one group stay at the Castle hotel on International Drive and it seemed to work well.

 

[cinamin27]

Although I have not stayed at the Rosen Plaza, it seems that $65 a night is a good rate as they appear to be a convention hotel.

May I make another hotel suggestion though? For this past Labor Day weekend, my daughter & I stayed at the Homewood Suites on Hospitality Way. This hotel is practically brand new ( they opened in May 2003) & have decently spacious suites which would seem perfect for 17/18 year olds that maybe want to gather in groups in each other's room to chat, play board games & so-forth. The bedroom has 2 queen sized beds that completely closes off from the sitting area/kitchen with walls & french doors. A decent sized bathroom with separate vanity area that has cabinets & drawers for storage. They have a nice sized sitting area with a couch (that pulls out into a bed) chair, coffee table & tv. There is a small table area & a little studio sized kitchenette with a full sized refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, small sink & 2 stove burners, it also has utensils, glasses, plates, etc.

They serve a really nice HOT breakfast buffet in the mornings consisting of plain scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with bits of tomato, ham & cheese, either bacon or sausage (when the sausage runs out, then they put out a pan of bacon, when the bacon runs out, then comes sausage again, etc) they also have a waffle area where you make your own waffles from the batter cups they have out, fruit, danish, muffins, cereal, juices, etc.

They do have a small fitness room (I dont think all 30 kids could fit at once though!), small game room & decent pool area.

Besides the great rooms & great breakfast, the best part of all is the location is PERFECT for your group!!! You would be able to walk to Wet n Wild as you could see it from the hotel. The walk would only be about 1-2 blocks, if even that. Also, USO/IOA is right across I4 & takes all of maybe 3-4 minutes drive time to get to their parking garage entrance!!!!

I booked thru hotelkingdom.com & received 25% off their regular rate but right now they are only showing 10% off the regular rate & I think it is about $70-80 per night but with the type of breakfast they serve, this would save your group a good amount of money! If you do the search on hotelkingdom.com look for the Homewoodsuites 1 mile from Universal on Hospitality way. They will sho pictures of the hotel & a little floorplan of the suites.