Regal Palms in Davenport

[Bella the Ball 360]

Is there a security gate and id required before someone can get in. I like to have at least the illusion of security.

 

[onlyoneforme]

There is a security gate, but it is never shut, as far as we saw...you could check at the desk and inquire more.
Each townhome has a coded key and a deadbolt on the front doors and a bar lock on the sliding door off the living room.

 

[hrbcab]

Is there a security gate and id required before someone can get in. I like to have at least the illusion of security.

There is a big iron gate at the front entrance with key card access but it was never closed while we were there. Also, there is a back entrance to the place that has no fencing or gate on it whatsoever. When heading south on 27 turn on the road right before the Publix shopping center (Jack's Rd.) and it dumps you right into the townhouse community.

 

[denisenh]

We loved our stay at the pool home that we rented at Highland reserve at regal palms. I think that if I stayed again, I would rent through an owner if possible, rather than a company.
I haven't ever rented a home for vacation in Florida before and the home we stayed in was nice, but stripped down....no VCR, no dvd,no stereo, no grill and it had one TV only. If you want any of those items, you rent them.
It worked out OK anyway.
We loved the lazy river pool and enjoyed having our own pool to use as well.
It will be hard to enjoy a hotel room after the rental home experience. Loved having all that space.

 

[onlyoneforme]

My family loved the Regal Palms too!
Glad to hear you had a great time! You got back just in time for the next snowstorm!!

Digging out again in Southern Maine!

 

[East Coaster]

We are booked for Regal Palms 3 bedroom pool home, May 5-12th. Any tips you can give us Deniseh would be appreciated. VCR and DVD are no big concern as I don't think we'll have enough down time to enjoy. Kids are 12 and 15 and I think we only have 1 down day to enjoy the pool, etc.

 

[denisenh]

Lucky you, East Coaster! I would be very happy to answer any questions. I would love to go back. Who did you rent from?
We really were very happy at the pool home that we stayed at... 1151 North Hampton Drive was the address.
I was glad to have gotten pool heat, but that may not be a problem for you as the weather will be warmer when you go.
The house was very clean, supplied with necessities and nicely furnished but there were no wash cloths at all.
We had just come off from camping at Cayo Costa Island (highly recommend) so I had my own wash cloths to use. I would hope that if I asked for some, that I would have gotten them.
The location was great with a strip mall and publix (grocery store) close by.
As far as being "stripped down" it wasn't that bad. I wouldn't have used the grill and I would rather sit out in the sun than be inside watching TV.
Again, I really would love to go back.

 

[East Coaster]

We booked through a travel agent so I guess it's Regal Palms management company. When we booked they gave us the web site address.

Can you walk to the Regal Palms pool area, lazy river or would we be better off taking a car?

I don't plan on preparing too many meals so I guess I won't miss the barbecue. My idea of cooking on vacation would be take out and having to find some plates to put it on.

If the weather is cooler I will pay for pool heat, as I plan on using the pool in the evening and early morning. Don't think it should be an issue in May though.

Were there enough towels, dish cloths, etc.?

What time were you allowed to check in?

I think this about covers it, if I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Thank You!

Bette

 

[cabmom]

We stayed there in January this year and paid $77/night. I was not impressed. It was pleasing to the eye and comfortable, but not some place I would stay again.
There were no dish clothes or cooking utensils. No dishwashing liquid, no little extras. No dvd or vcr, etc. I paid for what I got, the bare minimum.
A person was coming in to the unit daily while we stayed there without our knowledge to take the garbage out. The central air did not work and we had to use fans to keep cool. A lot of the place was still under construction, we did not use the lazy river once. We had to ask a passerby where it was.
This is all my opinion!

 

[denisenh]

The homes and the townhomes are in 2 different areas. The pool homes are across a "one lane going each way" road (not busy) from where you check in. The townhomes are behind the checkin, club house area on the same side of the road.
North Hampton Road, where we stayed, is the first road of the pool home development. It is a residential neighborhood. The houses are very close to each other, but it was very still and quiet and well maintained. I saw some men at a house across the street loading their golf bags into a car one day at 7 am and I saw 3-4 other people for a few minutes while outside the house...that's it. Our home's pool area had sun all day which I loved.
The town homes area was a little busier. We drove through and I saw more people out and about. That is where the construction is, towards the back, well, side really. I think that this area is fine as well though. I liked the look of the townhomes. Very neatly kept.
To get to the lazy river pool you enter the checkin clubhouse building and walk straight back past the arcade and bar area to the deck out back. Down some steps and there you are.
We could have walked from the house, but we drove and parked there. It was a 60 second drive from our driveway to the parking lot. There is a spa, a pool and the beach entry lazy river area. The beach entry area is in the back. Very nice. It is not a long lazy river, but it is a lot of fun and the water is WARM and clean. I went down the slide. It was fast. (The water slide was the first time ever in my life. I am 44. I still don't know what possessed me to do that. I am glad that I did it though.) Lots of good seating at the pools.

The house had plenty of towels. I think that the wash cloths were just forgotten. There were small wrapped bars of soap in the bathrooms, but I bring my own brand anyway. We did have a bottle of dish soap under the sink. The kitchen was well equipped for cooking, even for baking, if you wanted to.
The appliances were in new condition with an ice and water dispenser side by side fridge. I did go shopping at publix down the street. I bought groceries for our stay and dish washing soap. (I brought the remainder home except for 3 or 4 cubes that I left under the sink for the next people).
I did not do dishes. I rinsed them and they went into the dishwasher. I do not recall seeing a dish rag. I used a wash cloth (one of our own) for wiping down surfaces.
The central air worked fine, but the thermostat is in an enclosed plastic cover. The beds were not top quality but I slept fine and had no morning ache. Hair dryer was in the master bath. All of the bedrooms had the same type of furniture and bedspreads. They were made up with mattress pads, sheets and bedspread. I found blankets in a closet and put them on the beds that we used. (we had an extra bedroom!) Washer/dryer in the garage. Vacuum, broom, iron and board in a hall closet.
Checkin was very quick. We didn't get in until supper time (I think) It wasn't early anyway. Check out is at 11:00.
All in all it was good. It wasn't much different as far as having to supply your own products as it is when you stay at a time share like the Hyatts or Marriotts. The only difference is that those have more TV's and offer DVD players and they have a common grilling area......and they generally cost more too.
Happy to answer any questions.

 

[Bbbethei]

Thanks for the great review, denisenh! I wish there were more like it. Only three more weeks until we're there ourselves!

 

[Bbbethei]

Also, has anybody tried the restaurant at Regal Palms? www.restaurant.com is selling discounted gift certificates for their restaurant. I just wanted to make sure the food was decent before buying any.

 

[onlyoneforme]

We tried it in February. We also got a coupon off Restaurant.com, a $25 gift certificate for $5.
The food there was decent, burgers, wraps, sandwiches, wings, nachos,they also had bangers and mash for the UK folks! Nothing over the top great but worth the gift certificate for sure!
The grill/bar staff were VERY nice and gave my DD arcade tokens to use while we waited for our lunch!
My husband adds that be careful getting a beer at the bar, his pint of import beer cost $10!

 

[Bbbethei]

his pint of import beer cost $10!

Yikes! It's a good thing we really don't drink.

We're planning on taking one day off from the parks to spend by the pool. If the food is decent, then I'll go ahead and buy that gift certificate. For $5 you can't go wrong! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[onlyoneforme]

Yes, my husband learned his lesson after the bill came for 2 beers!

I had the club sandwich, which was good. Husband had a Black and Bleu Burger (Bleu Cheese toppings), he liked it! We also had a wrap of some kind too...can't remeber what kind though...It was good for lunch anyway. The fries were a hit with my DD, crinkle cut wedge type.

Can't beat $25 of food for $5!!

I wish I were going back I LOVED our time there! ENJOY!

 

[Bbbethei]

onlyoneforme I certainly hope everything is as good for us. There was another poor review posted on Trip Advisor today; makes me nervous!

Also, did you eat at the restaurant more than once? I made the mistake of not reading the fine print and ordering two gift certificates from restaurant.com. Now I realize that you are only allowed to use one per month. Do you know if they enforce that rule?

 

[bonzarella]

I did the same thing and ordered four, hope they will at least honor one for both my husband & myself. I am also nervous about the reviews although when I spoke with Kelly a few days ago she was pleasant & helpful. Have a great trip.

 

[Bbbethei]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who made that mistake!

I'm nervous about those reviews but the owner we're renting from insists that people have only said good things. If our expectations are low then hopefully we won't be disappointed.

BTW, when is your trip?

 

[onlyoneforme]

We ate there twice, both times we took the food to go. Once to the townhouse and the other to the pool for a picnic! I only bought 1 certificate but I am not sure how closely they looked at it because with the 2 beers in the bill's total, they still took the $25 off and in the certificate it says it is not good towards alcohol.

As for the reviews, I haven't check Tripadvisor lately, but it seems that many of the poor reviews are coming from people renting the private pool homes that the Regal Palms' management takes care of. We had no troubles with the staff or our townhouse, but we are pretty self reliant and didn't really have a need for them much. We did find a "housekeeper" in the townhome the first day taking out the trash, which we didn't expect to have doing that....We didn't feel comfortable with that so we just collected our trash each morning and left it outside on the curb and the "housekeeper" put a new trash can liner on the door handle for us. That worked out well.

I can say that we rented from a private owner who was very good about telling us what to expect and every detail of the place. I was very impressed with him before we even got on our trip, so I guess that carried over... I just really can't say we had ANY bad experiences at the Regal Palms. As far as the comments about the front office staff...They weren't OVERLY friendly, but the were accomidating with our extra keys that we needed etc. We truly didn't need to speak to them much, check in was fine, and check out was very smooth.

Good Luck to everyone! Go with a positive outlook and don't focus on the negative feedback from others, experience it for yourself and ENJOY VACATION!

 

[bonzarella]

we arrive about 10am on the 30th of this month. Have a terribly early flight out of Indy on ATA. Will consider myself lucky if we get there and back with no problems. Our original flight was cancelled, same with return.
Oh well at least we will be in WDW