Residence Inn Sea World

[scuddaho]

I've noticed many past guests of RI at LBV but can find little if nothing for the new RI at Sea World. If anyone has stayed at this new hotel please let me know. We are looking into staying in a 2BD suite for a few nights prior to our 11/30 cruise.
Thanks very much for your help.

 

[hercamore]

Yeah,

I've stayed at the LBV location. I'm sure the new RI has the same suites cause I have checked their prices on the marriott website. Supposed to be the same carribean motif.

Someone said the pool was fancier at the new RI, tho.

Also, the new RI is going to be pricier than the LBV location according to the marriot website. You can still reserve the LBV location thru quikbook for a lot less than the SW location.


Herc

 

[April Trip]

We drove by it several times last week. We stayed at the LBV RI. The seaworld looked a little newer. They are very close so I would book on price.

 

[scuddaho]

Thanks for replies, has anyone actually stayed at the hotel. Just curious about facilities etc. How nice was the suites and the pool? Lots of guests at the LBV RI, hope to find someone who has stayed at the Sea World property.
We are comparing it to the Hilton Garden Inn Sea World or the Hilton Grand Vistas, any advice appreciated.

 

[nwdisgal]

Scuddaho, here's my rundown. We stayed at the new RI Seaworld a couple weeks ago.
We reserved a two bedroom through Marriott.

The resort is brand new (opened Feb. 14). I have some positives and some negatives on it. The negatives were mostly nitpicks on my part.

The positives:

We had a nice large two bedroom with full kitchen, two full baths, three tvs, very comfy beds, bright cheerful decor (yellows and blues). The pool area was neat with zero entry, cascading water and plenty of furniture and umbrellas for shading, surrounding the pool deck. Right near the pool there is a small bar and pizza area. They serve complimentary pizza in the evenings and the bartendars there are great. Behind the pool area, there is a neat sport court area, barbeque facilities and a nice children's playground. Also, there is a porch area with rocking chairs that look out on the courtyard/pool area. The lobby area is beautiful and they have nice laundry and workout facilities. The staff are all very polite and helpful.

Now to the negatives. Part of the hotel faces on to I-4. I had a room that faced the interstate and there is noticeable room noise. If I stayed there again, I would definately ask for a pool/courtyard view room. Also, our room was already showing minor wear and tear. The varnish was peeling off the living room furniture in some places and there were spots on the couch upholstery. The hallway leading to our room had some dings/ marks on it. These are nitpicks, but maybe not - given the fact that the resort has just recently opened.

IMHO, I would probably stay there again, if I had a good price and a room away from the interstate.

 

[scuddaho]

Thanks so much nwdisgal, love to hear both the positives and negatives gives a great perspective. I'm curious did you see the new Hilton Garden Inn at Sea World? We are currently holding res at both and can't make up our mind. If we go with HGI we need 2 rooms since there is 6 of us. Thanks again.

 

[leelee1971]

I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in September for two nights and loved it! (It opened last summer.)

The rooms are big and clean. It is a short walk to Sea World. Actually, you cross one street, and you're at the end of the parking lot. It was very quiet (except during the hurricane!), and pleasant.

I haven't been at the RI SeaWorld, so can't do a comparison. But I would recommend the Hilton.

 

[nwdisgal]

Scuddaho - how much space do you need? That might be a deciding factor. I haven't seen the interior of the Garden Inn, but the exterior looked very nice. As I recall, it was more removed from the Interstate (on a side, heavily treed street) than the RI is. I think if you want overall atmosphere, that should be a consideration. RI faces I-4 on oneside and a vacant lot to the other. However, as I mentioned the pool/courtyard area is very nicely landscaped and equipped with sports court, barbeque, etc.

The two bedroom at RI is very spacious. The bedrooms are separated by a common living area. Each bedroom has its own bath. The master bed has a large vanity area outside the bathroom with ample drawer and cabinet space. Ditto with the bathroom off the guest bedroom. There are two queens in the guest bedroom and one queen in the master bedroom with a desk/study area. The kitchen is stocked with all the basic necessities for cooking, as well as a small stock of dish soapfor washing dishes. The living area has a sofa sleeper, so technically you could sleep 8 in the unit. As I mentioned, the beds at RI were super comfy. The best we had onsite or offsite, this trip.

I hope this helps.

 

[TiggerT]

How far is RI from Sea World. Can you walk there? We have the Rennaissance Sea World booked because it is supposedly very close, but the extra space of a suite might be nice. We are going in June and I wanted to be close enough to take a pool break in the middle of the day. We are going to DC, then I figured on a few morning/evening visits to SW.

Are the beds at HGI Queen or Full? It seems most hotels now have Full instead of Queen. We need a Queen, otherwise I won't sleep well - then it wont be a vacation. That would make me favor RI over HGI if they are different.

 

[nwdisgal]

TiggerT, I would pull up Mapquest or Expedia if I were you, and plug in the addresses of Sea World and RI to get the actual foot mileage. I do know that RI is the farthest of the resorts (Renaissance, HGI) from Sea World, but it is still close and probably within walking distance. We were always going by car down that road so I didn't pay attention to the specifics. The road that runs between Sea World and RI is a busier road (not an interstate by any means), but there are sidewalks as I recall.