We rented a 4 bed/3 bath townhouse from an owner at Regal Palms during the week of Feb 10-17.
This is a townhouse community with a villa community across the street called Highland Reserve, and they share the clubhouse and resort pool located at Regal Palms Resort.
We paid $499 + tax for the week, plus a $10/day resort fee.
The furnishings at Regal Palms in the townhomes seem to be all the same from the photos I saw online. The townhomes there do not have any splash pools or hot tubs, you have to use the ones at the clubhouse. What we wanted this time around was a budget conscious but spacious place to stay, plus for a change a heated resort pool with lazy river and water slide, as well as an outdoor and indoor public hot tub.
We were at 315 La Mirage which is the second home to the left when you come in the entrance. There were two parking spaces at the door. Check in at the clubhouse went very smoothly and we were given key cards for our stay. We were also given bracelets to wear to the resort pool. There is a restaurant/bar with indoor seating, or you can sit outside on the terrace overlooking the pool. You could also order whole pizzas at the restaurant. They had a window to the pool area where you could order drinks in plastic cups to enjoy at the pool.
Our townhouse was a short walk to the pool. One night we walked around the resort and you would definitely want to drive to the pool from some of the homes.
The kitchen was not very well stocked with pots and pans. There were no supplies left over from previous renters. It looked like the resort, who takes the place of a management company, completely cleans out the homes of any leftover supplies between renters. The home was nice and clean when we arrived. The carpet on the first floor showed some signs of dirt, which I have found is pretty common in Florida rentals that have carpet on the first floor. The front desk was available if there were any problems (which there weren't) 24 hours per day.
The beds were fairly comfortable, and the master ensuite had a garden tub.
We really enjoyed the pool, lazy river, waterslide and outdoor hot tub, especially our kids, 6 and 9. We spent a few hours there at a time. It was only busy on the weekend of President's Day, otherwise it wasn't too bad. However, the pool area wasn't very big and during busy times it may get too crowded.
The drive was about 20 minutes and traffic wasn't bad in the morning, although could get heavy on 192W in the afternoon. There was an Applebee's, Publix and liquor store all within walking distance. The resort offers a shuttle service to the parks but we rented a car, so I'm not sure what it costs.
One thing I would caution people about is that heavy trucks go up and down Sand Mine Road in the very early morning on weekdays so if you back onto Sand Mine Road as we (and our master bedroom) did, they might wake you up in the morning. It actually helped us get up in the morning and we were at the parks for the opening every morning!
On our last morning we had any early flight and check out at 5 am was no problem, and I was in and out of there in minutes, which was great.
Overall, while it wasn't luxurious, it worked for us and fit into our budget for this trip. I'm not sure we'd stay there again, but that's mostly because I like trying different places each time!
This is a townhouse community with a villa community across the street called Highland Reserve, and they share the clubhouse and resort pool located at Regal Palms Resort.
We paid $499 + tax for the week, plus a $10/day resort fee.
The furnishings at Regal Palms in the townhomes seem to be all the same from the photos I saw online. The townhomes there do not have any splash pools or hot tubs, you have to use the ones at the clubhouse. What we wanted this time around was a budget conscious but spacious place to stay, plus for a change a heated resort pool with lazy river and water slide, as well as an outdoor and indoor public hot tub.
We were at 315 La Mirage which is the second home to the left when you come in the entrance. There were two parking spaces at the door. Check in at the clubhouse went very smoothly and we were given key cards for our stay. We were also given bracelets to wear to the resort pool. There is a restaurant/bar with indoor seating, or you can sit outside on the terrace overlooking the pool. You could also order whole pizzas at the restaurant. They had a window to the pool area where you could order drinks in plastic cups to enjoy at the pool.
Our townhouse was a short walk to the pool. One night we walked around the resort and you would definitely want to drive to the pool from some of the homes.
The kitchen was not very well stocked with pots and pans. There were no supplies left over from previous renters. It looked like the resort, who takes the place of a management company, completely cleans out the homes of any leftover supplies between renters. The home was nice and clean when we arrived. The carpet on the first floor showed some signs of dirt, which I have found is pretty common in Florida rentals that have carpet on the first floor. The front desk was available if there were any problems (which there weren't) 24 hours per day.
The beds were fairly comfortable, and the master ensuite had a garden tub.
We really enjoyed the pool, lazy river, waterslide and outdoor hot tub, especially our kids, 6 and 9. We spent a few hours there at a time. It was only busy on the weekend of President's Day, otherwise it wasn't too bad. However, the pool area wasn't very big and during busy times it may get too crowded.
The drive was about 20 minutes and traffic wasn't bad in the morning, although could get heavy on 192W in the afternoon. There was an Applebee's, Publix and liquor store all within walking distance. The resort offers a shuttle service to the parks but we rented a car, so I'm not sure what it costs.
One thing I would caution people about is that heavy trucks go up and down Sand Mine Road in the very early morning on weekdays so if you back onto Sand Mine Road as we (and our master bedroom) did, they might wake you up in the morning. It actually helped us get up in the morning and we were at the parks for the opening every morning!
On our last morning we had any early flight and check out at 5 am was no problem, and I was in and out of there in minutes, which was great.
Overall, while it wasn't luxurious, it worked for us and fit into our budget for this trip. I'm not sure we'd stay there again, but that's mostly because I like trying different places each time!
