My sister and I stayed at the Safari for three nights on a Priceline bid of $42/night ($150 total including tax and fees). For that price, I have no major complaints. It is located just down from the Crossroads shopping plaza by Hotel Plaza Blvd. For an off-site hotel, you couldn't get a much better location. I know that I probably overbid slightly because I saw other winning bids for the same time period for around $35, but I was trying for the Radisson World Gate because we stayed there last time and liked it.
Check-in was easy; they mentioned Priceline in the context of our room being pre-paid. I showed my Starwood Preferred Guest card at check-in and got a SPG room. I'm not sure what was different about it though... We got a room on the 4th floor of the main building, with an inside hallway; our room faced 535. There are rooms that open to the outside in other buildings. The room was newly renovated, with brand new comforters, carpet, wallcoverings and bathroom. There was not a speck of mildew in the bathroom, which is rare for Florida! There were two bottles of water in the room at check-in, and they were replenished each night for no extra charge. It's an average hotel room; two queen beds, armoire with TV, desk, nightstand. The vanity was separate from the shower/toilet, which is always nice for getting dressed. Our only complaint about the room was the lack of sound-proofing - we heard every noise from the hallway and the road. The other complaint was the smell in the hallway from other rooms on the floor still under renovation. THankfully we couldn't smell it in the room, but it was unpleasant. The hallway carpet was covered in plastic because of the renovations.
It was too cool for the pool but we checked it out, and it was big, clean, and the snake slide looked like fun. The theming in this hotel was something that would only work in Orlando - it does seem like the toned it down a bit in the rooms with the renovations.
We didn't try the restaurants. We ended up getting breakfast at the Au Bon Pain in the Doubletree down the road. There is usually a Dunkin Donuts across the street, but it was closed for renovations. Just about every chain restaurant you ever heard of seemed to be a within a mile of this hotel... We did go to the Winn Dixie for water and pop; it was less than a mile up 535 and the prices were much better than Gooding's - about the same as at home.
Overall, it was a good stay, and a very good value for our Priceline bid.
Check-in was easy; they mentioned Priceline in the context of our room being pre-paid. I showed my Starwood Preferred Guest card at check-in and got a SPG room. I'm not sure what was different about it though... We got a room on the 4th floor of the main building, with an inside hallway; our room faced 535. There are rooms that open to the outside in other buildings. The room was newly renovated, with brand new comforters, carpet, wallcoverings and bathroom. There was not a speck of mildew in the bathroom, which is rare for Florida! There were two bottles of water in the room at check-in, and they were replenished each night for no extra charge. It's an average hotel room; two queen beds, armoire with TV, desk, nightstand. The vanity was separate from the shower/toilet, which is always nice for getting dressed. Our only complaint about the room was the lack of sound-proofing - we heard every noise from the hallway and the road. The other complaint was the smell in the hallway from other rooms on the floor still under renovation. THankfully we couldn't smell it in the room, but it was unpleasant. The hallway carpet was covered in plastic because of the renovations.
It was too cool for the pool but we checked it out, and it was big, clean, and the snake slide looked like fun. The theming in this hotel was something that would only work in Orlando - it does seem like the toned it down a bit in the rooms with the renovations.
We didn't try the restaurants. We ended up getting breakfast at the Au Bon Pain in the Doubletree down the road. There is usually a Dunkin Donuts across the street, but it was closed for renovations. Just about every chain restaurant you ever heard of seemed to be a within a mile of this hotel... We did go to the Winn Dixie for water and pop; it was less than a mile up 535 and the prices were much better than Gooding's - about the same as at home.
Overall, it was a good stay, and a very good value for our Priceline bid.
