Which one is better?: Country Inn LBV VS Hawthorn Suites LBV??

[fairytinkerbell]

Hi again! I was up to 12 am last nite looking at expedia hotels....

If you stayed at the Country Inn in Kissimmee (Calypso Cay) and
Country Inn in Lake Buena Vista or Hawthorn, please let me know what you thought of the stuff on my list below.. (thank u!)

I hate feeling undecided!!! The breakfast room in Calypso looks so pretty:
http://www.countryinns.com/hoteldir...eCompare.do?locationUni=1539&maintitle=Dining
That's the type of breakfast area we want...

Not sure which hotel is best for us. We want Non-Smoking room, (Hawthorn said they CANNOT guarantee this ) and FREE breakfast in a very light and bright and airy breakfast area. :

Features Needed: :yes:
We also want the room decor to be light and airy / Florida decor..
Non Smoking- must be
King Bed
FREE breakfast in nice space
INTERIOR corridors
CLOSE to Disney Parks
easy access on roads to parks (not a lot of highway exits, etc.>)
(we are renting a car)
P.S> - WHICH IS CLOSER TO PARKS?, LAKE BUENA VISTA OR KISSIMMEE????
Thanks!

P.S> we also like seeing a lot of palm trees ....which one has a better look, florida feel?

 

[Local_Girl]

Hi Fairytink...

Almost 2 years ago, we stayed at the Country Inn & Suites LBV for one night following a weeks' stay at a timeshare resort...and we really didn't like it. I've read positive reports here on the DIS about this hotel, but we were in a dark kids' suite room with weird wall paper, a broken bathroom door handle, and a sloping bathtub floor (DH and I both noticed this). Granted, we checked in at almost 10pm, so maybe this was a little used, unrenovated room...

The breakfast area was bright (lots of windows, if I recall correctly), but not particularly kept up well. I know we weren't impressed, and we were Super 8 folks at that point (we've since discovered timeshare resorts and Holiday Inn Express hotels for overnight stays on long drives--we look for their better rated properties and they seem to be more consistent in quality with a nice continental b-fast).

Bottom line, DH said never again, regardless of the rate (It was under $40). Just our opinion...

I posted before that we almost stayed at the Calypso Cay hotel, and if timeshare resorts weren't an option, I'd definitely consider it again. The hotel is only 2-3 years old, and it seems to have some nice amenities (pool, mini golf, b-fast). I've heard it isn't really within walking distance to restaurants and stores, but that isn't an issue for us since we always have a car.

 

[AnnaE4]

We stayed at the Country Inn LBV last November for one night and were not pleased. When I made my reservation and confirmed it later, I was told by 2 different people that they had cribs, not paknplays.

When we arrived, they do not have cribs, only the paknplays. My daughter did not sleep well and neither did we!

The breakfast area was OK but nothing great. It seemed to be messy and the table and chairs weren't very clean either.

The room we had was just OK, also. It didn't look very bright or cheerful or have a Florida feel to it. It was just a regular hotel room in need of refurbishing.

This year, we are staying one night at the Hawthorne Suites near Sea World because we will be going to Sea World before heading to WDW. I booked a room at Hawthorne because I read such good reviews about the hotel and their breakfast. And, we got a great rate of $40!

Denise

 

[fairytinkerbell]

I would love to be 100% happy w/ Hawthorn but they said they only have 8 king standard rooms and who knows how many of the 8 are non-smoking....they said if someone doesn't check out when i arrive, we would be put in a smoking room... i guess do u think the worse case scenario is we stay 1 nite in smoking room and then move to non-smokng room next day?? not sure- plus we'll be out at the parks from 8am-eve..

The only other hotel i saw in that area (LBV- beginning to like the idea of staying in LBV by DTD because of the nite life, where i think by 192 (parkway blvd) we'd be desolate; highways and such. What do you think????

Oh yeah, the other hotel is Country Inn in LBV, but i read on epinions.com
that it was in a bad location, sandwiched behind a hotel and strip mall, parking issues (towing,etc.) and poorly lit parking lot (not good!) - they had breakfast, but not like hawthorn.

The other hotel was one of the marriott village - not sure if i would like though, not sure if they have breakfst. i am very tired and sick of tryng to figure out which hotel. The reason i am doing this research is bec. the last time we visited disney, we got to ramada on i-drive, and refused to stay - very dirty, etc. and had NO HOTEL on the FIRST DAY - and no guide book, either! Had to drive all over and everyone was booked solid. Thankfully, the holiday inn on i-drive just opened up 1 room, and we took it and had to pay the first nite's stay at ramada AND
$300 more for the week-unbudgeted!!

THIS IS WHY i am going nuts over this..

ALL HELP APPRECIATED!!!

 

[safetymom]

The 3 hotels in the Marriott Village are great. The Courtyard doesn't have a free breakfast but the other two do.

I have stayed at all 3 and would do so again.

 

[RC Fan]

Hi fairytinkerbell!

You are not alone! I am trying to find a decent economical place myself and I find most of the reviews I have read are so divided! Half the people love the place, half the people can't stand it. Also the pictures of the hotels they show on the internet, etc are often very deceiving.

 

[zaxmom]

We were happy at the Country inn and Suites Calypso Cay. The room was attractive for a hotel, not Florida style I do not believe. The breakfast was quite good for a free continental breakfast. We could toast our own waffles, have cereal, fruit, pastries, hard boiled eggs (that's a first). We stayed in a kid suite and their area was not spacious, but did give a little more privacy and the opportunity for them to watch cartoons non stop and my husband to watch sports non-stop. They have a nice pool area with 3 pools to choose from, a couple of hot tubs. One of the pools had a zero entrance and a waterslide. They have free mini-golf. I do believe the landscaping was attractive with palm trees, but not positive. Check out www.calypsocay.com. We enjoyed it and reccomend it to anyone going there on a budget. Especially kids would like the pool, but I used that water slide, too.

 

[poohangel]

We stayed at Hawthorn Suites LBV last October in a Non-smoking king suite. We really liked it there. Nice comfortable rooms. Breakfast was standard breakfast food, but it was free.

poohangel

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Hi fairytinkerbell! (Got your PM!!!)

I stayed at the Hawthorn LBV for four nights, and I really liked it! Palm Parkway is very easy to get in/out, as it is a two-lane in each direction road with no real heavy traffic. It's a very short drive to the Downtown Disney entrance, with only a couple of traffic lights. Palm Parkway mainly has other hotels (Homewood, Hampton, Courtyard, Radisson, Comfort Inn) and a mall with lots of restaurants. It's much closer than International Drive. I stayed there solo and felt very safe, which is very important to me.

I did have a king room non-smoking, and I don't recall having any problems getting it, and I checked in late, too! The room was very clean and the kitchen was in great shape. I don't think there was any real "Florida" decor to the room, as I guess it looked like your usual suite.

The pool was pretty ordinary, but fine. There are palm trees around, but not tons of them. I did like the breakfast, though I think it was indoors (like in the photo), and I can't remember if there was a patio or something to eat on. I remember they had scrambled eggs, tater tots, toast and muffins, things like that.

Sorry to hear about your prior troubles finding a decent room! Hard to believe so many places were booked that first night!! Well, hope this helps some! Good luck on deciding your hotel!!!