We stayed here for a week recently on a trip to Orlando to visit Universal Studios and Sea World. We stayed in a Disney hotel later on in the holiday so we didn't mind that it was a long way from Disney. We bought it as part of a package deal including flights so I can't give a price.
General The hotel itself is a high-rise but a very nice one - there are 15 stories but to get to the very top a key was needed in the lift - I think the top floors are for business use. There are several lifts available, those in the atrium were particularly nice as they were glass fronted - although probably not recommended if you don't like heights especially as they were quite fast. There was a drinks machine on each floor and these were very reasonably priced - a bottle of water was $1.25, the same bottle in the parks was $2.00. There was an ATM in the lobby but the charge for this was $3 per transaction so we used the one at Universal Studios where it was $2.
Cleanliness Being built in 2002 means that this hotel is very modern and new, and doesn't suffer from damp or mould in the way that many of the other Orlando hotels do. The room was cleaned daily apart from once when we returned from the parks early.
Location The hotel is situated on Universal Boulevard which runs alongside International Drive before joining up with it a short distance further north. Not being on International Drive means that the location is quieter and there is much less traffic noise. International Drive (where most of the restaurants are) is only a short walk away, and for anyone not driving this means that Universal Studios and Sea World are also very easy to get to (Universal Studios can be walked to and Sea World can be reached by using the I-Ride Trolley - I would recommend walking to International Drive and taking the Main-line Trolley rather than waiting on Universal Boulevard for the Green-line Trolley as it is much more frequent). I believe that there may also be a free shuttle bus but we didn't feel the need to use it.
Facilities We didn't try the pool (we were there to visit theme parks, not spend time by the pool), but it looked clean enough. It didn't seem to be very busy either, most people who visit this hotel seem to be there to visit the parks or are there on business, not sit around a pool. We also didn't try the restaurant as there was a menu and price list in the room and it was more expense than most of the restaurants on International Drive. There was also a fitness centre but this didn't appeal - we were on holiday!!
Room The room was very spacious, with a very large (6 foot wide) king size bed with a pillow-top mattress and 7 pillows (more were available if we wanted them!). This has to be the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. This hotel seems to pride themselves on giving a good sleep experience - they also provided lavender linen spray, ear plugs, eye mask, sleep plug-in in the bathroom (not sure what this did) and a sleep CD. There was also a sofa, a table and a chair, and a TV with a good choice of channels. The bathroom was very clean and much larger than is usually provided. Small toiletries were provided and these were replaced whenever they had been used. These included face soap, oatmeal bath soap, shampoo/conditioner, and body moisturiser, and these all seemed to be of good quality. Plenty of clean towels were left on a daily basis. The rooms don't have balconies, but the windows are very large. A free newspaper was left outside the room each morning, but if you want to read it when you return from a day out then don't leave it out as it will be taken away again when the room is cleaned, as we found out on the first day.
Staff The staff were very friendly upon check-in, there was also a porter waiting to take our luggage to our room for us. There was the usual time-share desk in the large lobby, but they didn't bother us other than a polite 'good morning' and 'good afternoon' as we passed them each day.
Overall I would definitely recommend this hotel to others, although slightly more expensive than some others on International Drive it was worth it for the comfort and cleanliness.
More details
Quality of Food & Drink
Average
Cleanliness
Excellent
Family Friendly
Excellent
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