Sheraton's Vistana Villages, International Drive, Orlando

We have been lucky enough to visit Orlando several times and by far and away the best place we have found to stay is Sheraton Vistana Villages.

===Location===

This hotel is situated on the Southern end of International Drive. It is a set south of the attractions and restaurants which make International drive very busy so it is much quieter than many hotels. I-drive is easily accesible in about 5-8 minutes by car, there ...
...the hotel. Seaworld is about 5 minutes dive away, Universal studios area is about 20 minutes north and Disneyland entrance is less than 10 minutes south. The roads are easy and there are no tolls. There is a Publix supermarket about 3 mins drive away. The journey from the International airport takes about 25 minutes and the property is easy to find.

===Rooms===

This is an apartment hotel and it has 1 or 2 bedroom apartments ... more

We have been lucky enough to visit Orlando several times and by far and away the best place we have found to stay is Sheraton Vistana Villages.

Location

This hotel is situated on the Southern end of International Drive. It is a set south of the attractions and restaurants which make International drive very busy so it is much quieter than many hotels. I-drive is easily accesible in about 5-8 minutes by car, there is also a stop for the I-drive trolley bus outside the hotel. Seaworld is about 5 minutes dive away, Universal studios area is about 20 minutes north and Disneyland entrance is less than 10 minutes south. The roads are easy and there are no tolls. There is a Publix supermarket about 3 mins drive away. The journey from the International airport takes about 25 minutes and the property is easy to find.

Rooms

This is an apartment hotel and it has 1 or 2 bedroom apartments sleeping up to 4 or 8 people respectively. The 1-bedroom apartments are quite small and require you to use the sofa-bed in the lounge area, since there was a dining table in here as well we found it a bit difficult to get around at night. There is a good size bathroom and kitchen area and a balcony. The decor is fairly heavy and dark for british taste but we found several places in the US are like this so it is not off-putting. If you can afford it try to go for a 2-bedroom apartment. They are HUGE! Great kitchen, laundry area with washing machine and tumble dryer, two bathrooms and a great whirlpool bath in the master bedroom. There is everything you could need, loads of towels, toiletries, a safe, TVs everywhere and a real bonus was daily housekeeping so even if we had left in a hurry in the morning to get to the parks early we walked back in to a clean apartment, they even stacked the dishwasher and put it on one morning when we forgot! The rooms are accessed like a motel from external walkways with lifts.

Facilities

Free car-parking, it was always very easy to park next to our apartment building. I felt even if it was absolutely full the parking would be more than adequate.

Magnificent swimming pool- there is a lovely pool complex with additional adults pool and jacuzzi. The children loved the waterfall that they could swim under. We found the pool was always quiet when we were there. I believe there is another smaller pool on the other side of the complex where there are some new blocks but we never ventured over there.

Dive-in movies-the hotel project a movie onto a big screen one night a week in the pool area.

There is also a small fitness area, table tennis and a lake to walk around. There is also a small childrens play area.

There is a small deli on site but it looked pricey so we stocked up at the local Publix for essentials. The complex does not have a restaurant.

Security-the hotel uses a security gate for access so you are given a window notice to display in your car to allow easy entrance. The site felt very secure, the pool area is protected by a gate system to stop youngsters getting in or out by themselves. However since there are ornamental lakes around the property I would hope parents were being vigilant anyway!

My Opinion-

We loved the space offered here over a normal hotel room. It did cost extra but allowed great relaxation after days at the park. We didn't cook as there are great,cheap restaurants close by but we did keep our fridge stocked with water and had breakfast in our apartment so saved a bit of money that way. The close proximity to Disney and Seaworld was brilliant and we could get to some disney areas quicker than friends who have stayed on the Disney site and you certainly get more value for money at the Sheraton. I loved the peace and quiet which was such a contrast to everywhere else in the area, it was very soothing. We have just booked another visit for 2010, we have tried elsewhere but this is so perfect for our families needs that we didn't want to go anywhere else next time!

 

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