Schmap Orlando Where to Stay

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Orlando - Where to Stay
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Accommodations in every price range and convenience can be found here. Over 100,000 rooms are spread across thousands of hotels, ranging from tiny, inexpensive properties that line U.S. 192 in Kissimmee to towering high-rise hotels along International Drive and near the parks. There are also thousands of apartment-like accommodations, and bed and breakfast inns.

Walt Disney World alone encompasses more than 20,000 rooms over 17 hotels. These range from comparatively inexpensive, themed, motel-like accommodations at Disney's All-Star Music Resort—with giant maracas adorning the exterior and guitar- and piano-shaped swimming pools—to the massive and massively expensive Grand Floridian.

As the city and its satellite communities grew on Walt Disney World's expansion, the hotel industry grew, expanding outward in every direction from the theme park. It continues to grow.

Making Decisions

Many motels in Orlando are located along the U.S. 192 corridor that is the bedroom community for Walt Disney World visitors. Even the simplest of motels is likely to have a swimming pool, and many have restaurants on the grounds or nearby. Rates vary widely. In this city, although there is a bus system, you must have a car to stay in a motel and get around comfortably.

In Orlando, larger hotels offer a host of special amenities ranging from bathrobes and hair dryers in your room to an array of restaurants, lounges and—in the case of the Marriott World Center and Hyatt Grand Cypress Hotels, among others—some of the world's biggest and showiest swimming pools.

Timeshare/vacation club properties are the trickiest to understand. While there are numerous variations on theme, a vacation club/timeshare resort simply means you buy a week's stay in a resort apartment, and the selling company rents it to others for the 51 weeks you're not using it. You can exchange that "ownership" for stays at other participating properties.

Staying At or Near the Parks

If you're planning a theme park visit, you should decide which theme park interests you most. Universal has a cluster of intriguing hotels around it, including the new and widely-acclaimed Portofino and the well-equipped and well-established Radisson Twin Towers hotels. Walt Disney World has all of the above hotels within the park, plus a half dozen resort hotels right at the gateway to WDW, along a tree-lined drive known as Lake Buena Vista Hotel Plaza. Sea World, located on busy International Drive—quite close to the Orlando Convention Center and the cool pools and chill thrills of Wet 'n Wild water park—is virtually surrounded by hotels of varying size and price, although most are large luxury properties with matching prices.

Season Matters

No matter how large the property, however, you can often get a great deal at certain times of the year.

At the year-end Christmas and Chanukah holiday season, when theme parks are magical places aglow in lights, everything's packed as well as during most of February and March when rooms in the region are at a premium as university students flood in for spring break vacations, joined by hundreds of thousands of what Floridians call "snowbirds"—northerners who come to the Sunshine State to escape the cold and snow. In summer, when youngsters are on school holidays, Orlando's busy; however, Florida's not quite so appealing in the heat of summer, making reservations a good thing to have but not critical. Other seasons—spring, from about May to July, and fall from September to November—are the "value" seasons, when prices plummet and any discount you can dream up is honored.

Hotel/motel approaches to children vary—small properties may charge a nominal fee of USD5-USD10 or so a day for children; in most, kids stay for free. Some budget accommodations even offer to fill those little mouths for free in the restaurant. It is wise to remember, however, that bargains that seem too good to be true, usually are.

Paying Up

Here's another tip: in the U.S., and certainly in Orlando, rates quoted over the phone or in brochures by large hotels are known in the trade as "rack rates."—that is what the hotel charges you if you ask casually or wander in with eyes wide shut. Those in the know will ask a hotel for corporate rates, available if you work for a major national or international corporation, and/or will point out that you belong to the American (or any other nation's) Automobile Association or any association of retired people. If you are over 50 these days, you can consider yourself a senior citizen, so feel free to ask for senior rates, which are nearly always about 10 percent below the quoted rack rate.

If you persevere, particularly at large hotels, you will almost always get a lower rate than any price you see quoted in guide books, brochures or perhaps even on this site. Most of that advice, however, doesn't work too well at small motels and resorts, unless the competition is really fierce. Those smaller properties already operate on such a close profit margin that a 10 percent reduction may mean the difference between tiny profit and flat-out loss.

Travel agents and tour companies can be invaluable if you're not familiar with Orlando. Agents make a small percentage on the deal, paid by the hotel, but they can narrow down the vast field of options to find you something you will like.

Suggested Locations

In the District Guide, you'll get an idea of where hotels are located, but here's the short version:

Walt Disney World: Motels and low-rise hotels are located all along U.S. 192 on both sides of I-4; both hotels and motels are available inside the park's gates; large, high-rise hotels can be found in the Lake Buena Vista Hotel Plaza at the northern entrance of Walt Disney World, near Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island.

Universal Studios: Hotels and motels cluster around the entrance to the attraction.

International Drive/Sea World: Large hotels and sprawling resort motels line this roadway, which intersects with Sand Lake Road, where a number of smaller properties can be found.

Downtown: A few large hotels can be found here.

Airport: Many major hotel chains have properties near the airport which is, however, nearly a half hour's drive from the theme parks and entertainment areas of Orlando.

In surrounding towns: Most small towns in the vicinity have motels, and a few—like Winter Park or Mount Dora—also have some handsome inns.

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Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort

Luxury hotel, memorable swimming pool

One Grand Cypress Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32836
United States
+1 407 239 1234
http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/

A spectacular hotel, this is considered one of the premier properties in Orlando. Its most impressive feature is the tropical lagoon swimming pool which features a dozen waterfalls, a swim-up bar, a bridge over a jumble of rocks occupying a half-acre, and a cluster of restaurants with pool view. An elegant 18-story hotel, this Hyatt offers more than 700 rooms, all luxuriously appointed in airy, Floridian style. For golfers, there is a renowned golf course. It's also adjacent to Walt Disney World and close to other attractions as well.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort photo by nyer_28

Photo: nyer_28

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort photo by Brian Babyok

Photo: Brian Babyok

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort photo by ChaChaBingo

Photo: ChaChaBingo

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort photo by Tamsin Callan

Photo: Tamsin Callan

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort photo by Eric McKenna

Photo: Eric McKenna

Orlando World Center Marriott Resort

Golf, lush grounds and meeting space 8701 World Center Drive
Orlando, FL 32821
United States
+1 407 239 4200
http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click... A spectacular swimming pool is the centerpiece of this huge hotel located right in the middle of Orlando. Located on 200 lushly landscaped acres, the 28-story, 1,503-room mega hotel is just minutes from major attractions and a wide range of dining and entertainment spots. Amenities include a championship 18-hole golf course, tennis courts and a health club. Each room has a balcony or patio, decorated in soft pastels and comfortable furnishings.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: Gary M. Hymes
Photo: Kevin Minnis
Photo: Kevin Minnis
Photo: Jamie Cox

Wet 'n Wild

Beat the heat 6200 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
United States
+1 407 351 1800 / +1 800 992 9453 (WILD)
http://www.wetnwild.com/orlando/ Amusement Business Magazine calls this Wet 'n Wild venue the nation's best-attended water park. With the variety of rides offered, it's no wonder. Adults love thrill rides such as the Blue Niagara Slide, 300 feet of intertwined looping tubes twisting six stories high. Children enjoy milder thrills at the Kids Park section. The whole family can kick back on the Take It Easy offerings, including the mile-long Lazy River for tubing. Pools are heated in the winter. If all this activity leaves you hungry, you can fill up at one of the park's several snack bars.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: Sarah
Photo: Peter Levey
Photo: Peter Levey
Photo: Antonio Escobar L.
Photo: Bruno Maranhão
Photo: Mitch25s
Photo: Frank Tehrani
Photo: andrea murillo

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