Hotels on I-drive

[plutomad]

Hi, can anyone tell me what hotels they have stayed at on Idrive and if they were good ones and you had a good time? :lol:

[ukwdwnut]

none sorry :)

[Isafari]

Quality Inn Plaza...........never again :sigh:
The room was dirty. I had to make sure the bedding was tucked in every night in fear of what may crawl up it. Nothing like the brochure photos....they must have been taken 20 years previous to our visit!
On the plus side.....I believe it has been refurbished since

Doubletree at the Entrance to Universal (this is actually on Major Blvd but, all the brochures class it as International Drive).......
Can't fault it at all. Very clean. Very spacious rooms. Security on the main doors. We stayed at the London Gatwick Hilton on route to Orlando and the Doubletree topped that no bother.

[Johnie]

I stayed at Homewood Suites on I-Drive (next to the Mercado shopping center) in Aug. It was very nice and they served quite an extensive free breakfast. I would stay there again. They also have a manager's reception during the week.

[Vikki]

Villager Premier. We were there for 3 weeks for our honeymoon. It is very basic, but we loved it there. The restaurant attatched is really nice as well. They are all very friendly, and the rooms, although basic, were clean. For the money we paid I don't think you can get much better. Its at the bottom of I-Drive, so great for the trolley, as it's never busy

[MISTA B]

Hi have stayed in the quality inn plaza twice now 03,05 and found it fine,it is basic accomadation which is allwe really look for in a hotel

[plutomad]

Thanks for that everyone

[PaulaK]

Best Western Plaza ~ decent room, good size and quite nicely decorated, very clean. Good pool with bar and a friendly's restaurant in front of it that did great chicken strips and ice-creams from the take-away counter! :D

Courtyard Marriot ~ small hotel, very quiet and very clean set back off I drive (Jamaica Court I think) close to the Mercado.

I would go for the convention centre end if you can, it's what I call the 'nicer' part of I-Drive :)

[rainy]

I have stayed at the quality inn plaza 4 times and will be there again next month. We have never had any problems. Rooms have all been nice and clean. Probably one of the cheaper hotels but when you are out all day and just want somewhere to sleep it's ideal. The only thing i can fault is the reception staff as they wern't very friendly or helpful but as i haven't been there since 1999 they may have changed.

Oh also i didn't think much of the restaurant either but there is plenty of other places to eat.

[Kelly 1]

Never again at Travelodge on I Drive. They said they had continental breakfast, pool, etc. One of our beds had mustard and sesame seeds in between the sheets. YIKES The pool was so green....and the breakfast was debbie cakes and a tiny cup of coffee. I have heard though that the Holiday Inn Nikki Bird was a descent place to stay.

[Huntermom]

We've stayed at the Vistana Villages (a Starwood Resort) on the southern end of I-Drive. The resort was lovely as were all the others in the area. There are several timeshare properties which also take daily guests. We had gotten an excellent rate on a 2 bdrm ($119./night). The only downside is there is not a lot of restaurants in the immediate area -just the food court in the mall across I-Drive but it is only ten minutes tops from the Crossroads Center and 10-15 mintues from Disney depending on which entrace you go to.

Diane

[tonyv]

Have stayed on I-Drive every trip always at the Quality Inn Plaza. Its a very basic hotel but clean. As I only use it for somewhere to sleep i'm not bothered it's not a 5 star hotel.


Tony

[Lizzy]

Sheraton Studio City. If you can find a good package or make a good deal with them directly they can be cheaper or equal to some of the more basic hotels along I-drive. I'd say it's equivalent to a moderate Disney resort.

[orangebreezer]

1997 Holiday Inn International...........Hotel clean, location good and restaurant did a nice breakfast, but to be honest considering how much it cost me I was not overtly impressed. Found it quite basic really

2004 Quality Inn Plaza.......Cheap, basic and clean, exactly what I was looking for.......we did have one of the noisey rooms over looking I4, but at the time I was living on the A40 in London so the traffic noise did not bother me. :D

3 weeks time :wiggle::yahoo: :bigsmile: :excited: (not that I'm getting excited :blush: ) Best Western Movieland.........Cheap, basic and clean, quite good revues, will let you know if you like when we get back.

[rainy]

Sheraton Studio City. If you can find a good package or make a good deal with them directly they can be cheaper or equal to some of the more basic hotels along I-drive. I'd say it's equivalent to a moderate Disney resort.


oh dear, why didn't I know about that. My friend is the concierge manager in that hotel :(

[tweenie123]

Same as Johnie, Homewood Suites near the Mercado Centre, excellent, plenty of room with a separate bedroom, kitchen area and ample size living area. The free 'buffet' breakfast was enough and they also provided a free bus to Disney and Universal for non-drivers.

[Melfuzz]

Lizzy I am staying there and have not heard too many reviews on it. Whats your opinion?

Got a very good deal on it and it seems a pretty decent hotel

[Lizzy]

Lizzy I am staying there and have not heard too many reviews on it. Whats your opinion?

Got a very good deal on it and it seems a pretty decent hotel

OK i'll probably sound like a total advert here but..
* Rooms were lovely.. Big comfy beds, movie style decor which was fun as the theme was kept up throughout the hotel, good size bathroom, TV, option to rent a fridge and always clean. My only beed is the air con was a bit noisy but that me be just because i'm not used to having it.
* Staff were all very helpful and courteous: When we wanted taxis they always arrived in 5-10 minutes, any problems are attended to immediately and the Sheraton Service Promise means that if you're dissatasfied at all they'll make it up to you. This got us I believe 5 free buffet breakfasts and a free in-room movie! :eek: I think a couple of times my mum just mentioned things in passing like she wasn't sure if anyone had been at the desk when she rang down in the evening to request a shuttle and they apologised profusely for the inconvenience. Even though we said it was OK etc they said it was policy and insisted on the 'freebie'
* Nice location, not quite so 'hustle and bustle' as when you go further down I-drive towards the centre of it. There are also Lynx and trolley stops very close by as well as restaurants (we particularly liked the iHop next door), CVS (pharmacy) etc.

[Aly]

DH and myself have been racking our brains to remember where we stayed July 2004 - finally it came to us, it was the Clarion Universal, just off I Drive. It is right next to Wet and Wild and not far from Disney.

We upgraded to a suite as there were 2 adults and 2 (almost) teenagers. Room was basic, spacious and clean. Served it's purpose.

The only complaint would be that the 'free' transport to the parks was on a WW1 relic bus, which tilted dangerously to one side - I'm sure that it wouldn't have passed it's MOT in the UK!! Also I've never come across a more miserable bus driver :( - he was def anti-British. We should have booked a taxi, but we didn't let it spoil our holiday.

Looking forward to our next one May 2006 and staying at SSR and Vero Beach.:wiggle:

[Melfuzz]

Thanks for that. There have been a few bad reviews on tripadvisor recently but they have been silly things like the free shuttles not going at the time the person wanted and someone had things in his car on display and they got stolen (common sense not to leave anything on display in your car). So I have been wanting an actual review on the hotel for a while.

Its a tall building are the views nice?

[Lizzy]

Our side was a view onto I-drive so all we really saw was the pool and road but I think you can see Universal Studios from another side =] The fun thing is you can see the hotel when coming back from US, Disney, malls etc as it's a landmark building on I-drive.
We used the shuttles and found them fine. You have to book them the night before you want to use them then confirm at the desk in the morning but they were rarely delayed and if they were it was down to traffic or less drivers working (Sunday) The drivers were really nice and helpful and if one day we found we needed an earlier shuttle (they did 6pm and 10:30pm and we'd book the 10:30) they were happy to pick us up earlier.

[Melfuzz]

One last question. Does the hotel have laundry facilities? It doesnt say on expedia.

Would I have to request the fridge before we left or on checkin?

Sorry for asking so many questions

[carney cat]

2004 Villager Premier

Very Basic but clean. But very NOISY air con.Buffet breakfast good although get to the stage cant face Muffins or Dansish near the end.

2005 Homewood Suites

Just off I drive near Universal. Great views, rooms FABULOUS loads of things to make stay bearable ie two tvs , free internet in room ,dishwasher,microwave,full size fridge freezer .Two rooms ,kitchen,bathroom seperate vanity area. Free buffet breakfast and managers 5-7 appetisers and beer or wine.
Highly recommended and would DEFINATELY go again :wiggle:

[Lizzy]

One last question. Does the hotel have laundry facilities? It doesnt say on expedia.

Would I have to request the fridge before we left or on checkin?

Sorry for asking so many questions

No prob, i've been singing the praises of this place to everyone I know =]
Laundry facilities = Yes! They do both the self-service and the pick up from your room service (hefty charge for that one though)
My mum asked our tour operator about the fridge and she said just ask at check-in and they'll sort it which we did.. I doubt they run out of them ever.

[Melfuzz]

Thank you so much for the advice!!!

I have been a little worried about the hotel because I havent heard from anyone who had stayed there.