Booked here very last minute on a whim during holiday time (right before new years and thru new years) solely due to good reviews on trip advisor. This trip was a splurge, so I was trying to save $. I got anxious after booking it because the pool looked super small and I found a sister resort of theirs that had a water park, but this was uncancellable at that time. Also it was more than I wanted to spend ($259/night but it was a 2 bedroom condo with 2 bathrooms) and I think you can search for owner-done rentals and get a cheaper rate. But, the reservation wasn't changeable after that. I should note that I am used to staying in 4 and 5 star resorts.
They did let us check in an hour before our check in time, because the room was ready, and that was nice. The front desk people were nice. The condo was clean when we checked in. Elevators were very slow, we were on the second floor. The carpets had some stains near the dining table and that was gross. There were fake flower arrangements and a few of them had chipped ceramic pots. The rooms could definitely use touching up in terms of paint and everything - it was showing its age and the decor looked like it was issued the same for every room and needed updating.
The first bedroom was SUPER TINY and had glass block windows that didn't open, the windows were connected to the hallway and it was very noisy there - and there were numerous loud guests who yelled from the hallway. It freaked us out that the windows didn't open and that room was very stuffy. It had a twin size trundle bed. This room would NOT be good for adults.
The other bedroom was further in and had a king size bed and seemed clean enough. The toilet closet for the master bedroom was creepy with horribly depressing lighting so we all avoided this toilet. The master shower (which we all ended up using for no particular reason except that it was a stall shower and easier to use vs. the other bathroom which had a bathtub shower) had mold buildup around the door which grossed me out. The water pressure was HORRIBLE and I called to see if they could come adjust the showerhead to make the water pressure stronger, they said they would send maintenance, but they never sent anyone or called us to say they couldn't send anyone.
The master bathroom also had a jacuzzi tub, which we were excited about. Well we used it just once, and after that there was no hot water for the 3 showers afterwards, so we all had freezing cold showers...not fun....ridiculous.
The kitchen was well equipped and nice with granite counters and great storage space. The fridge and freezer were clean. The condo is well located with huge supermarkets nearby.
The balcony had just enough room for a table and chairs and a side view of the fake pond.
The washer and dryer were REALLY OLD and made SO MUCH NOISE when using them, we couldn't believe it. The dryer would keep going and never stop until you stopped it, there was no automatic turnoff which was odd.
It was cold for us at night and we asked for extra blankets, which they brought, but they were very thin cotton blankets which didn't do much of anything.
The "resort" ended up being jam packed and it was impossible to find parking right near the building, we just had to walk a little more.
There is a deli with some foods and they will deliver to your room and the guy was super friendly. We called and got a burger with onion rings that was ok, but the grilled chicken wrap was inedible and we threw it out. We also got fried mushrooms and mozz sticks which were gross. When I finally visited the deli I was surprised at how sparse the offerings were and it was depressing in there - I bought some microwave popcorn, a beer and some gum. There were some dvds for rent but they were all pretty old. The deli people were nice.
We didn't get to swim in the pool but there were some families enjoying it and it seemed fine. We were just too busy during the day and then tired when we got back to the room.
There's another resort right before Lighthouse Key on the same side and it's the Holiday Inn Vacation Club or something like that. It looked really nice but the reviews sound like there's a lot of pressure to see the presentations, which is a huge turnoff.
All in all, I guess I would return here if we were kind of desperate...the best thing is that there was a lot of space in the common area. But I'd like a place with a bigger pool, maybe a jacuzzi, and real room service. It kind of felt like a sub par place to stay but was just good enough for us not to feel yucky or trashy.
I read enough reviews to know not to trust the free shuttle service - sounds like a complete nightmare - I did book a brand new car through Enterprise through the hotel's website, for only $35/day which was the cheapest price I could find. I definitely recommend getting your own car because you will end up spending more on cabs/getting frustrated and wasting tons of time.
Room Tip: I don't know how to choose a good room because the photos are probably all the same on the site...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
