Grande Villas Resort

Stayed at this timeshare resort for one night booking through Hotel Tonight. We had many options of places to stay for cheaper but chose to pay more for Grande Villas for the amenities and great reviews.

The first thing you notice walking into check-in the waft of the smell of sewage. Then the concierge attempts to strongly and rudely talk you into an “informational session” about the timeshare program. The unit was small but had everything we needed. And everything we didn’t need including a cockroach in the bathroom.

The hotel refunded us the $11 resort fee but did not take responsibility for the cockroach being in our unit. I understand if you are a Florida native that is something you are used to but the majority of the guests are not.

Would not stay here again, take your money and go elsewhere

We enjoyed staying at the Grand Villas.

The location is ideal for visits to Disney theme parks, Disney Springs, and SeaWorld.

Premium shopping is also just minutes away.

We definitely will visit again!

Four Asians met me in the lobby, asked for credit card and iD.

They told me my company card was denied.

I told them it was already paid thru Hotels.com and gave verification number.

They were upset I paid $68 for $146 room. They were accessing my card for an additional $100. I got the company manager on the phone and he was giving them a card number for the $100 retainer. They refused to take it. I offered cash.(I had $400) They refused to take it.

They told me to leave.

They refused to refund the $68 and Said it was non-refundable. This was over a 45 minute period.

I got Hotels.com on the phone and they called Grande Villas directly. I

watched the phone ring and ring without being answered.

Five times I was told this was for my own good ( with a smirk each time)

It was after midnight and my ten year old was crying “we’re just people”as I left.

Our stay at the grand villas started out on the wrong foot when the incompetent staff charged our cards for Disney tickets they could not provide. The only saving grace of this hotel was that the room was upgraded to a two bedroom. They do not provide housekeeping and yet they charge a resort fee of 6 dollars per day. I’m not sure what for. The shuttle was twice a day at $8 each way and it is like pulling teeth to be able to get the staff to put you on the list for the shuttle and find out where to go, the aggressive memo they give you when you come in does nothing to help. Do not expect this hotel to look like the pictures on Expedia. I would never stay at this hotel again.

So I booked this place because it was advertised as Grande Villas at (or near) Downtown Disney which sounded great and the pics online looked very nice. In the days leading up to the trip and into the trip though, I quickly found that this was not the get-away my wife and I were hoping for.

Before departing we were contacted at least twice about setting up time-share sales pitch meetings while we were there, and they tried to talk us into this multiple times during the stay. I can get over that as that’s pretty common in Orlando. What I couldn’t get over was right away before our flight finding out the resort didn’t offer any shuttle service what-so-ever, so we were forced to rent a car and plan to do any “relaxing” with adult beverages onsite as to avoid drinking and driving. Once we checked in we were also informed half of the parking lot was under construction and basically “good luck” finding a spot at night for the rental car we had no other feasible option than to get. We were also forced to pay a $6 per day resort fee to pay for this limited parking, but it also got you other perks like…….well we’re still trying to figure that out. They seemed to give you nothing special for this fee even still charging you on top for modern basics like Wi-Fi and towels.

We also quickly found that there was no bar or real restaurant on campus. The closest they have is a very lack-lustre convenience store in the center of the complex that has some frozen do-it-yourself drinks with very little alcohol content. We still gave it a chance though, got the home-make drinks and ordered food from the “restaurant” in the convenience store to eat by the pool on day one. What was given to us when we picked it up, not delivered to the pool but picked up at the store, was microwaved chicken tenders, burgers, and fries that we could have bought in the freezer section of Wal-Mart for $3, but sold for $9. Aside from the food and drinks being poor, the pool itself would have been fine had we not been swarmed by kissing bugs the entire time we were there. Granted, they were in season at this time (2nd week in Sept), but no other pool or park we visited had any trouble keeping the pests under control. What we planned to be an arrival in town day spent by the pool enjoying drinks and relaxing became a day off-site having just a few so we could still drive back to the “resort” later.

The room itself was fine; a small suite with kitchen and soaker tub plus king-sized bed. We didn’t plan to spend much time there anyway. However, we were informed right away that there would be no day-to-day turndown service and to get extra towels we’d have to pay. We were also asked to take out our own trash and clean-up the room to avoid additional fees. Additionally, any attempt to sleep during the day or nap is useless if there are kids anywhere near-by as the walls are paper thin and we could hear everything next door. We even found a party in one of the suites downstairs that was very loud most of the night and no staff ever intervened.

Finally, when we checked out they attempted again to sell us a timeshare in this fabulous property and informed me that the $100-200 hold on my card may not disappear for 2-4 weeks because their system just works slow.

Now, this place was average. The rooms at night were fine and even nice amenity wise. They also have mini-golf onsite and events for kids through-out the day. If you are traveling as a family for a vacation to the parks it’s probably a good-cheap option for you. However as a young couple who was their to relax and enjoy our time off of work this place did not come even close. They don’t offer the basic amenities you will find at most hotels, none-the-less the luxury experience you expect in a city filled with resorts. Don’t judge it based just on the pictures (they dress it up nice). I have been to other resorts in Orlando and this one was by far the most lacking.

The resort looks nothing like how it does online. If you want to see the volcano pool you have to walk across the street to the other resort. The atmosphere was horrible. As soon as you check in you are harassed into buying some sort of package or timeshare.

We had the single room suite, very outdated.

The staff was friendly from what I could tell, all of them spoke no English. Some spoke Spanish, some spoke Creole, some spoke the Arabic language unbeknownst to me.

All in all, I would not stay there again.

I would rather pay a little more and stay at a Hilton where you don’t get harassed, you have nice updated rooms and you can comprehend what the staff is saying. Would not recommend this to the average blue collar family.