Hotels

We checked out at 10:30 this morning from the Comfort Suites we had been staying in for the past six nights and had over five hours to waste time before check-in at the next place, a Residence Inn by Marriott, so we drove around the area. It’s definitely more upscale where we are at now, but honestly I think I preferred where we were before because there was more to do and see.

We had lunch at the largest McDonald’s in the world. It offers bistro menu items such as paninis and burritos which was cool. I had the chicken burrito and it was good.

We were bored so I called the hotel to see whether early check-in was possible but they apologized and said no. Their reasoning was how booked they were last night. I asked whether we could take advantage of their laundry room before checking in and they said we could, so we headed to the hotel only to learn you needed a room key to get into the laundry room. :p

As we were passing through the lobby to leave, a woman working at the hotel got our attention and asked whether we’d be interested in checking out one of their vacation properties down the street called Horizons by Marriott. Normally we wouldn’t agree to a timeshare sell (or what they call a vacation club), but we had hours to kill and they offered us $100 off our stay here, so what the hell?

All the staff, including the agent trying to sell us the property, were very nice and the property itself is gorgeous, absolutely the best place I’ve ever seen, inside and out. The rooms are decorated in bright colors with full kitchens, a huge big screen tv and dvd player, and separate bathrooms for each bedroom. The screened-in porch is awesome too, plus there are three pools, a miniature golf course, two bars, and a few restaurants.

Definitely a great place, but the yearly fees ($600+) on top of the initial investment ($17k) are just too much in our opinion. I must admit, we were both tempted, but we don’t go on major vacations yearly or even every two years, so I don’t think it would be a wise investment for us. That being said, since you can still rent a villa just as you would a hotel room, we plan on booking a few nights at the resort in a few years when we take the kids to Disney World. They will love the pools and water park area and for $187/night, it’s not a bad deal.

Anyway, by the time we got back to the hotel it was check-in time. Our room is nice with central air/heat and a full kitchen, plus the desk is where I can still see the tv (unlike our previous hotel), and it smells better in the room (the previous one has a musty odor). I still liked the Comfort Suites better though because this place is smaller and feels more claustrophobic. The Comfort Suites had two huge sinks whereas this place only has one and the bedroom is so small you can barely walk around the bed.

I noticed that while the Marriott is a “better” name, you don’t get much more for the extra money. When we checked into the Comfort Suites, they gave us coupons for half price drinks at the bar and said they have free toothbrushes, combs, razors, etc. in case we had forgotten ours. At the Marriott you are expected to visit their sundry store for those items and there weren’t any coupons for the bar. I get the impression they assume that by staying at a Marriott you like to spend money freely. But I digress.

There’s a huge laundry room on the first floor so after checking in we did two loads. While waiting, we played a game of air hockey in the game room next door. Joe is really good at it and he almost beat me, but I won by one goal. I was so excited I was doing the happy dance. LOL!

For dinner we went to this place called Steak & Ale. It’s owned by Bennigan’s and we had a $25 gift card that I ordered from Discover via our cash back bonus. The first filet I got was covered in a seared charcoal flavor so I sent it back and got a new one. It was much better, but it didn’t compare to the filet I had at Longhorn which was cheaper. The dessert, French silk pie, was delicious, however.

I’m stuffed now! We are going to turn in early tonight so we can get to Discovery Cove early tomorrow. I hope we don’t freeze our butts off. The nice part is the hotel is a block away, so we’ll be able to get there bright and early with minimal effort.