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View Full Version : Hotels - 2 Adults & 3 Kids in a double/double room



phaedra
10-01-2003, 21:06
Hi,

When we stayed at the Comfort Inn LBV in Dec 2000 they charged us an extra $10 a night for a roll out bed (which we didn't use) as there were 5 of us in 1 room, however, the Quality Inn Plaza didn't. As I'm trying to find a cheap but decent hotel for next December I'm finding that although most hotel rates don't say 'max 4 persons' a few list additional higher rates for '5th adult sharing', do I take it that the higher rate is ONLY for 5 adults sharing and as there would be 2 adults (my wife & her brother) and our 3 kids (14, 12 & 8) I can book using the lower rate?. Our youngest has sleep pattern problems and would be sharing a bed with my wife and our middle sprog.

blott
10-01-2003, 21:12
I guess it depends on each hotel's pricing policy (if you booked at the lower rate, then there could be local supplements to pay for over occupancy on arrival for instance). Best idea might be to email the individual hotels and ask?

I have to say that five people sharing one small hotel room for a fortnight sounds just like the Florida holiday from hell to me! [:0]

Andy & Arlene
10-01-2003, 21:14
Why tell them there are 5 sharing. When you check in only one of you needs to go to reception to pay.
When my 3 kids were younger and we stayed in hotels, I never told them there were 5 of us and they never asked. It was the same price for the room whether there was one person or 4.

Arlene

steph_goodrum
10-01-2003, 21:38
Bit naughty though Andy when we all insist on knowing exactly how many people are in our homes, for insurance/licensing purposes etc Should there be a fire the emergency services may not know how many people they are looking for and could assume if they found 4 people in a room that was all that were in there, so 1 person could be left trapped. I know it's always guesswork as they wouldn't know how many were out for the day/night etc.
Personally Florida is one of the places where I think if you've got to watch every penny I'd rather leave it a bit longer so I could afford to do it properly. I have guests who paid a deposit for this summer then found how expensive the flights were in the holidays and asked if they could transfer it to 2004 as they know the flights wont get cheaper but it gives them longer save up, as they've been 7 times and know how much they'll need when they get there, and I have to agree with them.

janny
10-01-2003, 22:27
I have to say I agree with Steph and Blott. That many in a hotel room is not my idea of a holiday especially as one is a teenager. Why not wait until you can all go rather than drive yourself demented trying to get something that maybe doesn't exist.But each to their own I suppose

phaedra
10-01-2003, 23:37
Thanks for the replies,

We went to Orlando for the 1st time in Dec 2000 using my redundancy pay and stayed most of the holiday at the Quality Inn Plaza in a single room semi-suite, 2 x double bed, fridge, microwave, cofee maker etc. and it's not as bad as it sounds!.

Up for breakfast then off to the parks, after a full day out back to the hotel, showered and changed, went out for dinner etc. came back, kids would then be in the pool for an hour or two while we did laundry/tidying etc. then a bit of telly or a game and off to bed!. Total time spent in the room (apart from sleeping!) was only about 2 hours a day.

I need to keep the cost down as I'm now on benefits due to osteoarthritis and IBS and have been told I'm only going to get worse not better so no chance of returning to work and a decent wage.

I really want the kids to get as much out of their holiday as possible, we only have 1 per year. Last Xmas my father in-law and brother in-law came with us to help as I didn't know if I'd be able to manage as my knees are a lot worse than they were a year ago and now I've got IBS I spend 90% of my time in the house, it wasn't too bad but I think I knew before we went that I wouldn't be able to manage on my own, I had no problems with driving as I was only in the minivan for about 20-30mins at a time and getting in/out of it was easy.

Next December is the problem, father in-law is 65 and doesn't want to fly that far again, I stocked up on Immodium, pain-killers, anti-imflamatories etc. and managed the flights OK, thank you to Martinair for the legroom and looking after me:) but walking round the parks was the killer!. My brother in-law will probably go and has offered to pay for 1/3rd of the trip if he does, but it will have to be scheduled flights again as there are no charters from Newcastle in November/December! (we bought year passes or Universal & Seaworld so 10th of December is the latest we can use them).

So, the options are, don't go, go and use the same villa we had this year at £700 or use a hotel, Howard Johnson Kissimmee Hotel on the 192 for £16 a night or Days Inn Lakeside on Sand Lake Road for about £22 a night are the two I've shortlisted, Q.I.Plaza is also a possibility if they run their Value Dates again (about £22 a night) right on I-Drive and good free transport for the parks.

Once again thanks for the replies.

Carla
10-01-2003, 23:53
My first experience of Florida in 1995 was the Days Inn Lakeside courtesy of Airtours!! I got no sleep as the room smelt so bad; stale, musty and the damp smell as you got near the bathroom was awful. I spent my first night propping up the pool bar, searching through the brochure for somewhere better to stay!! Husband and two children fell asleep from exhaustion.

Guess which family were first in the queue at the Welcome Meeting! We weren't the only ones either. Two other families also insisted on changing - everyone else at the Welcome meeting had very sensibly chosen somewhere else to stay.

Our first morning was spent trying to find alternative accom with the rep (who was marvellous). We did, but ended up paying a supplement to get a much better hotel. Days Inn Lakeside at that time was classed as a 3* Hotel (it has now been downgraded to a 2*), so it is unlikely that much has really improved since my visit.

From my experience, if you don't get a good nights sleep and don't have somewhere comfortable to come home to, then your holiday could well be completely spoilt.

Be assured Phaedra the rooms at the Days Inn are SMALL and the bathrooms are very small and cramped. The 2 beds are full/double size and you wouldn't be able to fit a roll-away into the room and still be able to move.

I fully understand your need to stay close to I-Drive as you wont have a driver there, but you could be sentencing your whole family to the holiday from hell if you stick them in the Days Inn Lakeside.

florida4sun
11-01-2003, 00:36
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by phaedra

Thanks for the replies,
So, the options are, don't go, go and use the same villa we had this year at £700 or use a hotel, Howard Johnson Kissimmee Hotel on the 192 for £16 a night or Days Inn Lakeside on Sand Lake Road for about £22 a night are the two I've shortlisted, Q.I.Plaza is also a possibility if they run their Value Dates again (about £22 a night) right on I-Drive and good free transport for the parks.

Once again thanks for the replies.
[/quote]

Another option is to wait alittle longer and save up some more for more space in a villa. 5 in a hotel room is anightmare. Especially the cheaper ones as they are small and have one tiny bathroom.
Privacy would be just awful. Also when the kids wnt to sleep your stuck with watching the TV with the sound off.
The transport to the parks from local hotels is so slow. We did that the first time we ever stayed in Florida and rentyed a car after the fiorst day. the busues stop at every hotel between and the parks.
Vacations are something we all save up for and they are a luxury, why cut corner for the sake of a copuple of hundred dollars.

orlandobabe
11-01-2003, 01:56
Our first trip to Florida was spent in one room in a Howard Johnson. Our children were 13, 11 and 10. Too young to leave in a room on their own. Just as well as someone tried to enter the room in the night-but I had the foresight to put the chain on.

We had 2 double beds and in the end two single roll aways as well-I kid you not. It was a nightmare. The hotel had a children's room and no bar!

It wasn't cheap either. The whole trip cost an arm and a leg and so stressful. Luckily the children were old enough to stay up late-but privacy-forget it.

I only wish we had known about villas the (13 years ago). Every time we ate we had to eat out and again it cost a fortune.

Staying in a villa is just heaven. Nothing would force me to go through that again.

steph_goodrum
11-01-2003, 01:56
Phaedra
If it was the walking round the parks that was the real problem, why not go with the family and get a wheelchair on loan from the Red Cross (you can get them free from the medical centre before you fly) and whilst it is wonderful that you want the children to enjoy their holidays as much as possible, I'm sure in years to come if you were to ask them if they would rather have had a week in Florida or a fortnight at Skegness with you, they'd opt for time with Dad. Maybe not at the moment if they're young but as you get older you appreciate the quality time you can spend with them. Take it from me, my mum was only 40 when she died, I was 18 and my brothers 15 and 9, and now he is 36, the youngest spends as much time as he can with his 2 boys of 10 and 7 as he appreciates that the memories you make when they are growing up may have to last a lifetime. He can't remember mum much but can recall incidents that happened, that may have seemed trivial at the time but mean so much to him now. Even if you only get away for a week at least you can all enjoy it together.

janny
11-01-2003, 02:04
As the USA is so geared up for wheelchair access to everywhere I think Steph has a great point.The airlines are good at dealing with non able passengers and I'm sure the agents who would deal with your party would go out of their way to see you get the right seat.I would consider it Phaedra .I agree that in the time to come your children will remember the holidays you all had toghether and that going on holiday without their dad just won't be the same.

phaedra
11-01-2003, 05:47
I must admit we managed fine in the Q.I.Plaza, we all went to bed around 11pm or so, kids or us got changed in turn in the bathroom so no problems with that, the Comfort Inn do have a slightly different semi-suite (more money of course!) with a sectioned off kiddies bit, you get 1 double for the adults and a single and a set of bunks with a tv in the kids bit, same size room as the Q.I.Plaza but partitioned.

Transport to the parks was very good, uually about 20/30 mins to Universal via Seaworld, the bus drivers were very friendly, always giving the kids sweets and 3D glasses etc.

Cost-wise we may only need flights and accom. the Quality Inn International is doing the same sort of prices as the Days Inn (£23 p/n) and there's free shuttles to/from the Quality Inn from MCO, free park transport and the "kids eat free" policy, breakfast for 2 adults at the Q.I.P was about $15 and dinner about $28, all 3 kids ate free.

All I'm looking for is to get the kids back to Florida before the annual passes expire, obviously this will save us about £900 :) in ticket prices, if we wait until next year it's more money for tickets again.

So, cost of hotel £360, cost of villa £700 plus minivanor car £350/£450 that's a huge difference!.

I know I could have hired a wheelchair at the parks but I'm stubborn and I'm trying to manage as long as I can without (Don't say it!, I know!, my wife tells me off about it!), anyway, we'll see what the rest of the year brings, if I'm OK then it's a villa for 6 of us however we manage it!, if not I'll leave it up to my wife as she keeps telling me that she's the sensible one :D

steph_goodrum
11-01-2003, 15:03
We'll keep our fingers crossed for you that you can can go and enjoy it as well. Incidentally with your childrens ages, have you thought about going round Halloween time, Universal comes into it's own at that time of year but without being too scary, the teenagers seem to love it and the flights are usually quite reasonable.

bellaepovera
11-01-2003, 18:39
I have a condo that is more or less the same price as you are spending for a hotel with 3 bedrooms and 2 bath. Has its own kitchen and washer and dryer etc same as a villa but without the private pool and slightly smaller but hotels do not have private pools either. the car is the problem though as i am correct they do not want to rent a car?

phaedra
11-01-2003, 18:51
Yes, my wife doesn't drive and my brother in-law has never driven abroad and to be honest he's a very cautious driver even in the UK!.

chris
11-01-2003, 19:53
We stayed at Quality Suites on the 192 near Disney Maingate. We had 2 rooms in our suite , one with 2 double beds and one with sleeper sofa. TV in each room,a bathroom and kitchen area (though they'd 'lost' all the cooking utensils, plates etc and could only give us plastic cutlery!)I cant remember what we paid but we then spent one night at a Best Western in Clearwater with one room, 2 doubles and a rollaway and it was awfully cramped. I'd prefer to make sure I had the space.
Oh and when we tried to catch the first courtesy bus to Animal Kingdom on our first morning they'd cancelled it and not told us!

Chris

floridadreamvilla.co.uk
12-01-2003, 00:41
Phaedra, whilst I appreciate that cost is important to you, personally I would prefer one great holiday albeit bi-annually or even tri-annually. We did stay at the Sharaton Lakeside about 4 years ago and I never wanted to return to Florida. Admittedly, we were ill and our first-born was still a babe-in-arms but it was truly awful.

It took a lot of coaxing from my husband for me to return and this is when we first stayed in a privately owned villa!!

Sarah

florida4sun
12-01-2003, 01:12
That's we stayed. My dad had paid for it pout of his retirement pension. It was the pits, we had a great view of the car park. Supposedly a Virgin flagship hotel. The only way I would return was to rent a villa and here we are today:)


quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk

Phaedra, whilst I appreciate that cost is important to you, personally I would prefer one great holiday albeit bi-annually or even tri-annually. We did stay at the Sharaton Lakeside about 4 years ago and I never wanted to return to Florida. Admittedly, we were ill and our first-born was still a babe-in-arms but it was truly awful.

It took a lot of coaxing from my husband for me to return and this is when we first stayed in a privately owned villa!!

Sarah

floridadreamvilla.co.uk
12-01-2003, 02:19
Yes, Martin, this is the first and last time that we have a package holiday, this was a Virgin Holiday and the Sheraton Lakeside had four felicitations!!!

There were coach loads of Brazillian children, who seem to be unaccompanied, monopolising the pool day and night and I mean night!!

The only thing positive about the holiday was that we had three nights in New York at the end of the vacation. The hotel in NY was larger than the room in the Sheraton Lakeside, there was a CD player in addition to the TV and excellent room service that sterilised all the baby bottles. I seem to remember paying a small fortune for this trip!

Sarah