|
Caribe
Royale Orlando is a beautifully landscaped all-suite
hotel that offers all the amenities you would expect at a
deluxe vacation destination. As you drive up, the property looks
enormous, but the layout is cleverly designed to minimize the
distance you have to walk from your room to the waterfall pool
or the reception building, which houses the resort's restaurants.
Caribe Royale offers two types of accommodations:
suites and villas. There are 1,218 1-bedroom
suites with a separate living room and bedroom. The suites are available with a choice of two queen beds (466 sq ft) or a king
bed (500 sq ft) in the bedroom, plus a pull-out full-size sofa bed in the
living room. There are also a few deluxe king
suites, which are larger (600 square feet) and have a
whirlpool tub.
Caribe Royale's 1-bedroom suites sleep up to 6 people
(maximum of 4 adults 13 and up) in the queen bed version, or up
to 4 in the king bed version. The bathroom (located between the
living room and bedroom) has a sink/vanity area separate from
the toilet and bath/shower combo.
Each suite includes two televisions, two telephones
with data ports and voicemail, a refrigerator, microwave, coffee
maker, hair dryer, safe (for which a small fee is charged), iron
and full-size ironing board.
There are also 120 super-deluxe
2-bedroom villas at Caribe Royale Orlando. Each villa measures
1260 square feet and includes a master bedroom with a king bed,
a second bedroom with two queen beds, and a full-size sofa bed
in the living room.
The 2-bedroom villas sleep 8 people (maximum of
6 adults 13 and up). Villas have two bathrooms (each with a vanity
sink outside the bathroom) and include a whirlpool bath in the
master bedroom.
Each villa includes a fully-equipped kitchen with
dishwasher, washer/dryer, a screened-in balcony or patio, three
televisions, three telephones with data ports and voicemail, CD/cassette
stereo, video cassette player, hair dryer, safe (for which a small
fee is charged), iron and full-size ironing board.
At Caribe Royale you can enjoy two full-service
restaurants: The Tropicale is a moderately priced all-day
restaurant with a Caribbean flair and a varied menu. The
Venetian Room, a AAA 4-Diamond restaurant, is an elegant,
intimate gourmet restaurant with outstanding food and service.
(My husband and I enjoyed dinner here in October 2002 and you
can read
his review. I've also eaten at The Venetian Room more recently
and it was wonderful, though pricey.)
In addition, there is Cafe Largo, a 24-hour deli/pizzeria.
The Parrot Isle Lounge is a relaxing location to enjoy a few drinks.
Drinks and light meals are also available at Calypso's, the poolside
bar and grill. There is 24-hour room service. Guests at Caribe
Royale can enjoy an additional dining option (the Vista Bistro
steakhouse) at the hotel's sister property, Buena
Vista Suites.
One of the more attractive aspects of Caribe Royale
is its waterfall swimming pool, which features 75-foot
water slide and two whirlpools. While not "themed,"
it rivals the pools at the Disney Deluxe resorts. There is also
a second "villa pool" and whirlpool, plus a large children's
pool. Kids can enjoy interactive water toys, a playground, and
a game room.
Fitness buffs have access to a fantastic 3,500 sq.
ft., dual-level fitness
center plus a night-lighted tennis court and basketball
court.
There are valet/dry cleaning services or you can
use the coin operated laundry facilities located in each tower.
The hotel has two business centers with computer workstations,
copying, faxing, etc. All guest rooms have wired high-speed Internet
access and there is wireless Internet access in the reception
building, pool area and parts of the convention center ($6.95/day
for either option).
The lobby also includes a Hertz
rental car desk, an ATM, a gift shop and a convenience store.
Free self-parking.
Caribe Royale Orlando is only about a mile and a
half from the parks at Walt Disney World. It's located between
International Drive and Apopka/Vineland Road (SR 535) on World
Center Drive (SR 536), which is a major multi-lane highway that
goes right into the Disney theme parks. You can zip back and forth
in just a few minutes.
Caribe Royale offers complimentary scheduled
shuttle service to and from the Walt Disney World theme parks
and scheduled evening transportation to Downtown Disney. There
is also one free shuttle per day to the Lake Buena Vista Factory
Stores. If you need a lot of transportation flexibility (for instance,
you have small children with you and/or you want to return to
the resort every afternoon for naps), you may want a rental car.
Caribe Royale Orlando is a truly beautiful resort-style
hotel, and extremely reasonably priced. We have stayed at this
hotel and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would consider it similar in
quality to the Disney Vacation Club resorts, and better in one
major respect -- the one-bedroom suites sleep up to 6 people,
as opposed to Disney's one-bedrooms, which sleep 4. My most recent
site inspection of Caribe Royale was in May 2006.
|
