Nicest Marriott Resort in Orlando

[Peyton]

My husband and I are planning a trip to Orlando and are wondering which of the Marriott Orlando resorts are the nicest and why. We probably won’t be traveling with any children so just looking for a place to relax. Thanks

 

[sandcfort]

We like the Lakeshore Reserve.

 

[jlp879]

No kids. For sure the Lakeshore Reserve. It shares property with Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott. You can wander between all three, use the JW pool for variety. The footprint of the place is small and quiet.

 

[needvaca]

My husband and I just got back from a trip to Orlando (no kids). We stayed at the Marriott Cypress Harbor and loved it. The grounds are beautiful and tropical and sprawling. 3 nice pools. Beautiful spa and gym. You can rent paddleboats or kayaks and go on the lake. I would definitely go there again.

I also drove around to see the other Marriott timeshares in case we come back with kids.

Lakeshore Reserve was absolutely beautiful- felt like a high-end Tuscan resort, but it is a smaller property. It costs more and is harder to trade into, but I would love to try it for a couples trip.

Royal, Imperial, and Sabal Palms all felt dated (from the outside). Kinda 1970's. Pool areas were very simple. The draw here is that it is connected to the Marriott World Center and you can use their pool and all amenities. Sabal Palms is the closest to the pools.

Marriott Harbor Lake would be great for kids under 8. It's a small property with a pirate ship pool, huge spray ground, waterslide, minigolf. But it would be horrible for a adult only trip. It is ALL about kids there.

 

[cp73]

Did you happen to check out Grande Vista? We are staying there this week for a few nights. Wanted to stay at Lakeshore Reserve but all full for cash payors.

 

[Peyton]

Did you happen to check out Grande Vista? We are staying there this week for a few nights. Wanted to stay at Lakeshore Reserve but all full for cash payors.

That’s one that we’re thinking about. Was curious what other people thought of it.

 

[Dean]

It depends on what you want to do. Side by side for this situation if you're OK with quieter would be LR, then GV then CH IMO. If you're going to parks then I might put GV first for Disney and CH first for Universal and add HL. My order for those with families would be different. For younger kids in order HL, GV, CH then LR and for older kids/teens GV, CH, HL, LR

 

[Gemini Chica]

We love Grande Vista with no kids.

 

[Luvtoride]

Did you happen to check out Grande Vista? We are staying there this week for a few nights. Wanted to stay at Lakeshore Reserve but all full for cash payors.

Grande Vista would be my choice for a beautiful relaxing resort in Orlando. It has an adjacent golf course with a nice clubhouse/ restaurant. We also love the location compared to Lakeshore reserve, much closer to the restaurants and activities of Int’l Drive (its on that road ) without being too close. Cp73 you will love Grande Vista!
Also love Cypress Harbor as needsvaca stated. We have owned there for almost 20 years.



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[Saintsfanfl]

It depends on what you want to do. Side by side for this situation if you're OK with quieter would be LR, then GV then CH IMO. If you're going to parks then I might put GV first for Disney and CH first for Universal and add HL. My order for those with families would be different. For younger kids in order HL, GV, CH then LR and for older kids/teens GV, CH, HL, LR

Grande Vista is actually slightly further away from Disney than CH/HL.

 

[NboroGirl]

We own at GV but have traded into LR once. LR is smaller, quieter, and seems more adult-oriented. We liked the pool very much (zero entry, lazy river) and the villas seem higher end, but smaller. The only bad thing about LR was some of the units (townhouses maybe?) overlooked a large empty parking/asphalt area. I don't know if it is still that way; we stayed there about 5 years ago and our villa overlooked the pool, which was nice. As mentioned, there are the 2 hotels nearby whose amenities you can easily access, including a golf course - it's a nice walk there and I believe you can also request a golf-cart ride to and from.

GV is a huge resort with something for everyone. It's not quite as posh as LR, but 3 out of 4 of us preferred the golf course there and we all preferred the location. The villas are a bit roomier and all the views are nice (pool, golf course, or lake). There seems to be a lot of families with kids there.

You can't go wrong with either. Some day we will try out Cypress Harbor. We only looked at it when we were considering buying, and ended up with GV.

 

[Swice]

One impression about Grande Vista... it's very large. Because of the size, it seems they are always on a renovation cycle. So at any given time, you may find yourself assigned to a newly renovated unit or to one that is near the end of the cycle. With that said, we've never had a "bad" unit.

 

[frank808]

You really cant go wrong with either grand vista or lakeshore. We prefer lakeshore for the heated lazy river and coziness of the resort. We always try to trade into lakeshore, but if not apossible, we will trade back to our home resort of grand vista.

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[Saintsfanfl]

Lakeshore is great and our favorite but it is definitely not quiet anymore during family vacation times. The last few times we have been there it has been overflowing with kids. Not like HL but still loads of kids everywhere. It can be hit and miss for quietness these days.

 

[BocaBoy]

Sabal Palms is our favorite hands down, with Lakeshore Reserve and Cypress Harbour also high on the list. I would put Royal Palms and Grande Vista at the bottom. We have never stayed at Imperial Palms or Harbour Lakes.

 

[Dean]

Grande Vista is actually slightly further away from Disney than CH/HL.

That's true, it's slightly further but IMO it's a better resort which is why I'd put it first for Disney plus I like going Int Drive over I-4 from the south side (GV, Fountains, Tuscany). I think Universal is easier to get to from CH/HL but it could just be my perception.

 

[dioxide45]

Grande Vista is actually slightly further away from Disney than CH/HL.

Perhaps, but the ease of getting to WDW from Grande Vista, without having to hit the highway, kind of makes up for it. Straight down I-Drive and then across World Center Dr. It probably doesn't take that much longer to get there than going down I4.

 

[dioxide45]

My husband and I are planning a trip to Orlando and are wondering which of the Marriott Orlando resorts are the nicest and why. We probably won’t be traveling with any children so just looking for a place to relax. Thanks

I really don't think you can go wrong with any of them. They all have their pros and cons. Lakeshore is perhaps the nicest and most modern with access to the JW and Ritz. The lazy river is also a good draw and the resort is not fully built out for the facilities, so finding a lounger usually isn't a problem. Harbour Lake is great for kids but probably wouldn't be all that bad for two adults either. They also have 1BR and studio units so you don't necessarily need to get a full 2BR if it is only two people. Cypress Harbour is across the street and rather laid back. The units have large living room and kitchen areas. Grande Vista is huge and expansive where the Palms properties are not. The Palms properties are older but the units have all been refurbished and should be in great shape. We have stayed at all of the properties except Sabal Palms. Our favorite of course is Grande Vista, @BocaBoy doesn't know what he is talking about .

Of course, why are you only limiting yourself to Marriott properties? We have also stayed at Sheraton Vistana Villages and may actually now prefer it to Grande Vista. Heading back there this weekend.

 

[IuLiKa]

I am going to Grande Vista for Thanksgiving, and we are very excited to spend some time there. We are staying 9 nights. We plan to go 1 day to Animal Kingdom at Pandora and 3 days to Universal. I need your advice in renting a car. Should i rent or just uber ? My friends are going to have a car, but we will not fit in that car.
Parking at the parks is about $20-25. I am thinking that is how much a uber ride might be?? any advice?

Thank you,

 

[Panina]

I like Sabal Palms the best. You can use the timeshare pool and gym or go a short walk away or shuttle to the busier main complex and use all their amenities plus restaurants. Cypress Harbour is my second favorite. Grand Vista my third. I do not like Royal Palms because of the road noise and where it is located in the complex even though it is close to Sabal Palms. Imperial Palms is also a no for me because of location in the complex.

 

[Kel]

Years ago we stayed at Grand Vista and I remember the resort and unit was nice. But, we were in a unit close to a residential housing area and we listened to someone’s barking dogs two nights in a row. We changed units.

 

[jmhpsu93]

I am going to Grande Vista for Thanksgiving, and we are very excited to spend some time there. We are staying 9 nights. We plan to go 1 day to Animal Kingdom at Pandora and 3 days to Universal. I need your advice in renting a car. Should i rent or just uber ? My friends are going to have a car, but we will not fit in that car.
Parking at the parks is about $20-25. I am thinking that is how much a uber ride might be?? any advice?

Thank you,

We tried the Uber thing a couple of years ago. Most resorts are a decent time/mileage distance from the parks - this isn't NYC we're talking about - so even baseline pricing is going to be $10+ from most places. On top of that if you're going to the parks around when they open (like most sane people do) you're going to get hit with surge pricing.

We found it cheaper to just drive and park. Now, if you're needing Uber because you drank your way around the world in Epcot...

 

[Lee55]

We tried the Uber thing a couple of years ago. Most resorts are a decent time/mileage distance from the parks - this isn't NYC we're talking about - so even baseline pricing is going to be $10+ from most places. On top of that if you're going to the parks around when they open (like most sane people do) you're going to get hit with surge pricing.

We found it cheaper to just drive and park. Now, if you're needing Uber because you drank your way around the world in Epcot...

We enjoy Grande Vista...

 

[amanda14]

You will see I own at both MGV and Lakeshore. To our family there is no comparison and Lakeshore wins hands down. The campus of the Ritz and JW and the amenities (some reciprocal) is a plus as is the smaller footprint compared to that of MGV. We like being further from the parks and the less crowded nature of Lakeshore.

 

[NboroGirl]

Of course, why are you only limiting yourself to Marriott properties? We have also stayed at Sheraton Vistana Villages and may actually now prefer it to Grande Vista. Heading back there this weekend.

Why do you think you prefer Sharaton Vistana Villages? I've seen it whenever we're at Grande Vista. Our son and his wife stayed there once and said it was almost comparable to GV but didn't think it was as nice.