Hi!
My wife’s parents bought at Summer Bay in the ‘90s, and we’ve continued to use the weeks after they stopped going. This shows in RCI as the original “Summer Bay Resort” which I believe is made up of the 100 & 200 series buildings on the south end of the resort. “Houses” are the 300 series. “Villas” are the 400 & 500 series, I believe, and the “Reserve” is the “601” building that’s a taller, condo-style building with its own private amenities, but near the rest of the resort.
All of my stays have been in the 200-series. These are classic Florida timeshare (in my experience anyway) two-floor condo buildings with outdoor entry and walk-up stair access to the second floor. They’re close to both the mini golf course, and the “clubhouse” which is where check-in/check-out occur, the original main pool is, and the Coffee Shop (Starbucks beverages but not technically a Starbucks) and the Italian Kitchen pizza place are. We enjoy this pool and amenities and haven’t felt the need to branch out much yet.
The amenities elsewhere are a short walk away. The second main pool they built by the 500-series villas has a zero-entry side and a larger pool bar with kitchen, though food from there (“Big Kahuna’s”) can be delivered to the main pool area or your unit as well. We walked to that pool bar from the 200s for the first half of Sunday Night Football and it was less than ten minutes for us. You can also drive over and park since there’s ample parking all around the resort and it’s not restricted to where your unit is, nor overcrowded.
If you have young kids, on the southeast end of the resort near the 100-series buildings and the Holiday Inn Express, there is a paid “adventure park” for kids with things for them to climb and do. There’s also a larger splash pad / waterplay area there that I believe is included in your stay. The adventure park is on the site of a building that got eaten by a sinkhole a decade ago, which you’ll probably hear at some point. Sinkholes in Florida can be unpredictable, but I believe they at least tested the resort a fair bit after that happened.
For the 100 & 200 buildings, there’s separate booking categories that might tell you what you’ve actually booked. The 2-bedrooms in the 200 buildings are “2 bedroom - sleeps 8” as opposed to “2 bedroom - sleeps 6.” I’ve never actually been in the 100 series buildings but I believe the second bedroom there has two twins, where the second bedroom in the 200s has two doubles. If you book a “three bedroom,” it’s actually a two bedroom combined with a one bedroom, with a joint initial entryway but two separate doors from there. They have that at the 200s for sure but I don’t know about the 100s.
The last hard refurbishment of the 200 buildings in terms of new furniture, counters, nice new large floor tile in the living room, etc was 2017-2018 or so. It’s kind of already showing some wear, and on our last stay we really thought it was time for a mattress replacement in the main bedroom. Some things that probably weren’t replaced at refurbishment like the bifold closet doors are flimsy and come off the track. Fridge and kitchen at least are full-size, if a little on the smaller side, with a standard size stove (including oven) and full size microwave above. There’s a dual sink and garbage disposal, and a dishwasher that’s functional but badly due for an update. We’ve always been able to cook full meals at our unit, which is nice especially for breakfast, even though there’s a lot of eating options both at and a short drive from Summer Bay.
I hope any of this is helpful and let me know any other questions you have!
