Tag: lodging

Fairway Forest at Sapphire Valley

Fairway Forest at Sapphire Valley

The Fairway Forest Resort at Sapphire Valley is one of the most beautiful locations for a resort we have ever stayed at. It is nestled in a great location for your Blue Ridge Mountains getaway and is still a drivable distance away from Asheville & 

Belleview Inn: An Elegant and Historic Hotel

Belleview Inn: An Elegant and Historic Hotel

This historic hotel is the epitome of elegance and romance from the moment you pass the security guard entrance. For the first time ever, I was able to surprise my husband with a hotel stay to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. If the photos alone 

Grande Villas Resort | Orlando

Grande Villas Resort | Orlando

Grande Villas Resort is the perfect place to stay in Orlando while visiting the theme parks. Owned by Hilton Grand Vacations, it is ranked as a 3-star hotel with an almost 5-star review by guests. It is conveniently located about 10 minutes from all the entrances of the theme parks.

We have stayed here several times and absolutely love the convenience of the location, cleanliness of the rooms, friendliness of the staff, amenities, and best of all, we LOVE the size of the rooms!

We decided to book a 3-bedroom lock-off unit because, with two young men in our house now, they like to have their own bedroom. Gone are the days of them sharing a bed when they were little boys. However, even the 1-bedrooms are spacious. So you can’t go wrong with the rooms here. Just choose what works best for you.

The welcome lobby is just that-welcoming. It’s always so nice to come to a place where you’re greeted by friendly staff and everything looks pristine. This is honestly one of my favorite places to stay in Orlando!

Now, let’s check out our 3-bedroom lock-off unit!

3-bedroom lock-off unit

One of the first rooms you notice is the kitchen. The kitchen is well stocked with the appliances you need plus all the essentials like dishcloths, dish liquid and such. If there is anything that you may need that you don’t see, just call the lobby and they’ll do their best to take care of you. I do this all the time wherever we stay and request specifically extra blankets. But that’s just our family.

main kitchen

Adjacent to the kitchen is the 6 six-seat dining room table. We are only a family of 4, so this is plenty of room for us. Honestly, a lot of times we don’t even use the dining table because we’re gone most of the day at the theme parks. However, if you plan on visiting Orlando other than theme parks, a full kitchen and dining table will come in handy and will also save you a lot of eating out money! If you’re going to have groceries in your room, make your stay even simpler by just ordering them using Shipt. It’s as easy as ordering on your phone or laptop and delivered to your lobby. More time for you to enjoy your vacation!

main dining area
main dining room table

The next room is the living room. It is a comfortable spot to just chill at the end of the day from walking the theme parks or a busy day out on the town.

main living room

Open up the sliding door from the living room and you’ll notice a quaint balcony with a table and 4 chairs. This is a nice outdoor area where you can see your surroundings and get some fresh air. We were near the pool, but the 3rd lock-off room has a much better view of the pool, which I will show you below!

balcony

Second Bedroom

Just behind the living room couch wall are the 2nd bedroom and its own bathroom! This room has 2 twin beds, armoire, and a TV. Our youngest son had this room & bathroom all to himself.

view into second bedroom

Main Bedroom

To the left of the living room are the main bedroom and the huge bathroom! Seriously, the size of this main bedroom and bathroom could be an entire hotel room on its own. That’s how big it is!

main bedroom
See that arch? It leads to the bathroom.

Third Bedroom

Now, if you think that’s big, you’ve seen nothing yet. The 3rd bedroom lock-off could be an apartment of its own. Really! Check this out. Before you get to the 2nd bedroom, on the right side you’ll see a door. It can be locked off, hence “lock-off,” or it can remain wide open. Our oldest son had the luxury of staying here. I told him to pretend it’s his apartment!

third room kitchen

From the inside of the 3rd bedroom lock-off kitchen, yes it has its own kitchen, you can see into the dining room/living room area of the main room. There is also a common area washer/dryer that makes it very convenient to pack because you don’t have to bring as many clothes.

Again just like the main kitchen, everything you need is included in this additional kitchen.

From the kitchen, you can see the small living room couch and a SEPARATE front door entrance! If our son wanted to go out, he wouldn’t need to use the main room entrance. How convenient is that!?!

To the left of the living room is the bed, armoire, and another TV which then leads into the bathroom. If you open the curtains in the bedroom, it will lead to a small 2-seater balcony with a great view of the swimming pool.

If that hasn’t convinced you to stay here, let me tell you about some of the other things this resort has to offer.

It has outdoor spaces for everyone to congregate, firepits, BBQ grills, mini-golf, fitness center, basketball court, 2 swimming pools, a kiddie pool, spa, movie rentals, karaoke, mini-market, deli, pizza, gift shop, 24hr security, on-site activities (ex. ping pong), playground, shuffleboard, tennis, volleyball and more. These are all shared amenities with their sister property, Cypress Pointe, which also has water volcanoes that anyone can enjoy!

As you can see, there is something for everyone and with it being in a perfect location within so many other things to do in Orlando, you will be sure to enjoy your stay at Grande Villas Resort!

outdoor area near lobby
The Cove on Ormond Beach

The Cove on Ormond Beach

The Cove on Ormond Beach is a Hilton Grand Vacations property directly located on the gorgeous Ormond Beach on the east coast of Florida. It makes for a great vacation spot with all the amenities a family would want. On this trip, my husband had to 

Thurnham Hall | It’s Like Living In A Castle

Thurnham Hall | It’s Like Living In A Castle

Location: Have you ever wanted to feel like a prince or princess or maybe have watched “The Princess Bride” movie one too many times? Well, here is your chance to fulfill some of your dreams! Thurnham Hall is a country estate turned into a resort and