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There are a lot of great hotels in Orlando, Florida. But one factor my family weighs heavily in our decision on where to stay is location. We love being close to one of the great theme parks in Orlando.
Hampton Inn & Suites at SeaWorld Orlando definitely has this feature. It is one of the reasons we booked this hotel recently – and really enjoyed our stay. You can actually walk to SeaWorld (more about this later).
Hampton Inn & Suites at SeaWorld Orlando also has a lot of other great features, too. Let me tell you about these features. I’ll also tell you how to save money on your stay!
Location
So as I said before, location is a great part of this hotel. You can walk to SeaWorld Orlando, though I will say it is not a short walk. If you want a shorter walk and don’t mind paying more, Renaissance Orlando is the shortest walk.
The hotel does offer a shuttle to SeaWorld Orlando. The only negative of the shuttle is that it only comes and goes at specific times. This can make it difficult say if you want to come back to your room in the middle of the day for a nap (for either your children – or yourself!).
So when we went one day, we walked to the park rather than drove because us adults wanted to attend the Seven Seas Food Festival and wanted to try the adult beverages. But we got tired and wanted to come back to the room for a nap in the middle of the day. It was so hot so we didn’t feel like walking back. The bus wasn’t coming until night. So we took the I-RIDE Trolley!
The I-Trolley station is next door at Staybridge Suites. The I-RIDE Trolley has multiple stops on International Drive and one is to SeaWorld Orlando. It takes you longer than taking the hotel shuttle but it comes way more frequently. It does cost extra but only a few bucks a ride. If you want to save money on I-Ride Trolley you can purchase your ticket ahead of time and save a few dollars.
Though when we did take the bus, we were very pleased. It came on time, the seats were very comfortable, and it was a very quick and seamless ride.
In addition to having a shuttle to SeaWorld, the hotel also provides a shuttle to Universal Orlando. My family did not use the Universal shuttles as we visited Universal when we were staying at another hotel during our trip. But it’s a similar type of scenario where there are a few times to go in the morning and a few times picking up at night. So you could take the shuttle or drive yourself. It’s about fifteen minutes from Universal.
There is no shuttle to Disney World, but it is about twenty minutes. So you can drive to Disney World if you’d like to visit Disney during your Orlando trip.
Price
Despite the great location, the hotel is surprisingly affordable.
We recommend booking your hotel through Hotwire like we did. It saved us a lot of money which in turn helped make the entire vacation more affordable.
If you’re a Hilton Honors member, you can still give your # to take advantage of perks like a welcome gift (though you won’t earn points).
Service
The service at the hotel was great, too! The employees we interacted with were very nice, which is sadly not always the case at hotels.
We also arrived at the hotel early and they let us go ahead and pay for the parking, park our car, and then go to SeaWorld. We were able to come back later and unload our luggage. I was glad they let us park early.
Guest Rooms
We stayed in a standard guest room during our stay here. The guest room was nice, too.
The beds were really comfortable. The kind you can just lie down on and get comfortable right away and fall asleep. And in a room for four, they have queen beds rather than double beds, which I like.
If there was a negative about the room, though, then it was about the size of the room. The room was a bit narrow. It made it hard to walk around. For example, if someone is sitting at the desk it is very hard to get by/walk by/around them.
On the other hand, the bathroom was bigger than other guest rooms I have stayed in. One way they save space is with the sliding door. Though I will say that door needs a bit of strength to move back and forth and can be bad if you say have a bad shoulder.
They did have some nice amenities in the room such as a refrigerator and microwave, which I like. The TV, while not the biggest I’ve ever had at a hotel, was very nice. When we were done at the theme parks at the end of the night, we were able to go back to our room, relax, and watch a movie.
Oh. but one more negative about the room. I wish there were more outlets between the bed. They only had two and they were close together.
One way to make this easier is to purchase this surge protector power strip and bring it on your trip. We did and that solved our problem.
I suggest getting this not only for your stay at Hampton Inn & Suites at SeaWorld Orlando but for other trips you might take as well. It comes in really handy.
On a more positive note, I liked the decor in the guest room as well.
It really made the whole room more pleasant.
Decor
I really liked the decor of not just the guest room, but the entire hotel.
I liked the pictures up throughout the hotel. They made me excited to visit SeaWorld. And the decor itself was beautiful and upscale.
The area by the lobby for the continental breakfast was also quite attractive.
And this of course brings me to…
Free Breakfast
One way you save money by staying at Hampton Inn at SeaWorld is with their breakfast. They offer a continental breakfast to guests, and that helps you save money. The savings really add up the longer you stay there.
And on top of that, it is a good free breakfast with a nice selection of food and drink options.
My favorite part was the blueberry scones. They were absolutely delicious! This was a nice addition to a free breakfast that you rarely see.
Other Amenities
They have a very nice laundry room. It was more than just the washer and dryer.
They even have a chair you can sit on while you wait. This is nice, since you are on your feet enough at the theme parks in Orlando!
They also have a really nice fitness center.
And finally, they have a nice outdoor pool.
Conclusion
My family very much recommends Hampton Inn & Suites Orlando at SeaWorld. We feel the positives outweigh the negatives, with the major positives and negatives being:
Positives
- Affordable
- Can walk to SeaWorld
- Shuttle to SeaWorld & Universal theme parks
- Free breakfast
- Nicely decorated rooms with queen beds
Negatives
- No shuttle to Disney World
- Rooms are a bit narrow