Orlando: Runaway Beach Club (January 2008)

I stayed at Runaway Beach Club (RBC) in mid-January of 2008 with my extended family. We booked a 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit in the Key West section. As expected, there were two full baths and two large bedrooms. We could have upgraded (free) to a 2-bdr, 2-bath loft suite (which would have had another loft room with a pull-out sofa bed and an air-hockey table), but one of our guests had mobility issues and couldn't climb the necessary stairs. The master had a king size bed, flat-screen TV, huge walk-in closet with electronic safe, and master bath with Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. The second bedroom had a double (full) bed and a twin (single) bed, suitable for three children but really only two adults (I personally find a double bed too small for two adults). This bedroom also had a huge walk-in closet, flat-screen TV, and a bathroom across the hall with a shower/tub combo (so it wasn't part of the room, but instead the main bathroom for the whole unit; if guests were visiting in the living room, they would use this bathroom). The living room/dining room/kitchen combination was a good size. The living room are had two sofas (each may have pulled out to sofa beds, but I didn't check) and another flat-screen TV. There was a large dining table, along with a nice-size kitchen with a breakfast bar (I think there were three or four chairs at the bar, and four chairs at the table). The kitchen was equipped with everything you would need to make meals. All appliances were regular sized. The décor was attractive--lots of blue and white. The lamps were a nice quality--not the standard motel-room type--as were the framed prints/artwork. Small bottles of toiletries are provided (shampoo and lotion), as are all linens. We had our linens changed once during a 3-night stay (so we had new linens at check in, and then they replaced them on our second night). Light housekeeping was provided--trash removal, linen replacement, and on one morning (but not the other), our beds were made.

My only complaint about our suite was that it could have been a little cleaner--a shame, really, because this place has everything else in its favor. The first room we checked into still had the previous guests birthday cake remnants on the kitchen counter (granted, the counters were a dark granite pattern, but it was still evident that no one from housekeeping made even a cursory attempt at wiping them down); the carpets also didn't appear thoroughly vacuumed, and we had some tiny ants that other reviewers had complained about. They moved us to another unit that was cleaner, but not perfectly so. It WAS apparent that the sheets had been changed in both rooms, however, which is really the most important factor.

There is coffee provided in the hotel lobby. The pool is attractive, with plenty of chairs. There is also an outdoor Jacuzzi. The fitness center is small but adequate. There is a business center with free internet access--I used it each morning and there was never a wait. The property is quite large, and you could be assigned to a building block that is some distance from the pool/office. Buildings 1 and 2 are connected to the office building itself, so the lower numbers are better located, in my opinion. The numbering of the units within each building block is a bit odd, because the doors for the upper units are next to the doors for the lower units, so there will be "100" and "200" series doors next to each other. Once we figured it out, it made perfect sense, but provided a bit of frustration initially.

We did have some trouble with the key-card gate needed to access the parking lots after 8:00 pm. The card only seemed to work from OUTSIDE your vehicle. If you tried to insert the card while sitting in the car, it did not work. Sounds strange, but the trick seemed to be getting out of the card before inserting the card--must be some kind of positioning issue. We saw other guests having the same problem, so it wasn't just our own stupidity! With our first-floor unit, there WAS a big issue of noise from above. The sound of every step of the guests above us was magnified at all hours of the day and night (and they didn't have children, so it was just adults walking around normally.) Keep that in mind--I would recommend asking for a second-floor room for this reason.

The location is convenient to access Walt Disney World each day. You can enter the Disney property within 5 minutes or so, but just the entrance--then you have to drive a few more minutes to the parks (but the location isn't much farther than some of the Disney value resorts). There was a shuttle provided, but guests of RBC had to cross the street to catch the shuttle at the Country Inn and Suites (Carlson/Radisson). The shuttle departed the hotel at 8:30, 10:30, and 12:30, returning at 6:30, 8:30, and 10:30. Because our time was limited, we chose to drive ourselves. The cost for parking is $11.00 per day, but the convenience and time-savings was worth it to us. The hotel is located near Route 172, so it's quite easy to get to restaurants and souvenir shops. (EVERY chain restaurant imaginable is within a 2-mile drive, but I didn't see many original non-chain restaurants.) There is a 24-hour super Wal-Mart in the other direction from 172, convenient for picking up groceries and sundry items. The hotel is near Celebration (the real-life town that Disney created), which is a beautiful little spot to walk around, shop, see a movie, and eat in an original restaurant. We didn't have time for more than a drive through on this trip, but it was really pretty.

All-in-all, I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again--just make sure your room is clean. We paid $99 per night for the 2-bedroom unit, and it was great to have the extra space that a condo unit provided over a regular hotel room.