Seaworld Orlando!

If ever proof was needed that I love Florida as a holiday destination, then my 12th visit last year shoud do the trick! Normally I stay in a villa, which is a great option for famililies or larger parties, but this time I opted for a hotel and was very intrigued to see how different an experience this would be!

I stayed for 11 nights in a suite and I was extremely pleased with the quality of the hotel and struggled to find fault. Our stay at the Springhill Suites included a buffet breakfast, which is very rare for American hotels – this was a great bonus though as you could fill up before heading out to an action-packed day at the parks. The quality of the breakfast wasn't the best but there was plenty of choice - waffles, cereal, fruit, toast and a small hot selection. After 12 days it did get a little repetitive, but never the less was still very handy to have and great value for money

The location of the hotel was brilliant. Located at the quieter end of International Drive you didn’t get all the usual hustle and bustle, which was ideal for us. The I-Ride is located outside the front of the hotel so if you did want to go to the busier part of International Drive, it was easy and cheap to do so.

Also within the grounds of the hotel was a TGI Friday’s, so if you didn’t fancy going out one evening you had the choice of eating onsite and they even delivered to your room if you preferred!

The suite itself was lovely and I could not fault it - bright, airy, extremely spacious and spotlessly clean. Within the suites you have a seating area with a table and chairs, a microwave and a fridge, which is always handy to have - especially when the temperature goes over 100 degrees! The staff were fantastic, always willing to help and extremely polite.

A great plus point in staying at this hotel is that it is a Sea World Partner, so you receive added benefits. When we travelled we had early access into the park, free transport to all Sea World related parks, 10% off dining at selected restaurants within Sea World and, the biggest benefit, the quick queue pass. Some of the rides had a 45-minute wait and all we had to do was show our pass and we went straight to the front of the ride! Sometimes we had gone on the ride 3 times before some people had even reached the front of the queue!

Overall I would highly recommend this hotel and I would have no hesitation in going back again. The only thing I would say is that, if you are travelling with young children who love a big swimming pool, then this may not be the best place to stay. The pool is quite small but it does have a splash zone for the youngsters. The pool is also shared with the sister hotel, the Fairfield Inn, so in the height of summer, I would imagine it would get quite crowded. Having said this, the pool was ideal for us and there was never a problem getting a sun bed during our stay.

One final point - although I don’t tend to use trip advisor, this hotel is rated 91% which shows how good it really is!