Just returned from a 2 week stay here so the review is fresh in my memory. The hotel is situated centrally in the bustling busy part of international drive opposite the Icon centre. So there are loads of places nearby to eat. The hotel on first impression is clean and staff friendly. The rooms, apartment style with 2 en suite bedrooms are a little dated now and showing their age but are very clean. The cleaning staff do a great job each day tidying up. Each bedroom and the lounge have a tv so if you have kids there is separate space with no arguing. Air con works very well. The kitchenette although small provides just what you need. And the hotel provides coffee sachets each day which is great. The pool is a little on the small side and is surrounded on all sides by 5 storey walls but the sun is caught in the pool area. TBH sometimes the shade was a relief from the intense heat and humidity. It’s only 4’ deep at the deepest part so no diving The hotel has a bar which has a serving hatch into the pool area but rather bizarrely the bar doesn’t open until 5 pm. So you can be sweltering poolside gasping for a beer. You can buy cans and bottles from an on site shoppe but I’d rather drink cocktails and draft beers from the bar. Not sure why this is the policy here. It also closes as 9 pm so after returning from a theme park you’re forced again to go out or to buy from the shop. Would be better starting open to 11. The hotel provides a free shuttle bus service to WDW 3 times a day. It also picks up from the main Disney ticketing area at magic kingdom (miles away from animal kingdom and the other parks ) 3 times a day. If you miss it you need to get a main service bus or Uber etc back at your own expense. More frequent shuttles buses to Disney would be an improvement as it’s a good 30 minute ride away and the endless security queues at Disney (bag checks at each park, the monorail etc) in total can take 90 minutes from leaving the hotel to actually getting through the main entrance gate to a park. Universal is much closer but the hotel only provides 2 x shuttle services there and back per day. The last returns before the light firework display. However we bought an IRide ticket each for 4 of us for $72 for the 2 weeks. This allows you to ride the trolley bus the length of I drive as as many times as you want for a 2 week period. If we hadn’t done this it’s $2 per per person per journey. We used the tickets lots to go to the outlet villages. We also got the IRide from the stop outside the hotel (14) up to stop 5. From there we could walk to City Walk which is the entrance to to the universal parks. The walk is not far and takes only about 20 mins. But beware. In 95% humidity and 34°c it’s very very hot. Breakfast - the standard was ok. Egg ‘patties ‘ everyday usually with waffles or ham or pancakes. Lots of bread for toasting and plenty of fruit and cakes muffins and fresh coffee and juices. The hotel is a great location to base yourself and we didn’t have a car so relied on the shuttle and IRide trolley bus. Would I recommend it to others as a base - yes. Would I stay here again if returning to Orlando- Yes. Read less

This suite-hotel has completely surpassed our expectations! The first thing to recognise is the brilliant location. It is slap bang halfway along International Drive meaning it is easy to get to all theme parks from here. The I-trolley (bus which goes up and down I-Drive) stops right outside so is excellent transportation. The hotel also offers a free shuttle bus two or three times a morning and evening to both Disney parks and Universal parks so wherever you need to go, it's easy! Our suite was perfect. Modern, clean and very spacious. We had two bedrooms, each en suite, plus a big living space which included comfortable seating and a kitchen. The kitchen has a microwave and hob as well as a fridge freezer and dishwasher. The beds were very comfortable and each bedroom had a large flat screen TV as well as a third TV in the living room area - perfect for vegging out at the end of a long day in the parks. The hotel offers breakfast from 7-10am daily. We'd read reviews which said this was basic - we thought it was great. Every day there were 4 choices of cereal plus porridge, lots of pastries, bread, bagels and English muffins to toast. There was always a selection of fresh fruit and yoghurt and varying hot choices such as bacon, sausage patties, eggs, potato cubes, pancakes and waffles. The breakfast was buffet style so you could really fill up before a big day out! The hotel also has a bar area open for around 4 hours each evening,some of this time is Happy Hour. The hotel pool is small but totally adequate. There are lots of spaces to sit in or out of the sun close to and around the pool. The hotel provides towels for the pool too. We took advantage of the launderette at the hotel too which has washing machines and tumble driers. Staff at Sonesta are fantastic - they really go out of their way to help you. The rooms were cleaned daily no matter what time you leave it. Fresh towels are provided in suites daily. Over the road from Sonesta is an area called Icon Park. This has the huge Orlando Eye (think London Eye) and a Madame Tussauds and Sealife Centre. There is also a very small supermarket and lots of great bars and restaurants in this area. We ate around here most evenings and can highly recommend Tin Roof bar, Yard House and Outback Steakhouse. Read less

We have just returned from a ten night stay at Sonesta Suites. We had a two bedroom suite with two bathrooms, a kitchen area and living area. The suite was very spacious for a family of four . There was ample storage space, a well equipped kitchen and comfortable king size beds. Although there was a sofa bed in the living area it was extremely thin and uncomfortable and would not be suitable for older children. The hotel did provide additional bedding for the sofa bed to enhance the comfort of the mattress, however it remained intolerable. As stated in previous reviews there was a constant mouldy smell in the apartment, possibly due to air conditioning system. But in general the hotel was clean and comfortable. Breakfast was basic but provided cereals, juices, breads, tea, coffee, pastries and three hot dishes each morning. The dining area was clean and spacious. The pool area was clean and had ample sun beds. It could have been improved by provision of sun parasols and bar facilities during the day. Overall we enjoyed our stay and would recommend the Sonesta for a family requiring mid range spacious accommodation with free transport to Universal Studios. Read less

Suites were clean but had a musty smell from the air conditioning filters needing to be changed. Bed was noisy every time I turned. Staff were very friendly. Hot tub not working on two occasions I went to use it. Pool area clean. Breakfast - very limited selection of hot foods - daily - some type of eggs, either sausage or corned beef hash, with either hash brown, french toast fingers or waffles. Mixed melon and only one other choice of fresh fruit. Only brown or white pan bread and same choice of pastries daily. Read less