Sonesta ES Suites Orlando - International Drive

Can’t fault this hotel at all. Gerold on reception was very helpful. Our boys loved the pool, especially going in on an evening after the parks. We used the hotel shuttle to parks as much as possible, which saved a lot of money. On the occasions we needed a taxi, we used the hotel taxi (Pedro) who was fantastic. This was cheaper than using Uber as we were a party of 7. We used the laundry on a few occasions which was handy. Location is great for I trolley and icon park. Free Wi-Fi was great. Would definitely recommend this hotel. Please be careful with Tui transfers to the airport. The door to the luggage compartment somehow opened in transit and the driver didn’t realise until arrival at the airport. One of our cases fell out and the sheriff found video footage of it then being stolen 😢 this ruined our holiday. On a positive note, hotel was fantastic - so thank you. Read less

Lovely accommodation, friendly, helpful staff, brilliant pool and Starbucks coffee in the morning, the stuff dreams are made of. However if you have travelled with TUI beware the transfer back to the airport. You may be collected by a vehicle that is not suitable to carry all the passengers they are collecting, with unsecured luggage in the passenger area and all around the driver blocking off the door exit - TUI rep not around to sort this out so you have seconds to decide if you are going to board and risk your safety, and then they go and attempt to collect more passengers. TUI rubbish ES Sonesta Suites fantastic - will stay here again but using a different travel company Read less

Sonesta Suites This is going to be a very honest review with tips and tricks to make your stay the best it can be. To start Virgin rate this as a 4V (star) hotel, personally I think that is very generous and would more be a 3 to 3.5 star hotel. The location is amazing, right on international drive right next to Icon park. There are loads of restaurants closeby and several attractions so it's an ideal place to be with plenty to do away from Disney. The reception is like new, has a great little shop and the staff are all amazing. Every morning you get an amazing greeting and a warm welcome back on an evening. There is a cafe that serves Starbucks coffee which is a nice treat. They have a car rental desk and a space to sit down and charge your phone in comfort. The pool area is well kept but small, deepest part of the pool is around 4 meters. There is a nice sized jacuzzi and ample seating and loungers around the pool and an extra bonus of a top sun deck with fourposter loungers over looking the pool. The pool furniture did not feel as new as the reception area and something's were looking a little tired. There is a gym which has everything you need while on holiday and nextdoor is an arcade for the kids. There is also a laundry area so you can keep on top of your washing. We stayed in a 2 bed apartment which had X2 good sized bedrooms one with a large Queen and the other with a king size bed. Each bedroom have massive TV's plenty of hanging and clothes storage. The bed was extremely comfortable and I looked forward to getting in after a long day walking around the parks. The main living area is spacious and has a kitchenette with a large fridge freezer, electric hob, dishwasher and microwave. They had a dining area for 4 people and a 3 seater sofa and chair. There was plenty of storage in the living area and was really clean and well put together. Top tip: bring a cloth and tea towel as there is only a small sponge. There were only 2 things that I could fault (but not major), there was very little cold water pressure and the air conditioning unit was a noisy but to be honest this does not affect your stay at all and that is been very picky. Transfers: They use a company called fabulous buses which runs X2 shuttles. Approximately 25 - 50mins depending on how many pick ups. X1 to the Magic Kingdom at 7:10am X1 to Epcot at 9:50am The returns: Magic Kingdom at 5:20pm Epcot at 10:20pm This means a very long day if you want to see the fire works as well as spend the day at the park. We opted to get an Uber in the middle of the day to break the day up. It would be ideal if they ran a lunch time one back and then an early afternoon one back to the park. The buses are a mixed bag as you may have a coach one day and the other a leaking ex-school bus. They are well run and if you get George the driver you will be in for a treat, he is a kind, funny dancing man who the kids loved. They also do a transfer to Universal but we did not use this as we are staying there for our last week. Overall would I stay here again... The answer is in 2 parts: If I was here to visit Disney with small kids I would not. However If I was visiting Florida and wanteded to experience international drive and other Florida attractions especially with teen kids the answer is yes as this way you are not trapped in Disney reasorts and have the option to see and experience different things around the international drive area. Defintly get Ubers as they are very reasonable costing approximately $16-22 (each way to Disney) and around $8-12 to Walmart. Read less

This hotel is in a great location. The suites are spacious very clean and have a fully equipped kitchen. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The free shuttle to the Disney Parks work well and are on time and very good quality coaches. The pool area is excellent with a good size pool and jacuzzi. Plenty of restaurants nearby and only a short Uber ride to Universal Parks. Highly recommended… Read less

Whilst the hotel was in a perfect location for our needs i do have a couple of negatives. My husband was ill when they came to clean the room so I asked them to come back the next day. That didn't happen so our room was never cleaned in the 11 days we were there. As we had booked this as a package I was a bit shocked to be hit with a $250 deposit on the room. Surely a deposit is to cover any breakages etc & as we never had this happen I would have assumed the charge would not appear on my credit card. Not the case. I don't recollect seeing anything in the TUI brochure to this affect either. I have to admit this was a bit of disappointment to what was otherwise a good hotel/location. Would i visit again? Probably not. Read less