Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress

Writing this hotel review, I can only think of how great this place is and how glad i am to be alive after visiting. Clean spacious rooms, very friendly staff, overpriced beer at the bar and a fantastic breakfast buffet… -and a south american parrot living in the hotel lobby. It is close to just about everything Orlando has to offer, and with the bargain of only 20-30 dollars per day, you can even park your car here. Oh, and by the way. Beware that this hotel bar 779 rooms and only 5 elevators of which at least 1 is always not operating it seems. And forget taking the stairs. This Hotel is so american, that they have left out the possibility to override the sometimes long waits for an elevator by simply not making any staircase. There is one other thing though, that I would like to point out. The hotel features an enormous swimmingpool, with great landscape design and lush gardens around it. It is designed with wonderfully curved sides and sits around fake, but still beautiful, rock formations. It has everything that makes the average traveler-blogger go “waaaaaa” and take like a thousand pictures to post on the internet, just to point out how beautiful life is at this exact location. Waterfalls, caves, and even a suspension bridge, as well as a well equiped poolbar. There is just one thing. Being Scandinavian and having lived the best part of 45 years in the rough environment that I call home and outsiders call wtf, I can definitely claim that I am not unaccustomed to the cold. I have though, with my own eyes, seen Northern Sea seals escape water that was warmer than what Hyatt fills into this pool. It is absolutely freezing, and one could not be surprised to see ice cubes not melting when thrown into the water. In fact, it has a temperature, that will allow hypothermia within minutes of not frantically shaking arms and legs while being in the water. The cold, and seeing people in it, led me to examine other guests, and how they seem to survive, whilst being subjected to this torture. I came to realize that the average american guest carries a slightly higher percentage of body fat than the average non-american. I thereby concluded that there actually is a good reason for this. As the average european guests tend to move frantically about in the swimming pool, trying to escape muscular cramps, Americans with their natural layer of insulation, is not affected in the same way. I the came to realize that the word “swimmingpool” seems to be obsolete in the US. “Pool” will do, as people just tend to pool together, not doing anything other than just standing there, often with a Bud Light or some other freedom drink in hand, socializing and not focusing on how to avoid drowning. Perhaps for that reason, the pool isn’t very deep. 3-4 feet will do. Throughout my stay I tried hard to adapt to local customs, but little did it help and on day day four, and after for the 18th time that day, being pulled from the water by the friendly staff (beware: no lifeguard on duty) and escape certain death, hotel management convinced me that for the remainder of my stay, I should focus on just staying in my room, and not enter the pool area. I leave this hotel with a feeling of pure joy of being alive, but sadly also a severe cold. I can definitely recommend this resort to americans and as well as for europeans who can’t swim. Read less

Had an absolute blast. I have children ranging from ages 4-17 and they all equally enjoyed it. Road bikes through the trails, paddle boarded across the lake, swam through the caves and waterfalls in the pools, played tetherball on the beach, watched Disney fireworks from the lawn, roasted marshmallows at the fire pit, rock climbed and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. Definitely worth a visit! Read less