Orlando Accommodation
Choosing a Hotel
Accommodation in Orlando ranges from luxury resorts that cater to your every whim to modest motels, cosy, antique-filled bed & breakfasts, youth hostels, and campgrounds. Although standards for service and facilities are generally quite high, there is the occasional bad apple. Indeed, some of the cheapest accommodations offered by tour operators are positively miserable, so be sure you know what you're getting into before signing on the dotted line.
Reservations and Prices
You generally need to make reservations, and if you are travelling during the high season you should book several months ahead if you have your heart set on a particular hotel or if you want to stay inside Walt Disney World.
Room rates vary enormously between the high season and the off season. Peak periods in Orlando are: mid-December to early January; February-April (including Easter); and early June-late August. At other times, prices are slightly lower at some Disney accommodations and may be much lower at non-Disney properties.
The cost can rise by 30 percent or more during the peak tourist months. There is plenty of scope to ask for a discount if you are staying for a week or more, or if you are visiting during the off-season, which for many hotels is a lean time. Florida also imposes a resort tax, in addition to the usual sales tax, which is added to the price of all hotel rooms. It varies from county to county and ranges from between 2 and 5 percent.
Chain Hotels and Motels
These are both common and popular. Some people dislike chains because they offer no variety and lack a personal touch; the plus point is that once you have been to a hotel run by a particular chain, you can predict what kind of service and facilities to expect wherever else you are in the state.
Bed & Breakfasts
Price and quality vary greatly at B & Bs, but the thing they have in common is that they are almost always in a private and/or historic home. Few have restaurants and the facilities will not be as good as in a regular hotel, but some guests prefer the more personal ambience (and the often wonderful home-cooked breakfasts).
The Florida edition of the Charming Small Hotel Guides series published by Duncan Petersen is a good source of information. The Southeast edition of the Bed and Breakfast USA guide also lists B&Bs. Agencies specializing in finding B&B-style accommodations include: Bed & Breakfast Co. - Tropical Florida, tel: 305-661 3270, which covers the whole state.
Camping
Fort Wilderness Resort within Walt Disney World has more than 800 campsite pitches for tents and RVs. Another option is to rent a trailer (decked out like a log cabin) that sleeps up to six people and has air-conditioning, TV, radio, cookware, and linen. The resort is located amid 650 acres (263 hectares) of woods and streams on Bay Lake, east of the Magic Kingdom.
For information and reservations, write to Walt Disney World Central Reservations, PO Box 10,000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830, or call 407-824 2900.