To the point
During a March break family vacation to Florida, we spent three nights at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club near SeaWorld. Here's my review of this high quality vacation club property.
Booking
The cost to stay at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club SeaWorld® Orlando was $255 USD /night + tax and $25 USD resort fee. That worked out to a total of $946 USD for our 3-night stay.
I didn’t consider using points since both my wife and I hold the Hilton Honors American Express® Aspire Card. This comes with an annual $250 Hilton resort credit. By using both cards to pay for the stay, we effectively received a $500 discount, bringing the total down to $446 USD for the 3 nights.
Location
The Hilton Grand Vacations Club SeaWorld® Orlando is well located near Interstate 4 and International Drive in southwest Orlando which is close to most of the family attractions. It’s right next to SeaWorld and a 15-minute drive to Walt Disney World. The airport is a 15-20 minute drive depending on traffic. There are other Hilton hotels across the street, along with both the Marriott’s Harbour Lake Vacation Club and Marriott Cypress Harbour Vacation Club next door.
The hotel is an official SeaWorld partner in Orlando so offers free shuttle service there. You can also get dining and merchandise discounts, a complimentary rescue tour, and priority entry.
Arrival & Check-In
The entrance and grounds of the hotel are modern and well-manicured, in the usual style of the majority of Vacation Clubs in the Orlando area.
The reception area is bright and includes a nice sitting area with plenty of couches, a fireplace, and computer terminals which guests can use. Our check-in was quick and we were given the keys to our suite in a nearby building. As a Hilton Diamond member I was given some bonus points for our stay, but other than that there aren’t many perks at Vacation Clubs for Elite members.
One Bedroom King Suite with Queen Sofa Bed
Our room was very nice. To be honest it’s hard to go wrong with Hilton and Marriott Vacation Clubs in Orlando. We’ve stayed at multiple resorts and they’re all typically very well appointed. The style is a small apartment really which is great for when you are travelling with kids as we were.
Our room had a full kitchen, dining area, living area with a queen sofa bed, a big screen TV, and a balcony with a table and chairs where we could eat outside. I did find that the amount of plates/utensils/glasses etc was less here than at the Marriott properties we’ve stayed at. This just meant more frequent dishwashing was required.
The bedroom had a very comfortable king-size bed, a sliding door leading out to the balcony, and plenty of storage space with another large TV.
The entrance area featured additional closet space and a washer and dryer.
There was one bathroom with a shower, two sinks, and an enormous jacuzzi tub which straddled the bathroom and bedroom.
Pools
True to Vacation Club-style, the pools here were huge and lots of fun for everyone. There was a rock waterfall over one of them and multiple jacuzzis available too. I’ve noticed that jacuzzis are getting harder to find at hotels, even quite upscale ones. Thankfully, that was not the case here! There were also some kids water games, a small shallow pool for young children, and lots of chairs, towels, and umbrellas available.
Dining
Like most Vacation Clubs, the Hilton had simple dining options as most people cook in their own rooms with their full kitchens. The bar & grill here was called the Coral Reef and offered a full menu and an extensive list of cocktails and other drinks. We had lunch there once and the food was excellent. There was also an on-site market to pick up some supplies and there was a good selection of baked goods for breakfast and deserts.
Facilities & Service
The hotel had lots of activities for kids. Along with large rooms with full kitchens, this is the other aspect of Vacation Clubs which make it popular with families. Having so much at the hotel to do means long tiring days at the big parks are required less often. You can stagger days – one long day out at a park, with a day off before and/or after at the hotel which still has options to keep the kids engaged. And hopefully some relaxation time for the parents, too! This property had a large and shaded play area (our kids would alternate back and forth between it and the pool), a kids club with activities available at any time for a modest fee, a gym, poolside entertainment, sports, and games, and BBQ areas for outside cooking.
Service at the hotel was good. You don’t often need much since you effectively have a self-service apartment. But everyone there was nice and helpful, housekeeping brought anything we needed to the room, the poolside entertainment was great for the kids (and there was aquatic zumba too which my wife enjoyed), and everyone seemed quite ready to help out with anything guests would require.
Being a Vacation Club, they may offer incentives for you to attend a vacation ownership meeting. This is a 90-minute sales pitch where they try to entice you to buy a timeshare and/or points valid for future stays. In our case the offer was for a free supper out at a local steakhouse. We weren’t really interested at the time, but that is an option that likely will be presented to you while you’re there.
Hotel Fact Sheet
| Parking | Free | Breakfast included with room | No |
| Pool | Yes (exterior) | Rooms with balconies | Yes |
| Spa | No | Rooms with kitchenette | Yes |
| Gym | Yes | USB plugs in room | Yes |
| Restaurant | Yes | Smart TV | Yes |
| Accepts animals | Service animals only | Shower/Bath | Both |
| Executive lounge | No |
Conclusion
When travelling to Orlando, this is a good choice of family vacation accommodations. The rooms are high quality and have lots of room for the whole family and a great kitchen for meal preparation. The pools and jacuzzis are terrific, and there are lots of activities for the whole family.
However, I do find the cost to stay here higher than the Marriott properties we have previously visited. Our cost this time with a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom room was actually higher than getting a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom unit at the Marriott properties. And while nice, it didn’t really offer much beyond what the others do. We elected to stay here anyway because we wanted to use our $500 in annual resort credit from our Hilton Aspire credit cards, and give a Hilton Vacation Club a try in order to compare it with the Marriot properties.
So overall this Hilton property is a good choice that you can’t go wrong with. But before booking, check the price point for what you’re getting with other options in the area to make sure you’re getting a good deal.
To read my reviews on other vacation clubs in Orlando:
Keep reading with our experience with Sonder rental in New Orleans:
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