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[C.Ann]

Has anyone stayed there this past September or October? We were there in September and I absolutely FELL IN LOVE with the cottages!! Makes me cringe at the thought of staying in a hotel/motel room now.. Just wondering what others thought of it...

 

[bigsis1970]

do they have a website??? TIA

 

[Jane E.]

Yes, they have a website - www.tropicalpalms.com

We're leaving next week for our stay - I'll give you a progress report when we get back! Thanks for the positive report!

 

[MICOL]

We have a reservation for Arpil and would love any info you can share about the resort.

 

[C.Ann]

Gosh - I hardly know where to start!! First of all the cottages are set up in a circular pattern with a big palm tree in the center of the courtyard and a walkway leading up to each individual cottage.. The cottages themselves are pastel colors - pink, light blue, mint green, lilac, etc.. Each one has a large deck on the front with patio chairs and a picnic table.. Your main entrance to the cottage is through french doors that open out onto the deck..

The grounds are very well maintained.. There is a very nice little store right within the general office that carries a variety of grocery items, sounveniers, post cards, etc. You can also purchase the newspaper there every day and they have an overnight photo service that is extremely reasonable.. There are NO telephones in the cottages but there are numerous pay phones both in the office as well as outside of the office with chairs available for you to sit in while talking.. All of the cottages are non-smoking but of course you're more than welcome to smoke out on the decks..

There are two heated pools - one for adults and one for the kiddies.. The kiddie pool is in a lovely area a bit away from the adult pool.. There is this umbrella thing in the center that continually rains down water and the kids just love it.. There are patio chairs and tables with umbrellas where Mom & Dad can sit while watching their children.. The adult pool is open 24 hours a day although they DO enforce quiet hours - no yelling, rough-housing, etc. in the middle of the night.. There is a poolside cafe that serves both breakfast and lunch.. The prices are EXTREMELY cheap and the portions are very large.. There is also a very clean laudramat on site with this very unusual change machine that gives you $5.25 in quarters for your five dollar bill.. (I was tempted to take the grand I had on me - go to the bank and get all fives - and then stand there feeding them into this machine.. Darn thing was paying better than the stock market!! Ha!)

The cottages are located back off of I-92 and although that is one of the main drags you don't hear ANY noise at all.. There is also "Old Town" located within walking distance.. A really neat area of assorted shops and amusement park rides.. Again though, you do not hear ANY of this noise at the cottages.. Each day it took us no more than 5 to 10 minutes to drive to the parks.. If you go in the opposite direction there is a Super Walmart several miles down the road on the right..

The cottage that we stayed in was the 2-bedroom.. There was a bedroom on each end of the cottage - one with a queen bed and one with a double bed.. There was also a loft above the kitchen/living room area with a full size mattress on the carpeted floor for children to sleep on.. Sounds gross ("on the floor") but it really wasn't.. It's SUPER clean and fun for the kids.. Of course there was a bathroom with tub and shower, a fully equipped kitchen (even had a dishwasher and microwave in addition to a full size stove and fridge), a glass-topped table with 4 chairs, and a couch that opens into a full size bed.. Everything was IMMACULATE.. You could either request daily maid service every day or simply bring your towels and linens to the office each day and get fresh ones.. (Ditto for if you ran out of toilet paper, tissues, garbage bags, etc.) There was a Mister Coffee coffeemaker and some coffee to get you started - as well as detergent for the dishwasher.. Oh - of course there was a color t.v. with remote..

The staff was WONDERFUL - very friendly and extremely helpful.. The a/c in the cottages was awesome and NOT noisy like most hotel rooms.. It was central air and circulated very well..

It was SOOO nice to come home from a long day at the parks to a "home" setting.. We would sit out on the deck and watch the armadillos that came by each morning and each evening in search of bugs.. Also saw a raccoon, lots of salamanders, huge grasshoppers and what-have-you..

I LOVE IT and would go back in a heart beat!!! Any more questions, feel free to ask and PLEASE - after you go let me know what YOU thought - okay??

Have a great time!!!!!

 

[MrsMud]

Wow, C.Ann! What a great review. We are already booked for our trip in Dec. ( at HIFS), but I have read a few things about Tropical Palms and it sounds very intriguing. Maybe for our next WDW trip. I do have one question: How long is the drive to the parks and how is the traffic (sorry, that was 2 questions)

 

[C.Ann]

Probably 10 minutes tops.. Traffic was NO problem at all - no construction or anything of that nature.. It was really an awesome place to stay - much better than a hotel room in my estimation..