Silver Lake Resort review

[Iforgetmypassword]

Just got back today from a week-long stay at Silver Lake Resort. It was okay, I guess. Big and spacious, but let's put it like this: I won't stay there again.

We were a party of 9: me, my husband, and our 17-year old. Our oldest child and her partner. Our middle child, her husband, and their 2 children-one age 2-1/2, and the other is 8 months. We booked a 3-bedroom condo, that sleeps 10, with privacy for 10, using RCI trading power units.

First, we were told that those units, described on RCI's site as "10/10", means that it sleeps 10, and has privacy for 10. I called Silver Lake and was told that those would have 3 king-size beds. Perfect! Each adult couple would have a king bed, and the babies in portable cribs, and the teen on a couch.

We instead got a room with 2 doubles instead of a king. This actually turned out to be a good thing, later, but at first I was quite disappointed. I wanted a king bed!

After the second day, we noticed water stains on the ceiling in many spots. Water was dripping onto a side table. The carpet was wet in one doorway, between the living room and the bedroom with the doubles. A toilet would not flush. We called, and a few guys came, one with a plunger. He plunged the toilet, and then walked out, holding a dripping plunger, with water dripping all over my grandchild's toys! We couldn't believe it. They told us why the ceiling was wet-there was a problem on the third floor, but really, we didn't care why! They placed a towel over the wet table. We kept wiping up water in the living room-the floor was tiled-and found shards of broken glass.

Finally, I went in to go to bed, in one of the doubles. Final straw: plaster from the ceiling was crumbling, some had fallen onto the bed, right on my pillow, and huge sheets, as big as my hand, were dangling still, about to fall! The mattress was wet beside the pillow from dripping water. Even though it was after 10 pm, maintenance and housekeeping showed up. I ended up sleeping with my teen daughter in the other double, and my husband on the couch, so we wouldn't have to worry about plaster falling on us during the night-we were so tired, it was at least 11 pm by then, and we didn't want to pack up and move.

Silver Lake offered to move us the next morning, but they didn't have another 3-bedroom unit. Our families come from 3 states, and the time spent together in the morning and evening was very important to us. We could have been moved to a 2-bedroom unit, for some of us, and the rest in a 1-bedroom unit, in a different building. Or, we could stay in a unit with crumbling plaster and broken glass.

We chose to stay. Yes, we could have moved. We would not have been able to have our grandchild running over to our bedroom to see us every morning, if we'd moved. Maintenance re-plastered the corner of the ceiling the next morning, and thoroughly vacuumed to get all the broken glass.

We checked out this morning. Our older kids live in New England, and both had their flights cancelled due to the snowstorm, so they were still there when we left around 8 am. One daughter has in-laws that she is staying with for a few days in West Palm Beach, and the other booked the 1-bedroom portion for tonight, for $75. Frankly, I thought that after giving us a unit with ceilings falling down, broken glass where the babies crawl, they should have just given it to her. But, that was between her and the resort, they offered her the unit for $75 tonight, and she took it. Myself, I wouldn't give them anything else.

Positives: The pools are nice. We especially liked the zero-entry one, for our 8-month old grandchild, who loved just sitting there and splashing. The location is wonderful, so close to the Animal Kingdom, and easy access to the other parks.

[SMWfamily]

Thanks for the review. We are staying there in July for a week. Im at the mercy of relatives who are booking through their RCI and inviting us along. I am glad it's near AK, but seeing it is going to be over 100 degree heat index most days, I doubt we will be there other than early mornings.

My only question, if anyone happens to run by this post, is are the pools COLD in the extreme heat of the summer? I have been to a resort where the pools were ICY COLD mid summer and it was great when the scorching temps hit. But a little "bracing" for the kids later in the day. Were the pools like bath water, ( yuck!) or nice and refreshing?

It sounds like the units are a bit unkempt. I am hoping we get into a refurbished model. If I mention this to my Inlaws, they will probably get mad at me for imposing, so I will just hope for the best.....

[Iforgetmypassword]

I wish I could answer the question about water temps in summer, obviously, I can't!! Sorry.

I hope that you get a well-maintained unit. I read lots of reviews and most were overwhelmingly positive. I think we were unlucky, and just got a bum unit.

[The Lorax]

We stayed here for a week (RCI) mid-May 2012, while the summer heat was still far off we found that each pool varied in temperature quite a bit. We found the coolest pool was the one off by itself, between building 900 & 1000. This is also a zero entry pool which is good for little ones.

We were in a 2 bedroom in building 700, 2nd floor. It was renovated and absolutely great. The master with the king and the other bedroom with two doubles. Being a family of five (DW, 3 DD's and myself) there was plenty of room and privacy. The resort was not too small, but not too big.

[siobhan1997]

What building were you in?

[Iforgetmypassword]

Originally Posted by siobhan1997

What building were you in?

Not sure who you're addressing, but I was in the 400 building. I forget the number. Ground floor, far left, as you face the building.