HIFS or Caribe Royale

[GoofyDad1]

Family of 4 (kids 13 and 11) trying to choose between Holiday Inn Family Suites and Caribe Royale from 11/18 to 11/22. Price is close enough to not make a difference. I'd like peoples opinion on the following:

1. Location - does any have advantage on driving to/from WDW parks?
2. Quality of rooms, resort, pool
3. Size/comfort of rooms/beds
4. Noise level - this may be a contradiction but can it be family friendly AND quiet?
5. Quality of food.
6. Anything else

Thanks. I welcome all comments/suggestions, particularly those of you that have stayed at both these resorts.

 

[Shannon D]

Hi there

We've stayed many many times at HIFS----I haven't actually stayed at Caribe Royale, but I am somewhat familiar with the property.
HIFS is about as close to being on property as you can get (w/o actually being ON property!)
It will take you a few more minutes to drive to/from WDW property if you stay at Caribe.

If you stay at HIFS, you will have your own private kingbedroom! No sleeping right next to the kids...they have their own bedroom with their own bunkbeds...no kicking each other there.

The main pool at HIFS is really more geared toward young children, but there is a 'quiet' adult pool there as well. I believe Caribe has a lovely pool with a slide, so that might be more appealing.

The food at HIFS breakfast is really pretty good. Not fabulous, but hey, it is a great value!

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great vacation.
Enjoy

 

[Lewisc]

1) Location--Basically the same, HIFS is closer but only by one traffic light with nothing much in between.
2) Rooms--Caribe Royale has 2 rooms suites with a full door separating the rooms. Has a better pool (waterfall and slide).
3) I suspect both have standard motel type furniture (I am only familar with Caribe).
4) Caribe was sound proof enough, they have a fair amount of convention business I think HIFS is almost all families.
5) Both have OK free breakfast buffets. HIFS has food court type of food options Caribe has several restaurants.
Caribe is a more upscale. If you stay in Caribe 2 of the towers have refirgerator and microwave the third tower has mini-bars. For either property I'd make sure to have a rental car.

 

[BarbaraBligh]

Have stayed at both hotels, and will be returning to the Caribe next summer. Both hotels are very nice and have their own appeal depending I think on the ages of your children.
We first stayed at the Caribe. We had a two room suite with 2 queen beds and tv on one side, and a living area with a fridge, microwave, sink, and tv with a pull out couch on the other. Enough privacy so that many times my daughter and I napped on one side whole my son and DH watched tv on the other without being disturbed. My only complaint is that the living area is somewhat dark since the only window is on the bedroom side. The breakfast buffet is more than adequate considering it is free, and if you don't want to go to the main lobby area for full bkfst. (which can be busy at times), each tower has a decent continental bkfst. set up right outside the elevator. My kids (ages 10 & 12) LOVED this hotel, mainly because of the pool area with a great pool slide with waterfalls, and game room. Much more an upscale type property. Reasonably priced fast food is not an option here. They have a deli which is expensive. In house restaurant is expensive too. Ponderosa is across the street, and alot of other places are within a short drive. Did pizza hut delivery to hotel when we were too exhausted to go out. Very nice, upscale, clean place, and will be staying here again next summer.
HIFS: Stayed here after Caribe a few months later because I got a better rate and heard so many good things about it (all true). About 3 blocks closer to Disney (both are very convenient and shuttle service is comparable). Very clean, 2 pools (one for adults/older children, the other is a zero entry which attracted small kids - if my kids were younger they would have LIVED here), nice bkfst. buffet which could however be VERY crowded at times. Kids suite comprised of one king bed and tv in our room, one kids room with tv and bunk beds which proved to be much too small for my kids, and a living area with a tv, micro, fridge, and sink. Felt smaller than room at Caribe, but had a bigger bathroom, a KEYLESS safe (who wants to carry that around?) and had more natural light (windows in mstr. bdrm and livingroom). Lobby area is more informal geared around younger kids (train theme), very noisy, but we did enjoy pizza hut expresss on site and the nightly buffet which was decent and fairly priced (my kids loved the food here).
Both properties are great, however being my kids are older they chose to stay at the Caribe again. Sorry so long. Hope this helps.

 

[jdm]

I would go with the Caribe. With your children being the ages they are, it would be a tight squeeze in the bunk beds. The HIFS has other suite type rooms available but the hotel really is geared to younger kids. I've stayed there and felt it was very small. I wouldn't stay there again unless I was with preschoolers as the pool area and general feel of the hotel is very little kid friendly. We had considered the Caribe but it was very $$$$ over New Years which is when we were there. In hindsight, I wish we had spent the extra and gone with them. Whatever you decide... have a great trip.
Jenn

 

[hercamore]

Don't forget the Vistana, Embassy Suites, Vistana Villages, and the Marriott Residence Inn for spacious suites. These hotels are all in the same general area as HI, however, HI is the closest to Disney parks.

 

[GoofyDad1]

hercamore,
Thanks for the suggestions of other suites to consider. We are actually staying at the Sheraton Vistana Resort the following week.

You mentioned the Embassy Suites and Marriott Residence as other nice places. What advantages do these places have over Caribe Royale? And which specific Embassy Suite and Marriott Residence Inn are you referring to?

Thanks,

 

[mareed]

Looks like a couple of people have mentioned the small bunk beds at the HIFS. I was expecting standard twin sized bunk beds. Are they actually smaller? We're bringing my Mom (55 yrs old) along with us, and I thought the bottom bunk might be an option for her in case the sofa pull-out bed is too uncomfortable. Any comments on this? How are the sofa-beds for sleeping? Would an adult be OK on one?

 

[BarbaraBligh]

HIFS bunk beds seem smaller than a standard twin, which my kids sleep on at home. My daughter (12 yrs.) chose to sleep on the pull-out couch instead, which she said was "ok". HIFS now offers a different type of "kid's suite" which consists of mstr. bedroom with 1 queen (not king as in the other kid's suites) bed and tv, the kid's room has 2 twin beds on the floor(which might be regular size since they downsized the bed in the mstr. bedroom) with a tv. This might be more comfortable and less claustrophobic for your mom, and an option if the pull-out couch is not to her liking.

 

[GoofyDad1]

I'm interested in more comments (both good and bad) from those that have stayed at the HIFS or Caribe Royale........

 

[BarbaraBligh]

Others have mentioned Embassy Suites, (Older property 1 block from Caribe), and Residence Inn, Hawthorn Suites, Homewood suites which are all in LBV on Palm Pkwy, which TECHNICALLY are closer to Disney property (Downtown Disney hotels and Pleasure Island area). I have heard great things about them, however if you intend on using their park shuttles, all of their's stop at numerous other hotels. HIFS and Caribe (makes one stop at sister property across the driveway at Buena Vista Suites), are both direct which saves alot of time. Also both these properties are closer to the ENTRANCES to the Disney parks.
Got a great rate for Caribe for Aug. 2002 thru Hotelkingdom.com for 105.00 per night which for location, services, and amenities, you can't beat anywhere.

 

[jdm]

I just booked a 2 bedroom at the Residence Inn for $105 a night for our dates in Feb. Thanks to an earlier poster who mentioned this rate, I felt it was a steal. I am still planning to try to do a last minute exchange (low points) through RCI but will stick with the RI if it doesn't pan out. This is a brand new hotel and includes a full kitchen, livingroom, etc. Also, a full breakfast and light dinner and 2 cocktails each evening. To anyone researching suite accomodations it would be worth a look. Also, on Quikbook, there is no deposit.

To the above poster, the bunks at HIFS are definitely smaller than standard and I'm not sure an adult would fit without legs hanging over etc. It is really a very small room geared for young children.

Jenn

 

[tlg145]

My husband and I just returned from the Caribe. We do not have children but saw many families there. They have 3 seperate towers (buildings). We stayed in tower #3 and it appeared from talking with others staying at the resort, that families were staying in tower #2. We were very happy with our room. We had a view of the pool and it is really beautiful. The pool is huge with waterfalls and a neat slide. They also have 2 whirlpools and a small kiddie pool. I liked the bathroom, the tub and toliet were by themselves and you had your sink and vanity outside of the main bathroom. You have 2 TV's and a microwave. We had the one room suite that gave you a larger TV (with a Nintendo hookup-$6.95 per hour) and a sleeper sofa, coffee table, small table and 2 chairs.

The free breakfast was fine. You had your choice of cereal, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, rolls, a meat choice (bacon, sausage, ham) potato choice, coffee, orange juice, milk.

We booked our room through hoteldiscounts.com and our rate was $89.95 per night. Since we stayed 5 nights, we also got a $30 rebate and if we booked with a MasterCard we got an additional rebate of $25.00. So the room actually cost us $79.95 a night.

We would definately stay there again. Hope this helps.

Teresa

 

[GoofyDad1]

Thanks TLG145 for the update.

We are leaning towards Caribe Royale.

You got a terriffic rate. We currently have a rate of $99 for a Queen Suite (2 Q in bedroom, separate LR) booking it directly through Caribe. Sounds like this is different than the room type you stayed in.

In any case, I checked the hoteldiscounts website and caribe royale was not listed.

 

[tlg145]

Hoteldiscounts.com does have the Caribe listed. I just checked but their prices are a little higher now. Another great site is www.hotelkingdom.com. They have the Caribe listed at $99 a night also for the time you are going. They have some great prices for other hotels also.
But it sounds like the Caribe is giving you a great deal, dealing with them directly.

Another great thing about the Caribe is that it is so close to Disney. It took us about 5 minutes to get there. There was no traffic at all. We had the same suite that you are describing. Ask for a view of the pool. We rented a car but they do have shuttles that will take you to the parks.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Teresa

 

[thebauer4]

We just returned 3 weeks ago from the HIFS. I personally slept on the bottom bunk in the kids room there and had no problem at all. I am 37 and 5'6. Actually, it was very comfortable. My soon to be 13 year old son slept on the top bunk and never complained that his feet hung over the edge. And he is 5'7. My husband slept on the pullout couch along with our 3-year-old (hehehe). It's like all pullout couches. But he never complained the whole trip about his back bothering him. And we were there 7 nights. We did ask for extra pillows, though.

My children loved the pool area with the miniature golf, shuffleboard, ping pong tables and the little kids climbing area with the wading pool. They also like the rentable rafts.

We had 4 adults and 2 children in a 2 bedroom kidsuite and were not cramped. You just need to know how to arrange things.

Hope you have a terrific trip. I could go back right now!

 

[Belle5]

jdm,
I just wanted to thank you for mentioning the residence inn on Quikbook! I just booked it for the first week in March.