Avanti - anyone stayed here?

[Cazzius]

Hello,

I have been looking at deals for later this year at the Avanti is coming in at a great price on a number of websites.
The rooms look ok, and we won't be spending much time in them when there is so much else to do.

I was just wondering if any Dibbers had stayed there and could give me a bit more first hand information?

Does it have outside corridors? Is parking ok (an extra charge?)? How far from Disney and Universal, what's the area like? Was it a nice,clean hotel? Would you stay again etc?

[davdawnbro]

We stayed there for 2 weeks last October. It was perfect for us, we had a room overlooking the pool, at it was noisy at night but we were so knackered it never stopped me or my two boys sleeping. But if you have bother sleeping I would request a quiet room. As yes they do have outdoor corridors but this was never an issue for us, we always felt safe.

The room itself had everything we needed as we were just using it as a base.

The best selling points of the hotel are the shuttled to all parks which are reliable and at good times, and the location.

It is within walking distance of a huge variety of eateries what ever your price point.

We didn't have a car so am not sure about parking but I think it may be in with the resort fee (which was included in our TUI package)

For the price it was great. Definitely reccomend

[PidgeonBrain]

We've stayed there twice now and would be this year too if we weren't exclusively at Disney...
Great hotel, very clean and all staff friendly and efficient.

We loved the cafe in the lobby which serves Starbucks...also the lobby smells amazing, no idea what it is but I smile just thinking about it and all the holiday memories !

I will warn you though there is a resort fee you have to pay on arrival, I think it was $18 dollars per room per night ?
Think that is you basically paying for the shuttle which I know some hotels charge for transport to the parks.

The pool was massive too with a bar serving delicious cocktails if that's your thing!

Overall I would 100% recommended this hotel to everyone, I know we will definitely be back

[zece87]

We stopped there 3 years ago and it's in such a great location. Restaurants next door and over the road, 2 minutes from the Orlando eye and there's an Itrolley stop just outside the hotel.

The Pool was great and the bar and no complaints with the room.

The Park buses were great. They picked up from a couple more hotels but were at Disney TTC within 40 minutes.

We're on site this year but would recommend Avanti.

[Mazascouser]

Lovely hotel but beware of the resort fee. $18 a night. Hate these underhanded charges why not just build to into the total bill. It’s about 10 minutes by taxi to Universal ($15). 15 minutes to Disney $20 by Uber. These times and prices depend on the time of day you go. I would stay again but I would price up the other hotels on International Drive for value for money.

[feelingnuts]

We’ve stayed twice and staying for a third time this year. It’s the pool area that wins it for us it’s a lovely place to chill we found it much nicer than the pool at the Rosen. We always request a car park facing room so it’s quieter. Parking charges are covered with the resort fee.

Location is brilliant we love to park our car up of an evening and be able to walk for a meal and a few drinks and there are so many choices around the avanti. Bahama Breeze is opposite and is fab and millers is a short walk away for a cheap meal and drinks.

[Ryles]

Stayed twice now. It’s definitely the pool area that makes us want to return. We always get a pool side room. Great atmosphere with good 80’s music playing all day. We are thinking of booking again for August but there’s one thing that puts me off. The rooms always feel damp. Even our clothes. It’s something to do with the air con but it’s so loud that we can’t keep it on all of the time. The location is also brilliant!

[danielle0216uk]

All booked up for the Avanti October 2019, looks great and reviews are mostly all decent, sister in law stayed here few years back and recommended it 😃

[Cazzius]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies.
I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences

Avanti has been added to my possibles list. I saw a brilliant deal and I thought there must be something wrong, but I guess it really is just a good deal

Thanks again Dibbers!

[nathanpayne]

My wife and I are just back from a 2 week trip to Orlando. We were booked for 14 nights at Avanti Resort but only stayed 3 nights. We checked out early and moved hotel. We have stayed at iDrive hotels and motels many times before but this took us by surprise after reading lots of reviews...

In short, the worst place we have stayed in Orlando. The room we were given was so incredibly dirty with small brown marks on the walls and around the bed frame, dirt stains and small red marks on the bed sheets, headboard had lots of deep scratches and even VERY old chewing gum on the headboards (both beds). Not to mention the nail clippings, clumps of hair and even flakey skin on the floor! Our room on arrival had loads, and I mean loads, of lovebugs flying around which was far from ideal. My wife also had a handful of bed bug bites on her legs too, so something to be aware of.

The room itself had a very musty and damp smell which can be overpowering if you are out all day at parks. Our clothes smelled terrible because of the room even with staying for only a few nights. Anything that was metal in the room was rusty too, likely because of the damp.

The TV in our room also had black stains on the inside of the TV screen (not outside). It honestly looked like smoke damage (maybe a TV moved from the building that was on fire a few years ago?). Stains were so bad they covered large portions of the screen and made the screen very dark, it was impossible to watch anything that didn't have bright colours.

The front door to our room was very shakey and didn't look or feel secure. The door would shake through the night as people walked past our room. Honesty felt like anyone would be able to put a shoulder to it and get in the room. Usually, these motel style places have sturdy doors but this one certainly wasn't sturdy.

The rooms are very noisy. We were in the building towards the front, building 1. So very little traffic noise but we could hear the families to the left and right chatting through the night. There was also a water pipe either in the ceiling or the top of the wall above the bed that rattled constantly in the morning and at night. Being on idrive you expect there to be rowdy parties but at Avanti, we basically felt like we were at the parties over at Bahama Breeze it was so damn loud.

We also had problems with broken beer bottles, cardboard boxes and general rubbish being left around the stairs area which wasn't cleared by the time we left.

We only stayed the 3 nights but that was only because we couldn't get another hotel straight away.

I personally wouldn't stay at Avanti Resort ever again. I have stayed at the Orlando Continental Plaza Hotel many years ago for a cheap holiday and Avanti was honestly a worse experience. I personally think the reception area and pool are what give Avanti the high reviews as they are both very nice.