Wyndam's Orlando International Resort Club

Years ago my mother was offered a free stay in Orlando if she would also come and listen to a timeshare spiel.  She took the girls and me along, and despite my thinking I had written all of this down in my blog many years ago, I can not find it.  To cut through the very long and winded story we spent hours and hours in Orlando that day ending with my mother purchasing some points in what was then Fairfield Resorts.  She used these points at various resorts around the United States as she and her golf ladies made trips to different golf courses.  Along the travels she usually got talked into more points.  Eventually the property was purchased by Wyndham and Connie owned enough points to become a Presidential Reserve Member, adding my brother and I on the deed.

I have written about our stays at various resorts here, here, and here.  I'm wondering if perhaps I should start a site writing about the various Wyndham resorts of which I am a Presidential Reserve member so that other owners could check in and see information about the resort they are planning to travel to.  (Hmmm....note to self:  discuss that with entrepreneur cousin Jay).  This could be a future summer job for all of us.

Orlando is a big hub for timeshare companies.  Fairfield in the beginning had three resorts.  The first resort, Star Island, was old, run down and nasty.  I've been told that it has since been renovated, but I have not signed up to check on that.  The second resort, Cypress Palms, is more resort friendly.  I find the units spacious and enjoy the different pools on the property.  The third resort is actually on Disney property.  It was being built when Connie was staying at Cypress Palms with Rusty and his family and the two of them got to visit the property.  It is now finished, although buildings are still being built, and is one of the resorts that offers a separate building with Presidential Reserve suites.  It is called Bonnet Creek.  While the two bedroom units are newer I find them cramped compared to Cypress Palms, but the Presidential Reserve units are simply extraordinary.  Nothing compares to those units.  In the past months Wyndham has added two other resorts and it was one of these that I chose to check into.

This resort, Orlando International Resort Club, was the closest one to Universal just off International Drive.  In the pictures it looked like a motel, but since we really only needed a place to lay our head I signed us up.  Check in was at 4:00 pm, but my experience has been that if you arrive earlier check to see if your unit is available and so when we pulled into the parking lot it was only 2:00 pm.

The office was just an inconspicuous door that led into a small room with a desk to the left and a sitting area to the right.  On a table in the sitting area was a pretty tea service set and a dish of cookies.  Sitting behind the desk was a beautiful woman who checked me into the resort no problem.  She was very kind and helpful letting me know to pick up information on the resort and directions to the nearest grocery stores on my way back outside.  She did not direct me to another area to pick up my parking pass which is always the area where you are held hostage until you sign up to attend a "breakfast" and listen to a spiel to try and sell more points.   Instead she just handed me my keys and my pass and directed me to our unit.  (It was the door to the left of the upstairs door, behind the light pole)

Other than a resort in the North Carolina mountains our units have always been one level so my daughters were beyond excited to discover stairs upon entry.

The stairs led to the two bedrooms and two full baths.  At the bottom of the stairs was a third full bath that we discovered much later.  The kitchen was to the right of the entrance and the nice sized living area was directly in front as you entered.  The unit was painted in that 70's gold with the same color carpeting.  Had it been painted something more inviting I would have rated this unit a 10.  The drapes and the furniture all matched and had interesting greens and blues along with the gold that would have made the place look more homey had the decorator chosen to go with one of the blues or greens on the walls.  Tom said it reminded him of his grandparents' house.

Upstairs the walls were painted a different color.  That bed was the most comfortable thing I have slept on in a long time and I wish now I had investigated the manufacturer.  It seemed much larger than our king bed at home and the duvet and sheets were wonderful.  The bathroom was to the right and was just the right size for me, although Tom thought the separate toilet and shower area was very cramped, but he closes doors and I don't.

The girls' room was small, but the bathroom was attached to the room where most Wyndham's have it on the outside.  They liked their little room just fine because it had its own television, something they don't have in their rooms at home.  Also on the upper floor was a washer and dryer unit.  All of the bathrooms were stocked with plenty of towels, something not typical at these resorts.  We didn't even use all of them in our four days.

We did not use any of the amenities or attend any of the events on property as we were there to visit Universal twenty four / seven.  There was a poolside cookout on Friday night and a complimentary breakfast Sunday morning.  There was only one pool which I took a photo of the day we left.  It is small compared to other resorts, but would have suited us just fine had we needed to take a dip.

One of the most interesting things we found was the chess set that resided out our back balcony on the tennis / basketball court.  If we had known the rules of chess we would have definitely utilized this set at some point in our stay, but alas, we don't play chess. 

The employees at the resort that we encountered were some of the nicest I have been around.  Everyone we dealt with or passed by always asked us if we needed anything, if everything was satisfactory, and if there was anyway he could make our stay more enjoyable.  Everyone greeted us with smiles and good mornings and made us feel like they really gave a damn. 

I would highly recommend this resort to anyone visiting the Orlando area that needs a place to bunk while visiting theme parks.  I'm not sure it would fit the bill for families that want to hang at the resort all day, but it would fit for families with older kids such as mine.  I gave the resort a 9 when I filled out the survey, and I only gave them that because I didn't participate in the amenities.  I will be back.