We had originally booked a room at the Fairfield Inn as part of a flight+hotel package booked at a superb price via a UK Travel Agent however when checking-in I enquired as to the cost of a possible upgrade to the Courtyard and they told I could stay there at no extra charge. On checking-in across the "street" we were delighted to find that our room was a King Size Suite with in-room jacuzzi. Double upgrade !
You have to bear in mind the above fact when considering my review as it goes without saying that a large factor when choosing a hotel is value-for-money.
The Courtyard (Marriott Village, LBV) is one of three Marriott properties adjacent to each other located within pleasant grounds including a Manned Security Gate at the Entrance & a large fountain at the centre of the resort. Located between the Courtyard & Fairfield is a row of food outlets featuring Pizza Hut, Starbucks & several other types of food which service the 3 Marriott hotels. I've read in other reviews that parking was awful yet we experienced nothing of the sort & whilst the hotels weren't full during our stay there were ample parking facilities adjacent to all 3 hotels even late at night.
Our room was perfectly equipped & tastefully decorated. There wasn't a great deal of natural light due it's position on the Ground Floor tucked away in one corner of the property but we had a very pleasant terrace area & as the room was so comfortable we didn't bother to move to an alternative floor. Nice large screen flat panel tv, comfortable beds & linen & large shower area. Towels were on the small side but always fresh & plenty of them.
As a bit of a veteran in visiting Orlando a large number of times, the main benefit of staying at this property was it's superb location to Walt Disney World & the rest of the attractions, shops, etc within the area. In terms of Disney there can be fewer better places to base yourself other than within Disney's boundaries. On leaving the parking lot at the Marriott you are approx one mile from the Main Entrance to Disney & within another mile you're at Downtown Disney. Despite many of the hotels and villa's around International Drive & Kissimee being within the Disney area, it can still take you anywhere between 20 & 45 minutes to get to the parks. The furthest park from the Mariott is the Animal Kingdom yet it still only took 10 minutes to get from the Parking Lot to the Marriott which means it's little hassle to nip back to the hotel to freshen up before heading to a restaurant or elsewhere in the evening. Additional to Disney there is an Interstate Junction adjacent to the Marriott Village so within 5 minutes you can be within the International Drive Area.
To summarise we enjoyed a fantastic 14 days basing ourselves at the Courtyard Marriott Village. Yes, we were lucky enough to get a "double" upgrade but a combination of pleasant hotel, lovely room & superb location left me thinking that the hotel was the best of it's type that I've stayed in when visiting Orlando's atttractions. Superb.
