Affordable Great Unit, Mediocre Location, Loud Road
Submitted: April 10, 2011
Stayed: April 2011
The unit itself is very quiet, clean, and worked out well for us(2 adults and 2 small kids). The unit was well equipped with linens and pillows, magazines, a cooler, pool floaties and GREAT beach chairs! 108 has great windows that overlook the playground, which was a lot of fun. The neighborhood is also great for walking, we scored a bike on craigslist for our 5 y/o and will leave it here for others to use, hopefully it will stick around! Very safe, flat and easy to navigate. It was however, a little under stocked for our liking. We needed a steamer basket, a metal spatula and tongs for the grill, we ran out of TP after a few days, and a few more towels would have been handy. We also needed to buy beach toys. The sink is a bar sink, and terrible for doing dishes after a meal.
The complex itself was renovated in 2007, and still looks nice. The pool is great, on busy days it could be a bit bigger. There is no hottub and that would be nice at night! As far as being kid friendly, that is marginal. We are traveling with our very curious 2 and 5 yr old boys. We found out very quickly, that although from the ground level the property seems secure, the kids got to the road by going down the stairs from the upper level. There is also no gate around the pool, which makes me really nervous. The courtyard is big, nice and clean, although the machine behind the pool (we are not sure what it does), is very loud. You can also smoke in the courtyard, and that was a major bummer for us being non-smokers. There is only ONE gas grill, that seems to only work best on the left side. There are two nice patio tables with umbrellas that we tried to eat at every night! The biggest disappointment to us, was the road noise and the beach. We were excited to be five minutes and 400 steps to the sand, but found out that the beach itself leaves a lot to be desired. The sand is very hard, good for walking, running, bike riding and shelling. We saw dolphins on our morning walk! Even though Redington Beach is not a hang out/kid play type of beach, many great beaches are within a ten-twenty minute drive. Our favorites were Treasure Island and Clearwater.
The people staying here at The Royal Orleans were VERY friendly and down to earth. A lot of grandparents, so many watchful and friendly eyes! If the price was right, we may stay here again, but will likely try to find somewhere on the other side of the road, possibly closer to shops and the action.
Recommended for:
Age 55+,
Pet-friendly,
Romantic Getaway
Helpful votes: 3/4
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