Affordable Orlando hotels for big families

It can be difficult and sometimes it seems impossible to find an affordable hotel room for the larger family. You check out a travel site and enter your dates and all of the hotels show up. If you are honest and put in 2 adults, 3 kids all of a sudden there are no hotels available. Apparently the travel sites think all families only have two children. Now we know this is not true because I hear from families with three or my kids all the time. I see families with three or more kids at restaurants, at the movie theater and at the mall so apparently we really do exist. So why are all the hotels based on a family of four? Thankfully they are not! We have found some wonderful hotels that are affordable and at least three stars. I am not as young as I used to be. When I was younger I would have stayed pretty much anywhere. Now my expectations are higher and I prefer a hotel with at least three stars. I have come to expect certain amenities and I don't want to settle for less. Of course I still expect to get a great deal. Over our many trips to the Orlando area, we have had the opportunity to check out many hotels and timeshare resorts. Here are a few of our favorites. Our last stay in the Orlando area was to the Hyatt Place hotel in Kissimmee across the street from Universal. I had never been to a Hyatt Place and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. For a larger family this layout is great for a short stay. I say short stay because we were a little cramped after a few days. With their current specials, you can book a double room for $75. On our trip there, we booked our room through Priceline.com and got an amazing rate. Problem with Priceline is that you are taking a chance on having the right space for your family. If things are tight though, and you need a great deal at the last minute, then priceline.com is definitely worth your consideration. It has helped me out more than a few times. If you reserve the double double room meaning two double beds, you also have a sofa sleeper as well as a 42" flat screen TV and a mini bar area with a fridge. In addition you get a nice desk and FREE high speed Internet. And to top it off you get a free continental breakfast. Nothing special but there is cereal, fruit, doughnuts, bagels and coffee, tea, juice and milk. The beds are very comfy and the staff is pleasant. Definitely a place we will stay at again. The only down side was that we were going to Disney and that was a 15 minute drive to the park. If we had been going to Universal or Sea World, the location would have been perfect. Click here for the hotel site.

If you want to be closer to Disney, there is a nice hotel in Downtown Disney area called the Regal Sun. The name has changed a few times and the price varies depending on the season, but they have rooms in the tower section that have two beds and a sleeper sofa as well as a fridge. Currntly they have specials starting at $89. There are also Florida and Georgia resident deals. Click this link to find the details.

Another option is timeshare resorts. No, you don't have to buy timeshare to get a great deal. In fact now is a perfect time to rent a week of timeshare. Check out ebay.com to get a great deal. Just do a search for orlando timeshare. You can pick a search for Orlando and the month you want to travel. Many times you can get a 5 star resort with all kinds of activities for the kids and huge pools, lots of restaurants and more for a great bargain. Sometimes you can get a week stay including tax for $500 for the entire week. Not bad for a 2 bedroom unit that has a full kitchen, a separate living area, dining area, bedrooms and either a lanai or a porch. We save quite a bit of money when we stay at resorts like this. We bring food with us and do one shopping trip when we first get there. You can really save big bucks this way. The larger the family, the more expensive eating out becomes. If you can cut down your visits to the restaurant, you can make a significant dent in the cost of your vacation.

Thank you Mindy for sharing a great idea on one of my last posts, she mentioned the deal at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. You purchase a one day ticket and can go the rest of the year for FREE! What a great deal. Thanks Mindy for the tip.