On our last visit to Florida, we stayed at the Nickelodeon Suites family hotel, a holiday resort in its own right, close to all of the major Florida theme parks.
The resort has a mammoth 777 rooms in buildings that are gathered around not one, but two swimming pool complexes.
And it’s not just rooms and pools. On site there is a large dining complex incorporating several restaurants and take-aways, a cinema and theater which run non-stop showings of Nick TV and animation shows, alongside live shows. And there are more shops than you can shake a stick at.
This is accommodation that’s firmly aimed at the younger members of your family. Everything in the hotel is bright, colourful and LOUD. There’s a lot of bright green and orange in the decor, and plenty of spots where bored toddlers and energetic kids can burn off some energy, without the risk of upsetting anyone or breaking anything.
My first impressions were that the complex is large, not especially well lit at night, and the signs are confusing. We got lost – a lot.
We had a few small issues in our accommodation – the deadlock didn’t work, a couple of wake-up calls never came, and the staff at guest services didn’t seem to handle any of the services I wanted – because the resort is so big, sometimes trying to find the RIGHT person to solve a specific problem involves a lot of standing in a lot of different lines.
More importantly the hotel failed the number 1 blogger test – Internet access. Looking at the hotel website before we travelled, I read that wireless Internet is available in bedrooms, but actually it’s only currently available in public areas. Having travelled with just a phone and iPad, this meant I had to get up early (ugh) to do a couple of hours work in the breakfast hall, since I couldn’t do work in my room in the evening, after Flea had gone to bed. But it worked fine, where it was available.
But, but, but… there’s no denying that Flea loved it here.
The staff in the dining room couldn’t have been friendlier and nothing was too much trouble. The entertainment is entirely geared towards children, and if some of the characters went a little over Flea’s head, the joy of dancing with Spongebob Squarepants at breakfast more than made up for it.
The breakfasts were hot and fresh, with a good choice of the usual cooked and buffet fare, including freshly made pancakes, waffles and omelettes. We ate dinner at the hotel twice and found the food was great – especially the a la carte menu and the desserts, which were incredible! As you’d expect, there are plenty of kid-friendly options from burgers and sandwiches to mac and cheese.
And then there was the pool. A giant, safe complex with slides and climbing nets and fountains and everything your average 7-year-old dreams off. But that’s not all. This pool also has slime. Oh yes.
Every day at around 4.30pm a huge crowd of people gather under the water playground, standing knee-deep in water, chanting, “We want slime”. After a few minutes build-up, a massive bucket on top of the playground tips over, depositing 400 gallons of slime over the hotel guests standing underneath. When you’re seven, life doesn’t get much more fun than THAT.
Nickelodeon Suites is great value – the 2 bedroom suites can sleep up to 6 people in one double room, one twin room, and a lounge with a pull-out double sofa bed. There are kitchens so you can make simple snacks and drinks in your room, and rates for premium rooms start at around $200 a night, although big discounts are available for advance bookings.
Sally Whittle blogs about family life and travel over at Who’s the Mummy.
