A Huge Pool, Large Rooms, Tropical Animals....It’s All At Silver Lake Resort!
Written: Feb 27 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: nice rooms, many activities, free refreshments
Cons: could use some nicer decor
The Bottom Line: A nice resort with big and clean rooms, many activities, and convenient to Disney World
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| jetbluefan1's Full Review: Silver lake resort |
As you may know, I am an RCI Timeshare Holder. This means that I pay a yearly balance to secure a week’s stay at an RCI Resort. I’ve chosen three different RCI Resorts in the Orlando area that I wanted to stay at and had an exceptional stay at each. One of the resorts that I chose was Silver Lake Resort. It is an RCI Gold Crown Resort, which means it’s one of the leading resorts in the RCI community.
Buying A Timeshare Week
We were staying at the Comfort Suites, Kissimmee. Our one-night stay there was free; of course, there just had to be a catch. We had to visit the Silver Lake Resort the next day to consider buying a timeshare week. Meanwhile, we already owned a timeshare week at another RCI Resort down in Ft. Lauderdale. We were prepared to say no right when the tour ended. So the next day we went to Silver Lake Resort and we were given a tour.
Our tour guide was French and very friendly. First, we came to the main hall which is right outside the lobby of the resort. There we sat and were offered donuts, danishes, cheese & crackers, bagels, toast, and drinks. We were also given a tour of the property. We were shown the rooms (1-3 bedrooms), pool, parking area, and main lobby which is where the main hall was. We were also offered a low price for the amount of points we needed to use this resort for a week. So, we bought the points which would last us a two-bedroom suite for a week and then some.
Two months later, we returned and stayed at the resort for a week. After our stay, we went to a different hotel (Ramada) and were given a tour of Celebration World Resort as a special promotion for all hotel guests. We found Celebration World Resort a much nicer resort with more to offer than Silver Lake, and told them that we would have to cancel our timeshare plan with them. They were disappointed and said that we are always welcome to come back, but we did enjoy a one week stay at the beautiful resort.
Property
The Silver Lake Property is nice but doesn’t compare to the property at Orange Lake Resort & Country Club. At Silver Lake, you have to enter after going through a large parking lot of a plaza (or at least that’s how we entered). Then, the guys look at your little “VIP ticket” that says you are a guest at the resort. After that, you will see a nice sign decorated with lights and a marble stone that says “Silver Lake.” Next, you enter the area where there are a few buildings. We stayed in the main building which has the check-in lobby and the hall. There are also two different wings in this building.
We parked our car at another Silver Lake building which was one of the few. From there, a Silver Lake cart took us to the entrance since we had so much luggage. This was a nice touch. Parking is free, yet there aren’t too many parking spots unless you want to park far out.
The property was decorated with flowers and palm trees. The buildings were white with a blend of pink, yet they weren’t ugly. The main building was five stories tall; the bottom level was for the arcade and game room. The smaller buildings were located on the other side of the property, but it was not a far distance from the main building at all.
Check-In & Lobby
At check-in, we were greeted by a very friendly personnel member. She checked us into out room in a jiffy. She told us about offers they had including cruise tickets we could buy, Disney tickets, Universal tickets, Seaworld tickets, and other tickets for places around Orlando and the area. Free shuttle service is available for Disney, Seaworld, and Wet ‘n Wild. Our room key was handed to us, then she told us to help ourselves to the refreshment table located around a big stump in the middle of the lobby. The refreshment table had many different type of cheeses, fruits, crackers, and drinks.
Leading from the lobby is the main hall where we bought the timeshare weeks. This hall had a coffee maker, drink machine, and ice cream machine for all guests to enjoy while at the resort. This room was also used for the luau and animal show that we enjoyed later on in our visit.
Heading Up To Our Room
Our room was located on the third level. We went outside and circled around to the other side of the pool to get to the entrance of the suite building. We went inside a corridor where elevators were located. The elevator took us to the third floor which was an outdoor hallway for the elevator area. If you wanted to get into the room hallway, you had to have your key with you to enter the corridor. We found our room, and opened the door...
Room
Geez a lou! Where to begin? The decor of the room is just a bit surprising at first, but then you get used to it. The carpets are all pink...whoa there! Yes, they’re pink, but not hot pink. They are actually more of a light purple but they won’t distract you or make you look at them in disgust. The walls had no color to them (white), but there were many pictures hanging on the wall.
Since we had the 2-bedroom suite (just so we could get the extra space, we only used the master), we were offered more space within the room. To the right left was a washer and drier, one on top of the other. It didn’t come with detergent, so we had to the local grocery store.
The kitchen was spacious and had a nice tile on it. There was a sink, microwave, oven, stove, cabinets, cups, plates, bowls, silverware, and a dishwasher. The refrigerator didn’t come with food - only with ice in the freezer. You are expected to buy food before coming to a resort, just so you know. Also, there was a lot of counter space.
Sometimes we dined on the glass table located in the main room. This glass table was round and had five chairs around it. In the middle was a bouquet of fake flowers. The table was large and had enough room to fit everything for a big feast!
The main room had a fold-out couch that seat four adults comfortably, and two adults for sleeping. You had to call downstairs to get extra blankets (for free). In front of the couch was a coffee table which has to be moved if you want to open up the couch. There was also a rocking chair with a large cushion on it. The tv was in a white armoire. The tv has all standard cable channels, a channel that played a continuous document on Disney World, and a Silver Lake channel. In the main room was also a heating/air-conditioning power-box where we would control the temperature of our room.
One bedroom had a full-sized bed. There was also a desk, chair, and tv in another white armoire. There was also a closet with hangars, and ironing board, and an iron. Next to the bedroom was a small bathroom with a bathtub that could act as a shower, sink, toilet (obviously) mirror, several drawers, and a neat ensemble of towels.
The master bedroom had a king-size bed, three pillows, desk, desk, big-screen tv, and had a sliding door that lead to the outside balcony. Also, the bathroom was located right next to the room with a jacuzzi, shower, large mirror going all around the bathroom, toilet, two sinks, and bubble-bath.
The balcony could be entered from the main room or the master bedroom. The balcony had two chairs and a table. It overlooked the pool.
What’s Close By?
- Car rental
- Beach (60M)
- Boating
- Shopping
- Hospital
- Golf
- Lake
- Restaurant community
- Supermarket
What We Did Around Silver Lake
Silver Lake Resort gave us a large selection of activities to do and participate in. Some are good for just kids, others for just adults, and others for the whole family. You must know that I did not get to go to the movie theater that was being built as it was not yet complete.
The pool was heated and was like five pool combined. There was volleyball net and several little islands in the middle with palm trees. One side of the pool was at a shallow level good enough for toddlers, and another side was deep enough for people who may want to jump of the diving-board. Tanning chairs and beds were located around the pool and were free to use for all guests.
There is a snack bar right next to the pool. This snack bar was a good place to get a snack or a refreshment. There were chips, cookies, burgers, hot dogs, and many different sodas. Prices were fair, and there was a spot around the snack bar that you could enjoy your snack on if you didn’t want to take it back to your tanning chair or bed.
There were activities in the pool. Once, there was a game where a worker would throw coins in the pool. The objective of the game was to get as many coins as possible and then return them to the worker. Whoever collected the most coins won a prize. Only kids were allowed to play this game.
It is now a law that if it starts raining, everyone has to get out of the pool. This happened once while we were there - it started pouring and all the lifeguards came running and made everyone leave the pool immediately.
One night we went to an animal show in the main hall. It was $5 to attend and it was very good for all ages. About 50 of us sat down in front of a few animal trainers. They showed us different types of birds including parrots and eagles. Also, there were SNAKES that were surprisingly thrown upon a young lady’s lap. At the end, we had the opportunity to buy a picture with a baby tiger.
Another night we went to a luau! Since we never went to Hawaii, this was a small treat for us. A Hawaiian dancer came and showed us different Hawaiian dancers. He also had my wife go up with him and put one of those leaf skirts on. A lot of people attended this fun activity for free.
There was also a game room near the pool. This game room had a Simpsons video game, a few sport video games, ping-pong, pool, chess, and checkers. The ping-pong, pool, chess and checkers were free, but the arcade games required about 25 cents per game. You could get the coins from the local change machine.
My Thoughts
I regret leaving Silver Lake Resort for Celebration World Resort a bit. It was definitely a very tough call and I can always go back to Silver Lake. Celebration World Resort offers nicer rooms but the property is still new and many activities have still not been available to guests since it is one of the newest resort properties in Florida.
So why did I enjoy Silver Lake Resort? I enjoyed Silver Lake for a huge amount of reasons. The rooms were spacious and clean, yet the decor was a bit out there..., there are many activities, I like the free refreshments in the lobby and main hall, yet the property could use some more flowers and trees. I also like the huge pool and the luau and animal show were cool!
So, if you are willing to spend the big bucks, go to Silver Lake and enjoy the fun and many activities. Make sure to take advantage of the pool, free snacks in the lobby, shows, and the arcade. Go ahead, and give Silver Lake a try!
A Huge Pool, Large Rooms, Tropical Animals....It’s All At Silver Lake Resort!
Related Reviews
Orange Lake Resort & Country Club -
http://www.epinions.com/content_90135105156
Celebration World Resort -
http://www.epinions.com/content_79242694276
I would like to thank http://www.epinions.com/user-SurgRN911 for adding Silver Lake Resort to the database for me - thanks!
Recommended:
Yes
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