TownePlace Suites Orlando Flamingo Crossings

TownePlace Suites by Marriott opened on 12 February 2016, the same day as SpringHill Suites, with which it shares a site, a pool and a restaurant. The two were the first hotels at Flamingo Crossings Town Center in Winter Garden, less than two kilometres from the western entrance to Walt Disney World Resort. It holds 250 suites, every one with a full kitchen.

The suites and their kitchens

Three formats: studio, one-bedroom suite and two-bedroom suite. The one-bedroom suite runs about 40 m² and sleeps up to three. The two-bedroom suite runs about 58 m² and sleeps up to five. Every unit has a sofa bed.

The kitchen is complete in each suite, with stainless steel appliances and granite counters. Along with Residence Inn and Homewood Suites, this is one of the three Flamingo Crossings hotels where you can genuinely prepare a meal rather than reheat one. The two-bedroom suite is also the largest unit in the area.

Housekeeping runs every other day rather than daily. The neighbouring Residence Inn does it every day.

What you share with SpringHill Suites

The heated pool of about 435 m² and its outdoor hot tub. Flamingo's Bar and Grille, its American menu and its kitchen hours into the evening. Flamingo's Coffee Bar and its Starbucks drinks. The In a Pinch convenience store. The fitness room of roughly 158 m², open around the clock. And the batting cages with the sports practice field, inherited from the proximity of ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

A hot breakfast is included each morning, with eggs, waffles, sausage, cereal and yogurt. A coin-operated self-service laundry is on site, as is a barbecue pavilion.

The area's water slide, for its part, is at the pool shared by Home2 Suites and Homewood Suites, a few minutes further along.

What Gateway Hotel status gives you, and what it does not

The Walt Disney World Gateway Hotel designation allows the hotel to be booked directly through Disney in a package with park tickets, with a guest services desk on site.

It confers no park access benefit. TownePlace Suites appears neither on the official early theme park entry list nor on the extended evening hours list. Your dining reservations open at sixty days one day at a time rather than for the whole stay at once. Your Lightning Lane purchase window opens three days before arrival, against seven for a Disney Resort hotel guest, and the most wanted attractions often sell out first. Theme park parking is charged to you, and so is hotel parking.

Getting to the parks

The free shuttle exists, but it does not leave from here: TownePlace Suites guests board at the neighbouring SpringHill Suites. Sign-up is required from twenty-four hours before departure, seats are limited and first come first served, and the drop-off is at the Transportation and Ticket Center rather than the park gates. The last return generally leaves before the fireworks.

By car, allow about ten minutes to Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios, a little more to EPCOT, and around fifteen to Magic Kingdom Park, plus parking and the monorail or ferry crossing.

Who this hotel suits

It suits families of five who want two closed bedrooms and a real kitchen, long stays, and anyone coming for a sports tournament. The shared restaurant saves you going out every evening.

It suits you less if you want daily housekeeping, if you travel with more than one pet, or if you plan to rely on the shuttle alone. Your Voyages AquaTerra advisor can compare the real cost of a stay here, parking included, against a Disney Resort hotel, at 1-866-628-6241.