Royale Parc Hotel

Although the Comfort Inn Orlando - Lake Buena Vista is a budget hotel through and through, lots of efforts have been made to keep it feeling fresh and pleasant. It's housed in a seven-story rectangular building with lovely landscaped grassy areas, complete with a smattering of palm trees. A large pond sits at one end of the property that attracts the occasional visiting heron. Inside, the lobby is a bright open space, with off-white tile floors and recessed lighting plus a lime-green trim and potted plants. The breakfast area has a similar motif, but with wooden floors and the addition of blue trim and can get pretty crowded in the morning. While the hotel gets some business travelers, the bulk of people who stay here are tourists wanting an affordable base from which to visit the nearby Disney parks.

This Comfort Inn is located in Lake Buena Vista, around a five-minute drive from Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets. It's situated at the end of a strip mall with a video game arcade and a smattering of restaurants (Denny's, Pizza Hut, IHOP) -- in fact the whole area is basically block upon block of strip malls, with a solid mix of gift shops, restaurants, and beauty parlors. This hotel is particularly convenient to Disney attractions. Disney Springs is a 10-minute drive from the hotel, as is Epcot. Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom takes closer to 15 minutes to reach by car. Nearby golf courses include Falcon's Fire, a 10-minute drive from the hotel, and the Waldorf Astoria course, about 15 minutes away by car. Further afield, it's a 10-minute drive to SeaWorld, around 10 minutes to Universal's theme parks, and 20 minutes to downtown Orlando and to the Orlando International Airport. It takes just over an hour to get to Cape Canaveral or the Kennedy Space Center by car.

Rooms at this hotel are a bit run down and dated, but clean. They're decorated with cream-colored walls, striped carpeting on the floor, and solid or print blackout drapes that do their job. Features include dark-wood laminate desks, dressers, and end tables plus ironing facilities, microwaves, mini-fridges, and small coffeemakers. Note that rooms lack safes, but there is a safe-deposit box at the front desk. Wi-Fi is free in rooms and throughout the hotel. Bathrooms are standard. They come with basic toiletries, hairdryers, granite countertops, and shower/tub combos (except in ADA rooms, which have roll-in showers with handlebars). All but 10 of the rooms have balconies, and the hotel usually puts business travelers in the balcony-free rooms, so specify when booking if having one is important to you. 

The amenities at this Comfort Inn outshine the rooms and include a lovely unheated outdoor lagoon pool with a fountain feature and a waterslide plus a ton of poolside seating in the form of loungers, tables, and chairs. There's also a fitness center that opens early and stays open late with a few pieces of weight-training and mismatched cardio equipment. Breakfast is included in room rates and gets great reviews, particularly because it offers popular waffles shaped like the cartoon character and made with a special waffle maker distributed by Disney. There's no restaurant for other meals, though guests can pick up a few snacks from the lobby gift shop. There's also free hot tea and coffee in the lobby throughout the day. Other features include free parking, free Wi-Fi, free Disney park shuttles, a business corner with free printing, and coin-operated laundry facilities.