Just got home from Silver Lake Resort in Kissimmee, FL on 2/15/08. We
stayed in the 800 building, unit 8205A in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit on the
2nd floor.
I don't know about the other units, but the 800 buildling & up have
elevators instead of stairs which I really wanted. Its not as close as the
1700 and 1800 buildings but none of the buildings are too far and there was
a tiny pool at our building if you wanted to use it.
One of the things that I liked the most about Silver Lake Resort was that it
had the best security of any we have stayed in so far in the Orlando area.
There was always someone at the gates. This meant a lot to me as our GPS
was stolen at Grand Beach Resort in Orlando in August 2007.
We also loved their main pool. It is a large area with nice music playing and
a snack bar where you can buy food and drinks. No fancy slides, but they
had lots of activities like water aerobics. Unfortunately for us it was too
cool out the week we were there to want to swim.
Our unit had 2 bedrooms which each had a king bed. We only used the
master bedroom which has a Stearns & Foster Boulevard Collection ultra
plush Euro Pollowtop bed which we found extremely comfortable. We had
a jacuzzi tub plus a separate shower in the master bathroom with the
toilet behind a wall for privacy. The other bathroom was next to, but not
in the bedroom. It had a regular tub and was the size of a standard
bathroom.
The living room had a large LCD TV hanging on the wall while the bedrooms
had TVs that looked to be about 20". The remote didn't work well on the
LCD TV and you couldn't order movies on the TVs as they are in contract
negotiations. The furniture was fairly comfortable as timeshares go. None
of them seem to have super comfortable furniture. There was plenty of
lighting. As others have mentioned on reviews I read, the living room has a
tile floor instead of carpeting while the bedrooms have carpeting. I didn't
mind it though I brought slippers just in case. Our unit had a screened in
porch which overlooked a pond with a fountain.
The lady at the front desk was very friendly and so was the lady they sent
us to in order to get our parking pass and be invited to the timeshare
breakfast. I declined the breakfast. We only got one phone call to ask if
we had thought any more about coming to the breakfast.
My only major complaint was the they STILL don't have internet access in
the rooms! They have wireless access in the lobby but almost no electric
outlets (I finally found one on the last day) ! The internet was down for a
day so I went to the business center where you have to sign up for 30 min
sessions on their computers or 2 slots where you could plug in your laptop.
The internet didn't work there with my laptop (or another person's) but it
did work if you were signed on to one of their 3-4 computers. Don't plan
on printing your boarding pass there though as there are no printers
there. Business center and game room both close at 10 pm so last
appointment for internet is 9:30.
I guess I'm an email and internet junkie but I had to try to find somewhere
to read my email. I found 2 Starbucks, one on Rte. 192 near the resort and
one in the town of Celebration which is nearby. One had no internet and
the other had T Mobile internet that you had to pay for. In my area all the
Starbucks have free wireless internet. Someone told me to go to
MacDonald's near the resort so I did. They told me which corner to sit in
to get reception. Unfortunately no electric outlet and my battery was
dead.
Back to the unit and resort. You are given just a small amount of
dishwasher detergent, coffee and Tide and have to buy refills. You have to
make an appointment on Tues for a Wed. cleaning (at least those are the
days for Fri-Fri). When you leave they want you to bag the trash, put the
dishes in the dishwasher and strip the bed. I said to my husband, strip the
bed!" But my husband suggested that maybe its so they know if you've
used both of the beds.
We didn't check out the movie theatre but there is one that shows movies
that have been out of the theatre for a couple of years. Two kids movies
and a 7 pm movie to appeal more to all ages.
Only other thing is that we went away for a day and visited friends. Upon
returning there was a dead cockroach on the tile floor. We were on the
2nd floor so maybe the bug situation is better up there. I was glad to find
only one bug even though it is Florida.
All in all, I like Silver Lake and would definitely return again and recommend
it to my friends.
