a recently renamed and revamp resort with an attractive pool complex that now shares
part of its name with one of the Old Faithful budget-minded resorts in Orlando but unlike the
Avanti International this Resort puts you within two stone throws away from universals volcano Bay
if you do test this out just be careful that the first stone doesn't hit one of the many
moving vehicles on the many lanes of highway traffic that separates you hi I'm the frugal
Brit my mission is to review every Hotel Resort near Disney World and Orlando and for this video
we're back on International Drive will I'll be providing a breakdown of the good and the
not-so-good reviews of the Avanti Palms Resort and Conference Center and at the end I look to provide
some hopefully useful tips to helping getting the best out of any vacation here but before we get
into all that our outline the key features of this popular resort don't forget to subscribe
if you want more Orlando vacation content all right so this review is coming from a vacation as
perspective so if by chance you're interested in booking an event or a conference you won't get the
info you need here unfortunately our Mansi comms is located towards the top end of International
Drive on the west side it's a popular location being only around a 20-minute walk away from
the wheel at ICON Park with plenty of bars and restaurants do check out my top 10 restaurants
on iDrive if you're interested in my top picks another cool thing about this location is that
technically you can walk to Universal Studios it's not the most pleasant walk but you can do
it in around 30 minutes if you head to Universal Boulevard just before the I heart if driving it's
about a five minute drive from there fancy palms has six different hotel buildings five of which
are standard two two five-story buildings but it also has a 14-story tower separated by part of the
carpark this resort comes in around $100 per night but you do need to factor in the resort fee which
when including tax costs around $13 50 per night it's annoying but a lot of the off-site resorts
do do this unfortunately so if you staying for seven nights that's an extra 94 dollars fifty and
for forty nights that's one hundred and eighty nine dollars this resort fee covers scheduled
theme park shuttles Wi-Fi access fitness center access and parking so the theme park shuttle will
take you to Disney World Sea World and Universal Studios I've covered this in more detail later in
the video also worth mentioning here that there is an I ride trolley stop conveniently placed
just outside this resort will take you up and down I Drive standard rooms contain a 50 inch
HDTV a coffee machine with complimentary coffee a microwave refrigerator iron ironing board and
a safe Bansi Palms provides a tropical themed pool complex that has a whirlpool spa a kid's
splash pad a sandy beach area and a water fountain that complements the views of volcano Bay you have
a few different dining options at Avanti Palms if you want a sit-down meal at breakfast lunch
and dinner you have the marketplace cafe and grill which also serves Starbucks coffee if you
want to dine alfresco you have the poolside bar and grill and following this resort's revamp in
2018 you now have the new lobby lounge bar all the remain at ease include a better than you'd
think arcade room and a 24-hour fitness center location is a huge appeal for Avanti Palms for
two main reasons I would say the first being its proximity to Universal Studios so unlike
the Avanti International this resort provides the opportunity to walk to Universal Studios
most guests likely won't bother with this but regardless it will shorten your travel time
on what is often a frustratingly busy road and it will save a little on taxis the other factor with
location is the nearby restaurants activities and convenience stores which certainly come in handy
the entrance lobby to the Avanti Palms is very ground and modern it does give the appearance of
a much more expensive hotel resort and it's here where you'll find the arcade room which is well
received much better than with a lot of the other hotel options on our drive you can also say the
same about the fitness center which is now over in the tower just like its sister resort Avanti Palms
has really impressive reviews concerning staff hospitality and professionalism super friendly
from check-in to checkout and it's clear from my analysis that staff has put out a lot of fires at
advancing palms turning many one-star reviews into 3 star reviews you really have to give paramount
hospitality management credit here moving on to what is clearly this centerpiece and main
attraction of this Resort at the Avanti Palms pool complex which is very easy on the eye and
arguably better looking in the evening out of all the less favorable reviews that I saw there was
very very few reviews from guests that were not satisfied with the pool complex and surrounding
amenities you can conveniently collect towels upon entrance and it's little things like this
that you'll rarely get from hotels under $100 it's fantastic for kids plenty of shallow areas
to play more than enough sun loungers the suddenly beach area is also a really cool inclusion within
this complex that's with the lobby area the pool complexes had a huge investment and they've been
very clever with the tropical theming which is clearly piggybacking on the theming from
volcano Bay off in the distance for which this resort has a fantastic view of especially from
the tower rooms facing this side very smart move is no doubt lured many people over to
this resort with the promotional images unlike some other hotels and resorts nearby in this
price range you get a feeling of luxury in this area that exceeds expectations so the rooms are
very spacious with a modern decor and a big TV so it's also exceeding expectations in this
area but more detail on the rooms I'm afraid to say will be ominously found in the next section
I've talked about the areas of this resort that have received a lot of investment like
the hotel entrance the lobby area and the pool complex but there are unfortunately a couple
areas that haven't quite received the same love so let's start with the tower building
on the outside it looks great no issues paintwork looks good when you look from the inside it does
seem to resemble some sort of disturbing prison block which was picked up by several guests the
interior courtyard is very nice with the plants and water feature but I can't help but feel that
it's not quite enough and doesn't really match the ambition of other parts of this resort so avantika
Palms was revamped in 2018 but it's still showing some signs of old age in certain areas it feels
like this resort has cloud all of its investment into areas that will be used and seen by those
booking a conference or an event with arguably insufficient resource put in other areas such
as the cement walkways over to the hotel rooms which I think it's fair to say are unsightly in
many buildings and for some guests these walkways did not take you to a room that met expectations
I think the main problem here is consistency just like at Avanti international not every room
has received the same love following the revamp there's an above average amount of maintenance
problems at this resort such as leaking broken door locks issues with the grout shower curtains
some signs of old age are still creeping through in spite of the revamp some guests who have stayed
here will tell you that this is escalated by poor housekeeping standards just like an advanced
international resort floors are not cleaned at a level most people expect and I think part of
the problem here is that they've opted to not have carpets in the rooms and that's the one that moved
into a house with laminate floors you do feel every bit of dirt on your feet and on your socks
so yeah I do have a bit of sympathy for Avanti palms and Avanti international the hard floors
do them no favors one thing that did disappoint a large proportion of guests was the adjoining doors
that sit between the majority of the hotel rooms in all buildings if you're staying in a room next
to someone else you'll see light coming through the bottom of the door and you may find that you
can hear each other's conversations like a lot of hotels on iDrive you'll also get some noise
issues from the i-4 to the west to the east of the resort on International Drive some will
say that this part of our drive is looking a bit tired when compared to other areas further south
there are signs that investment is coming though there's a decent selection of food available at
the marketplace cafe and grill and the quality exceeds expectations but there weren't many who
said that it wasn't the best value most people weren't really bothered by this though because
of the large number of great dining options there by the shuttle buses don't get the best reviews it
has to be said as is nearly always the case with hotels in Orlando for the Disney shuttle it only
drops you off at Hollywood studios and pickup is only from Epcot and Magic Kingdom times aren't
the best if you want to stay for the fireworks you won't make it back in time unfortunately
for the return journey the Disney shuttle does go to Avanti Palms first but then it does go to four
to five other resorts when many said they fell bail of as insufficient seats available it's not
going to be the best service keep that in mind a couple of other concerns that people had were
insufficient parasols at poolside inconsistent Wi-Fi and aircon units not being the quietest
in summary this is a great value resort option on International Drive it's typically 10 to 15
dollars cheaper than its sister resort the Avanti International and when it comes to theming it does
offer a lot more you'll certainly take better photos here at the pool area I do really like
that Resort on this part of I Drive give you the option to walk over to Universal Studios and if
the pool area is your priority with the Butcher of under $100 per night it would be quite hard
to make the case for staying somewhere else but the stunning pool complex impressive Lobby and
external appearances do disguise some issues that could do it with a little improvement
and these improvements would help in matching the great hospitality from its staff so a room
selection unfortunately I can't provide any certainty regarding the best place to request
a room from my analysis the reviews for each building on TripAdvisor were very similar so
really hard to make a confident recommendation I did however notice a couple reviews where
complainants had been moved over to building - so this could indicate that management considers this
to be a good choice to resolve complaints is the building closest to the convention center I think
the most important room selection tip I would say is to request a renovated room before and
during check-in this could really make or break I did reach out to this hotel to see if all the
rooms had adjoining doors because I know a lot of people don't like that at all and they didn't
come back to me to say most of the rooms do have adjoining doors but not everyone so definitely
worth requesting that if that's an issue for you if you want a room with a great view of volcano
bail when I'm asked to stay in it's our building facing that side keep in mind though that you'll
have to deal with the prison block aesthetics when heading out your room and the elevators
can be a bit annoying over here to wait for if you're staying in the other buildings away from
the tower I did see some complain that with the ground-floor rooms you may hear people chatting
outside the carpark area so I'd be tempted to request a room a couple floors up if you
want a room near the pool you should specifically request a room that is facing the pool I saw this
get a couple recommendations well that's it for this review thank you so much for watching please
check out my other hotel reviews on some useful links in the description if you're interested
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