We recently stayed at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes for a family 4 night stay, and had a terrific time. Here are my thoughts on each aspect of the hotel:
ROOM: We had the standard room, but were upgraded to a lake view at check-in. The room was a good size, and had plenty of space for the four of us, plus our luggage. The bathroom was nice with dual vanity sinks. The shower was a little small, but had great pressure with two heads.
While the room doesn't come with an empty mini-fridge, we asked for one to hold various drinks and food items. The beds were very comfortable, and I really appreciated the high quality Frette slippers (we almost considered taking them home!).
GROUNDS: We love to walk the grounds at any resort we stay at, and the Grande Lakes area is really nice. There are plenty of walking trails along the lake. They even have free bikes, but we didn't get to take advantage of that.
POOL: The Ritz pool wasn't huge, but it felt serene and luxurious. All of the pool chairs had comfortable cushions, and there was no need for the "pool game" (where you need to get there early to reserve chairs). They also had staff bringing out free treats, such as frozen fruit. There is free sunscreen as well.
ACTIVITIES: They have a gaming area with some fun games, including table tennis and foosball. There is also a full shuffleboard table. There's an outdoor lawn area where they set up cornhole and soccer nets, and there's even a bocce ball court. The Grande Lakes also does some fun weekend activities, such as a big fireworks show. We also attended the Drew Thomas Magic Show while we were here. Though the tickets are not cheap, my family loved the show.
SERVICE: Service was great everywhere we went. Employees were quite helpful when we needed it. You do have to valet your car, but the valet service was quick.
DINING/DRINKS: We typically eat off-resort when on vacation, but I did enjoy many tasty drinks at the lobby bar and at Highball & Harvest. The lobby bartender makes a terrific espresso martini (not too sweet). And Highball & Harvest has some fantastic fancy cocktails. I tried almost all of them. They had a live singer on two nights, which was entertaining. The Ritz also had a complimentary champagne and mimosa bar in the lobby a few days, which was a nice treat. They also had plenty of free candy for the kids.
I will say we were disappointed by the breakfast buffet. I tend to really enjoy breakfast buffets at upscale hotels, but this one was lacking. The selection was not huge, and it was quite expensive.
We also spent a bunch of time at the JW Marriott next door, especially to enjoy their huge waterpark area. They have 3 slides and a lazy river, plus multiple pools. They also have this really fun aquatic ropes course, which my kids absolutely loved. Keep in mind the JW pool chairs do not have cushions like the Ritz does.
Overall, we had a really fun time and made great family memories during our vacation.
