We have stayed at a number of self catering complexes/condos in Orlando over the past 10 years and all have their good and not so good qualities.
The resort complex was easy to navigate to from MCO but to warn you, this is not on International Drive, which is a 1.5 mile walk away and instead is on Universal Boulevard, which is fantastic for access to Epic Universe (15min walk) and Universal Studios as you can take a 5min walk over to the Stella Nova accommodation and hop on the Universal buses to take you to Citywalk, super handy and saves paying a $35 daily parking fee.
We arrived at Vista Cay by Millenium earlier than the usual check in time of 4pm however the staff notified us that the room was ready. The resort has a nice frontage and there are parking spaces at the front for initial check in only. The staff were very friendly, helpful and welcoming on arrival and they gave us directions to navigate to the block the room was in. They had also provided us with two drinks vouchers for use at the pool bar as we had notified them we were staying for my husband’s birthday and our wedding anniversary, so this was a lovely surprise.
Our initial room was block 4802, room 105. Upon entering the room/apartment we noticed it smelt foisty and not fresh at all. It was a ground floor room and the master suite had a cracked window, the en-suite was very dated, the fridge freezer was all rusty on the outside and the balcony was directly next to all of the air conditioning units for that block, which were noisy and also outside the window for the master suite. It didn’t give us the wow factor at all and was definitely not a 4 star room. We therefore returned to reception to reject the room. They explained that unless any issues were reported, then their maintenance team couldn’t fix it. The staff were lovely and did offer us two other rooms, which they allowed us to view before choosing one. One of the rooms was in block 4814 and smelt a lot fresher but it was close by to Destination Parkway.
The other room 206 was in block 5000. We chose room 206 as it appeared clean and smelt fresher, but also due to its location, an end room and around the corner from the pool which was close enough but quiet.
The rooms are spacious, we had a three bedroom, two bath (one was a jack & jill). There was a large dinning table to seat 6 people and a corner sofa with a coffee table. There was also two chairs out on the balcony, but we didn’t really use the balcony as it overlooked the car park. There was abundant hot water at all times, I just wish the shower head pressure was better. Towels were provided, including beach towels for the pool, a tea towel also for the kitchen along with washing up liquid, washing up sponge and x1 dishwasher tablet. There were also two bin bags for your trash, which had to be placed in a bag outside your door in a bin container which was frequently emptied.
You are expected to wash your towels and bed linen, unless you opt for a clean in your room at a cost of $145. So I would highly recommend bringing some washing tablets & dishwasher tablets from home so you can do this, but also so you can return home with clean clothes as there is a washer & dryer in your room, which were very easy to use. We stayed for 18 nights and didn’t opt for a clean as we could easily run the hoover round and wash towels etc. We did however find toe nail clippings on the floor in the bathroom, which would indicate the rooms possibly don’t get a thorough clean between guests vacating and entering. This is in no way a criticism of the cleaning crew, there are just a significant amount of rooms to clean.
The kitchen had a full size fridge freezer, oven, a two slice toaster, coffee maker and microwave. There were lots of cupboards & drawers but with no handles which was odd and they were awkward to open. There was plenty of crockery, plates, bowls, cups & glasses along with cutlery but no cooking utensils and only one casserole type pot for a saucepan. There were no baking trays for the oven and we had to buy disposal ones. And if any sundry items for example toilet paper, bin bags etc run out then you have to replenish these at a cost to yourself (these can be bought from the resort shop, but will likely be cheaper purchasing them from Walmart or Walgreens which is less than a five minute walk from the resort). This is something we have never encountered before however we have always previously had a clean included as part of our stay.
Not having suitable cooking utensils etc, given its self catering accommodation was extremely disappointing and made it quite challenging to cook. We did also have to request a stove top kettle as this room didn’t have one, but the others did. We then had two delivered! We had a fan light in our room, where the light only worked if you also switched the fan on which was annoying, but we were able to use the table lamps instead. The blinds for the patio door were missing slats or didn’t close properly and the curtain rail in the master bedroom was bent in the middle. The cupboard doors in the en-suite were also dirty. The air conditioning was excellent and could be adjusted easily. We had to reduce the temperature at night as it got quite hot in our bedroom.
In my opinion, each room needs to be properly inspected against a checklist, prior to guests staying in them to ensure everything is working properly and has all the cooking utensils required. There are a lot of rooms to be checked but this is required/expected as currently this resort doesn’t feel like a 4 star as it is being let down by poorly maintained rooms. We have stayed at lower starred resorts which have better maintained rooms and are cleaner.
Overall, the Vista Cay by Millenium is in a fantastic location for quick access to Epic Universe and a short bus journey to Universal. There is a Walgreens, Publix and 7eleven very close by and the pool is quite big, with lots of parasols and sunbeds. The jacuzzi is also quite big and very hot. On a Saturday they appear to have a live dj during the day by the pool. They also have a running/walking trail around the perimeter of the resort however a portion of this was closed off the entire time we were there so could not be used as a loop.
For us, this was not worth the amount we paid to stay at the resort, nor the 4 star rating. We were pretty disappointed with our room and the lack of provisions so it would be very unlikely that we would stay here again in the future.
