Solara Resort

Solara Resort did not disappoint! We came for a family vacation and experienced wonderful staff, great food and plenty of activities for the kids. The home we stayed in was beautiful, clean and well managed by the actual individual owners. I would suggest checking out the surf simulator while you’re spending time at the resort. The on site gym is very nice as well, for those who don’t want to give up their routines while vacationing! I highly recommend Solara Resort for families, friend groups and even couples!

Positives: good location to Disney (20 mins) - Universal slightly further out (40 mins) . The villas are large and well equipped. The resort itself is nicely laid out and the pool complex really nice. We also used the surf machine they have (approx $60 for 10 goes - but well worth it) Negatives - as others have said - lots of. Noise from some incredibly inconsiderate guests - we’ve had mexicon music being played at 2300 and weirdly at 0515 . We’ve had cars screeching, and music being blared out of cars. Secondly and probably more worryingly, the security just wave you through when you approach the ‘guest entrance ‘ in your car - they have no real idea of who you are - this kind of makes them pointless - and therefore the resort isn’t secure. With so many other places to choose from, the resorts inability to sort out inconsiderate guests makes this one to avoid,

The resort appears well set out and tidy. I’m sure I’ve seen other reviews about the homes being party rentals and unfortunately that has been our experience. Noisy neighbours, not just the kids you expect, having domestics. Last night a car screaming round for an hour from 4am whilst a group from one of the houses shouted encouragement. It’s a shame as the club house is lovely an£ staff really friendly . I definitely wouldn’t come here again because of the unchecked behaviour of other guests, weekends seem worst

The house was completely clean and serviceable, with plenty of nice space to hang out and relax. The bar and clubhouse was fine, but probably not the kind of place you’ll spend too much time. The splash area for little ones was awesome, but the regular community pool was often so busy it wasn’t much fun. Overall pretty good, but next time I will look for a place closer to the Disney bubble. You will do 20-30 minute drives to the parks, so just keep that in mind.

We've just returned from 2 weeks here. 5 adults, me, my husband, our 2 late teen daughters and my mother. We booked a 4 bedroom townhouse and got more than we expected. This actually sleeps 8 people. We were in 2166 Cooper Bell Place. I'm glad we didn't take notice of some of the poor reviews. We booked with Virgin in the UK, so perhaps this has some bearing on the type of property you're allocated. The resort seems to be a broad mix of holiday rentals, ownership/clubhouse, so it likely depends heavily on who you book via, what quality villa/townhouse you receive. The resort is split over 2 sites. We (semi unfortunately) weren't on the main side where the community pool, bar grill and gym were. We wanted to use the gym every other day but in Florida heat, it required a very short car journey across the large 4-lane 2 way road to the other side of the resort. Must note, this didn't spoil our opinion overall, not going to the gym is hardly a holiday ruiner! We could've walked it if it was that important to us. Each house has wifi and rubbish is collected daily. There was no housekeeping service, but we knew this and didn't expect or want it, we wanted to be left alone and go at our own pace. OUR TOWNHOUSE Was huge! A 4-bedroom 2 floor villa basically. Very roomy entrance, wide staircase. First large double bedroom was on the ground floor, 2 bedside drawer sets and one huge chest of drawers, plus a semi walk-in closet with stacks of hanging, and own (separate) bathroom. Huge master bedroom upstairs with double sink en suite, large walk-in shower and private WC, large walk-in closet, large chest of drawers and 2 bedside drawer sets. A further 2 twin bedrooms upstairs with own bathrooms and ample storage and hanging, most we've ever had in a hotel or apartment/villa. All bedrooms have very large LG TVs with Netflix, Prime etc. All bathrooms have a proper hairdryer in under sink cupboards, but not all of them have a styling nozzle. One had a nozzle, one had a diffuser, the other 2 had no attachments but were otherwise great. The ground floor is tiled, and carpeted from the stairs up. Downstairs, the main living area is open plan (perfect for us), with a huge very comfy corner sofa, ample space for us all to sit comfortably, and a separate chair around a coffee table and large wall mounted LG TV with Netflix, Prime, all other apps. Dining area has a large table with 8 chairs. Kitchen is huge with large island and 4 breakfast chairs. Cooker, dishwasher, microwave, coffee machine, large fridge/freezer with ice/water dispenser, toaster, double sink in island with food waste mascerator. All utensils and pots, pans etc stored in endless cupboard space. Some utensils were clearly very cheaply bought (wine bottle opener was very bendy) but overall absolutely fine. Oh and a slow cooker too and a food blender, perfect for making smoothies etc. Townhouses have a splash pool. This was bigger than we expected, and when we saw some of the villa pools when passing, they aren't much bigger. We didn't need to heat it, we stayed middle of August, the water was warm. Table and 4 chairs outside and 2 sun loungers. Massive bonus was the private poolside toilet with basin, so you didn't have to march back through the house and soak the tiles. There's a further communal lounge area upstairs on the large landing area, with a 4 seater sofa, large wall mounted TV and Xbox. Separate huge family sized washing machine and dryer upstairs in large cupboard with towels shelving and lots of spare towels. Downstairs there's an understairs large walk in cupboard with shelving unit, iron and board, mop and bucket. The house has aircon, but also all ceiling lights have a fan which worked fantastic and could be switched off via a wall switch or pulley on the fan. CONS These do not spoil our view of the resort or our townhouse, but they are things we feel the resort should address to avoid negative and overly unfair opinions from some guests. We noted several areas around the house that are obviously overlooked. The skirting behind most doors had heavy dust. Please note, I don't dust my own skirting the majority of the time so it wasn't a big deal to us, but some people look for things to slate and this would be an obvious one. A quick hoover once in a while would be better than just ignoring it. There were several black scuff marks on the wall at top of stairs, likely from lugging suitcases up. No big deal to us but were obvious and it seemed strange they hadn't been cleaned or painted over. We completely accept this is a self contained villa style holiday, but it would be helpful to have perhaps a basics starter pack including cleaning spray, dishwasher tablets, clothes detergent etc. The only thing provided was 2 toilet rolls per bathroom which was great, but having to buy all usual housework stuff is off putting when you know you're not there long enough to use it up and it's either thrown away end of the holiday or left in the cupboard hopefully to help out the next family, but most likely will be taken by the cleaners. Everything you buy (at the brilliant Walmart) is large sized so it's not economical on an already very expensive holiday to have to buy all of your cleaning and daily running products when you don't get to use even half of it. The dryer worked perfectly but husband noticed it got really warm in the cupboard and when he checked, the vent hose was detached from outside vent route, clearly had had been for some time as it was thick of dust/lint behind the washer and dryer. Perhaps maintenance or housekeeping should check these once families have left. Not a massive deal, but there's no washing lines, in any villas it seemed. Everyone hung their washing over the poolside mesh barriers but space for larger loads is limited. Would be good to hang washing instead of using a dryer when you have excellent drying weather out there. OVERALL We'd definitely stay here again, without question. We've seen some reviews complain about its location to the parks. We've been coming to Orlando for years and have stayed in Lake Buena Vista and Kissimmee. You're basically either closer to Disney, or closer to Universal. Either way, you're going to travel approximately 20mims one way or the other to the parks. This time, we were closer to Disney, but further away from Universal which was a good 20min drive, traffic dependent, but isn't an issue to us, we love the driving about, seeing what's en route etc. The 192 road nearby offered stacks of restaurants and bars, gasoline stations, shops etc, so you didn't need to go anywhere near International Drive. We must mention Golden Corrall, an all you can eat buffet restaurant which is a godsend for the average family considering the cost of living in Florida since we were here last in 2017. Serves brilliant food and a huge variety, my vegetarian husband and mother were well catered for, and the steaks and meat variety was huge. You can even get a good old Sunday dinner buffet style. Checking in and out was super simple. Turn up at the main side resort gate, the guard gives you a sign for your resident parking and that's that. You've already got your email before you arrive with your villa address and door code. To check out, simply go back to the guard and tell him you're leaving, hand in your parking permit and off you go.