RJD1983

My dad I were reminiscing about a holiday we had to Orlando, FL around 1992/1994 ish. Any how, we were trying to remember the Sheraton we stayed out.

Since it was so long ago, we can't remember much about it (I was a kid)! But what we do remember was a McDonald's being a 5-10 minute drive away, apparently there was a 'Spanish style' shopping centre near the hotel. I remember us having a groundfloor bedroom, which overlooked a courtyard/quadrangle, and at night, the sprinklers would come on at sometime in the morning to water the grass. It had a tower, which wasn't round. And apparently it was located on International Drive, lots of other hotels near by.

I've shown him pictures of the Four Points, and the Sheraton North and doesn't recognise the hotels.

Neither of us can remember anything else about the exterior of the hotel, or anything else in general.

Hope someone can provide us with an insight?

Thank you.

arlflyer

Deleted - I guessed wrong; agree with later posters!

writerguyfl

You're probably thinking about what's currently known as the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at Sea World. It has a tower as well as low-rise building surrounding a central courtyard.


Aerial image courtesy of Bing Maps: https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=04b14...=2&form=S00027
Link to the DoubleTree website: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mcosrdt-doubletree-orlando-at-seaworld/

If I'm not mistaken, I believe this hotel was known as the Sheraton World Resort at some point in it's lifetime. Like a lot of mid-level hotels, it's cycled through a few franchise flags over the years.

djohannw

According to a post on Tripadvisor it is the Doubletree now:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...o_Florida.html

This also matches my memories, so I guess this is the answer you are looking for.

Greetings - Dirk

James Luckard

The tower at the Sheraton World wasn't added until a remodel in 1999, it was all low-rise buildings before then, here are some old brochures:


Here's a closeup of the 1999 brochure announcing the brand-new tower:


Is it possible your trip was as late as 1999?

I checked my old Sheraton directories from 1992-1994, the chain only had five properties in Orlando in that period:
Walt Disney World Dolphin - has a tower, but not easily forgotten and no low-rise portion
Sheraton Lakeside Inn - a low-rise motel, now called the Maingate Lakeside Resort
Sheraton World Resort - which didn't have the tower yet, just low-rise wings
Sheraton Plaza Hotel at the Florida Mall - a high-rise connected to a mall, now called the Florida Hotel & Conference Center
Sheraton Orlando North Hotel - a low-rise that returned to Sheraton a few years back under the same name
Sheraton University Inn - a small 7-story motel, now the Holiday Inn Orlando East - UCF Area

None seem to match your description and dates.

The only hotel I know of with a tower that Sheraton operated in the Orlando/Disney World area prior to the tower wing of the Sheraton World opening in 1999 was the Sheraton Twin Towers. It originally opened in 1973 as the Sheraton-Towers Hotel. But it left Sheraton in 1988, eventually becoming a Radisson. It's now also a DoubleTree by Hilton, located directly across from Universal
Could this possibly be the hotel you mean? I know it's not on International Drive, like the Sheraton World was. As the name implies, it had two towers, but no low-rise guest wing, just a low-rise convention facilities building, as seen here:

Horace

The Sheraton Lakeside Inn at 7769 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy, Kissimmee, Florida, was not demolished.

It became Four Points by Sheraton Lakeside, which became Hotel La Quinta Inn Lakeside, which became Best Western Lakeside Hotel, which is now Maingate Lakeside Resort.

I stayed there one night in 1999 when it was the Four Points. It was cheap with SPG Points, but it was the first place I encountered a mandatory resort fee. I felt cheated by the resort fee. I have successfully avoided all hotels and resorts with mandatory resort fees since then.

Mandatory resort fee = hotel does not want my business.

James Luckard

Ah, I got thrown, I can now see, because they renumbered the road. The hotel used to be at 7711. I searched the old address at Google maps and found a fast food restaurant, so I assumed it had been demolished. Looking more carefully at my old brochures, the road was renumbered between my 1989 and 1993 brochures.

Kelly Fuller

We stayed there too in 1993 and loved this hotel! It has been driving me mad for years trying to find it! Like you say, definitely International Drive & it had a tower as I remember going up & down in the glass elevator which I thought was just amazing (I was only 12&#128516. I also remember a tennis court. But that’s it! Would love to know what is it now!

MSPeconomist

I remember the Sheraton Safari from around 2000. It had two buildings with rooms, perhaps 8 stories tall and a pool with a slide in the center courtyard. What made it distinctive were a couple gators (about two or three feet long and in glass cages) in the lobby and some big tropical birds that usually perched in the courtyard but sometimes were in the lobby. The tower I stayed in was all suites, although only one of the rooms had a window. It might have started life as an Embassy Suites or something similar.