Complementary social hour at Residence Inn by Marriott SeaWorld

The Residence Inn is an extended stay hotel that I thought mostly caters to business folks who are on longer-term stays away from home base. There are, I think, about 3 Residence Inns in Orlando. The one I am staying at this week is about 5 minutes from SeaWorld, and this one is full of families, not business types, looking for an affordable place to stay while on vacation.

As with other extended stay places, this one has some sort of happy hour or social hour in the afternoon. At this property, 2-for-1 domestic draft beer is the constant every evening. The thing that changes each night is the "snack." My first night here they served something that looked like hush puppies. I didn't eat any. Last night they served what looked liked chicken nuggets. I passed on that, too. Tonight they served what definitely looked like beef stew. I had some. I don't know if tonight's beef stew came from a can sold by Sysco, which is a food service company, or if the hotel cooks actually cooked it, but the stew was good.

I guess it is hard for some people to resist the appeal of "free" food. One family came up to the stew with large plastic cups, complete with lids, that were not presented on the table with the stew, and each family member filled up their cups to the top with the stew and slipped back somewhere from which they came. I guess they figured that their hotel charge included the cost of the social hour, so they simply took what was owed to them. It was interesting, though, to see each member of the family, down to the girl who looked about 8 years old, fill up a large cup of stew.

I've seen and known people who wrap up leftovers from their Ritz Carlton breakfast buffet to take back to their room, but morsels for later consumption were leftovers, not a replacement for a meal. So, if you typically vacation at a Ritz or Four Seasons, you might experience a bit of a culture shock if you stay at a Residence Inn. On the other hand, if you are a practical person and want to stretch your dollar to the fullest, this place could be right for you. Typically, my family stays at places a bit more upscale while on vacation. Do to my special circumstance of holing out in Orlando this week just in case my young son, who is at SeaWorld camp, needs me to quickly pick him up, my wife booked this hotel for me. All in all, however, I'm pleased with the combination of price, space and amenities of this Residence Inn. I'd come back.