Alhambra at Poinciana

I'm sitting here now at the dining room table, half way through our week at Alhambra. It's the first of September and there have been only 3-5 cars in the entire parking lot all week so am unable to comment on noisy neighbors.

First, supposedly the only difference between the two Alhambra resorts is that one checks in on Friday and the other on Saturday. Amenities and furnishings in both are considered the same....MBR has a King-size bed and the 2nd smaller BR has a Full-size bed and a loveseat sleeper.

The units appear to all be two-bedroms and the smaller bedroom can be a lock-out unit. The buildings are two-story so 50% of the units are accessed by outside stairs.

The second, smaller, bedroom can actually be accessed from its own outside entry door. The smaller bedroom is a "hotel unit" - one room and a bath with extra amenities. There is a small sleeper loveseat, a bistro table and 2 chairs and in one end of the closet is a small frig and microwave and dishes for two. The bathroom is large with a large tub, though it is not a jacuzzi. This room has its own A/C system, separate from the rest of the larger unit. Strangely, the furniture in this unit is positioned so that the A/C unit is less than a foot from the bed, under the window...may be annoying at night. And with the extra furnishings, the room would be quite tight with two people. This smaller bedroom faces the front of the unit and the parking lot. I suggested that they reposition the furniture in the small bedroom.

The rest of the full 2BR unit is a typical floor plan. Kitchen is first, then the dining area and then the LR area, really just one large room with a pass-through bar counter from the kitchen to the dining area. The kitchen is fully applianced, including a small stacking washer/dryer and has a lot of cupboard space. The dining area has a large glass Florida-style table with 6 chairs. The LR has a sofa and loveseat, tv and dvd and a patio door to the small enclosed lanai. The lanai has small plastic chairs and end table.

The MBR is large with a king-size bed, large dresser and small chaise. There are two large windows in one corner - one window is a patio door opening to the patio, the other window looks out over a large central lawn area. Not all units face the same direction so views will be different. The Master Bath is also large with a jacuzzi tub.

In a small corner of the LR, is a bar sink, counter, ice bucket and cupboard.

This is a nice resort and they appear to care for it well. It is close to a busy road, but with the windows closed, you don't hear the road noise at all, at least from our unit. Emergency sirens could be heard, but were muted. In milder weather, with the windows open, road noise might be an issue. I use ear plugs at night so noise is usually never an issue.

Your usual retail amenities, including a Publix, Winn-Dixie and Walmart, are about a mile away, but your 'fast food' options are not your usual choices. We've tried several and they are okay. The closest MacDonalds is about 5 miles away. The closest Mall is in Orlando and is about an hour away depending on traffic. Poinciana is now a bedroom community for Kissimmee and Orlando, mostly. Though that could be extended to include Tampa. While originally out in the country, I swear the road between here and Kissimmee is now wall-to-wall housing developments.

The resort offers a small pool, open 10-10. We haven't used it. There is also a small playground area for children. The resort offers BBQ's during the week and also can provide info on events at the Local Y. There are small soaps and shampoos in the baths, two small boxes of laundry soap with the washer and 3-4 packets of dishwasher soap plus dish soap for hand washing. The typical coffee pot included a few filters and coffee packets.

The office opens at 7AM. Our unit lock stopped working 'early' one morning and the desk clerk had to come and check it out. She gave us working key cards to the smaller BR door and maintenance fixed the main lock during the day while we were gone. No other maintenance issues.

We are very satisfied with this resort and we have owned timeshares (Gold Crown and not Gold Crown) for over 25 years.

Very nice and very clean. Alittle distance from Orlando. No activities for the children. Overall the staff was very pleasent and the unit was very nice.

Nice place, nice area golf, 17 miles to the route 592. It is away from the busy traffic. My family enjoyed our visit.