Evermore Orlando Resort — Hotel in Dr. Phillips

The bay is incredible. Worth coming here all by itself, swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding all while looking out across the beautiful bay. Whole property is beautiful really.

Everything is overpriced except for the accommodation itself. That was very reasonably priced for the location (proximity to Disney) and the amenities of the flat and the resort, in general. Great walking/running trails (aka sidewalks and golf cart paths), very nice fitness center (busy in morning, deserted in evening), resort in general was not crowded at all (early November) and we had free reign at all the swim areas and beaches.

The water in the bay, while chilly, was still nice to swim in, especially when the skies were clear and the sun was able to warm the water up. It was much busier on the weekends, but still not crowded. I imagine the charm of the place is somewhat lost in the peak of summer as a crowd might overwhelm the beauty of the property. Maybe not, maybe just adds another level of excitement???

They had scheduled activities, like guided stretching/yoga, trivia, movie night, etc...get a schedule online or in the app. I'd like it if they held the morning yoga daily instead of 1x/week. That really was a nice resort amenity to wake up to.

The staff was about 70/30 on whether you were treated as if you were highly valued and welcome as a guest at this resort vs. merely "next" or even worse, an obstacle instead of a purpose. Again, to be fair, most were very nice, polite, glad to have you, friendly-types and as you'd expect to be treated at a resort.

Next, they need to pick up on the beach. I observed them do a lot of work to maintain and prep things in the mornings, but never saw anyone pick up any trash on the beach (it is still cleaner than a public beach). They used a lawn-tractor sized machine with a brush to even out the sand but this just hid the debris. They should have a beach-combing practice and picking up the beach should be part of the culture there if they want to maintain their beautiful thing.

They also have some rules... nothing but water in a plastic or otherwise unbreakable-type bottle on the beach and no food UNLESS you buy it from them and then you can have whatever you want. The waiters/waitresses have to walk long distances (up to the length of the bay and back) in order to take and then deliver your order. This strikes me as highly inefficient and extremely slow. They should have little motorized vehicles to facilitate the process. There already are plenty of motorized vehicles on the property and implementing them here would be to everyone's benefit.

The bay (saltwater) closes at dusk or so but the pool (chlorine) stays open pretty late (10pm while we were there). The slide at the pool was my kid's favorite and they did it non-stop for as long as we were at the pool. Saw several staff there not being the nicest to guests as they could be. One lifeguard made a couple take their 2y/o out of a very small ring-type floaty because "it obstructs the view of the bottom." This was very clearly nonsense, all involved recognized and acknowledged it as such but it was still enforced against reason.

All-in-all, I'd love to come back for a weekend trip just to stay here or for the week if back at the amusement parks. I would like to see actual affordable things (food, souvenirs, etc.) on the property though (I was interested in buying a UV-blocking t shirt, found one there but it was $80. And while they do stock very good quality apparel, it wasn't worth it for a resort-branded shirt). I think they just have to work out the pricing optimization problem with food/apparel.

I'd also like to see an expanded swimming section for those who'd like to use it as exercise and as previously mentioned, cleaner beaches. They could also improve by adding a playground-style water feature for the kids...but that would really just be greedy to expect here. I read that they invested 1.5 billion in development of this place and while I've shared criticisms, it really is very impressive. So, if you have a chance, do...

We stayed in a four bedroom flat and it was beautiful, modern and clean. We had so much space for our family of five, there was a full sized kitchen with every appliance you could ever need to fix any meal. You have a full sized washer and dryer and four large bathrooms which we enjoyed. The only thing negative to say here is there was not a bathtub, so my four year old cried every time we had to give her a shower. We have a 4 month old as well and brought a baby bathtub for him. The kids bunk room was amazing and the kids loved having so much space and their own bathroom. The steps to the top even have an automatic motion light so they don’t trip at night. They also give you a little welcome kit with a few laundry detergent pods, dishwasher pods, sponge and kitchen wipes. You also get a complimentary Evermore puzzle which was a nice touch.

So for the negatives. We were coming to stay here to mainly go to Disney - because you get so much more space for the money, compared to staying on Disney property. The downside is that the shuttle does not take you to Disney, and we were under the assumption that they would. This cost us much more money and time than anticipated because we had to drive to the parks and pay $30 to $50 to park each day plus walk forever to get to them.

We also had a slight issue with the lagoon/pool, but their policy is I guess the norm for Orlando. They use a radar device to detect potential storms and if they detect something within 10 miles, they will not let you in the water or even on the beach area. For my son’s birthday he wanted an off day at the lagoon and pool but we spent most of the day waiting under the shelter for them to let us swim. It rained a bit and thundered maybe twice but the majority of the time it was nice and we felt we should have been able to swim. There were many people waiting who were highly upset and thought their policy was ridiculous. I think we waited four hours for them to reopen it. It was just very disappointing and felt like a waste of time. The drinks were also very expensive (we had two daiquiris and two virgin ones for kids and it was $78. They also add in gratuity but don’t tell you, so we ended up tipping extra because we didn’t know.

We also were told we couldn’t take our baby float in the pool which was for a 4 month old. Without it he can’t get in the pool. We complained and someone finally allowed it.

We also saw a dog on property. We asked security why there was a pet on property and he said ”it’s allowed because we want you to feel like you’re at home.” I know most would like this policy but we specifically chose this property because there was a no pets policy. If you look online it says pets aren’t allowed. My daughter and I are highly allergic to animals and any dander in a room can cause us to have asthma attacks. If you are allergic to animals you know that dander cannot be removed from rooms with a standard cleaning. They also have carpeted rooms and a cloth couch, which will just hold onto pet dander and cause allergic reactions. We will not stay again because of that fact.

Lastly, don’t expect much help with luggage here. For such a high end property you would expect for them to offer to help but we never were. We were told they had luggage carts in one of the neighboring buildings but every time we went to find one they were gone. We called the office multiple times to try to find one and they never answered. So we had to unload and load our luggage by ourselves which took us probably 10 trips back and forth to the car. You can’t get but so close to your room from the parking lot, so it’s a lot of walking. Staff just walked by and never offered to help. It was funny because after we had finished packing our car and were exhausted one staff member came by and said “you know there are luggage carts if you want to use one. It will take you too many trips back and forth if you don’t.” We then informed him that none were available, the front office wouldn’t answer and we were already finished and had to make 10 plus trips...

Let me start by saying Evermore is beautiful! However, it has the potential to be a wonderful resort, but it has the weirdest quirks.

1. Check In. They make it seem like you have to pre-register everyone and upload IDs because it’s a super secure property. Not really the case. As long as you share the QR code with the whoever else is in your party, they can just come through the gate without talking to anyone.
2. Room Max. I booked a flat which states that it can hold up to 11 people. Honestly, I could have however many people I wanted in there and no one would ever notice.
3. Rooms. The flat is really nice and you can tell it’s new! But we had a random flickering light bulb, our ice machine stopped working (the workers brought in bagged ice to supplement), I stepped on a staple that came up through the carpet (which I called about and no one ever came to fix), etc. Just small things here and there.
4. Service. The response time is fairly quick from the staff. Like - we asked for more towels and they had them in 4 minutes. Impressive! But it was 10pm and they rang the doorbell. Anyone with toddlers knows that doorbells can be our worst enemy so I wish they would’ve knocked instead (like we requested).
5. Activities. The resort has many activities you can participate in. However, you have to pre-register for them. Makes sense. But if you wait until you get to the resort to check them out, you’re about a month too late on sign ups so they’ll all be full.
6. The Lagoon. They sell you on the 8acre pool - which is really pretty. But only about 1 acre of it is available to swim in which is a little misleading. At that point, it’s really no different than any other pool. Actually, several other hotels around here probably have nicer swimming amenities (splash pads, lazy rivers, etc). To use the middle of the lagoon, you need to rent a kayak or paddleboard, which is almost impossible on the weekends. And there were dead gnats/bugs everywhere.
7. Building Location. We stayed in Flat A which is conveniently close to many amenities. And we had a bottom unit which was fantastic! However, you have to walk over sand to get to the walkway that takes you to the beach. So anytime you want to go anywhere, you have to walk through sand. It looks nice, but logistically, it’s just strange. And there’s East Beach right here which is a small area you can get into the water at. However, the pool starts at 2.5 ft deep and there’s no steps to help people get in or out. I watched some older folks go to a different beach for the simple fact that they were afraid they would get stuck in this one with no way out.
8. Pool Closures. It rained pretty frequently during our stay which means the pool closed pretty frequently. When the pool is closed, the beach is closed, so you need to evacuate everything. I’m not a weather person, but they’re definitely over cautious on the closures and close the pools often and keep them closed well after the storm passes. A little frustrating but I get it. However, the only way you know they’re closed (if you’re in your room and miss the actual announcement) is a tinyyyyy blinking red light at one spot on the side of the lagoon. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’re not going to see it. I had to asked a staff member where to find it. For such a big pool, they could afford to make a few more lights and make them a little larger.
9. Check Out. We asked to get a late checkout 2 days before we left. We were told that requests could only be made 24 hours in advance and were based on availability (first come first served). Never heard of that but sure. So I made a request again (at 25 hours in advance) and they said the unit was committed to so they couldn’t accommodate the extra hour. Like come on… you knew that the day before. There was no need to make me wait the extra day to ask again just to tell me no.

Again, nice resort - just quirky. For the high prices, my expectations were just higher. Would I stay here again? Probably not. But do I regret coming? Not at all! Still something...