I recently went down to Disney to enjoy a weekend with three of my friends. After looking at several hotels on travel websites, we decided on Mike Ditka's Runaway Beach Club because we got a great deal (two bedroom loft for $149 a night!) and it seemed to be pretty close to the attractions, shopping and nightlife areas that we were interested in.
Let me say we absolutely made the right decision! This place was fantastic! It was literally minutes from Disney World and there was a Super WalMart right around the corner to get groceries and everything else we'd forgotten. We didn't have any problems with the staff, in fact they were extremely helpful in all the encounters we had with them. Every night when we came back we saw the security driving around the grounds and we had to use a key card to get into the gate.
We didn't use the business center at all since we were there solely for pleasure, so I can't comment on that. We did, however, enjoy the pools and hot tubs and they were very relaxing. It was nice that there is a seperate kids pool so we had some quiet time in the "adult" pool.
The room itself was wonderfully decorated in a Carribean theme with high ceilings, fans, and art. The kitchen was fully-stocked with all cutlery, dishes, cups, diswashing detergent and coffee. Plus there was laundry detergent so we could wash our clothes after spending a day in the parks. Beds were very comfortable, even the fold out couch in the loft was great. The loft option is the best way to go as it can serve as another bedroom and there's a tv, air hockey and foosball table, and Playstation hook-up up there (get it from the front desk I believe) which would keep kids occupied on the down time.
I'd read other reviews where it said that you often heard noises from the other villas, we didn't hear anything during our 5 night stay but perhaps that was because we were always coming in late.
Note - this place seems more like a condo than a hotel. We didn't get full cleaning and turn-down service every day, just a quick pick up. We requested more towels when we needed them, but they came right away. So it appears you need to ask if you need anything additional.
Overall, fantastic place and truly felt like a home away from home!

Eight of us recently stayed 7 nights in a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo at this resort. It was truly amazing! It was very clean & very nicely decorated! The beds were super comfortable! Our master bath had a king size bed with a pillow top mattress on it. We had a garden tub/shower in our bathroom & a huge walk in closet with a safe! The bath towels were big & fluffy! The resort was centrally located near all the parks & attractions, right off Osceola Parkway! We were only 10 minutes to Disney Parks, 15 minutes to Gatorland, etc. It was close to several restaurants (Joe's Crab Shack, Chili's, Denny's, etc.) There is a Super Wal Mart literally just around the corner from the resort, which we visited several times. The fully furnished kitchen was handy & saved us some money from eating out so much! It was fully furnished with all cooking utensils, pots, pans, plates, silverware, tupperware, you name it! There was a dishwasher, a washer & a dryer in our condo. Each bedroom had it's own big tv with cable. The living room also had a pretty good sized tv & also had a dvd player, which my kids loved. The only concern I had was that the day before we left, the maid didn't bring us any clean towels & didn't come get our trash. The trash can in the kitchen was pretty small & the trash filled up rather quick. I had to do a load of towels for us to use the next day, but I didn't mind that much. After all, we had a washer & dryer right there. I didn't feel the need to call the front desk & complain. Another thing is, you have to pay a $10/day room fee up front when you check in. Both pools were very nice. The kids pool has zero depth entry, which was nice with my 2 year old son. The view from the pool was very pretty. It overlooks this big pond with a pretty fountain in the middle of it. They show a kids movie out by the pool a couple of nights a week. They also have several daytime kids activities planned on weekdays. I would definately recommend this resort! It was great! I'm all ready to go back & we've only been home 5 days now!!

I booked a 3-bedroom villa through a special deal on an airline's website, and paid $129/night + the mandatory $10/night "resort fee". The property is nice, very pretty building looks and nicely maintained grounds. We were "upgraded" to a 3-bedroom loft at check-in.

The faucet and towel rack in the main bathroom were broken and there weren't enough towels. No kitchen linens or dish soap at all. These problems were fixed pretty quickly.

The beds were hard and somewhat lumpy (but I'm used to a Tempur-pedic mattress, so I know I'm picky). One morning, we were all awakened by the grounds maintenance crew mowing at 7:30 am. Otherwise, we could only hear people in the attached villas at the bottom of the stairs, not in our villa. My son's bedroom was completely dark at night, but we had a street lamp right outside our bedroom window that did a great job of lighting the room. And blinking on and off every minute. Luckily, I was too tired every night to let that really bother me.

The full-sized washer and dryer were great to have, along with the fully-equipped kitchen. Not that I did any real cooking. :-)

My son and I enjoyed the pools a couple of times. They appeared well-maintained. Towels were available nearby.

As others have mentioned, the location of this place is excellent; about 8 minutes to WDW, 2 blocks from Bronson Highway, a Wal-Mart for supplies practically next door.

All in all, it was perfectly fine for what we paid, but I would have been sorely disappointed if I'd paid upwards of $200/night in shoulder season. I gave it a rating of 3/5 because it's OK for a villa; way better than staying in a hotel with 3 adults and one child.

We booked this hotel through southwest airlines and paid $79 a night. It made me very nervous because to me that was cheap. I had my husband our two kids and grandma and it was great. The grounds were beautiful and the staff was great. Very friendly through the whole stay. I did call ahead and request to be by the lagoon and pool area because of all the comments about the thin walls. There were nights when we heard plenty of banging around from upstairs so be careful of the noise factor. Otherwise it was great and the kids loved it. Nice big rooms with a great kitchen area and the pool area is great.