Where to stay in Orlando: the best areas and hotels for families

International Drive, or I-Drive to everyone who's been, is Orlando's tourist main street: a long, palm-lined boulevard of hotels, chain restaurants, minigolf, outlet malls and attractions, with ICON Park's giant observation wheel at its heart and SeaWorld at its southern end. Universal is just to the north, Disney a short drive south down I-4, and the airport is not far away. It's brash, busy and enormously convenient, which is why so many British families come back year after year.

Rosen Plaza puts you right in the middle, across from the Pointe Orlando entertainment complex, and the Castle Hotel, a castle-themed Autograph Collection hotel, is right among the restaurants of I-Drive and Universal Boulevard. Embassy Suites near the Convention Center is all suites, handy for families who need a separate living room, and the Bermuda-styled Hilton Grand Vacations Club sits on 33 acres directly across from SeaWorld. A car still helps: I-Drive is far longer than it looks on the map.

If your family's idea of a holiday is Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and some of the biggest rollercoasters in Florida, stay at Universal. Its resort hotels cluster around Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and the CityWalk dining and nightlife strip, linked by walkways and water taxis, so you can do without a car. Epic Universe, the newest park, sits a short drive south.

The headline trio are Portofino Bay, which recreates an Italian fishing village around a harbour, the rock 'n' roll Hard Rock Hotel and the South Seas-themed Royal Pacific, and all three famously include Universal Express passes for skipping the regular queues. Helios Grand rises above Celestial Park inside Epic Universe itself. Teenagers love it here; under-fives might prefer Disney.

If the whole point of the trip is Mickey, stay with him. Disney's own resorts around Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon put you closest to the Magic Kingdom, and free Disney transport (monorail, boat or bus) means you can skip the car, the car park and the tram. Small legs can head back for a nap at lunchtime and return for the fireworks.

The Contemporary is the icon: a bold A-frame tower with the monorail sliding straight through its middle, and Bay Lake Tower next door for villas with show-stopping views. Wilderness Lodge channels a grand national-park lodge, all timber, totem poles and a huge stone fireplace. Out at Animal Kingdom, Jambo House looks over a savanna where giraffes and zebras wander past the balconies.

It's the priciest way to do Orlando and you'll eat a lot of Disney food. For families with young children, it's also the least stressful.

Lake Buena Vista is Disney's smarter side. Around Crescent Lake, the BoardWalk Villas and Beach Club Villas recreate a turn-of-the-century American seaside, with pastel clapboard, wooden porches and a promenade of bars and restaurants, and Epcot is a short walk away. The Riviera Resort adds Mediterranean glamour and sits on the Skyliner gondola line.

For grown-up luxury, the Waldorf Astoria in Bonnet Creek sits inside the Disney area but feels a world away: a golf course, a serious spa and a Disney shuttle included. Disney Springs, the free-to-enter shopping and dining district, is close by for evenings out. It's expensive, but you get space, villas with kitchens and some of the best hotels in Florida.

Kissimmee is Orlando with the volume up and the prices down. Highway 192 runs east from the Disney gates past a cheerful parade of pancake houses, gift shops, crazy golf and dinner shows, with Old Town's fairground lights at its heart. It isn't pretty, but it's practical, and the parks are rarely more than a short drive away.

Hotels here are built for families on a mission. Expect suites with kitchens, complimentary theme park shuttles and pools that do a lot of heavy lifting. The Gaylord Palms has its own water park, three pools and a spa under a vast glass atrium; holiday clubs like Polynesian Isles give you an oven and a fridge; and the design-led ette hotel proves Kissimmee can do sleek, too.

Head south-west down I-4 and the hotels give way to gated villa resorts, golf courses and old citrus country. Davenport and ChampionsGate are where plenty of British families rent their pool homes, and it's easy to see why: for the price of two hotel rooms near Disney, you can have four bedrooms, a screened pool and a games room.

Resorts like Bahama Bay and Solterra add clubhouse pools, playgrounds and restaurants, while the ChampionsGate homes range from townhouses to nine-bedroom pool villas. Further south, the gated Southern Dunes villas in Haines City come with private screened pools, and Legoland Florida is within easy reach. You will need a car, and the drive to the parks is longer, but the evenings by your own pool are hard to beat.

Central Florida is famously flat, which makes Clermont's rolling hills and chain of glittering lakes a pleasant surprise. It's a real town, with a winery, independent shops and keen cyclists, and it feels a long way from the neon of Highway 192, though Disney is a straightforward drive away.

The headline stay is Summer Bay, a 400-acre resort built around a lake with pools, activities and plenty of room for children to roam. Otherwise it's comfortable, reliable chain hotels with pools and free breakfasts. Choose Clermont if you want to dip into the parks rather than live in them.

North of the city, Sanford, Lake Mary and Altamonte Springs are leafy, business-like suburbs strung along I-4. They're the natural choice if you're flying into Orlando Sanford airport, or if your trip leans towards the Atlantic beaches at Daytona rather than the rollercoasters.

Several hotels offer free airport transport, and the Westin in Lake Mary and the Embassy Suites at Uptown Altamonte add proper pools and restaurants. The theme parks are a good half-hour or more down the motorway, so this works best for a first or last night, or a trip that mixes parks and coast.