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The grand, turn-of-the-century summer homes of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are recalled in Disney's Yacht Club Resort and Disney's Beach Club Resort, two deluxe-category hotels at Walt Disney World Resort.

Guests can walk or go by tram from the resorts to Epcot, or travel by water taxi to Disney-MGM Studios. Convenient bus service transports guests throughout Walt Disney World Resort.

The luxury club hotels on the shores of 25-acre Crescent Lake are designed by noted architect Robert A.M. Stern, best known for his East Coast seaside homes. The resorts take guests back to the 1890s with fancy-cut shingles, French doors and other post-modern embellishments that are the trademark of Stern's work.

The imagery follows through in Stormalong Bay, a 2 1/2-acre water recreation area reminiscent of a Nantucket beach with a life-size shipwreck with water slides, snorkeling in a sandy lagoon and a meandering swimming area that seemingly flows into the surrounding lake.

There is also a 73,000-square-foot convention center adjacent to the resorts that includes a 36,000-square-foot ballroom capable of seating up to 2,800 for dinner.

Complementing each other, the three-, four- and five-story club hotels nonetheless have distinctive architectural styles. Each hotel has its own entrance motif, main lobby, restaurants and retail shops.

Disney's Beach Club Resort

The pale-blue-and-white "stick-style" Beach Club is "a little bit of this, a little bit of that," said Stern with a smile. Stick style, he explained, was the prevalent architecture for seaside wooden cottages in the 1860s and 1870s, "like grandmother's fabulous beach house -- ceiling fans, chintz, gingham."

The crisp colors open up the hotel's lobby with white wicker furniture, 24-foot-high ceilings, natural French limestone floors and a seashell motif. Cast members are dressed in more casual pastel knickers or dresses.

Restaurants range from an authentic clambake with a rockweed steamer in the 218-seat Cape May Cafe to Martha's Vineyard, a cozy 59-seat lounge featuring a wide variety of wines.

All of the 583 rooms continue the "summer cottage" ambiance with cool colors, a scattering of seashells and French doors to outdoor porches and a white-sand beach.

Both hotels offer child-care facilities and are accessible to handicapped guests.

Stormalong Bay

Guests can splash through three lagoon areas -- including one specifically designed for younger water-lovers, with a depth of 2 to 3 feet.

A spiral stair on board the life-sized shipwreck ascends to a 150-foot mast, broken and askew to serve as a flume plummeting toward a rocky outcropping where another 150 feet of spins complete a fast-moving thrill slide.

Each hotel also features a "quiet pool" in alcoves far removed from Stormalong Bay. There also are motorized watercraft at the resort marina.

A tile-lined, 12-person Jacuzzi, reminiscent of the famous old health spas, is the centerpiece of the 4,750-square-foot Ship Shape Health Club. A steam bath, sauna and massage rooms also are included. A weight room and aerobics room both have staff trained to assist guests.

The centrally located Beaches & Cream old-fashioned ice cream parlour is the place to head after a swim or workout, where guests can order burgers and decadent desserts like banana splits, frozen hot cocoa, floats, shakes and malts.

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