Took our Girl Scouts here on a recent trip. We enjoyed our time at the Botanical Gardens including the butterfly house and Japanese Gardens. The Japanese Gardens has a small fee for adults but everything else was free. There is also a free tram you can use to get to different areas. The gardens were enjoyable and the staff was friendly and helpful!
Arbor Suites at the Mall was definitely a good value. Our Girl Scout troop stayed here on a weekend trip. We selected this hotel because they had better options for larger groups. The breakfast was better than the ordinary continental breakfast because it included sausage gravy, biscuits, muffins, cereal, waffles and french toast. The staff was courteous and helpful but the room keys had to be programmed for our rooms several times. The rooms and pool were decent.
Our Girls Scouts loved the view and historic factor.