Hey All,
I just got back on late Saturday evening, should have been Saturday afternoon but that's jetBlue's issue and they more than took care of me for the inconvenience.
I just wanted to write a quick review of the hotel.
First impressions not too bad, not great, but not bad.
The lobby, overall room, overall location and property were clean and perfectly acceptable.
The room, the room itself was nice, bedding seemed newer, blankets could be replaced with nicer linens but you could tell they were trying by wrapping the old blanket in between two sheets, headboards seemed new, carpet was clean and the TV was new, HD set, no HD service though and what appeared to be the hotel's information channel didn't quite work right. To my surprise there was a refrigerator in the room which was a nice surprise.
The bad about the room, well #1 the signs all say lock up your valuables in the in room safe, well I couldn't find one if there was one. I had a rental car anyhow and not many valuable things with me anyhow but usually I will lock up credit cards and cash I don't need that day so that was a let down, second the bathroom, based on what the beds and rest of the decor looked like it felt like I was staying at 2 separate hotels. The bathroom was severely dated, looked like I stepped into the 1970's or early 80's cheap cheap counter top, sink, fixtures, the old fashioned heat lamp type deal in the ceiling instead of an exhaust fan, the bathroom was overall clean but the exhaust fan in the shower/bath was completely clogged with dust, there was also hair from a previous guest stuck to the ceiling. I figured maybe it was just a day the maid was rushed so I waited all week to see if it went away but nope was still there. There was also some what appeared to be mold or spots on the ceiling where the popcorn had fallen off or was hit by furniture at some point and never repaired. The best was the door to the balcony, I know if I had children I would have freaked out since I was on the 17th floor but the handle on the door was broken a long time ago and maintenance made themselves a make shift door lock with some sort of gate lock, the door locked but still.
My biggest complaint was some of the staff and the bus service.
The valet, he was downright rude, I didn't want to valet park my car, my god the lot was 20' from the door, just go away. The creepy guy who they have try and sell you some visit to another property and I could barely understand and felt like I was being sold something by a russian mobster, not cool, give me a flyer or whatever but seriously?????? So annoying I just spent the last 6 hours traveling and dealing with airports, and being violated by the TSA and rental cars and so on, bug off. At least the DVC people aren't all in your face, ugh. Totally turned off and I barely just checked in.Finally their in house cafe, quick service place, went down one morning to get breakfast and there was no one there to help you, waited for a few while and finally gave up on it.
Finally the bus service was all over the place, the drivers sometimes took different routes, never showed up when they said they were and some were just plain rude, not helpful and just stunk. I guess if I had an AP and could just drive and park at the parks for free the hotel would be 1000% better but without that option and not wanting to pay $15 to park at the parks it was a killer to get there. Morning rides in where usually a safe bet but the middle of the day was nightmare, I ended up more than once parking at DTD and taking a bus anywhere from there to get where I was going and that was usually faster than the Downtown Disney buses. So that was the biggest knock against the resort was the bus service, if that had been better I would recommend the resort with no reservations, other wise I would only recommend the resort if you have a car and don't mind paying for the parking at the parks, $15 a day would be cheaper to stay at a Disney Value resort, or if you have an AP or other free parking.
I just got back on late Saturday evening, should have been Saturday afternoon but that's jetBlue's issue and they more than took care of me for the inconvenience.
I just wanted to write a quick review of the hotel.
First impressions not too bad, not great, but not bad.
The lobby, overall room, overall location and property were clean and perfectly acceptable.
The room, the room itself was nice, bedding seemed newer, blankets could be replaced with nicer linens but you could tell they were trying by wrapping the old blanket in between two sheets, headboards seemed new, carpet was clean and the TV was new, HD set, no HD service though and what appeared to be the hotel's information channel didn't quite work right. To my surprise there was a refrigerator in the room which was a nice surprise.
The bad about the room, well #1 the signs all say lock up your valuables in the in room safe, well I couldn't find one if there was one. I had a rental car anyhow and not many valuable things with me anyhow but usually I will lock up credit cards and cash I don't need that day so that was a let down, second the bathroom, based on what the beds and rest of the decor looked like it felt like I was staying at 2 separate hotels. The bathroom was severely dated, looked like I stepped into the 1970's or early 80's cheap cheap counter top, sink, fixtures, the old fashioned heat lamp type deal in the ceiling instead of an exhaust fan, the bathroom was overall clean but the exhaust fan in the shower/bath was completely clogged with dust, there was also hair from a previous guest stuck to the ceiling. I figured maybe it was just a day the maid was rushed so I waited all week to see if it went away but nope was still there. There was also some what appeared to be mold or spots on the ceiling where the popcorn had fallen off or was hit by furniture at some point and never repaired. The best was the door to the balcony, I know if I had children I would have freaked out since I was on the 17th floor but the handle on the door was broken a long time ago and maintenance made themselves a make shift door lock with some sort of gate lock, the door locked but still.
My biggest complaint was some of the staff and the bus service.
The valet, he was downright rude, I didn't want to valet park my car, my god the lot was 20' from the door, just go away. The creepy guy who they have try and sell you some visit to another property and I could barely understand and felt like I was being sold something by a russian mobster, not cool, give me a flyer or whatever but seriously?????? So annoying I just spent the last 6 hours traveling and dealing with airports, and being violated by the TSA and rental cars and so on, bug off. At least the DVC people aren't all in your face, ugh. Totally turned off and I barely just checked in.Finally their in house cafe, quick service place, went down one morning to get breakfast and there was no one there to help you, waited for a few while and finally gave up on it.
Finally the bus service was all over the place, the drivers sometimes took different routes, never showed up when they said they were and some were just plain rude, not helpful and just stunk. I guess if I had an AP and could just drive and park at the parks for free the hotel would be 1000% better but without that option and not wanting to pay $15 to park at the parks it was a killer to get there. Morning rides in where usually a safe bet but the middle of the day was nightmare, I ended up more than once parking at DTD and taking a bus anywhere from there to get where I was going and that was usually faster than the Downtown Disney buses. So that was the biggest knock against the resort was the bus service, if that had been better I would recommend the resort with no reservations, other wise I would only recommend the resort if you have a car and don't mind paying for the parking at the parks, $15 a day would be cheaper to stay at a Disney Value resort, or if you have an AP or other free parking.
