I did not ask for a room preference. Is there one part better than the other. I upgraded to this hotel from the pop when the rates came out last week or so.
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It is not so much that one part is better than another. It is a matter of personal preference.
CSR is really beautiful. But it's a bit spread out. So it's not possible to be in one building that is close to everything. I would recommend deciding what it is important for you to be close to, and at least but some preference in your file. They will do their best to get you what you ask for.
Here is a map of the resort:
http://www.wdwmagic.com/thumbnails/...s/resorts/maps/coronadosprings_resort_map.jpg
CSR is divided into three sections or villages: Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas. Here is a description of them from WDWinfo:
The Casitas village or "Little Houses", has 1024 guest rooms (981 guest rooms and 43 suites) and include buildings similar to those commonly found in Sante Fe or Monterey. The buildings set amidst the colorful plaza, fountains and courtyards are commonly used for the convention accommodations.
The Ranchos have a more rustic, rural flavor to them, complete with an arroyo or small stream that tumbles over a rocky streambed. The 624 guest rooms are housed in two- and three-storey villas.
The Cabanas are 2-storey Mexican-style adobe bungalows with 319 guest rooms. The majority of these rooms have a water view.
I find these descriptions to be fairly accurate. Casitas is a bit metropolitan, but short of being urban. The courtyards are unbelievably beautiful. When we stayed there, we asked for building 4 and got building 3. We wanted to be halfway between El Centro (where the restaurants and guest services are) and the themed pool, and close to a quiet pool. It turned out that building 3 was better for us when we saw how spread out everything is, becuase we wanted to be close to the breakfast cafe (I walked down each morning and brought breakfast to the room for the family). If you stay in buildings 1 or 3, you can walk to El Centro through the buildings and/or under a covered walkway to avoid rain, which was useful to me on several days.
Ranchos is like staying in a beautiful desert resort. Cabanas is more lush and tropical and it surrounds the little part of Lago Dorado (the lake).
There are four bus stops (plus one more at the convention center), so if you decide to use the bus on some days, there is a stop not too far from every building. Each village also has its own quiet pool, making four pools total. There's plenty of parking everywhere, so that's not a consideration.
There are also little carts that run around Lago Dorado that you can hop on to get from one place to another, but sometimes you have to wait a while before one comes by.
Here is a description from MousePlanet of what buildings are close to what features of the resort:
The buildings 1 and 3 (casitas) and 9B (cabanas) are closest to the main resort buildings where the convention center, restaurants, front desk, sundries shop, and main bus stop are located.
Buildings 2 and 4 (casitas) wrap around Health Club and Beauty Salon and the casitas Quiet Pool area.
Buildings 4, 7B, 8A, and 8B are pretty good compromise locations if quiet pool and bus stop proximity are prime considerations.
Buildings 5, 8A, and 9B are all close to the feature pool area.
If I had to pick a single building to recommend based on location, I would go with 9B because it is close to the main building, the feature pool, the marina, and just a bit of a walk to the main bus stop.
9B seems to be a popular building. If you pick that, I'd give an alternate, because it may be more difficult to get. Even better than specifying a building is to be as general as possible, like "close to the feature pool", or "in Cabana as close to El Centro as possible", or whatever. You get the idea.
So, my advice is to look at the map, decide what's important to you, then call WDW central reservations and say you want to add a room preference note to your reservation. Then when your reservation is sent down to the hotel for room assignment, they will do their best to accomodate.
