Dolphin for $65 per night

[jacksonheel]

I just booked the Dolphin for $65 per night from August 14-19 on Hotwire. With Hotwire, you can pretty much assure which hotel you will get, because it shows you the hotel's amenities. For the Dolphin, it is a 4* hotel, with dining, swimming, fitness, business access, golf, tennis and laundry (there are icons for each of these activities). I believe that it is the only hotel in the WDW vicinity with these characteristics (although I can't guarantee it). I had a reservation at the nurse rate, but have checked for the past couple weeks for the Dolphin to come up on Hotwire. It finally did today, and I was able to cut my cost in half.

Needless to say, I can use the $300+ dollars I saved!!

jacksonheel

[Mouseteacher]

Good for you - I have stayed at both Swan (just returned) and Dolphin. I positively adore these resorts! I hope you enjoy your Dolphin stay - do ask for a comp upgrade, lots of PD floats around the S/D. :)

[rlduvall]

Did you happen to read the customer reviews for the property? For our dates 9/27/03 to 10/1/03 a 4+ star property is coming up at $73.00 a night. It indicates all the icons you mentioned, plus a spa. It was listed as a "Customer Favorite" and one review said it was within walking distance of Downtown Disney. Is the Dolphin that close? I don't want to get stuck with the Wyndham Downtown Disney resort. I have heard bad things about it, but $73.00 if it's the Dolphin is incredible. Thanks.

Edited: Never mind. I ran your dates and saw the rate you are talking about. It is different from the one I see. Probably the one I am getting is the Wyndam. I don't think Dolphin is that close to DTD.

[seashoreCM]

When bidding on resorts as opposed to regular hotels, beware of daily resort fees that are sometimes not included in the bid rate. Also some resorts charge extra for parking.This could make the net rate higher than booking directly with the property.

I don't know of any instance where a guest said he wasn't going to use the amenities that the resort fee supposedly covered and argued that the property should either honor just the bid rate or give a full refund.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

[williamsle]

I believe the 4* property with the Spa icon in the WDW zone is the Wyndham across from Downtown Disney.

[paultxrn]

Sent a PM.

[jeffreyml]

Looks like the Dolphin is coming up quite regularly on Hotwire as I'm typing this post.

I Punched in dates 8/2-8/17 and a hotel which I believe is the Dolphin comes up for $65 a night.. Amenities are : Resturants, Swimming, Fittness center, Buisness Center, Golfing, Tennis, Laundry services.

After checking Biddingfortravel.com it looks like a few people have received this hotel through Priceline in the last few days..

Good luck!!!!!

[Sammy]

Ressies must be down for the Swan/Dolphin for August because I just received an email to get these hotels at a special rate of $99/night Aug. 28 to Sept 9. Need to use the code LABOR. That plus coming up on Hotwire/PL.....

Wish we could use any of these, but our trip isnt' until late November.

[x5x5x5x5x5]

Wow - that's an awesome rate! Good for you! A couple of things to consider: I believe Starwood runs Swan and Dolphin so you might want to join the Starwood Preferred Guest program (I think that's the official name). It's free and you may get some upgrades or freebies with the card. If you are interested I'd sign up today b/c it may take a couple weeks to get the card (although you get your number immediately I think). www.starwood.com

Just a note - because you booked on hotwire they may not give you "points" or "credits" for your stay; however, it's worth a try to get some of the goodies that come along with membership. One time I got a discounted rate at the Marriott in Downtown Disney so I signed up for the Marriott rewards program. Even though the small print said I wouldn't get any "credit" on the Marriott rewards program for the stay, I got to check in at a different (and much quicker) desk than non-members - and they gave me a really high room with an awesome view.

They will probably charge you a 8-10 dollar a night "resort fee." If I recall correctly, when I stayed at the Swan a couple of years ago - I asked for the fee (I think at check-in) to be removed because I didn't want the use of the amenities it provided me. (I think a newspaper and coffee or something). I think they ended up not charging me - could be wrong - but in any case it's something to think about. Have fun!!

[madge]

They will probably charge you a 8-10 dollar a night "resort fee." If I recall correctly, when I stayed at the Swan a couple of years ago - I asked for the fee (I think at check-in) to be removed because I didn't want the use of the amenities it provided me. (I think a newspaper and coffee or something). I think they ended up not charging me - could be wrong - but in any case it's something to think about. Have fun!!

they don't remove the charge anymore, from what I understand...

joining Starwood is a great idea! I dn't think you will earn points for the stay, but you might get some other perks :)

[jacksonheel]

Thanks for the advice about Starwoods. I got the Starwoods AmEx a while ago, and used it to upgrade my spg membership to Gold. That should get me a free upgrade on my room.

I know about the resort fee. It doesn't really bother me, seeing that I would have had to still pay it at my prior room rate of 129.

[Muffy]

Thanks for the info on Hotwire! It's great news that the dolphin is coming up again! I noticed it is coming up on priceline too for Aug.

[Sunshine2U]

Today, a friend got Dolphin through Priceline at $60 for this Saturday night. They just needed one night.

[jjflash]

A HUGE THANK YOU to the folks on this board for all of the helpful info. I'm planning a birthday weekend for my girlfriend in mid August and had originally booked BWI using FL resident disc...then after finding this board, switched to recipe club at the Swan which I thought was a fantastic deal UNTIL JUST NOW when I booked the hotwire Dolphin deal for $65:) ;) :) Thanks again!


flash

[Meeko1]

You guys are all so lucky! That is awesome! I'm going Aug. 9-12 and I can't get that rate. It comes up $67 for a 4 star and no laundry icon. Congratulations to all of you! Anybody know what hotel that is? Thanks everyone!

[Pkdcoastrs]

We booked August 11 - August 15th for $65.00 ! Only 10 days until I'm down in Florida!!!!! This is the first time where I didn't know about the trip months in advance, so it's weird to only have a little over the week to plan whatever.

[4our4kids]

I booked 3 rooms, Aug. 16th and 17th, through Hotwire and got the Dolphin! Thanks for posting the info on it! I have never booked a hotel room on line, let alone, an "unknown" hotel!

The $$ saved justifies a move prior to our 7nt FTP!!

[Nicsmom]

I just signed up for Hotwire. How does this work? Is there a way to guarantee that you will get the Swan/Dolphin? If not, what are the odds that you'll get the S/D? What are the other hotels that most people get if they don't get the S/D? I need 3 rooms. Will this make it more difficult to get the S/D? What icons should I look for? Thanks!

[jacksonheel]

Unfortunately, there is no way to guaranty that you will get a particular hotel using priceline or hotwire. That is why they are cheaper. With hotwire, however, you can have a pretty good guess as to which hotel you will receive. So, if the hotel comes up the amenities I described in my original post (no more and no less), you have a very good chance of getting the Dolphin. I don't think any other 4* hotels on hotwire for WDW area have these exact amenities. If the hotel shown has additional amenities, or even one of them does not appear, it is not the Dolphin.

One way to check out what hotel has what amenity is to review packages for the days you want to travel. With this feature, you are shown the hotels by name and with the star rating and amenities. By then looking at hotels only, you can match up the amenities with the hotels pretty easily. I don't know if this always works, but it has for me. With priceline, you cannot tell what hotel you will get. However, you will usually pay a little less on priceline. For information about both priceline and hotwire, go to biddingfortravel.com. That is where I figured out how to do this. Plus, it has a pretty good list of the hotels that will show up on priceline.

jacksonheel

[Pkdcoastrs]

Originally posted by Nicsmom
I just signed up for Hotwire. How does this work? Is there a way to guarantee that you will get the Swan/Dolphin? If not, what are the odds that you'll get the S/D? What are the other hotels that most people get if they don't get the S/D? I need 3 rooms. Will this make it more difficult to get the S/D? What icons should I look for? Thanks!

Go to the first response in this post and look at the different amenities that must match up for you to get the Dolphin! Also if the hotel is 4*, then it is 99% likely to be hte Dolphin!

Just go through and I think you'll get the Dolphin. Don't awit too long or the rate could go bye-bye

[sherry8253]

All of you recent hotwire users - correct me if I am wrong but I think both the S & D also come up as a 'resort' and not a 'hotel.' They may have changed this since I booked my Nov/Dec trip a few months ago but I am certain it was listed as a resort then. Good luck to all trying for the S or D on hotwire or priceline.