My family and I just returned from a Disney vacation where we stayed at the Swan Hotel and the best word to describe our time at the Swan? Disappointing. Perhaps my expectations were too high...to fully give you a sense of my perspective, I am a SPG Gold member who spends over 100 nights a year in hotels (mostly Marriott followed by SPG). I know what good service looks like, and I have high expectations for a Disney property and a "Westin" SPG property. After being treated well at Starwood properties when I travel for business, I expected my family to receive the same service when we traveled for leisure...but this was far from it.
First, to be fair, the good points:
- great pool area. Fun music, attentive pool staff, plenty of chairs and the ability to rent (for free) a life vest for my 4 year old to swim were all appreciated.
- clean and pretty lobby area.
- the Starbucks coffee in the room (for free) was actually very good.
- the Westin shower head was nice after a long day (but don't expect the heavenly bed...)
Now on to the areas of much needed improvement:
- when I checked in, I was told as a Gold member, I received an upgrade to a room with a balcony. I was very appreciative but asked if there was anything facing Epcot so my son could see the fireworks. Nothing was available, so I asked what about facing Hollywood Studios to see their fireworks? The desk attendant, Trip, typed on the computer for a good 7-8 min and finally said "we found something you will like." We were excited but when we got up to the room, we found we were actually DOWNGRADED to facing the front parking lot, and you could see some of HS from the side, which by the way, doesn't have fireworks and there is nothing to see. I called the front desk, was put on hold and no one picked back up. Called back and asked to speak with supervisor, Ashley. I asked if I could move back to the original upgrade with balcony, and she said no. Keep in mind this was at 2:30 in the afternoon, 1 1/2 hrs prior to check-in. According to Ashley, nothing was available, but if we want to move all our stuff half-way through our vacation, we could do that (no thanks). I asked for a voucher for breakfast for the inconvenience and moved on.
- room was dirty. Grout on bathroom floor was black and there was little stubble hairs (from someone shaving) all around the sink.
- there was an older gentleman working as a bell hop that was literally miserable. Wouldn't crack a smile...yea, welcome to Disney.
- come to find that character breakfast at their buffet is only on Sat and Sun. Didn't see that on the website, but no big deal, we went down early Sunday morning prior to going to the parks...but oh by the way, the characters don't join breakfast until 8 am. This wasn't written in any of the materials they give you upon check-in. My son was really disappointed, but the characters did come in a little early so he got to see them right before we left for the Magic Kingdom.
- Mickey waffles at the buffet were stone cold.
- Put up my "Going green" card on the door and never received my $5 voucher.
Worst of all, with all this happening, I asked to be connected to the rooms executive to give my feedback (since I couldn't get anywhere with the front desk) and I didn't get a call back until 2 days later. I was in the parks when she called back (Kai was her name) so I called her at 6 PM when I got back to the room, but she was already gone for the day (I assume since she didn't call back). I got another call the following day from the director of front desk, but by that point, I lost interest in talking with anyone.
Overall, poor service for a Starwood hotel and a Disney property. With so may options available, do yourself a favor, and stay elsewhere. There is no disney magic here, and certainly no Starwood service.