Originally posted by happy mom of 6
Has anyone ever stayed at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista? If so, how did you like it? How was the pool, restaurants, shuttle service, etc? Thanks!!!!
I stayed there last September. We got it via Priceline for $30 a night. I'm pasting my review from
www.biddingfortravel.com, where you'll find a host of reviews that are very similar to mine. Things I didn't have in my review: the shuttle was fine. No great guns, but it comes every half hour (or hour for AK during off-peak hours). The convenience to DTD is absolutely awsome. Our trips are pretty much centered around Epcot, MGM, TL, and DTD. For that, being on Hotel Plaza Blvd. can't be beat. It took us under fifteen minutes to walk home from Pleasure Island one night, and we felt quite safe doing so.
Also not noted below: there are three restaurants: the main restaurant (serving breakfast buffet, lunch, and I think a limited dinner, plus you can get food inexpensively in the bar area); the Parrakeat (pardon the spelling), which is pre-wrapped food all day (chef salads, bagels, etc); and Toppers. Everyone raved about Toppers, which is on the top floor of this enormous building. It was under renovation, and we never got up there.
Notice what I wrote about the DTD view and corner rooms.
The review:
Good Experience 9/20-26
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Can't add much to the recent reviews, but a little. I'm in total agreement that this was a pleasant experience, for the money. I'm not honestly sure where I'd draw the line, but somewhere in the $60 a night range, give or take, I might look elsewhere.
The negatives: Like most, I found subtle signs of wear on the room itself: a closet door that didn't close right, drywall looking a little sick, a rough carpet, chipped paint, etc. Topper's being closed was a bummer, but I consider that part of going to Disney in September. All in all, the room looked old but well-cleaned.
The positives: the lobby, restaurnt, pool, and bar area, all recently renovated, were quite nice. My opinion of the pool would greatly change if it was a more crowded season. The pool is small for a hotel this size. But with no more than a dozen people poolside, it was fantastic. I was really impressed by the bar and lounge. When sitting by the pool, if it would rain we'd come sit on the couches in the bar area. Reasonble prices for both food and cocktails. The breakfast buffet, at $4.99, looked and smelled awsome, but we were never hungry enough before hitting the parks to try it.
The Priceline Skinny: We ask for, and received, a Dowtown Disney room. We simply asked for a Downtown view per suggestion here, and my wife wanted between floor 8-10. No upcharge, we got room 908. The view of Epcot was fantastic, although we had to lean out a little to see DTD. It took us two days to figure it out, but we also had a view of the Contemporary and Space Mountain. Also, we got in at 11:30 AM and received early entry. I'm assuming we had a suite, as we had the sofa and queen-sized beds. A hint: Ask for an end room (a room on an end of the hall). The balcony looked to be almost twice as big. We loved the balcony.
We were NOT charged the $5 resort fee, although there were signs everywhere saying we would be. Spoke with the manager about this and was told there was a cutoff for Priceline customers, although he didn't know what the date would be. I know I called when I won my bid and was told they did not charge a resort fee. So they're being lenient with those that won bids before the resort fee went into affect. Five bucks isn't all that bad if you use the services it covers. Biggest for us: free local and toll-free calling. We made up the difference there. The said it's hotel policy during value periods to meet reasonable requests (like DTD view), to Priceline customers and others, to encourage them to return.
A side note: I heard horror stories about the aggressive timeshare salesmen at the hotel. It never materialized. We received no phone calls. The lady at the booth called me over once. I explained I had my tickets and would need nothing from her. She wished me a happy trip and left me alone.
All in all, a good experience. We were very happy, FOR THE PRICE WE PAID ($30 per night). Anywhere over $60, I might look elsewhere, but it would be looking for a deal, not because there was anything wrong with the hotel.
