CBR: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[ADisneygirl]

Let me preface this to say that we knew ahead of time there might be some disappointment on our part as far as room location. We had booked 3 months ago for a preferred, N/S location but in the last few weeks we had to shorten our stay. When we got new confirmation papers in the mail it was my fault not to notice that they said "preferred view" now and not preferred location. Called CRO a week before our trip and they confirmed that it was indeed a water view room that we were paying an extra $15 a night for. They said there was nothing else avail. including a standard room and all they could do was put it down as a request to be near OPR now.

We were assigned to Aruba, building 52, second floor. (5262) Room wasn't ready when we arrived at 2:30. We went to OPR and waited, and we got in it at 3:25.

The Good:
*We were at Disney World!
*beautiful walk along the pathway around the lake
*carribean music piped in along the bridge going to OPR
*OPR theme was cute
*could see some of the fireworks from the beach at night
*water mice were fun
*loved the relaxing hammocks

The Bad:
*weren't granted our request to be near OPR
*weren't granted our request for a first floor room (with my 75 yo mother along!)
*weren't put in a N/S building
*the stairs were hard on my mom
*the walk to get to OPR was hard on my mom (so we drove there mostly)
*I felt the buildings reminded me of an apartment complex

The Ugly:
*CM checking us in was unfriendly ~ example: I said, "Hi! How are you today?", she said without cracking a smile, "what's your last name".
*room was badly in need of a refurbishment
*No maid service second day ~ we returned at 4:30 and the room was untouched. Called housekeeping and they said they'd send someone. We went out to get out of the way. Returned to find that all they did was make the bed. They re-hung wet towels (yes), and left no soap, shampoo or tissues. We called back and an hour later some guy brought us a few towels.
*Next day ~ SAME THING! I called housekeeping and asked if we were the forgotten room.

I now know I will never stay at anything but a deluxe with my mom along. She has only been to the Swan, and she missed room service, everything contained in one building or nearby, and larger beds. I told her those things weren't at mods, but I guess seeing is believing. I am glad that we tried CBR, since I do want to say that I've been to them all! It just wasn't really for me. I preferred POFQ among the mods. Since it was recently remodeled it was cleaner and fresher. And it had elevators so it didn't matter what floor you were put on.

Any questions, I'll be glad to answer what I can.

 

[Stitchluver07]

Hello,

I had bad experiences at this hotel as well. The housekeeping did nothing about our towels as well. We had to wait until 12:30 pm for clean towels when we called at 10 one night. We stayed in Jamaica and it was a nice resort however, all I can say is that we won't be staying at this hotel again. I am sorry about your experience as well.

Thanks,
Brittney

 

[ptrbryant]

CBR had just been refurbished about 2 years ago, so I'm always surprised when I see posts that the rooms needed that. Can the guestrooms get trashed that fast?

Karla B.

p.s. I'd just changed my POR reservations in May to CBR, so I'd really like to know if I need to rethink this!

 

[catbertdave99]

We were at CBR this April, and it was in great shape. We were in Martinique 2549. There are some pictures of the room (with all our stuff in it) on the link below.

 

[Gagebre]

Now I'm a bit concerned since I have a "preferred" room booked for our next trip and wouldn't have booked this resort unless I got one. I just pulled out my confirmation and under the Room View section it just says "preferred". I thought the rooms are listed as standard, preferred, or water/pool view. If anyone else knows anything about this please let me know.

 

[tlynk]

Sorry about your experience at CBR. I stayed there a few years ago and thought the CMs were wonderful and the maid service was decent. I do have to agree with you- I thought CBR reminded me of an apartment complex as well. CBR is not my favorite WDW Resort. I'm glad you had a good time at WDW though. Not having a decent maid service while on vacation would be the pits. It sounds like the CBR isn't up to Disney standards anymore.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Let me preface this to say that we knew ahead of time there might be some disappointment on our part as far as room location. We had booked 3 months ago for a preferred, N/S location but in the last few weeks we had to shorten our stay. When we got new confirmation papers in the mail it was my fault not to notice that they said "preferred view" now and not preferred location. Called CRO a week before our trip and they confirmed that it was indeed a water view room that we were paying an extra $15 a night for. They said there was nothing else avail. including a standard room and all they could do was put it down as a request to be near OPR now.

We were assigned to Aruba, building 52, second floor. (5262) Room wasn't ready when we arrived at 2:30. We went to OPR and waited, and we got in it at 3:25.

The Good:
*We were at Disney World!
*beautiful walk along the pathway around the lake
*carribean music piped in along the bridge going to OPR
*OPR theme was cute
*could see some of the fireworks from the beach at night
*water mice were fun
*loved the relaxing hammocks

The Bad:
*weren't granted our request to be near OPR
*weren't granted our request for a first floor room (with my 75 yo mother along!)
*weren't put in a N/S building
*the stairs were hard on my mom
*the walk to get to OPR was hard on my mom (so we drove there mostly)
*I felt the buildings reminded me of an apartment complex

The Ugly:
*CM checking us in was unfriendly ~ example: I said, "Hi! How are you today?", she said without cracking a smile, "what's your last name".
*room was badly in need of a refurbishment
*No maid service second day ~ we returned at 4:30 and the room was untouched. Called housekeeping and they said they'd send someone. We went out to get out of the way. Returned to find that all they did was make the bed. They re-hung wet towels (yes), and left no soap, shampoo or tissues. We called back and an hour later some guy brought us a few towels.
*Next day ~ SAME THING! I called housekeeping and asked if we were the forgotten room.

I now know I will never stay at anything but a deluxe with my mom along. She has only been to the Swan, and she missed room service, everything contained in one building or nearby, and larger beds. I told her those things weren't at mods, but I guess seeing is believing. I am glad that we tried CBR, since I do want to say that I've been to them all! It just wasn't really for me. I preferred POFQ among the mods. Since it was recently remodeled it was cleaner and fresher. And it had elevators so it didn't matter what floor you were put on.

Any questions, I'll be glad to answer what I can.

Gosh, I'm so sorry things didn't go better for you! Especially the maid service and all the walking for your mom... CBR has been one I've been thinking of trying, but I think I'd miss a deluxe too much as well. Hope you can get a chance to go back and stay at the Swan again...those beds are soooo comfortable and things are much more contained.

 

[Buzz2001]

CBR had just been refurbished about 2 years ago, so I'm always surprised when I see posts that the rooms needed that. Can the guestrooms get trashed that fast?

Karla B.

p.s. I'd just changed my POR reservations in May to CBR, so I'd really like to know if I need to rethink this!

With the amount of people that visit the resorts and luggage up against the walls, I'm sure it is easy to scuff and/or scrap new wallpaper or paint. It must be extremely difficult for the resorts to keep on top of this.

 

[safetymom]

I wouldn't blame bad housekeeping as a reason not to stay at CBR. I would call the front desk or manager about it if any problems come up. One housekeeper shouldn't keep anyone from staying at CBR.

I can't imagine the resort needing a refurbishment yet.

 

[ptrbryant]

If we get a room that's truly unacceptable, surely we could be assigned a different one if we explained the situation? And, if worse came to worse, doesn't WDW work with you to find another onsite accomodation? We'll be there in the middle of May, so things may be busy, but not at capacity like during Peak Season (I hope!)

Karla B.

p.s. It wasn't the housekeeping issue as much as the "room badly in need of rebfurbishment" statement that had me concerned.

 

[fran99999]

I think you and I had the same experience with CBR. I had asked for the same things ie n/s, 1st floor (ECV user), near the OPR. I was originally assigned to the last blding out. I refused the room and asked them to call the other hotels for a room that met our needs. The then assigned us a closer room. Funny that 2 rooms were available when I refused the room .
I agree the rooms ( we had 2) were in need of refurbishing. IMO So does the main pool. You must have gotten the same mousekeeping staff I had. I had to call 3 days in a row for clean up. this was when we returned to room at 4-5 pm. I will not be staying at this hotel again. I did not appreciate the beauty of the surrounding as much as I disliked the service I received. Maybe if it were just me it wouldnt have been so bad but with 5 people in 2 rooms to watch it just added two much stress.

 

[LiteBrite]

So does the CBR not have elevators? I was under the impression that POR AB was the only moderate without them.

 

[safetymom]

No elevators at CBR.

The resort was closed in 2002 and reopened for Christmas 2002. So it hasn't been that long since a full refurbishment was done.

 

[Jackie H.]

Now I certainly do not know....but wasn't the refurbishing done on the food court/main building area? Was it done on the entire resort...rooms included? I know the whole resort was closed. But I thought it was because they could not check in and there would be no food available - that along with the business at Disney world was really down then. Like I said, I don't know this for sure...just what I think I remember!

 

[safetymom]

The rooms were done at that time also.

 

[gppnj]

When you think about it, isn't it kind of silly for the moderates to have different room rates based on "view?" When there's no veranda, the so-called view is pretty much a moot point.

By contrast, when you're in a large resort like CBR, the location is much more relevant.

 

[sharibrat]

p.s. I'd just changed my POR reservations in May to CBR, so I'd really like to know if I need to rethink this!

We just stayed there 2 weeks ago and were thrilled with everything! All of our requests were granted, room service was wonderful.....we stayed in Aruba building #55

 

[ADisneygirl]

Let me explain why I thought the room needed to be refurbished. There were many scuff marks all around the walls, not just where luggage might lean. The table had at least three noticeable nicks along the edges and there was crayon scribbled all over the top of it. I think it could have been cleaned off, but then again that would mean actual maid service. The night table was chipped as well. The rug had a few drink stains near the table. I can't believe that this place had a rehab just 2 years ago. I guess people are just really hard on the rooms. Also, the lack of cleaning had an effect on our opinion. Some past guest threw candy wrappers into the front of the air conditioner and everytime we went to turn it on or off we saw them in there. Yuck. If I had a tweezer I could have gotten them out myself pretty easily. In my mothers words, "The room looked shabby".

I agree, I don't think paying extra for a water view is something that should be available at mods. There are no balconies to enjoy the view, and no chairs out on the walkways either.

Gagebre~ I would call if I was you and confirm your location. My initial reservation that I made months ago said "preferred location" and I was willing to pay the $15 a night more to know that my mom wouldn't have long walks to get a bite to eat. Then unexpectedly we had to shorten our vacation by a few days, so I called back and they sent me new confirmation papers. Someone on here told me that the CRO agent must have cancelled my original ressie and made a new one instead of simply modifying my old one with less days. They said that some CM's at CRO want the credit for the booking so they do this underhandedly. I guess there were no preferred locations at the time or they made a boo boo, because they entered "preferred view" instead. I should have caught it sooner, but even then I might have still been out of luck. When I did catch it a week before leaving, I called CRO but there wasn't anything to be done except request a close location.

I brought my original ressie papers showing that I did have a preferred location, but the lady at check in didn't care. She turned the screen to show me that it now said preferred view and that was the end of that.

Overall, we had a good time and made the best of a bad resort pick. I am glad to hear that others have different experiences with CBR. Our vacation stays are going to be unique and our perceptions of places will be our opinions, and that's all. We won't stay there again. If we go to a mod it will be POFQ. But others like CBR, so if it looks good to you, try it out.

 

[anty30]

I am sorry to hear of the bad experiences at CBR. I personally have stayed there many times. I have enjoyed every one of my visits. We stayed in Martinique each time and the kids love the big main pool and our proximity to it. The maid service was fine. As a matter of fact, the last 2 times we stayed there the maids made wonderful towel animals for the kids. Different ones everyday. I was quite impressed. My only complaint is that the food in the foodcourt is horrible. We never eat there. I am happy, however, that there is a mini-market. That is a wonderful convenience. I have recommended CBR to many friends and they all loved it. The only complaint I heard was from an aunt who could not get a preferred room and thought OPR was too far. I would definately stay there again.

 

[sharibrat]

yes, why DON'T they have chairs outiside the rooms to sit and enjoy the view of the lake?? We spent 2 hours each day at the room while DD napped....we took turns on the hammock, but had there been chairs we could have sat outside the room and chatted.

I had read conflicting reviews on CBR when we booked but I loved the beachy/Carribean atmosphere so that is what drew me to it. None of the others seemed to have that. I am fortunate that it turned out well for us.

But now I am a little reluctant to recommend it to others or to stay there again!