Garden Wing does have a following of fans - those that enjoy it often cite the peace/quiet, easy parking (if you drive), not having to deal with the Tower elevators, and some (although certainly not all) rooms have pretty nice views of the waterway or lake. I don’t love that the second and third floors don’t have balconies - non issue for some of course. You can take the stairs easily but the elevators in the Garden Wing are pretty small and slow if you need them.
This is pretty much our experience too. The tower's price point has always been too high on dates we've gone, but we've been able to swing GW rooms.We have stayed in the Garden Wing and really loved it. At first I was not thrilled with being on the first floor, but having the patio with chairs was great. If we had neighbors, we never knew it. It was very quiet and relaxing. The walk to the tower is very easy as well as the walk to the buses. The restaurants there were all great as well as the lounge. Hopefully we will be able to stay there again.