Country Inn/Suites Calypso Cay, just back

[Bev J]

We have just returned from 7 days at WDW and stayed at the CI&S Calypso Cay. I had read alot abob ut this hotel on this board, so since we decided not to stay on-site because of no early entry, we thought this hotel looked great. Got a price of $54 a night using valuetrips.
There are 3 couples, adults only, for this trip. We each had a king suite. The suites were nice and clean and had more room than just the 2 of us needed. Large living room with big tv, sofa, chair desk couple of lamps. 'Kitchen' area had dorm size fridge, microwave, coffee maker with coffee supplies (bad coffee, bring your own) No frezzer area but the fridge kept the pop and water nice and cold. large amount of counter space and a cupboard under the microwave.
Bathroom was nice size. 1 sink, plenty of counter space,,plenty of towels. Face and body soap plus pantine shampoo. Now the shower was really wimpy, very low water pressure, not my idea of a good shower in the morning.Small hairdryer, but had lots of power.
Bedroom had king bed with a great mattress, we are used to a firm water bed and this bed was really comfortable with a pillow top. The housekeeper did not know how to make a bed though used only flat sheets and tucked most in at the bottom, leaving the pillow area of the mattress exposed, had to remake the bed several times.
There was a large TV, dresser with 3 drawers , desk, 2 phones, 2 nightstands with lamps and a clock radio. We felt there was not very much storage space for clothes, a very small closet and not much drawer space, but it was enough for the 2 of us, with the kids we would have been living out of suitcases.
As for the noise level. We were on the 3rd floor facing the pool area. At night we could clearly hear the people playing in the pool untill after 11pm. Cheap windows I guess. We could also hear the alarm going off in the room next to us, sometimes 4 times a morning, other than this it was fairly quiet.
The airconditioner was very good, pretty quiet. Room control in bedroom. Housekeeping had an anoying habit of turning it up, so it was stale in the room when we would return.
Front desk people were fine, we prepaid for our room in cash and they overcharged us and had us checking out a day earlier than we were but this was easily corrected, so no big deal.
Breakfast was plenty for us. 4 cereal, fruit(banana, apple, orange)
waffles, french toast, bagles, donut holes, coffee cakes, danish, yogurt(same flavor every day) juice, milk, coffee, teas, hot cocoa.
Also there is coffee/tea/coccoa in the lobby all the time. Also flavored creamers.
Pool area was very nice, swimming pool was used mostly by adults and the kids we saw really were haveing a blast in the other pool the slide was inuse all the time. Hot tub (warmtub) was big enough for about 10 adults so this was fine. Lots of tropical landscaping, palm trees, very nice. Bar was never open. Towels were always out by the pool. Also there is a patio area outside of the breakfast room that had lots of tables and chairs. We ate breakfast here one time but this was a major place for the time share sellers so after this we ate inside. We were never approached to do a time share but did receive info in our room.

Location wise this hotel is great, it never took us more than 10 min to get to any park. We used Osceola parkway mostly, the 50cents it cost was a bargain to avoid the traffic on 535(or6?)
Did not venture into the 192 area, we used the Walgreens on 535 to get pop and water, snacks for our trip. This stuff was very expensive in the hotel, and we really saved by having water for the parks. $2.50 for a 12 pack, what a deal!
Overall this hotel was a bargain and we would stay here again even if the price were higher.
If you have any questions please ask.

 

[lorilori]

Great report; thanks so much! Two questions if I may: how were the laundry facilities if you used them and did you see any pets anywhere? (I'm just not big on seeing animals at hotels.) Thank you!

 

[3kidsdisney]

thank you so much for your review, we will be ther is 2 weeks and can not wait-also interested in the laundry facilities-also how crowded was the hotel??? We also are getting a suite but have 3 children with us. Thanks again for the review ,it was great. Ann

 

[Bev J]

The hotel was not crowded, only busy time was breakfast but there are plenty of tables and food for all. The pool area was never too crowded so your children will enjoy the pool and slides without having to wait for a turn. We overheard 2 different couples asking about room availability since the hotel they were staying at was 'too gross to stay at'. Both were able to get rooms for the remainder of their stay.
We did not use the laundry facilities, I ment to check them out but never had the time.
As to the pet question, yes we saw 1 person with a very small dog but she was holding it all the time. We were never bothered by pet noise.
You will be very happy with your stay at this hotel.

 

[3kidsdisney]

thanks so much for the info, can't wait till we get there!!!!

 

[alde]

I've also written a rather extensive review of this resort as well. I think the only question not to be addressed so far is the laundry facilities.
The condos (not sure about the apts at runaway bay) have washers and driers in the units. The only laundry facility for the hotels (Country Inn and Amerisuites) is in Amerisuites only! This was due to a foul up in the design of the laundry room that was supposed to be in Country Inns. The problem when they designed the room was a lack of proper ventilation, so the room remained undone.
I would imagine something short of a nightmare if two hotels had to rely on 1 laundry room at Amerisuites, not to mention trying to use it during peak hours. Having been armed with that information before our vacation, we took ample enough clothes for the week while we were there and I just hand washed the few things that needed to be washed and set them out on the ironing board by the window. True, elegant living this was not, but it certainly beat the inconvenience and time I would have had to dedicate to using the laundry room. Now, this was in AUg 2002, only a dfew months ago. I would call the hotel an ask if they ever did finish the laundry room in CI&S. The otehr alternative is a public laundry facility on 192. Not sure where it is, but someone posted on the board that is was not too far from Calypso Cay. Hope this helps.

 

[3kidsdisney]

Thanks so much for all the info on this hotel. I plan on calling the hotel before we leave ,just to check on the laundry facilities. But I think I will just pack enough so I won't have to do laundry. Thanks again for all thehelp. Ann

 

[singitalto]

We just returned form this hotel also. Spent 6 nights here. They only thing we didn't like was that the front desk employees were good -but NOT friendly. Don't get me wrong, they werent nasty or anything, but just did their job and that was it. Face it, every time you walked into the hotel you passed the front desk. They NEVER even acknowledged you! Not once, none of them. Beside that, we really liked this hotel. The kids Loved the kidsuite!!!!

 

[Bev J]

I would have to agree about the front desk staff, the evening staff was totally off the job, morning gals were much nicer. But no one ever said have a nice day or anything. But we just brezzed by them most days, said hi and on to the friendly CM's in the parks. Housekeeping was friendly, when we ran into them.

 

[Emme]

I just was reading through this thread and it's so funny...that was one of the very few complaints we had at Amerisuites at Calypso Cay too!

The front desk people weren't rude, just very disinterested...The housekeeping was much nicer and friendlier. It annoyed my DH to no end that whenever we asked them something they were either chatting on the phone or with each other...Oh well, the place was great otherwise!

Emmy