Briefly discussed this several pages back, but finally tried the Garden Cottages.
No issues or comments on the stairs, they seem normal/fine to me. If they had not been discussed around here I probably wouldn't have had a second thought about them? No, I did not measure them.
They are very cute, if not a bit impractical for some. But a unique way to experience a Disney resort. Ours was one of the ones without a balcony, but upon peering around at others I think we might have liked having one with a balcony better. Not sure though.
Disney couches are often very stiff but the first floor couch was super comfy - great to kick back and watch a game.
Would have sat outside but the outside table/chairs were a little uncomfortable (metal) and our room was next to some sort of exterior vent that gave off a bit of noise. They were doing work on the leisure pool in that area, which also created some construction noise. Talk about a beautiful/well landscaped area though. Just lovely.
We did enjoy having two bathrooms (one full, one half) - made getting up early without bothering the other a little easier.
I didn't find the distance/trek to the lounge bothersome at all, pretty much a non-issue for us. I could see why some don't like it, but for us it was not really different than say, being in a CR Garden Wing suite or AK CL. Or a WL Deluxe room. The only difference being the outside part, which wouldn't be great in inclement weather (the two umbrellas in the room are a nice touch).
I suspect at one point the blinds/drapes on the second floor windows were able to open via electric switch(?), but in my room they were permanently down. Makes the second floor a little dark - more natural light would be better.
Room looked barely used (if used at all) and still smelled new.
Furniture, fixtures, and color scheme were all lovely.
Room was a little "echo'y" - noise seems to bounce around and it's hard to be quiet with all the hard surfaces and open space. Disney's current style of bed frames seem a little prone to creaks.
There were signs posted warning of this but there was a power outage 2am-4am one night. Woke up 3'ish as it was getting a tad warm - wow, with no power/light bleed from the downstairs blinds, it was DARK. Without the HVAC you can oddly hear more extraneous noise than you'd think at that hour.
We received a call from a 407 number a few days in advance welcoming us, in the VM they said to go straight to the room or 4th floor upon arrival. Nothing notable upon check-in in terms of a lobby greeting.
I had not stayed at BWI CL in a bit - probably have to go back to 2019 or so, I think. The renovations are quite nice, both modern and still turn of the century Boardwalk'ish.
The food/beverage offerings were fine/consistent with other CLs, if not maybe a bit pedestrian? I know they don't do the chef station like years ago, seems a shame and lost something that made it unique. In general they sort of seemed 'less interesting' than before? As I don't have a ton of BWI experience I'm not sure if that's a fair comment or not, that's just the feeling we had. They seem to have a problem with some of warming/heating lights - both breakfast and evening we had things that looked good, but were cold/barely warm. In fairness we weren't in the lounge a ton, more just brief in/out periods. So much to do in the area we never really spend all that much time in the Crescent Lake resort CL lounges.
So - Garden Cottages - wouldn't be my first choice, but a fine experience I'd do again in the right circumstances. If those rooms were a little more reliable in terms of a lower cost they'd be more interesting, I think. As is I can pay around the same and get a balcony/view somewhere, which is what often gets our dollars.
Happy to answer any questions!