Hello all! We just returned yesterday from an 8 day vacation at the Doubletree Suites at DTD, and as promised here is my review. The hotel is one of the better Orlando/WDW hotels we have stayed in and I have stayed in many both off and onsite. The only other hotel I really enjoyed as much is Portofino Bay at Universal.
Cleanliness: The last few years I have found WDW Mousekeeping to be lacking. Whether deluxe or moderate, our hotel rooms were never very clean. I am a germaphobe and clean-freak when it comes to hotels and all I can say is the housekeeping staff at DTS is to be commended for outstanding service and cleaniness. Rooms were immaculately cleaned every day, we received extra towels just by leaving a note request and they were very pleasant on all levels. All the staff we encountered, either front desk, wait staff in the restaurant or by the pool, or concierge for tickets, were above and beyond professional and pleasant.
Rooms: As everyone has mentioned before, the pictures you see on the hotel's website are exactly what you encounter in real life. The two room suites are excellent. The double beds are so comfortable and the bedroom/bathroom area alone seems much bigger than a moderate room at Disney. The bath has one sink (which was fine for the 3 of us) but also has much counterspace. The shower water pressure was excellent and immediately hot and had that curved shower rod which gives more elbow room. Outside the bath there is a large closet with separate real hair dryer (not the small built in kind) and safe, ironing board and iron, and large mirror and table. It's a big enough area to serve as a dressing area. The living room/kitchenette area is great with the pull-out queen sofa, chair, tv and table with 4 chairs. The fridge is a good size one, bigger than Disney's and you can easily fit 3 half gallon size drinks on the bottom rung of the door. It also has a very small freezer. The sink is small but very servicable and there is a microwave and coffeemaker. The suite was perfect, and the two tv's were very helpful.
Pool: There is a small landscaped pool that never seemed to be crowded. It was perfect sized with a smaller kiddie pool that had a fountain in the middle and a hot tub. There is also a pool-side bar that serves excellent Margaritas and also food. There is a small exercise room and also a small video game room. We used the pool several times during the week and it was great, also my husband and 4 year old used the game room and they enjoyed it.
Restaurant: We booked a Mousesavers special that included continental breakfast for 4 (2 adults and 2 children) for $109 per night, and we went to breakfast every morning. It opens at 6:30 a.m., and being early risers, we would usually got there by 7 a.m. when it was quiet and most people were still in their rooms. Self-serve breakfast included: cold cereal (many different kinds in small boxes); fruit - cantalope, honeydew, pineapple, bananas, apples, oranges; hot cereals (oatmeal-type) with brown sugar or dried fruit toppings; all types of pastries - Krispy Kreme-like donuts, cinnamon rolls, muffins, bagels, danish of all sorts, and various breads for toasting. We got a carafe of coffee every morning and our little guy got milk (they have chocolate, regular, skim, 1%). There is also orange juice. As mentioned before, the wait staff was excellent and attentive, and by the third day were expecting us. You can also order hot items, but I think that was an additional $7 or so. The food was all you could eat and we saw many people come in and fill up white containers to bring back to their rooms, but we preferred to sit and eat. We ate more than enough for breakfast every day.
Transportation: We did rent a car, because we got a great last minute special through Alamo for $159 for the week for a compact car. Since we went to Aquatica, it came in very handy. However we only used the car once to go to MK - we went to the Pirate and Princess Party on Memorial Day (which was great) and we wanted to drive back since it would be a late night instead of using the bus. Other than that we used the bus transportation to the parks every day (and lugged a stroller with us - probably for the last time) and found it to be fine. It starts picking up at the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and I would advise to get the first bus to the parks. The bus services 3 hotels (the Hilton, Royal Plaza and Doubletree) and the first bus was never crowded - we always got a seat. After that, the buses tend to fill. The bus comes every half hour and one bus services MK and AK, and another goes to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. So if you use the bus to the Animal Kingdom, just remember it goes to the Magic Kingdom first so it might take a few minutes longer. The return buses were fine, just the MK bus picks up at the Ticket and Transportation area, so also keep that in mind. We thought the bus transportation was very good and it also saved us $11 a day. The bus drivers were also great and very courteous.
Overall I would definitely give the Doubletree a 9 out of 10 and would definitely go back when we next visit Disney. Since we tend to alternate years staying at Universal then Disney, our next trip might be to Universal, but maybe we will split it with a few days at DTS.
Any questions, feel free. I may have missed something somewhere. Thanks to all who contributed great insight and opinions that helped make our stay enjoyable and informed.
Cleanliness: The last few years I have found WDW Mousekeeping to be lacking. Whether deluxe or moderate, our hotel rooms were never very clean. I am a germaphobe and clean-freak when it comes to hotels and all I can say is the housekeeping staff at DTS is to be commended for outstanding service and cleaniness. Rooms were immaculately cleaned every day, we received extra towels just by leaving a note request and they were very pleasant on all levels. All the staff we encountered, either front desk, wait staff in the restaurant or by the pool, or concierge for tickets, were above and beyond professional and pleasant.
Rooms: As everyone has mentioned before, the pictures you see on the hotel's website are exactly what you encounter in real life. The two room suites are excellent. The double beds are so comfortable and the bedroom/bathroom area alone seems much bigger than a moderate room at Disney. The bath has one sink (which was fine for the 3 of us) but also has much counterspace. The shower water pressure was excellent and immediately hot and had that curved shower rod which gives more elbow room. Outside the bath there is a large closet with separate real hair dryer (not the small built in kind) and safe, ironing board and iron, and large mirror and table. It's a big enough area to serve as a dressing area. The living room/kitchenette area is great with the pull-out queen sofa, chair, tv and table with 4 chairs. The fridge is a good size one, bigger than Disney's and you can easily fit 3 half gallon size drinks on the bottom rung of the door. It also has a very small freezer. The sink is small but very servicable and there is a microwave and coffeemaker. The suite was perfect, and the two tv's were very helpful.
Pool: There is a small landscaped pool that never seemed to be crowded. It was perfect sized with a smaller kiddie pool that had a fountain in the middle and a hot tub. There is also a pool-side bar that serves excellent Margaritas and also food. There is a small exercise room and also a small video game room. We used the pool several times during the week and it was great, also my husband and 4 year old used the game room and they enjoyed it.
Restaurant: We booked a Mousesavers special that included continental breakfast for 4 (2 adults and 2 children) for $109 per night, and we went to breakfast every morning. It opens at 6:30 a.m., and being early risers, we would usually got there by 7 a.m. when it was quiet and most people were still in their rooms. Self-serve breakfast included: cold cereal (many different kinds in small boxes); fruit - cantalope, honeydew, pineapple, bananas, apples, oranges; hot cereals (oatmeal-type) with brown sugar or dried fruit toppings; all types of pastries - Krispy Kreme-like donuts, cinnamon rolls, muffins, bagels, danish of all sorts, and various breads for toasting. We got a carafe of coffee every morning and our little guy got milk (they have chocolate, regular, skim, 1%). There is also orange juice. As mentioned before, the wait staff was excellent and attentive, and by the third day were expecting us. You can also order hot items, but I think that was an additional $7 or so. The food was all you could eat and we saw many people come in and fill up white containers to bring back to their rooms, but we preferred to sit and eat. We ate more than enough for breakfast every day.
Transportation: We did rent a car, because we got a great last minute special through Alamo for $159 for the week for a compact car. Since we went to Aquatica, it came in very handy. However we only used the car once to go to MK - we went to the Pirate and Princess Party on Memorial Day (which was great) and we wanted to drive back since it would be a late night instead of using the bus. Other than that we used the bus transportation to the parks every day (and lugged a stroller with us - probably for the last time) and found it to be fine. It starts picking up at the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and I would advise to get the first bus to the parks. The bus services 3 hotels (the Hilton, Royal Plaza and Doubletree) and the first bus was never crowded - we always got a seat. After that, the buses tend to fill. The bus comes every half hour and one bus services MK and AK, and another goes to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. So if you use the bus to the Animal Kingdom, just remember it goes to the Magic Kingdom first so it might take a few minutes longer. The return buses were fine, just the MK bus picks up at the Ticket and Transportation area, so also keep that in mind. We thought the bus transportation was very good and it also saved us $11 a day. The bus drivers were also great and very courteous.
Overall I would definitely give the Doubletree a 9 out of 10 and would definitely go back when we next visit Disney. Since we tend to alternate years staying at Universal then Disney, our next trip might be to Universal, but maybe we will split it with a few days at DTS.
Any questions, feel free. I may have missed something somewhere. Thanks to all who contributed great insight and opinions that helped make our stay enjoyable and informed.
Also can you give me info on the layout of the bathroom area. Is the sink/counter area seperate from the tub/shower toilet area? I know that it sounds weird to be asking - but ----
