Review Gaylord Palms-Ridiculous

[kandb]

I was going to book a few night stay before our stay at embassy suites but the add ons are ridiculous. OK, I can understand parking fee, resort fee, tax but if we want a roll-away, it's $30 per night extra. Come on, after a while it just feels like price gouging(?). With the "extra add-ons" it comes to around $100 a night extra. It just aggrevated me with the roll-away that I decided we won't stay there.

 

[maxiesmom]

If I'm not mistaken Disney has started to charge for roll-aways as well. I know many places do. I do agree thought that the whole "fee" thing is out of hand. I hate having to read all of the fine print to see if there is a parking fee or a shuttle fee or whatever fee they can think of.

 

[tripplanner2]

I think you answered my question. I was curious what type of fees they charged. Like if they charged for parking and a resort fee. Surprised that the parking fee is not included in the resort fee.

 

[pigletto]

It bugs me too. Just tell me what I'm paying darn it.

 

[Dsnyfireman]

Ok what the hell is a resort fee? Isn't that what you pay for when you pay the nightly rate? Then the added fee for everything else, why not just charge a little more per night and stop all the extra fees?!? We went by that place on the magical express bus and wondered how much it cost, now I know! And people say staying on site is expensive! LOL!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Ok what the hell is a resort fee? Isn't that what you pay for when you pay the nightly rate? Then the added fee for everything else, why not just charge a little more per night and stop all the extra fees?!? We went by that place on the magical express bus and wondered how much it cost, now I know! And people say staying on site is expensive! LOL!!

Disclaimer: I am no fan of resort fees. They annoy me to no end.

That said, Gaylord Palms is not even on the same platform as a Disney resort. Have you ever seen their atrium? Its incredible. Their facilities make those at the Disney values and moderates look paltry in comparison (and even far exceed the Disney deluxes, IMHO). Yes, Disney properties have their draw, but Gaylord Palms is much, much more upscale. Its a beautiful property and I would stay there in a heartbeat, resort fee or not. After visiting there this past Christmas for ICE! and the Shrek Feast, we tried to get a room reservation for our August trip but they were sold out during our dates for a conference.

 

[tripplanner2]

My problem is I want to know what the room costs. They are advertising $144 per night but if I have to add $25 per night resort fee and another $10 per night for parking, it puts me into another bracket. I just don't like surprises. But I have heard it is an amazing property.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I think you answered my question. I was curious what type of fees they charged. Like if they charged for parking and a resort fee. Surprised that the parking fee is not included in the resort fee.

I actually prefer most fees be broken down into separate categories. It would make more sense for basic resort fees to be included in the room rate. Other fees such as parking, shuttle, etc. should only be charged to those who use them. If the base rate is low for the type of hotel, I don't mind them charging fees. I would prefer WDW do they same thing. I prefer to not pay for services I don't use.

 

[4kids4karen]

My problem is I want to know what the room costs. They are advertising $144 per night but if I have to add $25 per night resort fee and another $10 per night for parking, it puts me into another bracket. I just don't like surprises. But I have heard it is an amazing property.

Every time we have stayed at the Gaylord Palms, we have paid less than $100 per night with the military discount. Gaylord Palms is not charging anything that other hotels do not charge. When we stay at Shades of Green, we also had to pay a parking garage fee to park in their garage. When I stayed in New Orleans, I had to pay the public parking garage fee next door to our hotel. The hotel only offered valet parking. I understand that not all hotels charge parking fees, but depending on the hotel and location, it is not uncommon. I have learned how to ask the right questions in advance to ensure I understand all of the additional fees.

Sidenote: I have four kids, and not once have we asked for a roll-away bed. I guess I didn't even consider that an option. We always booked rooms with enough beds for all of us, even if that means two rooms. Now that you mention it, one of my friends did stay on Disney property once at one of the deluxe resort and asked for a roll-away bed. She posted on FB that it came covered in ants!

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

At $30/night for a roll-away, someone gets to sleep on the floor!

The fee seems pretty legit to me considering someone has to move that bed to and from your room, include it in housekeeping, and then have a storage location when not in use.

My parents' logic was that if kids will sleep on the floor happily during a slumber party and at camp, then they can learn to be happy sleeping on the floor during a vacation too. We always just put the comforter on the floor and used a sleeping bag from home or the extra bed blanket if we were traveling unexpectedly. I know how hard my parents worked to take us on the vacations we went on and I can't ever imagine asking or expecting them to pay $30/night for a proper bed for me.

And the parking fee makes sense too. WDW resorts charge one inclusive fee for either using the ME or taking up a parking spot. Then you can either use your inclusive fee to use the transportation system, or use a spot at one of the parks' parking lots. If a non-WDW hotel doesn't provide an equal service for those with or without cars, it makes sense to charge a user fee for the one using the service.

Not everyone uses the internet or equivalent amounts of data while on vacation. I have no desire to be paying for other people to be streaming videos when I only want to check the weather and wait times app. I will gladly pay for an extra gigabyte on my phone plan that month than participate in the massive network building going on in many resorts to satisfy the cravings of Netflix users.

 

[asmit4]

Where are you finding 144/night? Do tell!

 

[sandyandcalvin]

My husband Cal and I stayed at Gaylord back in 2003. It just wasn't our style and was really to far from Disney to satisfy all of our trip needs. We spent more time shleping back and forth More trouble than it was worth, we prefer to stay @ Disney and use the bus transportation. No hassle!

 

[Cira]

I have been staying at the Gaylord every year, during the holidays for about 1-3 nights. We treat ourselves to Villa D'Flor (I think it's called). LOVE IT! The parking fee has gotten ridiculously high (for one). In general, you are paying more for the ambience. We see Gaylord as us "splurging" and treating ourselves during the holidays. HOWEVER, since it became a Marriott hotel (and I LOVE MARRIOTTs), they have downsized in their decorations and general atmosphere, which I have written to them about. Gaylord is a splurge. Beautiful surroundings, nice and peaceful. It's a pain to leave the place and come back, then again, it has almost everything you would need without leaving. There is aWalgreens in the corner of the property that you might almost walk to if you needed to. Their gift shop, like most in resort hotels, is expensive. I would recommend it in general.
I have NEVER found a room there for less than $149, and that is w/o the resort fee and parking. You will leave there and have hopefully made some real nice memories.

 

[BeachPrincess]

We are passholders and Florida residents and go down for the holidays every year, at different times, depending on our schedules. We usually go before Christmas but this year it has worked out that we are going down on the 26th and departing the 31st. Best rate we could get at a Disney resort was the Sports for $175/night which to me is outrageous for a value resort, but it's Christmas. I just got an e-mail from the Gaylord Palms regarding their 20% off special and can actually get a room there, including the resort fee, less than the Sports. I have stayed at the Gaylord before and know how spectacular it is but I also know how Disney is during the holidays and not sure I will like having to drive myself over - I do love the Disney buses. One year when we were there on Christmas day staying offsite, we sat in traffic trying to get into the MK and it was horrible! Does anyone have any experience with the Disney transporation at the Gaylord during the holidays??? Trying to decide whether or not to switch over. Transportation, and convenience, is the deciding factor here.

 

[ArwenMarie]

As long as I know what the fees are before I lock in a reservation, I don't mind it. You're paying for those things at Disney too, they are just rolling it into the price.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Ok what the hell is a resort fee? Isn't that what you pay for when you pay the nightly rate? Then the added fee for everything else, why not just charge a little more per night and stop all the extra fees?!? We went by that place on the magical express bus and wondered how much it cost, now I know! And people say staying on site is expensive! LOL!!

Well, you don't (or shouldn't) pay hotel or sales tax on the resort fee. Since it's not the charge for the room, the hotel doesn't. So that's a $3.25 per night saving.

 

[Miumiu4me]

We went to Ice! yesterday with our toddler . It was way too much money for what you get. We walked around Gaylord for awhile afterwards and had lunch. We haven't been there since 2011 and we noticed that the restaurant prices have dramatically risen since then. The resort is lovely, but the amount of decorations/shows they have had has decreased since 2011. Meh.

 

[happy2012]

I'm a huge fan of Marriott properties & we enjoyed a meal @ Gaylord Palms & it is a very special place to visit. What I want to say is ALL hotels in Orlando need to D-R-O-P the hidden fees!!!! Hotels/ Resorts create a serious DISTRUST by having hidden fees. With the endless choices to stay in Orlando, sorry, I'm not staying @ a place that "hosts" you w/ "sneaky" fees. Totally one of my pet peeves. Hate that.

 

[Echo queen]

This is why I choose WDW Resotrs over off site.

 

[mister morrow]

This is why I choose WDW Resotrs over off site.

same here. when people compare off site resorts to disney, i already know they've never been on site (or had one bad experience) because how convenient and better the atmosphere is at a WDW resort. don't get me wrong, gaylord palms looks absolutely stunning, but i can't say i'd rather stay there than a disney resort