Oh, cool! I hadn't expected that. DH is a frequent traveler with business, so we are saving a ton of money both in flights and first part of our stay (at the Hampton) so it's all good. I wondered more about the actual facility. But that is nice to know. I'm not sure about travel level. He travels all over (Dubai, Kuwait, Israel, Netherlands) so gathers lots of miles.
It's a good hampton inn. Busy, as previously indicated, but that's typical for all hotels in the area so it's not like you'll avoid that staying elsewhere. They handled the crowd just fine, with a larger-than-usual breakfast area and 4 waffle machines running. You should, however, try embassy suites sometime. You actually get a 2-room suite and a FULL breakfast and a happy hour drink each day, all included. Gold/Diamond level is with the HHonors (hotel), not the flights, so it would just depend on how long he stays or how much he spends with Hilton-brand hotels. That only matters for certain properties (Hilton, Doubletree, etc.) where you get room upgrades and breakfast included. With Hampton and Embassy, it's already included so it's not really an issue (although you can sometimes get upgraded to larger rooms for free.... definitely ask at check-in!) If he's at least silver level (which is almost for certain), keep in mind that the points rates are also "every 5th night free". For example, if it's 30,000 points a night, it'll be 120,000 points for
either 4 or 5 nights.
This is our test trip. If we turn into converts, I imagine we'll turn into AP holders and stay onsite for our next trip.
Oh, it's much, much worse than you can even imagine. You'll end up like us where we switch to on-site hotels, then the values and moderates aren't enough, and deluxe is too much out of pocket, so we buy $48,000 in DVC points, discounted APs, and Disney just becomes a tax just like, as homeowners, we pay what I call the "Home Depot tax". It's a real problem!
