Have the Swan/Dolphin lost some of their value???

[labst60]

Let me preface this post by saying that I've stayed at the Swan 2x and absolultely LOVED it (especially the beds & the pool!) I've also stayed at BC - and loved that as well. Next week, we are headed for another trip to the Swan (on Starwood points) and recently bought into DVC (BWV). So, although I love the Swan, I anticipate that our only stays there in the future will be occasional weekend nights (on one end of a DVC stay) or using Spg points.

That being said.... I think some recent changes have caused the Swan / Dolphin to lose some of their appeal (at least in my eyes.)

While they have great deals on the room rates, the "other charges" make it not quite the value it appears to be.

There has always been the $10/day resort charge ...
But now add $7/day for parking...
And $20/day for mini-fridge (since Disney deluxes now include a mini free free of charge)...

And that is $37/night you need to add to the rate to compare "apples to apples" with BC or BW.

Personally, I would probably still say at the Swan since it counts toward Platinum SPG status (and we get free CL upgrades - which works out great for us)... but without those benefits (if I didn't have the Plat SPG card)... I don't know if I would be quite so "loyal".

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

 

[swilphil]

You can have the mini-bar fridge emptied for a one time charge of $25. It's close to the same size as the fridges at the WDW deluxes. We don't drive or rent a car, so the parking fee isn't an issue for us. No need for a car at the S/D when you are so close to two parks and have great Disney transportation to the others.

My only problem with the S/D is they aren't offering the great discount rates as often as they previously did.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

The Swan is still our 2nd choice. The Polynesian is our favorite. This year we bought an AP and our lst stay was at the Polynesian in april/may. Now in Dec. dh has a conference at the swan, next april I will see where I get the better deal. I have to admit too that this year we asked for the govt. rate for our stay at the swan, they only said it was available for 3 nights out of our 8, then we called back and told them we saw a much lower rate for some of the remaining nights on the starwood website. She said if we brought the printout they would honor the printout rate. Well after all that hassle, I decided for a little more to stay at the poly for the 1st stay. But when you compare the 2:
Polynesian Rate $329, versus Swan govt. rate of $169 plus $10 resort, there really isint much of an argument from our pocketbook where we would stay. We too dont rent a car so parking is not an issue, and we wouldnt use the frig. The only swan issues I generally have are the mug issue, which we have solved by having the limo guy stop at the hess mini mart so we can grab some soda packs and the room charging for the kids, have to give them money for their own food/snacks. I tried disney dollars but that was a hassle for them. Now the teens just want the cash.
I agree with the other poster, if the swan/dolphin knows they can book up their rooms or have a convention they are less willing to offer their discount rates for stays. We have used the rollaway for the $25 a night, but next time we might bring our own aerobed to cut down on costs, depends.