Horrible stay at the Dolphin!!!!!

[DeeP]

Amberly is not exaggerating about the prices at Shulas. My DD(who is 17, so therefore orders adult meals) and I ate at Shulas this past Dec. We split an order of oysters rockefeller. split an order of aspargus, split a regular garden salad, we each had a 6 or 8 oz filet(whichever the smallest size was) I had 1 glass of Merlot wine and my daughter had an iced tea. Our bill was $150.00! I had preread the menu so I was expecting about a $100.00 meal but another $50.00 was a bit much. They charged $5.00 for a 12 oz bottle of iced tea! What got me was not so much the price (even though I was shocked at such a high price for so little food) but the fact that the steaks were not even that good. They were both not that tender and had ALOT of grissle. Two nights later we went to one of our old favorites Yachtsmans Steakhouse at YC and duplicated our order, except at Yachtsmans the sides are included in the price of the entree so we got potato, aspargus, salad included with our filets, we ordered oysters rockefeller, my DD ordered soup, DD had iced tea and I had 2 glasses of Merlot and our meal was around $84.00 and the filets were much, much better. The oysters rockefeller were better at Shulas though, but that is about it. For the extreme difference in price I will put up with oysters rockefeller that are just a tad bit less and stick with Yachtsmans Steakhouse!

 

[DeeP]

fargas, the heck with tickets to a Dolphins game, after we ate there I felt as though we were entitled to not only tickets but an autographed game jersey! LOL

 

[Jen D]

Maybe it is because I am from NY, but $250 doesn't sound that surprising for dinner for two adults and a child, at a steakhouse.

Thanks for your post Amberly. I always want to hear about bad experiences. Those phone charges are highway robbery.

 

[msdis]

So sorry to hear of your experience and the flaming you got for sharing/venting. I've been in both situations here(bad experience/flaming) so I can understand your pain. We have experienced vacations with conventions going on and that alone takes away from the magic. You certainly feel like the minority or the little fish in the big sea as conventions draw a LOT of attention from the CM'S. Fair or not, it is part of big business. We too have had the lesson on using the room phone We too, use only prepaid phone cards now. A $250 meal would give me stomach aches for 2 years let alone 2 days. Hence, a $50 meal I could live better with. If you were staying in the All Stars, ate in the food court, and a bunch of cheer leaders were hogging the pool and you had spent $150 for a 2 nights horrible "experience" you probably would have blown it off and felt you somehow got what you paid for. But you didn't. You paid a fortune, and had higher expectations that you would get more for what you paid for. Some of the lessons we learn are cheap, but your's was not. Please don't let this bad experience dry up all the pixie dust you've had in the past and I'm sure will have in the future. You were surely in the wrong place at the wrong time, eating in the wrong restaurants.

 

[dreamflight99]

We have dined annually at Shula's since it's inception into the WDW Dolphin "Restaurant Row", and have enjoyed every meal. My DH has ordered the "special" order of beef, for which he received his name on a plaque w/signed photo of D.S. (No--he did not have to finish the meat..lol...just ordering it is sufficient).

I think the prices are appropriate for the restaurant, but hey-we have LOTS of these restaurants in L.A. & S.F.! The menu at Shula's arrives on a Football! Then, the cart is rolled over to your table with various cuts of beef...and a LIVE Maine Lobster poised among some greens. This was difficult for me, as I LOVE lobster, but do NOT want to see the LIVE animal prior to consumption. I'm surprised they did not bring some haltered herfords to the table as well (With the lines drawn on them for the various CUTS of BEEF!)

The atmosphere of this place exudes more of a Masculine feel/decor, not very romantic. It's a great place to bring clients to smoke a Cigar and close a multi-million dollar deal (We, of course, did neither!). The beef is well-aged, nicely marbled and prepared to your specifications. I also enjoy the YS at the Yacht Club, but for a special treat...Shula's provides (usually) a great & memorable experience.

 

[danacara]

I am a huge fan of using pre-paid phone cards from the lobby pay phones. I cannot even fathom how much cash I saved doing that last time, having now read this thread! lol

 

[michael e]

We just returned from the Swan over Easter weekend. We have stayed at 5 hotels in Disney's park. This is the first time at the Swan. It was our worst experience. The room had safety hazards due to disrepair, such as a broken lamp socket hanging with exposed wires. Great for small children! The bathroom facet was in disrepair as well. After a day at the park, we returned to our room to be locked out. The maid couldn't help us, so we had to go back down stairs to the front desk and wait in line for 15 minutes to get the room key card fixed. There was no explanation or apology offered. The room next door must have been in process of being renovated, we could smell the paint fumes and hear them working. The lighting in the room was bad in the bath and vanity areas. We tried to get restaurant reservations and were on hold for 30 minutes and gave up. We tried the Disney Reservation number and because we were not a Disney hotel we could not get the priority seating and were told we would need to try through the hotel's reservation desk. We ended up at City Walk instead. The convention that was also at the hotel definitely did take away from the Disney feeling and took importance over the families staying here. On a positive note the Kimonos restaurant was very good and we enjoyed the ice cream cafe in the Dolphin. The miniature golf across the street was one of the best we have played. We will be staying at a "real" Disney hotel from now on.

 

[disnurse]

we stayed at the swan last easter and never exerienced any difficulties. The lobby was fully staffed and everyone was very accomodating.

 

[dreamflight99]

Sorry to hear of the inferior service you experienced at the WDW Swan. For your future reference:

*When locked out of a room in ANY resort...proceed to the nearest hall-phone (These are near elevators in the Swan/Dolphin, sitting on tables), and call the front desk. Inform them of the emergency/problem, and they will either: A. Send someone from the front desk up to the room to assist you, --or: B. Send resort SECURITY to permit you access to the room. You will have to show photo I.D., and if it is not on your person, you will have to find something inside of the room to confirm your registration into this room. These measures are set up for your safety. If housekeeping were permitted to allow entrance into rooms for all persons presumably locked-out, just think of the liability and trouble a resort/property would undoubtedly receive! You may have to wait a short time for assistance, or go to the front desk (as you did). In either case, if it is (faulty lock, room key card, etc.) they will make comparable amends for the minor inconvenience~upon request. I have been locked out of both "Disney-owned" resorts and other resorts.

*The WDW Swan/Dolphin are definitely considered "Disney" hotels/property as far as PRIORITY SEATING ressies are concerned, and is treated NO differently by the WDW priority seating Dining reservation specialists. You merely call the resort operator and request WDW Dining, and the operator will promptly connect you! I stay at the Dolphin frequently, and never incur any trouble with my priority WDW reservations! Sorry you were unaware of this feature.

I hope you have better luck next time at a "WDW" resort. Some of the "WORST" experiences I have ever had were on "DISNEY-OWNED RESORT PROPERTIES"! The VERY best customer service and treatment I have ever enjoyed/experienced is at the WDW Dolphin! This only goes to show: Each to his/her own, and all are entitled to their own opinions and experiences.

 

[michael e]

Originally posted by dreamflight99
Sorry to hear of the inferior service you experienced at the WDW Swan. For your future reference:

*When locked out of a room in ANY resort...proceed to the nearest hall-phone (These are near elevators in the Swan/Dolphin, sitting on tables), and call the front desk. Inform them of the emergency/problem, and they will either: A. Send someone from the front desk up to the room to assist you, --or: B. Send resort SECURITY to permit you access to the room.
You will have to show photo I.D., and if it is not on your person, you will have to find something inside of the room to confirm your registration into this room. These measures are set up for your safety. If housekeeping were permitted to allow entrance into rooms for all persons presumably locked-out, just think of the liability and trouble a resort/property would undoubtedly receive! You may have to wait a short time for assistance, or go to the front desk (as you did). In either case, if it is (faulty lock, room key card, etc.) they will make comparable amends for the minor inconvenience~upon request. I have been locked out of both "Disney-owned" resorts and other resorts.

We have never been locked out of our room at any resort any where around the world that we have been. There were no attempts to even make an apology. Pretty poor customer service.


*The WDW Swan/Dolphin are definitely considered "Disney" hotels/property as far as PRIORITY SEATING ressies are concerned, and is treated NO differently by the WDW priority seating Dining reservation specialists. You merely call the resort operator and request WDW Dining, and the operator will promptly connect you! I stay at the Dolphin frequently, and never incur any trouble with my priority WDW reservations! Sorry you were unaware of this feature.

We did call (as stated in the original message) the resort dining operator and after 30+ minutes on hold we gave up, and then tried other options. Pretty poor customer service.

I hope you have better luck next time at a "WDW" resort. Some of the "WORST" experiences I have ever had were on "DISNEY-OWNED RESORT PROPERTIES"! The VERY best customer service and treatment I have ever enjoyed/experienced is at the WDW Dolphin! This only goes to show: Each to his/her own, and all are entitled to their own opinions and experiences.

Thank you. We will have better luck next time because it won't be at the Swan/Dolphin. Pretty poor customer service doesn't bring repeat customers.

 

[pbhunt]

Thank you michael e, and that means, WHAT ????

 

[Amberly303]

I think what Michael means is He WONT be returning to the Swan or Dolphin hotel because of their poor customer service!! And I feel the same way about the hotel myself.
"Dreamflight" loves to attack and question anyone that has had anything to negative to say about these hotels. Obviously, she hasnt visited these places recently or she may feel the same way as Michael, others, and myself feel. The customer services they offer in these hotels anymore have went downhill.
Also, I havent posted since yesterday about my situation with the Dolphin. Since this hotel had made 4 billing errors on my charge charge as of today(not pending items or holds). I insisted they credit my account . And they did. They wired money to my account since i wasnt willing to wait the 7-10 days for a credit due to their errors. However, my bank charged me $11.00 for this wire they made. Obviously, the Dolphin would know this would cost me 11.00 but do you think they care.. no ........they dont. Why should I have to put $11.00 out of my pocket due to someone else's error( 4 mind you)? I will be calling the hotel first thing monday morning for a credit once again.

 

[Amberly303]

Isnt it obvious that something went wrong on Easter weekend at the Dolphin and Swan? There has been 2 other post other than mine about having a horrible stay at these hotels. Why would anyone lie or make things up to make this hotel look bad? I really liked this hotel before this happening. However, from all the frustration they have caused me I will never stay with them again . They showed no kind of remorse whats so ever for ruining my vacation or for carging bogus charges to my account. Im waiting now to see my phone bill from calling Fl. to clear all these charges up. They dont have no 800 # so it's costing me $$ everytime i have to call. I dont understand why they cant get things right the first time after someone complains or atleast the 2nd or 3rd time!!!
I want to thank everyone who sympathizes with us who have had a horrible stay at these hotels. I know for myself.......i had saved up along time for my vacation and was really looking forward to it and to have it ruined .........it really does make me upset.

 

[NancyIL]

The Dolphin probably wired the money to your bank because you wanted a credit right away. Each bank sets its own fees, and there are often fees for a wire transfer.

I will check-in to the Swan in 11 days, and I'm looking forward to it. Thank goodness I don't have a debit card. After Amberly's experience - I don't think I ever want one!

 

[Amberly303]

ALso, before anyone trys saying yes they do have a 1 -800 number. Yes i know they do . But, for accounting they dont and thats how i have to discuss all the credit problems with. Also the front desk cant connect me through. They say I have to call the direct number. Just thought I would clear that up before someone questions my last post.

 

[Amberly303]

Nancy.......very true. I did want my money back in my account that they took out from errors they made . It had already been 6 days and if i hadnt thrown a fit .......i would have had to wait another 7-10 days for it. I wasnt willing to do that.
After all since these were the Dolphins mistakes.....shouldnt they have to pay the 11.00 fee after all?

 

[Amberly303]

Nancy..........I also meant to tell you that I do hope you have a wonderful vacation! Im sure you and your family well deserves one. Wish i was back in Fl. We had very beautiful weather when we were there , and I wish the same for you. Have a wonderful time !!!! : )

 

[NancyIL]

Amberly - I think the Dolphin should pay the $11 fee - but tell them NOT to wire it to you!

 

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your good wishes, Amberly!

Instead of calling the accounting department and running up more long distance charges - ask for the e-mail address of the person you need to talk to. It's often easier for people to understand what you want when they can read (and keep re-reading) what you are saying - as opposed to listening to you on the phone.

 

[kylara]

Amberly,

I know you have been dealing with the hotel but I do think you need to complain even higher than that to Starwood. It sounds as though the hotel is not coming through for you and making amends. So sorry that you had to end a trip on such a sour note. Hang in there and keep complaining to get your money back.