Hotel Advice

[tashasdad]

We are looking to book for July. The choice of Hotel is

Buena Vista Palace Hotel and Spa
Or
Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort

Both 5 minutes walk from DTD

But looking at reviews keep changing my mind on which to book

Has anyone got any experience of these good or bad

Thanks

 

[queendisney]

we did the Wyndham LBV feb/march last year...
At that time it had only just been taken over by the Wyndham and they were in the process of doing it up.(it had been done up a bit prior to that with a new foyee) All I can say is it was excellent for the location being only a few mins walk from DTD and as long as you stay in the tower block and not the side buildings it was really nice. I do know that they had a lot of complaints about the side buildings..
The restaurant and cafe were nothing to write home about but as it was so close to DTD this wasn't a problem. The pool was nice but we found the loud music around it annoying. The bus transportation to the parks is nothing like as good as Disney's but it did the job. To be truthful I really missed not staying in a Disney hotel but did think that it was great value for money. WATCH OUT FOR THE TIME SHARE SELLER ALSO THE SAME PERSON THAT DEALS WITH THE ATTRACTIONS TICKETS they give you a voucher at check in to exchange for something and send you across to them!!!!!!!!
Thought the staff were all friendly and the housekeeping was excellent.
We were on the 14th Floor and given a free upgrade to a Disney View..WONDERFUL VIEW..
All in all I'd give it 8/10 if I give Disney 10/10
If I didn't stay in Disney I too would stay in LBV for the convenience of it.

<a href="http://s801.photobucket.com/albums/yy296/vandaevans/?action=view&current=florida2011038.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy296/vandaevans/florida2011038.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[wayneg]

You mean this one? http://www.wyndhamlakebuenavista.com/photo-gallery
We stayed there Aug 09 when it was the Regal Sun resort. I remember the poor reviews, we paid £25/night and expected one of the outside rooms that mainly gets the bad reviews. We were upgraded to a tower room, couldn't fault (apart from no hot water one day)
Same day we checked in the hotel agent I used went bankrupt, I went to see the manager who assured me the account had been prepaid and we would have nothing to pay.
Would stay there again at the right price but it dows get the odd bad review.
Its directly across from DTD. 2 mins across the road.

Is there a reason just these 2, I would rather look for an offer than tie to 1 or 2 places, maybe a better place for the money elsewhere.

What dates and price, I will look tomorrow, might find a better price for these 2.

 

[tashasdad]

There will 3 Adults flying out on 7th for 14 nights from Manchester.
Want something in walking distance from DTD, have stopped at POFQ in past but we can get Beauna Vista Palace for £3500 and POFQ for £4200.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mitchfishguard]

id be interested to hear the benefits (or lack of) of staying in that area , as opposed to a disney hotel.

 

[orangetiggs]

Im not sure its all about the benefits for these hotels, they are basically disney hotels just without the price tag.

If you not interested in emh then you will be fine as you can walk to dtd to catch the disney buses etc

You also cant charge back to your room which in my case is perfect! I spend way to much

 

[queendisney]

Want something in walking distance from DTD

Have you thought of the Hilton opposite DTD? We went in there to have a look and it seemed really nice. Mind you a lot of their rooms back on to I-4 so not sure how sound proof the rooms are!

 

[wayneg]

They are all independantly owned nothing to do with Disney, just on Disney land so none of the usual benefits.
I am just doing some pricing, crazy to me for what they are, £69/nt can get 5 star Hilton Bonnet creek for that.

 

[disneyholic family]

i had to stay at the Lake Buena Vista Palace hotel and spa for a conference.

it was TERRIBLE!!!

i wouldn't stay there again if it was offered for free.

just terrible.

The staff were less professional than you would find at a holiday inn express.

and the pool was a dump. Where they get the nerve to call it a palace and spa is completely beyond me!!

we were part of a conference so we paid $159/night. About $150/night more than it's worth.

terrible terrible terrible.

Did i mention it was terrible?

 

[wayneg]

You not enjoy it Beth? ..... I know, It was terrible

7th-21st Fly.co.uk have 3 VA flights for £2,038.20

If you have any VA miles and flexible with dates 10th-24th using Miles & Money £1,669.17 + 6,000 miles. No miles? full price £1,858.17

Wyndham Tower room £1082 with Alpharooms (non-tower £875)

POFQ & 3 x 14 day tickets with free QSDDP £2,407.40 less 4.5% Quidco = £2299.20 also includes $150 free spending money.

Personally I would not pay £1,082 to stay at the wyndham. For about £450 less at £650ish you can get a 2 bed apartment at LBV (Cypress Pointe) £450 pays for a lot of taxis.

My choice would be POFQ to get free DDP or offsite, can't see any good deals on DTD hotels. Shame the SSR/OKW deal has ended, SSR within walking distance of DTD and better DDP for similar price to POFQ.

Just a few figures to think about, good luck finding what you want.

 

[disneyholic family]

oh by the way, we had to pay a mandatory $15/day "resort fee"

talk about adding insult to injury!!!

what resort??????

so we paid $159/day + $15/day resort fee...

the only consolation, i think that the internet was included in the mandatory resort fee..

oh and they had a little place to buy food - sort of like the little place in the wilderness lodge if you can picture that....even smaller actually, with much less choice...
but the main thing, the prices were stratospheric!!! easily double what you'd find in the disney resort food courts...

 

[luke]

We had a friend who stayed at the Buena Vista Palace for our wedding on the other hand and she loved it!!

 

[disneyholic family]

We had a friend who stayed at the Buena Vista Palace for our wedding on the other hand and she loved it!!

three possibilities:
1. they actually liked it
2. they hated it but didn't want to say anything that would make you feel bad during your wedding
3. they didn't know any better (had no frame of reference - nothing to compare to)

 

[luke]

In all honesty, 3 is most likely with regards to Orlando as it was her first time. She has however stayed in some of the nicest rooms in the nicest hotels in the rest of the world and the uk so who knows

 

[disneyholic family]

In all honesty, 3 is most likely with regards to Orlando as it was her first time. She has however stayed in some of the nicest rooms in the nicest hotels in the rest of the world and the uk so who knows

the room itself wasn't bad - nice bed, nice bathroom, good view...

but everything else in the hotel was terrible and very expensive...

there are so many better buys to be had in the area!

 

[luke]

Ah that probably explains it. She was literally just there to sleep and the rest of the time we were all pretty much out and about

 

[tashasdad]

Thanks for the info, went for a different option after the stories, so its now booked
23rd August but in the Hilton Bonnet Creek can't wait.