Hotel Royal Plaza...anyone stayed there since rehab?

[tinkerrn]

Debating on staying in 2 rooms at POP or in one of the executive suites at Hotel Royal Plaza in DTD. It will cost about the same amount of money. I like the idea of 2 rooms at POP, but think the HRP would be nicer since the rehab. Has anyone stayed there since the rehab? Would you stay at POP or HRP? Appreciate any info!!! Thanks!!!

Amy

 

[kilee]

I haven't seen any reviews on the HRP since the renovation. However, I'll be interested to see if anyone can give one.

 

[bytheblood]

Bumping, I would like to know as well.

 

[DukeStreetKing]

Well, if you can wait a couple of weeks, I'll let you know. GF and I are staying there the weekend before Valentine's Day.

 

[cookie]

Bumping

 

[cdvictorin]

Just came back from my trip to WDW and the Royal Plaza looked so quiet. I wasn't even sure it was open until someone from the DTD hotel shuttle/bus got off the bus. I will say the shuttle/bus system was bad during our stay and not reliable. We found the Disney transportation to be better. This might be important information if you do not rent a car. If you rent a car, it probably would not be a problem. I will be doing a review of the hotel we stayed at soon.

 

[lordhavemercy]

check at tripadvisor.com
they post traveller's reviews....i have found them to be excellent sources of info concerning hotels/attractions ....etc.

i hope that helps you.....

 

[smileyk8]

We found the Disney transportation to be better. This might be important information if you do not rent a car. If you rent a car, it probably would not be a problem. I will be doing a review of the hotel we stayed at soon.

What were the issues with transport? We've always found it really reliable. I think a key consideration is which stop you are on the circuit. If you're the last stop before the parks it's likely the buses will be full

 

[cdvictorin]

The main issue my husband and I had with the transportation was that it was always late. We were at the Best Western (the last stop on the hotel circuit). The information about the transportation said the buses/shuttles come every 30 minutes. My DH and I would go to the benches at 11:20 AM and the buses would not be there until noon and one time 12:10 PM. We did not say anything because the parks were not crowded and we got to do the majority of the things we wanted to do at each park. My DH and I said we definitely would not be able to depend on the transportation if it was during a busy time (i.e. summer or Christmas). Maybe they have more buses during the busier times. The Best Western hotel was nice overall.

 

[bubba73]

I stayed at the HRP before the renovation and I stayed at POP last year and from what I can remember, I would pick POP. Not because there was anything wrong with the HRP, we enjoyed it very much there. We just enjoyed POP better. I would have to say that the HRP had much nicer rooms, we had a standard room with a loft. But we loved the theming of POP and the benefits you get by staying on property such as the use of the EMH.

 

[tinkerrn]

Thanks for the input. We are going during a busy time of year...summer! The benefits of a Disney resort are very tempting. However, it would be nice to stay at a better class of hotel. The HRP looks very nice and the rates are sooo good. We will have our own car so transportation doesn't matter. We have always driven and drive to the parks, we can't stand the busses at Disney. The wait is usually sooo long.

 

[cookie]

Only nine days till our one night stay at HRP and then we move to POP for the rest of our stay!

 

[horseshowmom]

Debating on staying in 2 rooms at POP or in one of the executive suites at Hotel Royal Plaza in DTD. It will cost about the same amount of money. I like the idea of 2 rooms at POP, but think the HRP would be nicer since the rehab.

Does the executive suite have 2 baths? Having two rooms at the POP would give you two bathrooms which might be helpful (depending on your family). It would be a good thing in mine!

 

[Phrank40]

Was walking down the street that Hotel Royal Plaza is on last Sunday before the Super Bowl and my wife and I decided to walk through the lobby. Everything looks new and shiny but a weird experience. Except for my wife and me the only other guests I saw were a father and young daughter. I mean that was it. Walked through the lobby and out to the pool and back through the lobby and down a hallway and didn't see another guest. Felt sort of like the hotel in The Shining. I guess things will pick up once people know they are open again. The bar wasn't open but bartender putting ice in machine so guess it was opening for the game. FWIW nice big screen TV in bar and two other TVs. Restauarant not open and maybe 2-3 employees in lobby area. Never noticed the outside elevator moving on the front of the building.

The Holiday Inn next door still being worked on. Looked like a lot of new sliding glass doors or windows, could see the stickers still on them. I think lot of roof shingles have still not been put on first floor part of building.

Phrank

 

[DukeStreetKing]

The hotel is very nice looking but sometimes looks can be deceiving. Our room in the tower section had two double beds and a foot-wide balcony which could not be accessed. The sliding door only opened about 4 inches. This is by design as they have screwed a stopper to the upper track. The room was nice, about the size of a Disney value room. The bathroom had a large, deep tub set at a 45-degree angle in the far wall. The sink was also at a 45-degree angle. Not really much counter space for the sink. The tub was quite interesting. It was a great soaking tub but the shower was another matter. A shower curtain closed from either side of the opening and met in the middle of the tub, however no matter how we tried to keep the curtains closed, the bathroom floor always ended up flooded. The shower head was located on the far wall close to the edge of the tub and angled almost toward the tub but mostly toward the curtains. Thankfully we were only my GF and myself so we had enough towels to dry off and mop up the floor, but if we had anyone else with us, we would have needed extra towels.

The restaurant was disappointing. The breakfast buffet was $12.95/adult and $8.95/child. It consisted of cold scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, quartered potatos for hash browns and some tiny bagels and muffins. There were about 20 or so tables, but most of them were not cleared from the previous occupants. Supposedly there was an issue with the restaurant staff, but who knows? The menu for the pool bar seemed to have much more and better selections than the restaurant did.

The transportation seemed to arrive and depart once an hour(?), but we walked to and from DTD so we didn't use it.

The fitness center was small, but had a couple of treadmills, bikes and one Nautilus-type multistation.

The pool was heated and appeared to be clean and well kept but it was way too cold to try it.

Room service stopped at 4:00 PM which seemed odd. The bar looked nice but we didn't drink or dine there.

All in all, the room was nice, the bathroom was not and the restaurant was lacking. I'd rate this hotel a 5 out of 10 and would stay here only as a last resort (no pun intended), which is pretty much the way it happened this time.

 

[LargoLori]

We just stayed one night in an executive suite. The room was a good size and very nice. We really enjoyed the roman tub and the shower. The water pressure for the shower was amazing. I think the suite we had would only sleep 3 possibly 4. We did not have a full size sofa only a love seat. The sitting are was nice and the safe was rather large. Much larger than a Disney room. We did have a problem at check-in so I'm not sure I would stay there again. I think I would go for the 2 rooms at Pop. Just for the extra bathroom alone. Have a great trip.

Lori

 

[FoodLover]

The room was nice, about the size of a Disney value room.

Sorry, this may have been your perception, but it's just not factually accurate. The standard rooms at Hotel Royal Plaza are almost double the size of Disney's Value resort rooms. HRP actually has the largest rooms of any on-property hotel.

The breakfast buffet was $12.95/adult and $8.95/child. It consisted of cold scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, quartered potatos for hash browns and some tiny bagels and muffins.

We stayed there in early February and in addition to the items you mentioned, there were freshly made-to-order omelettes and waffles (made right at the buffet, so hard to miss!) as well as sausages and regular-sized croissants. No problems with cold eggs -- and if they had been cold, we would have complained to the manager. We thought the breakfast buffet was an excellent value, especially compared with what's offered at many other hotels in the area.

We had the same type of tub you mentioned but experienced no problems with the shower curtain "leaking" because the two sides overlapped by about 8 inches in the center. I'm a major klutz and usually if there's a way to flood the floor, I'll find it... but I really didn't have any trouble at HRP.

Just shows how differently people can perceive the same hotel.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[DukeStreetKing]

Just shows how differently people can perceive the same hotel.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

I haven't stayed in a value resort in quite a while so save for the size of the room vs. a Disney value resort, these "perceptions" were based on reality. If you had a better experience, good for you. Mine was not all that great. But if I was putting that website in my signature, I wouldn't say anything bad about that hotel either.

 

[cookie]

We enjoyed our stay there- no problems. I agree that the rooms are much larger than those at POP (as we split our stay between the two and noticed after how much smaller our room was at POP). Very nice comfortable beds.
And THANKS to mousesavers.com got a great rate on our room!

 

[FoodLover]

I haven't stayed in a value resort in quite a while so save for the size of the room vs. a Disney value resort, these "perceptions" were based on reality. If you had a better experience, good for you. Mine was not all that great. But if I was putting that website in my signature, I wouldn't say anything bad about that hotel either.

Ordinarily I make it a policy not to post here (or on any public boards) about the hotels I recommend on my site. I figure "let the chips fall where they may." However, it seemed to me that a couple of your statements were flat out untrue. I tried to be nice by suggesting that your "perceptions" were different from mine.

For instance, are you honestly stating that there were NO made-to-order waffles or omelettes, not to mention sausage or croissants at the breakfast buffet? You didn't mention any of those items when you listed the seemingly minimal buffet you were offered for $12.95. If you confirm that those items were missing, I will be on the phone to the hotel on Tuesday to talk with my contacts there, because they were included in the buffet two weeks ago, and I mention that on my site. If the hotel's management confirms that those items have been removed from the buffet, I will gladly remove the info from my site and re-evaluate the value of the breakfast.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on the shower curtain problem (which is pretty hard to evaluate unless you're standing right there) as well as everything else you mentioned in your review. But you were wrong about the room size and I believe you were inaccurate about the buffet.

Mary
MouseSavers.com