Hotel Royal Plaza

[goofymom23]

Just wondering if anyone had stayed at the Hotel Royal Plaza and what you thought about it. We are going to stay there are next trip.

 

[tci1212]

We stayed at that hotel last summer for 1 night in July. We booked it because we were arriving 1 night early for our Disney vacation. My sister in law recommended it to us, she said that is where she always stays. Well we were put in the annex and our room was dirty. We were so tired from driving straight thru that we did not complain, but the pull out sofa bed was all wet and black mildew all around the bottom of it and the balcony had green slimey puddles on it. When we woke up in the morning all of our bags were wet, the rugs were wet and we did not realize it. We went downstairs to check out and told the manager everything,and her response was "you should of said something". Needless to say we won't stay there again. My sister in law never had any problems she loves the place.

 

[wdw47]

we stayed once a couple years ago. its not up to disney standards along the lines of staff friendlyness and such, and we have heard it is owned by a family that mostly does business in time shares we would have to rate it as 50 50 hope this helps any other questions just ask

 

[kcarp]

Just back from a great vacation, this hotel was perfect for us. We checked in on June 9 and stayed for 5 nights. I was impressed with our King Suite with whirlpool tub that two can fit in, with a separate shower. The room was nice an spacious, with a living room area, wet bar, stocked fridge, safe. My girlfriend and me had plenty of room. We were on the 12th floor facing DTD; we could see PI & IllumiNations fireworks from our balcony. The balcony was standing room only, but still a nice view. This hotel was nice and clean, the pool was like a L shape, plus a nice whirlpool, no kiddy pool, they also have a pool bar lots of sunbathing chairs, plenty of towels, nice fitness center, also I was impressed with the Disney store there. The CM working in this store was very helpful with information. They have a nice lounge with 4 pool tables, dartboards, video games, and jukebox.

I think it was really setup nice. I’m not saying this is the best hotel I have stayed at, but for $99 for a King Suite, I think I got a good deal. I don’t recommend this hotel for small children; I think it’s set up more for couples. The bus system worked fine, it was always on time, never had a problem with it. The walk to DTD about 10 Min and I am in good walking shape, but still not a bad walk for most people. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with something negative about this trip. Would I stay there again? Perhaps, but I would probably want to try somewhere different. In conclusion, I have heard mixed reviews about this place. I stayed in a tower suites so can’t comment on any other rooms.

 

[bubblefactory]

Hi

we stayed at the plaza Oct 02 and found what tci1212 did - that our annexe room was musty and damp- we went straight back the front desk and requested a move . after some debate we were given a tower room (standard size) . what a difference - a bright new room. We stayed for 14 nights and enjoyed the rest of the stay.

It is a nice hotel but you must insist when booking you have a tower room.


Alec

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Hi,

You guys are worrying me! I have a ressie for two nights in August in a dbl lanai. is that the annex you are talking about? I booked this because we are getting in early evening into Orlando and thought my boys would enjoy a swim when we arrived. Please advise if i should request a tower room.

Thanks!

 

[Simba0319]

Hi
You should visit mary's site it's www.mousesavers.com she recently stayed there and loved it. She has a full review and pictures of her stay. Check it out. HTH

 

[Emerald31]

Have been watching this thread and I am also getting a little uncomfortable with staying at HRP. Have a 3 nite reservation for December and due to it being thru Priceline for $40 I know I will receive a room in the annex instead of the tower. The things I am hearing now are more negative than positive. Still trying to hope for the best.

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Good Morning!
I did read Mary's trip report and it was the reason I booked! (I love mousesavers!) But I am just wondering if what I booked is in the annex. Maybe I will just give them a call. I always wanted to stay there and since I am only there because of the enight priviledge I will give it a go.

 

[bubblefactory]

If you are booked in this hotel please don't worry. Just don't accept the room if you're not happy - ask to change.

When we were upgraded to a tower room we had to stay one night in the annexe while one came free. This room had a pool view. It was perfectly acceptable and clean. if we had been given this room on arrival we would have been ok.

It seems to be several of the ground floor annexe rooms that face on to the boulevard that are damp etc. Request a first floor pool view room or a tower room. standard tower rooms are only $15 night upgrade .

We found this a nice , friendly, comfortable hotel - it is a pity that these few rooms spoil its reputation. A quick refurb would work wonders.

Alec

 

[Disneyholic]

We will be there and back before you go, so I will subscribe to this board so I can find it when I get back and let you know how it was.
Leaving on July 5 to drive down. Ressies July 7-18 King Tower room with Roman tub and shower. Be back around July 20.

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Thanks DH, looking forward to your report!

 

[mickey7861]

We stayed here last summer for 1 night and our room was great. It was large and clean. The bathroom had a large jacuzzi tub, and there was a seperate sitting area with a great view. We were in the tower and we actually ended up here by accident. We drove down and decided to leave a day early so before leaving home I booked 1 night at Sheraton Safari through Expedia for $54. When we arrived at the Sheraton they told us that Expedia had "over booked" them but they got us a room at the Hotel Royal Plaza for the same price. We were pleasantly surprised by the great room.

 

[vhoffman]

I've been reading the comments about the Royal Plaza and decided not to book there. It looks like a great place from the websites, but that's their job! From what I've read, people have either had a great or a horrible experience. I just don't want to take that kind of chance. To say you can just ask for another room if the one you get is unacceptable is not my style--I expect ALL rooms at the hotel to be acceptable. Apparently, this hotel is not well-managed. They must be aware of their problems and just hope they can foist some of their more undesirable rooms off on priceline or hotwire. Maybe they think a person wouldn't be inclined to complain if they're not paying an exhoribant price. However, I just don't want to do business with a hotel that plays such games.

BTW, I understand they will become a Westin property in 2004. Maybe they will clean up their act then? At least there's a corporate headquarters to complain to, not just the hotel itself. Maybe once Westin takes them over they will renovate their rooms. Anyways, I just don't want the worry that I'm dealing with a substandard hotel.

I got a great rate at the Best Western Downtown--$49 night. Has anyone stayed there and be willing to share their experiences? I understand their rooms usually go for $90--$130 night. Am I getting a bargain, or is it just another come-on like royal Plaza?

Thanks for any comments!

 

[Disneyholic]

We had reservations July 7-18. Tower room, King bed, soaking tub, shower, sitting area with pull-out bed, 2 chairs and a lamp. The sitting area was not a seperate room, just an alcove area between the main bed and the sliding glass door to the step-out balcony (balcony did not have enough room to sit, just stand) There was no door seperating the areas. There was a sliding door closet and plenty of dresser space. The room was clean and large and very comfortable. There was complimentary coffee and tea and a small coffee maker.
There is a large safe and honor bar in the bottom of the TV cabinet. The safe is free, the honor bar (small, locked refrigerator) and snacks that are on top of the dresser in a basket are NOT! You will be given a key to the fridge at check-in (I locked it in the safe, and never used it after I took a look at the prices) Talk about sticker shock! The price of a large bottle of water (1 qt. or ltr. ??) was $4.95!!!! I covered the basket of snacks with the price list for the duration of the trip. If you have little kids you may want to move it up high. They check it every day to replace anything that is used, so you have to leave it out where they can find it. The last thing most of us want is to have the kids eat this stuff at these prices.
There is a large cabinet by the closet that fits 4 ream boxes (the kind that copier paper comes in) and some cans of soda. We took boxes filled with snacks.
Everyone was very nice. We would stay there again.

As far as transportation goes, you may want to take the DTD Hotels bus down to DTD after 6 at night to find out where that bus stop is. Then if you want to take Disney Transportation to DTD after a day in the parks rather than wait at space 26 in the middle of an open parking lot, then you can take that bus back to the hotel. We walked to and from the Hotel to DTD quite a few times during the trip. It is about a 10 minute walk, but it is up-hill on the way back to the hotel. If the weather is nice it is a nice walk. Look for the turtles in the pond in front of the Hilton Hotel. They are so cute.

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Thanks for the report DH! Looking forward to my 2 nights there. i will be sure to keep the honor bar snacks away from my kids and hubby. We always stop at Publix or Walgreens before I get to the world anyway. How were the crowds? and did you do any enights?

 

[Disneyholic]

We didn't do any E-nights this time, but we did one 3 years ago (in the rain) and really enjoyed it despite the weather. We got on Space Mountain quite a few times that night. We went on Splash Mountain once (That was all I could stand. By the time the ride was half over I was ready to climb out and shut the mouths on those creatures. The song almost drove me nuts. I've never gone on it again and don't understand why people stand in line for an hour or longer for this one. I'll probably get flamed for this one but it's just my opinion of this ride.)

Crowds weren't too bad. We've been 3 times the end of August and seen it worse. Regular lines were running with fairly short times at most of the rides in all parks. Used Fast Pass for Rockin' Roller Coaster and Indiana Jones. Even Priority Seating wasn't needed at most of the Restaurants we went to although we did make ressies at Guest Services at the park enterance for Prime Time 50's Cafe in MGM and Teppanyaki at Japan in EPCOT only because we really wanted to get in to these places. There was no problem making them the same day as long as we were flexible. We went to a lot of other restaurants during our 2 weeks on a walk-in basis (Including both Rainforests) with no more than a 15 minute wait. The only walk-in that we had an hour wait for was Planet Hollywood at DTD, but there is so much to look at while you wait that the time goes by fast. We went there around 7 p.m.

Used Mary's Mousesavers rate when I booked 3 months ago. New rates came out just before we left and I called and asked if they could give me the new rates. They did. It was $20 to upgrade from a regular room to a tower. We paid $85 for the 1st 4 nights and $99 for the last seven. With taxes it was about a $185 savings off my original ressie.

Have fun.

 

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

I got an email from travelzoo. They are offering 65 dollar a night tower rooms with free upgrade if you mention travel zoo top 20. Also if you stay three nights you will get a fourth one free.

According to website vacation includes


Free up grade to a deluxe tower room w/sleeper sofa, oversized sitting area and oversized bathroom w/roman tub

fourth night free (when you book three nights

complimentary transportation to all disney theme parks

complimentary parking

$ 7 daily resort fee waived

I checked and for four days with free room upgrade and taxes it was approx 218 dollars


travel dates must be between august 8- oct 16 2003

Must be booked by july 30, 2003

Only one nights deposit required call hotel royal plaza walt disney world resort 18002487890


I hope this will help someone book their vacation, I am considering booking this for myself. Would you please post if you book from this offer.

the website I found this at was www.travelzoo.com

 

[prader]

For our 4 night stay Aug. 11-15, we were torn between Radisson Resort Parkway and the Hotel Royal Plaza. We decided we wanted to be in the downtown area, so chose the HRP. Tried for the $20.03 rate--none available. Checked out the mousesavers.com $50.00 special, but decided that it was risking it by getting a standard room in the annix, and wanted the tower. The mousesaver.com tower room was $70 a night. Then checked out the travelzoo special, which is not only $65 a night for a tower room (upgraded), the $7 daily resort fee is waived, but it's 1 night free with 3 paid nights. I called HRP direct from number on travelzoo web site, and was told there wasn't any more rooms available those days, but could try the web site. Was told they block off so many rooms for internet reservations. Well, I did that, and we are staying in a deluxe tower for 4 nights for a total of $217.43 and that is with tax added. Break it down to nightly room charges, it comes to $48.75 Not bad when you see that on HRP web site, the same room for the same dates, it would be $129 the first two nights, and $159 the last two. Oh, I love a good bargin.
Now, does anybody know of any good deals like this in the Daytona Beach area?
Thanks!

 

[vhoffman]

Does HRP have a $20.03 rate too?