Let me start by stating that SSR is our home resort, but we have always loved the BW an it is or should I say was our favorite.
We checked into BW 4/30 at about 12:30 in the afternoon. Our room was ready!! We had booked a studio PV. Our room was 5078 and it had a great view of the main pool, and was close to the elevators!!! I loved it! But for some reason I felt really different about this stay. The room was clean, meaning we didn't see any dirt, or noticable things left behind from previous guests. But, it felt dirty. Sorry if I'm not making any sense. Let me try to explain. The couch was filthy, really needing a cleaning, or replacement. The paint was chipped off the door by the handle, the carpet was stained, we had no iron, the calk around the tub was not white anymore, it was black with mildew. I just really was grossed out and all I kept thinking about was that thread that was on these boards about all the germs in a hotel room LOL!!!! The room just seemed like it needed to be refreshed with some real cleaning and paint! Yes, I am very picky!! We loved the BW because of the same reasons we did before, the proximity to Epcot and MGM. But, please tell me why everything shuts down at 11pm!!!??? There were so many people trying to get into the stores or get food at 11pm and later. DH and I watched night after night so many people out and about on the BW with no other options than pizza at the pizza window. I needed to get drink boxes, I know I should've bought my own, but still I couldn't because everything closed. Now I can understand if it was in Nov, when we usually go, but this was May and all the resorts were booked, and most of the parks were open late. Then if you want to spend the day by the pool, well you better only want to eat a hot dog!!LOL Oh, wait, you can also walk over in your wet bathing suit to the BW and get that dreaded pizza from that window!!! These little things really annoyed me. Almost every other resort has more than 1 food option at the pool.
We had shipped a package down and when we checked in, it was a Sun, they said sorry, that dept. is closed on the weekend!! What??!! Well, a manager came over and she was great! She made sure our box was delivered to our room before days end. Oh, then the ATM machine didn't work, did I mention there is only one!!!!! At first we thought it was our card, then we watched as person after person walked away not being able to use it. We notified the front desk, they said they would "take care of it", and to walk to the YC/BC to use their ATM. Well, 2 days later the ATM still didn't work and we were given an answer of, well, just go use the one at YC/BC!!! Well, if I was staying there I would use their ATM, but I'm not, I'm at the BW and if they are only going to have 1 ATM, then it should work!! We were at the GF for DD's adventures in cooking and our cards worked perfectly at that ATM, so I know it wasn't a problem with our cards. And guess what, Gasparilla grill is open 24 hours!!!! DH and I both feel that even though it is a DVC resort, the BW should have some type of small market with some drinks, like at the BC, but keep that open later. I'm not asking for 24 hours, but till 12 would be nice, especially when you are out later in the summer. Now, should I start complaining about the buses? I don't want to but I will say is it is rediculous that we have to share a bus with the Swan and Dolphin!! And alot of ather times we share with them, and YC/BC!! That's 4 extra stops!! It took an average of 45-60 mins to get from the BW to anywhere else!! We were at the BW for 7 nights and then for 1 night at SSR.
We check into SSR at aprox. 11:30am and the line almost reaches artist palette!!! It went along pretty quickly, and our room was ready. But we were having our luggage transferred from the BW and when we saw how busy SSR was, we knew it was going to be awhile before we saw that luggage!!LOL. Check in went smooth and for it being so busy the CM's really did a great job. We had bell services drive us to our room with our 1 piece of luggage. This bellman was so great!!! He made sure our room was to our liking before leaving and answered any questions and made small talk with us. We didn't get our bags till 6:30pm after calling 3 times to see where they were. Not a real big deal, I just wanted to make sure they weren't lost because it was so busy! Anyway, our room was 1832 and it was spotless!! Really great studio and we loved how fresh and new the rooms are, obviously because they are new!LOL Anyway we had a view of the bus stop and that was fine by us. We ate at Artist palette and the food was good as usual and we can't wait for the Turf club to open with more dining options there. Our bellman said it was the #1 complaint from guests that there was only 1 place to get food. Anyway we enjoyed our 1 night there and when we go back in Nov it will probably be at SSR.
I will add that the walk from our room to the main building did bother us this time, and I think it was because of the weather!! It was just too hot for us!
We checked into BW 4/30 at about 12:30 in the afternoon. Our room was ready!! We had booked a studio PV. Our room was 5078 and it had a great view of the main pool, and was close to the elevators!!! I loved it! But for some reason I felt really different about this stay. The room was clean, meaning we didn't see any dirt, or noticable things left behind from previous guests. But, it felt dirty. Sorry if I'm not making any sense. Let me try to explain. The couch was filthy, really needing a cleaning, or replacement. The paint was chipped off the door by the handle, the carpet was stained, we had no iron, the calk around the tub was not white anymore, it was black with mildew. I just really was grossed out and all I kept thinking about was that thread that was on these boards about all the germs in a hotel room LOL!!!! The room just seemed like it needed to be refreshed with some real cleaning and paint! Yes, I am very picky!! We loved the BW because of the same reasons we did before, the proximity to Epcot and MGM. But, please tell me why everything shuts down at 11pm!!!??? There were so many people trying to get into the stores or get food at 11pm and later. DH and I watched night after night so many people out and about on the BW with no other options than pizza at the pizza window. I needed to get drink boxes, I know I should've bought my own, but still I couldn't because everything closed. Now I can understand if it was in Nov, when we usually go, but this was May and all the resorts were booked, and most of the parks were open late. Then if you want to spend the day by the pool, well you better only want to eat a hot dog!!LOL Oh, wait, you can also walk over in your wet bathing suit to the BW and get that dreaded pizza from that window!!! These little things really annoyed me. Almost every other resort has more than 1 food option at the pool.
We had shipped a package down and when we checked in, it was a Sun, they said sorry, that dept. is closed on the weekend!! What??!! Well, a manager came over and she was great! She made sure our box was delivered to our room before days end. Oh, then the ATM machine didn't work, did I mention there is only one!!!!! At first we thought it was our card, then we watched as person after person walked away not being able to use it. We notified the front desk, they said they would "take care of it", and to walk to the YC/BC to use their ATM. Well, 2 days later the ATM still didn't work and we were given an answer of, well, just go use the one at YC/BC!!! Well, if I was staying there I would use their ATM, but I'm not, I'm at the BW and if they are only going to have 1 ATM, then it should work!! We were at the GF for DD's adventures in cooking and our cards worked perfectly at that ATM, so I know it wasn't a problem with our cards. And guess what, Gasparilla grill is open 24 hours!!!! DH and I both feel that even though it is a DVC resort, the BW should have some type of small market with some drinks, like at the BC, but keep that open later. I'm not asking for 24 hours, but till 12 would be nice, especially when you are out later in the summer. Now, should I start complaining about the buses? I don't want to but I will say is it is rediculous that we have to share a bus with the Swan and Dolphin!! And alot of ather times we share with them, and YC/BC!! That's 4 extra stops!! It took an average of 45-60 mins to get from the BW to anywhere else!! We were at the BW for 7 nights and then for 1 night at SSR.
We check into SSR at aprox. 11:30am and the line almost reaches artist palette!!! It went along pretty quickly, and our room was ready. But we were having our luggage transferred from the BW and when we saw how busy SSR was, we knew it was going to be awhile before we saw that luggage!!LOL. Check in went smooth and for it being so busy the CM's really did a great job. We had bell services drive us to our room with our 1 piece of luggage. This bellman was so great!!! He made sure our room was to our liking before leaving and answered any questions and made small talk with us. We didn't get our bags till 6:30pm after calling 3 times to see where they were. Not a real big deal, I just wanted to make sure they weren't lost because it was so busy! Anyway, our room was 1832 and it was spotless!! Really great studio and we loved how fresh and new the rooms are, obviously because they are new!LOL Anyway we had a view of the bus stop and that was fine by us. We ate at Artist palette and the food was good as usual and we can't wait for the Turf club to open with more dining options there. Our bellman said it was the #1 complaint from guests that there was only 1 place to get food. Anyway we enjoyed our 1 night there and when we go back in Nov it will probably be at SSR.
I will add that the walk from our room to the main building did bother us this time, and I think it was because of the weather!! It was just too hot for us!
