Just back from the Swan

[spoon full of sugar]

We checked into the Swan Friday afternoon. We were given room 680 in the east wing, it was innundated with mildew! While you couldn't see any(except in the seams of the wallpaper, were they had scrubbed the walls but couldn't get it out of the seams), you could smell it. It was really bad, I can't believe they were actually letting people stay in this room, it is a serious enviromental hazard, it was THAT BAD. Any one with asthma needs to be very leary of this hotel. Now before anyone starts with the "it's Florida, there's going to be mold" line, I grew up in Florida! I've lived in an apartment were you would find mushrooms under your bed after a hurricane (didn't stay there long!) There is an artisian well, underground, behind my property and an uderground stream goes right under my house and flows into a creek in the park across the street from us. So I KNOW damp and mold in relation to Florida, O.K.? This room was completely unacceptable. My husband even smelled it, and he can't smell anything less strong than a week old cat box! I mean it was completly unbelievable that they would put people in this room! BTW it did have a wonderful view of the boardwalk and you could see the geodisic dome of Epcot, it would have a great view of Epcots fireworks, SIGH. After ALOT of hassle with the frontdesk. They finally gave us another room. By then we all had headaches and sinus irratation from the mold. The new room was 533 in the west wing, while it didn't have the fantastic view, it had much less of the mildew smell (you really will have some in almost every hotel in Florida) enough less that we could live with it. But we could hear normal conversations in both adjoining rooms. You could also hear people out in the hall, I have never had this proplem before, usually that area is the best sound proofed, but I could hear teeny tiny toddlers voices out in the hall, not screaming, just speaking normally . We go to Disney alot, and have stayed in many of their deluxes, I understand the Disney deluxe hotels aren't truely "deluxe" hotels, your paying for location and theming. So I wasn't expecting that much out of the Swan, I didn't expect it to be as nice as a Disney so called "deluxe", but it was a major dissappointment all the same. I also hated the decor, that's just a personal opinion though, but why is it that everyone expects Florida to be decorated in peach, pink and baby blue. All of Florida is not south beach! And Micheal Graves is a weenie!!!!!!!!

 

[NancyIL]

I'm sorry the Swan didn't live up to your expectations. I'll be checking in there in one week, and I can't wait.

 

[CJBaby]

I was there last week also, and had an Epcot view room with a balcony on the 6th floor. There was a smell in the room and hall, but it smelled more as if a million gallons of liquid from blowing bubbles was dumped on the ground with old oranges. Luckily I brought along my Lysol, so that took care of that. I'm sorry you suffered from the smell and sounds. Just wanted to let others know that not all rooms were mildewy!

 

[NancyIL]

I was there last week also, and had an Epcot view room with a balcony on the 6th floor. There was a smell in the room and hall, but it smelled more as if a million gallons of liquid from blowing bubbles was dumped on the ground with old oranges. Luckily I brought along my Lysol, so that took care of that. I'm sorry you suffered from the smell and sounds. Just wanted to let others know that not all rooms were mildewy!

Hmmm..I have always liked that orange smell at the Swan!

 

[snels]

Hi,
We just got back from a week stay at the Swan. We were also on the 5th floor in the east wing. Our room was also full of mildew. We requested that something be done for the smell, but there wasn't much the maids could do to mask the mildew. My sister had a room on the same floor. Her room also smelled, but not as bad as ours. We have stayed at the Swan quite a few times and love the area, but I think we will have to check out some other options for our next trip. I wonder if the Dolphin has the same mildew problems.

 

[madge]

I was there last week also, and had an Epcot view room with a balcony on the 6th floor. There was a smell in the room and hall, but it smelled more as if a million gallons of liquid from blowing bubbles was dumped on the ground with old oranges. Luckily I brought along my Lysol, so that took care of that. I'm sorry you suffered from the smell and sounds. Just wanted to let others know that not all rooms were mildewy!

we were in room 1260, had a great view and no mildew....our stay was last weekend.

Our only disappointment was learning that Mama T is no longer working in the Club Level lounge

 

[lizcro326]

We're booked at the Swan Halloween weekend. Thanks for the tip on the mildew. Since we're smokers, we always bring air freshner/odor neutralizer with us to be considerate of the next people checking in. I'll be sure to bring our allergy meds and Lysol too. Just in case.

Last time we were there we stayed at the POP. The food court was better than the other values but I came home all bit up from something. I have scars on my legs from the bug bites I got while asleep.

I complained to Disney about this and them dropping my deposit on the room, debiting my card an extra $110 that took them 2 days to put back. We were planning on spending our last day shopping at DD and couldn;t because their error wiped out that part of my budget. To add insult to injury, I received a letter saying they thoroughly investigated my complaint and feel I have no compensation coming for my inconvenience. I didn't ask for compensation, I pointed out some flaws in their system that ruined the last day of our trip and could be fixed on their end.

Here's hoping all goes well this time. If not, They're gonna have one ticked off and outspoken guest on their hands.

 

[3for Me]

Being from New Orleans and therefore seeing my share of mold for the past several weeks, I feel for you! If I never see or smell mold again, it will be fine with me, much less on my vacation.

 

[NDAMomX2]

We've never had mold at the Swan. Although I look forward to trying other areas, the Swan has always been top-notch for us. We'll miss Mama T!

 

[meab]

we were at the dolphin in may and didn't experience any mold issues. we thought the hotel and room were fantastic. interesting to hear that the swan may have some issues.

 

[PamNC]

We had the same problem last November when we stayed at the Swan...except they were VERY friendly and accomodating. No major hassle. They moved us twice until we finally got a room without the mildew smell. We loved the hotel!!! The decor, the room, the bed. Everything!! We think the S/D have some of the best restaurants on property. However, we don't stay at the S/D everytime we visit...last November was our first time. We prefer Disney owned hotels. But, we are staying at the Dolphin this Thanksgiving. The location is great, and so is the pool. If we get a moldy room at the Dolphin, I'm hoping we have the same ease as last year as far as switching rooms.

PamNC

 

[sarah4770]

Thanks for the tip, I was seriously considering the swan/dolphin for the special nurses rates. I was going back and forth and decided to stay at one of the disney hotels. I have asthma and would have spent the whole trip coughing and wheezing and probably not knowing why. Thanks a lot for posting this.

 

[tinkerrn]

We were at the Dolphin last week. We didn't smell any mildew, but were disappointed with their housekeeping. The pool had a film on it and the hot tub and 'green gunk' on the sides of the walls. We did get the nurses rate, but don't think we'll stay there again. It wasn't like you were staying at Disney, too many conventioners!!!! Think I will spend less money on souvenirs and food and more on the resort. Fortunatly we upgraded to an AP, so will be going back in a few months. Sorry to hear about your trip, it doesn't surprise me though.

 

[JDietz40]

Sorry to hear about your problems. We have stayed at the Swan a few times but not in the last couple of years. While we would prefer a Disney property we love the EPCOT resort area and have in the past been able to get some good rates at the Swan. We have been fortunate and never had any problems at the Swan.



John

 

[Muffy]

I'm sorry to hear of your problem. We have stayed at the S/D several times and never encountered mold. Hopefully you had a nice trip. We are headed back to the SWAN in Feb and can't wait!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We will be back at the Swan again for our third trip in Nov. and while we have never encountered mold in the past, I seriously hope we dont have a moldy room assigned to us as our one son has severe asthma. He would probably end up in the hosp, if it was bad mold. We are bringing all his med, nebulizer machine etc. I think I will print this out and leave it with the manager if we have any problems. I will do a trip report and let you know what happens.

To the OP, sorry this happened to you.

 

[maui2k5]

My family and I stayed at the Swan from 9/22-10/1 and while the resort was not bad and is in a great location, it does leave something to be desired. We stayed in rooms 528 and 529 on the East Wing with views of the Boardwalk, Yacht Club and Epcot. Upon Check, they screwed up our rooms and after finally getting to our rooms it took them 9 hours to get someone to my parent's room to fix the door that would not shut unless you slammed it hard. Add to that they called 3 times trying to tell us it was fixed when no one ever came by. The other irritation we encountered was the fact that they had our rates wrong and if I did not have my email confirmations with me, I would have had to pay $100 more per night - this problem that the manager actually created cost me another hour or so at the front desk. To their credit, I did end up with an extra night free and 2500 starpoints for their mistakes.

This was my first trip back since 1999 and I did have an overall great time. The consensus by us all it we should have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge or a true Disney resort and ponied up the money. We did not however, smell any mold or mildew and the beds were very comfortable. The true Disney magic is missing from the resort especially when there are a couple of hundred Amway salesman in red shirts scoping out victims throughout the Swan and Dolphin. The Swan and Dolphin are very convention oriented in my opinion and we will likely not be staying there again. Overall not a bad experience, but not on par with the feeling I had when staying on Disney owned property - even the All Stars...

 

[jwfla422]

We'll be at the Swan next week. I've lost track how many times we've stayed there and never had any run-in's with mold or mildew. But, I guess it could happen.

My question though, if Michael Grave's decor bothers you so, why would you stay there? I guess you had no idea about the decor or Michael Graves before you stayed there? Quite frankly after our WL stay (which was a nice change) I am SOOOO looking forward to going back to our fav Swan and those great heavenly beds.

As far as the hallway noise is concerned, I'd like to know what resort doesn't have hallway noise or connecting door noise? This always been a complaint of mine. At ALL of the WDW resorts we've stayed at I have always encountered noise from the adjoining rooms and the hallway. I try to request a room at the end of the hall no matter where we stay. Although this isn't always available we try to request as far down the hall as possible or no connecting door.

As far as the conventions are concerned, yes the S/D hosts many of them...but so do the Disney resorts. Try walking by a huge convention reception taking place on the beach at the YC/BC where there are Disney characters dancing and interacting with people...but only people who are invited to that reception can dance with the characters..try explaining that to your 3 yr old, that she can't dance with the characters because it's for convention people only.

And once again we touch on the Disney Magic, I will also defend the S/D on that as well. The magic is what you make of it and after staying at the S/D so many times I really was aware of this when we stayed at the WL a month or so ago. I do like the WL but did not see ANY difference of Disney Magic there compared to the S/D. We feel like we're at home when we stay at the S/D and have experienced PLENTY of Disney Magic there. These resorts continue to take a bad rap with this since they aren't "Disney" owned. We've had many delightful experiences here and that's why we continue to stay here and why these are our favorite resorts.