My Nick Hotel Review. Warning-- LONG!!!!!

kaileyscott

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
27
I want to start by saying that I am truly excited that I didn't let all the negative comments on this board change my decision about wanting to stay here! Okay where to start without bashing all negative people? Went from 3/5-3/12. Guests- me, husband,daughter-4,sister-20, my mother.
Hotel was very bright, colorful and geared towards children that are into the whole nick theme. (hint-the title of the hotel). Mentioned to front desk that this was my daughters 4th birthday trip and they gave her a birthday button and we were upgraded to the SpongeBob room. This room is usually 25 or so dollars more a night b/c of being SpongeBob and it was poolside. We were on the 5th floor, 7th bldg. room 752, a 2-bedroom kidsuite.
The room was very clean and I didn't see the old, outdated furniture people spoke of. The couch was okay for comfort and pulled out to bed. The SB room was so cute. We had both twin beds that perfectly slept my four year old and my 20 year old sister. Playstation in room--could rent games- never did. Those two aren't die hard video gamers. Our bedroom had nice bed--even bed spread was colorful and matched art on wall. Nice closet with iron and such. Bathroom with nice size roomy area with mirror, hair dryer. Shower curtain bowed out--not form fitting to side of tub. In living area-- internet cable, tv with all channels--same with all three tvs, and small two seater eating area. Had sink, mirror, counter space, mini fridge and microwave. Room service great. Always had extras of everything.
Pool area- very very nice and well worth the price. Poolside games with water like slime, water balloon toss, etc. Lagoon side and Oasis. Oasis more smaller and slides dump into pool. Lagoon with many water slides that don't dump into pool area. I went on slides and they were pretty fast for me. Pools heated. The water dumping into pool was not. The weather was warm 70-high 80's the whole time and pool area still pretty cool. The deeper areas away from kiddie stuff with cold water shooting out was slightly warmer. On lagoon side- two nice hot tubs. Also another toddler area with slides and lots of water shooting up and spraying. Many friendly lifeguards throughout. Musis playing, game time the presenters use microphones. If you were sitting in room listening for people to talk or music you could barely hear--- not like people said it was soooo loud it kept them awake.
Character discussion. For the people here who say "the character breakfast is not worth it, you will see the characters in the lobby every day anyways." That must not always be correct. We didn't schedule a breakfast hoping during the 1:30-3:30 time they would be in the lobby. Well in the lobby we saw Blue and Chuckie and Fairly Oddparents. Never SB, Dora, Patrick--none of the main attractions. My daughter reminded me that I told her we would see them so we did a breakfast and sure enought-- she saw them.
Food debate. We did the buffet a couple of times. Yes costs money-- but everything in Florida seems to cost more than home. EVEN A MCDONALDS WE STOPPED AT ON DISNEY RESORT PROPERTY WAS WAY WAY MORE THAN MCDONALDS DOWN THE STREET. Food was no where near as horrible as people described. Some people on here must be so used to high class meals and resorts. And if that is the case then don't pick an upgraded Holiday Inn and compare it to the Grand Floridian. The hotel is primarily focused on kids!!! I enjoyed the prime rib, a fresh bow tie alfredo pasta cooked in front of me, nice salad bar. Fresh cold pastas, peel shrimp, turkey, etc. For the kids it had hotdogs, hamburgers, corn dogs, mac n cheese, noodles, pudding, ice cream, cakes, etc. Also Pizza Hut, A&W and coffee place in lobby. All of these places tasted like they would if I went to on here. Only diff. like some pizzas placed in warmer, etc. Smoothies from coffee place really good.
Activities: Face painting, balloon art, name painting in mall area. Got SB balloon made for 8$. Kids spa was cute. Got daughters hair braided-- half crown which means top part for 50$. A whole lot of the little girls had braids or hair wraps in Florida. Also got her nails painted for 6$. Nick studio had nice live shows. Husband picked to play baby and games, got pie in face. Daughter picked to dance on stage. Mentioned pool side games earlier.
Well, I could go on and on. I will say that if you have any questions I will answer them HONESTLY. The hotel was well worth the price I paid. I got a very good rate by checking the website every couple of days. The prices change a lot from day to day. We Went to Disney many of the days of our stay and with my four year old we still had time to play and enjoy the hotel. I can surely say we will stay here again. We rented a car and it was very very very close to eveything. Never saw the thirty to forty-five minute traffic people spoke of into Disney from the hotel. Took us less than ten minutes every single time! Yes the hotel is pricey compared to a basic Holiday Inn or such but it was well worth it. Many people I talked to during our trip praised the facilities and said they would return. I know we will!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
 
thank you for your detailed and POSITIVE report! :wave:

May I ask, what did you pay and what room type? I'm being quoted $213 a night but that is the end of April....
 
You truly have to check the rates all the time. Even every single day if you can. Sometimes calling I got a higher quote. The week we went was peak season. For a while I sat on a 187 night quote that changed to 244 night for the Friday and Sat. Seemed high for the rate change but the 187 was so low compared to 200 something everynight. I eventually found a 160 night for the whole stay-- no rate change for weekends. We went from a Sunday to Sunday and got an extended stay discount for staying longer than 5 or so days. It was well worth it. Even the disney value resorts were not the advertised 77 or 89$ a night b/c of peak season!! Hope that helps!
 
Sorry forgot to add-- it was the 2 bedroom kidsuite. Had living area, bedroom and kids room same size as other bedroom except had twin beds, and of course a bathroom. Thanks
 

My DS (6) LOVES everything Nick.... I think I'm going to switch and cancel AS Movies for the last three nights... relax at the Nick Hotel and use one day to go to Universal IOA to see Spiderman.

He knows so much about our trip and the cruise so far... I think the Nick Hotel would be a great surprise. Thanks again for your info.. I will keep checking the prices! :thumbsup2
 
Thanks for the positive report. My DS wants to visit here so bad! We will only be there 1 night. I am worried we will not have enough time to do everything there. Any suggestions for seeing as much as possible for a 1-night guest?
 
Thank you SO MUCH for that report. :thanks:
I am surprising my DH and DD (both HUGE SB fans) with a night there before we check into ASMo. I know they are both going to love it, and based on your review we won't be disappointed. :woohoo:
 
Kailey's mom...

We MUST'VE passed in the buffet. We were at Nick from 2/28 till 2/9. I agree with most of what you said, but we had two problems (one minor, one very, very major) during our visit. On 2nd day, we were asked to move from 152 to 257 because water in building 1 was being shut off. Since we were staying so long, we had a LOT of stuff including packed mini-fridge of food and full cupboard to move. We did it. 2nd night in new room, daughter dropped pacifier behind bed and when I pulled bed out to get it, found EXPOSED ELECTRICAL OUTLET behind the bed - no cover, receptacle not even screwed into wall - just two live wires waiting to wreak havoc! I went round and round with the manager, and he finally said he would give me three free nights.

The good news is that even after what we found, we're going back. Everyone was so nice, and we really enjoyed the stay outside that hopefully freak oversight. I was in the mall 3 different days during 1-3 PM and saw Dora all 3 days, but we still had to book the Tea Party with Dora 'cause my DD was sleeping during 1-3 each day I saw Dora in the lobby!

The bowtie pasta (I got with tomato basil sauce) was AWESOME and the guys who were serving most of the week were hilariously funny! Prime rib was good too. It was expensive, but like you said, I expected it. I was put off by the fact that they bill it as 'kids eat free' when really what they should say is 'what we charge mom and dad pays for what kids eat'. We had two VERY BAD servers. I mean HORRIBLY bad. All they have to do is keep my drink filled and they get at least 15% tip. They couldn't even do that.

Anywhooo - glad you had a great trip! We're planning a return visit probably either Oct or Nov and another next Spring! One trip and we're addicted! We upgraded to season passes and everything!

James

By the way - my trip report is at:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=11892324#post11892324
 
Glad to hear your positive report. We stayed there for two nights in July before moving over to WDW and the kids loved it! THis year we've added 4 nights at HRH to our DIsney trip so no Nick Hotel but we'll definitely be back for a few days in 2007. Here's the funniest part - we stayed at the Grand Floridian at Disney and the Nick Hotel housekeeping did a better job than the GF's. Nick Hotel is truly a paradise for kids.
 
I am surprising my DD with a stay at Nick Hotel in June! I can't wait to see her face when we pull up! I've also booked the 2 bedroom suite, but I got the bunk beds - another surprise for her because she has been begging to sleep in a bunk bed; she really wants bunk beds for her room at home!!

Do they give you a list of activities that are going on during your stay when you check in? I know DD would love to see some of the Nick games, and maybe even get slimed!!

Glad you enjoyed your stay! We're looking forward to our stay too!!!
 
Dora Tea Party?? My daughter would love that! Can you describe it please? and price?
 
Thank you for the great review. We are staying there in April. I have a question about the hair braiding/wrapping, do you need to schedule an appointment before hand to have this done?
 
I also have a question about the kids salon, did they have an age limit? My girls will be 14 and 10 when we go.
Thanks
Lora
 
Here are a couple of replies to questions. I didnt really see an age limit at the kid spa. Believe it or not but when my daughter was getting her hair done an older lady came by and had a tattoo airbrushed on her back! I saw teens too.
As far as an activity list-- you can go on-line and pick the month you are going but when you check in they give you a detailed page with all the dates of your visit and the activities. If you want a Nick Live show in the theatre you have to go to the guest relations desk in the mall/eating area and get a pass. (is it free though it just lets them not overbook) Dora Tea Party and SB pirate party or bash both are scheduled events like the character meals. We couldnt do either b/c the Dora one fell on a Sunday at like 2:00 pm. Call though b/c I am sure they have other times. Ask away with the questions!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:
Oh yeah another bonus-- when you stay once--- you get a nice 25% off coupon for next stay---- we can't wait!!!!!!!
 
ooops I missed a question. Hair braiding and wraps. The kids salon is opened from like 10:00am until atleast 9:00 or 10:00pm. You can walk-up and see if they can do it then but they make appointments as well. We scheduled her hair appointment b/c they were too booked right then but we walked in for her nails b/c a different lady does them. :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:
 
MickeyP said:
Dora Tea Party?? My daughter would love that! Can you describe it please? and price?
The Dora Teaparty was a special event they were having during month of March - not sure if they do it every month. I think they rotate special events between Dora, SB, Blue, etc.... It cost something like $40 or so for mom and daughter to go (more if dad and other siblings go) for you to go listen to a story read by one of the hotel staff, then meet Dora, then do some craft, and get a face painting. DD4 loved it.

They do give you a list of stuff that's going on when you check in. It's called a 'Script' for the day's activities, and usually goes out 3 - 4 days at a time...
 
kaileyscott said:
Here are a couple of replies to questions. I didnt really see an age limit at the kid spa. Believe it or not but when my daughter was getting her hair done an older lady came by and had a tattoo airbrushed on her back! I saw teens too.
As far as an activity list-- you can go on-line and pick the month you are going but when you check in they give you a detailed page with all the dates of your visit and the activities. If you want a Nick Live show in the theatre you have to go to the guest relations desk in the mall/eating area and get a pass. (is it free though it just lets them not overbook) Dora Tea Party and SB pirate party or bash both are scheduled events like the character meals. We couldnt do either b/c the Dora one fell on a Sunday at like 2:00 pm. Call though b/c I am sure they have other times. Ask away with the questions!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:
Oh yeah another bonus-- when you stay once--- you get a nice 25% off coupon for next stay---- we can't wait!!!!!!!

We stayed there last July and didn't get a coupon. Can you tell me more about this. Thanks.
 
Thank you for your post!!!!!!!!!!! :cheer2: My two kids are dying to go there. We are taking them May 2007. I was starting to doubt going. I have been hearing alot of negative things. You have eased my mind.

Do you think that there is enough to do at the hotel to spend one day just there? My kids will be 9 and 7 when we go. They are huge waterpark fans.

Thanks again.
Bon
 
Definitely enough to do at the hotel. We stayed for two days and the only time we left the hotel was the second night we went over to DTD for dinner and shopping. The pool is like a mini waterpark and they had ton of kids activities and games poolside. At night they had "Nick" live shows. My kids loved the Nick Hotel!
 















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