We went to the Nick Hotel for 7 days (June 17-24) and here are some of my comments, hoping that it will help some of you with a decision to go/avoid this hotel. I would like to begin by saying that we had a great stay, our children (10, 8, 4) consider this the best hotel in the world.
I would rate this hotel as a 4.0, but borrowing a grading system from the Unofficial Guide, I think it would be more helpful to see it this way:
Appeal by Group Age
Pre-School: 5.0
Grade School: 5.0
Teens: 4.5
Young Adults: 4.0
Over 30: 3.5
Seniors: 2.5
If you answer (honestly) the question of "Who's Vacation is this for?" with "My Children" or your hotel decision would be made to appeal your children, I honestly believe you this hotel is a "can't miss". If your answer is "The Parks for my Kids, but the hotel and restaurants for the adults" I think you might find things to complain about the hotel.
We stayed in a fifth floor, two-bedroom suite, on Building No. 7, right by the Lagoon Swimming Pool (the main one). Our plan was to go to six parks in six complete days, so the hotel was for sleeping and swimming, either as a mid day break or end of the day relax. We didn't plan to stay a complete day at the hotel or something of that sort.
Here are my comments by topic:
Need Improvement
Elevators: slowest I can remember. If your average wait for an elevator is 45 seconds to a minute, here you will be waiting from 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes on average. Wild guess, but might be right. We stayed on the fifth floor and my kids would like to "race the elevator" either up or down, and won 4 of every 5 races. I don´t know if they have one elevator per building, or one every two buildings. But I think it was more a matter of the elevator technology. Slow.
Clean Up time: I would say that our room was made around 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM. Two of the seven days it was inconvenient, with the other days us being out of the hotel. One interfered with a nap, asked the lady to come back after making the neighbors rooms. The other was a minor inconvenience, with us waiting some three minutes for the lady to finish up.
Maintenance: I had three issues. 1) A clogged bathroom. It was really not clogged but "slow". It was quickly fixed, once reported. 2) Missing batteries on one of the three TV remote controls. I think it might be the last guest fault, but it was also quickly resolved. 3) A couple of light bulbs going out; they were fine when we got there, but faulted. They were replaced.
Above Average
Parking: I read reviews of parking problems. I think the hotel layout is very good and you can park near your building/room. Sometimes you were little off (some 200 feet) and sometimes near.
Room: It wasn't a large room; you might even think it is a small suite. Very clean. It is stated to be 485 sq. ft., almost twice of a regular "Disney Value Resort". You don't feel is quite large. We were a party of five and it was oK. If we were six, I might be a bit concerned. It worked for us pretty well. The Kitchenette was small, so was the fridge, but it did the job. If you look at the 360° view of the rooms available in the www.nickhotel.com, it is pretty much spot on. I doesn't appear to be very large, so there's no deception there. It is what it is.
The Mall: I would say the food is average, but the mall is nice. We found some characters (Blue, Diego, Squidward), but we didn't spend that much time in the hotel or mall. Subway was a little overpriced (6.50 for a footlong instead of 5.00) but felt that the Pizza Hut was more overpriced (13.99 for a medium cheese pan pizza, 9.99 a dozen wings). We bought a couple of souvenir cups (7.00 USD I think) with free refills throughout our stay. We didn't used them much.
Excellent
Front Desk: quick check-in (Wednesday, keep in mind), quick check out, very helpful. Asked for a late check out and was granted 2 extra hours.
Swimming Pool: The highlight of the hotel. First time I felt that the actual installations were better than pictures in brochures and websites (and I saw a lot of them). A lot of lifeguards. Slides were very good. Our children had a blast every time. Slime was overrated in my opinion, but my children loved it and still talk about it. Movies at night (twice) in a big screen. I loved the cabanas (TV, fridge, fan, etc), but I didn't rented one or even knew what their cost was.
Location: Three quarters of a mile from Interstate 4, one mile from WDW entrance, five minute drive to Downtown Disney, Epcot or Disney Hollywood Studios. I think it is closer to this parks than some Disney hotels. Easy access to the Airport or the restaurants or stores in Kissimmee's 192; near a Walmart, Super Target and Publix. Some two miles from the Premium Outlets. Easy access to the airport. Great, great location. Theres nothing in walking distance, though (not that I wanted to walk any more).
No Opinion (didn't use them)
Character Breakfast or Dinner
Sit Down restaurants
4D Movies
Complementary Shuttles to Parks
We ended up with 0.00 in extras, other than food. In fact, is the first time that the front desk didn't ask for my credit card for incidentals. They said "you can pay as you go". I really didn't pay much. We were handed a daily plan of activities called The Script where all the free and charged activities were listed. It was similar to the ones you receive at cruises.
Summary
As I stated before, if you are looking to decide the hotel based on what your children will enjoy the most, I think this hotel is a can't miss. However, I noticed that the pricing strategy for this hotel varies significantly. If you end up paying between 100 and 140 USD/night, including resort fee, I think this is an excellent hotel. If you end up closer to 200 USD/night, you might feel it is not worth it, unless you go for short stays. I wouldn't pay that much for a complete week. Then again, it was named by my children as The Best Hotel in the World. What's the price of that?
I would rate this hotel as a 4.0, but borrowing a grading system from the Unofficial Guide, I think it would be more helpful to see it this way:
Appeal by Group Age
Pre-School: 5.0
Grade School: 5.0
Teens: 4.5
Young Adults: 4.0
Over 30: 3.5
Seniors: 2.5
If you answer (honestly) the question of "Who's Vacation is this for?" with "My Children" or your hotel decision would be made to appeal your children, I honestly believe you this hotel is a "can't miss". If your answer is "The Parks for my Kids, but the hotel and restaurants for the adults" I think you might find things to complain about the hotel.
We stayed in a fifth floor, two-bedroom suite, on Building No. 7, right by the Lagoon Swimming Pool (the main one). Our plan was to go to six parks in six complete days, so the hotel was for sleeping and swimming, either as a mid day break or end of the day relax. We didn't plan to stay a complete day at the hotel or something of that sort.
Here are my comments by topic:
Need Improvement
Elevators: slowest I can remember. If your average wait for an elevator is 45 seconds to a minute, here you will be waiting from 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes on average. Wild guess, but might be right. We stayed on the fifth floor and my kids would like to "race the elevator" either up or down, and won 4 of every 5 races. I don´t know if they have one elevator per building, or one every two buildings. But I think it was more a matter of the elevator technology. Slow.
Clean Up time: I would say that our room was made around 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM. Two of the seven days it was inconvenient, with the other days us being out of the hotel. One interfered with a nap, asked the lady to come back after making the neighbors rooms. The other was a minor inconvenience, with us waiting some three minutes for the lady to finish up.
Maintenance: I had three issues. 1) A clogged bathroom. It was really not clogged but "slow". It was quickly fixed, once reported. 2) Missing batteries on one of the three TV remote controls. I think it might be the last guest fault, but it was also quickly resolved. 3) A couple of light bulbs going out; they were fine when we got there, but faulted. They were replaced.
Above Average
Parking: I read reviews of parking problems. I think the hotel layout is very good and you can park near your building/room. Sometimes you were little off (some 200 feet) and sometimes near.
Room: It wasn't a large room; you might even think it is a small suite. Very clean. It is stated to be 485 sq. ft., almost twice of a regular "Disney Value Resort". You don't feel is quite large. We were a party of five and it was oK. If we were six, I might be a bit concerned. It worked for us pretty well. The Kitchenette was small, so was the fridge, but it did the job. If you look at the 360° view of the rooms available in the www.nickhotel.com, it is pretty much spot on. I doesn't appear to be very large, so there's no deception there. It is what it is.
The Mall: I would say the food is average, but the mall is nice. We found some characters (Blue, Diego, Squidward), but we didn't spend that much time in the hotel or mall. Subway was a little overpriced (6.50 for a footlong instead of 5.00) but felt that the Pizza Hut was more overpriced (13.99 for a medium cheese pan pizza, 9.99 a dozen wings). We bought a couple of souvenir cups (7.00 USD I think) with free refills throughout our stay. We didn't used them much.
Excellent
Front Desk: quick check-in (Wednesday, keep in mind), quick check out, very helpful. Asked for a late check out and was granted 2 extra hours.
Swimming Pool: The highlight of the hotel. First time I felt that the actual installations were better than pictures in brochures and websites (and I saw a lot of them). A lot of lifeguards. Slides were very good. Our children had a blast every time. Slime was overrated in my opinion, but my children loved it and still talk about it. Movies at night (twice) in a big screen. I loved the cabanas (TV, fridge, fan, etc), but I didn't rented one or even knew what their cost was.
Location: Three quarters of a mile from Interstate 4, one mile from WDW entrance, five minute drive to Downtown Disney, Epcot or Disney Hollywood Studios. I think it is closer to this parks than some Disney hotels. Easy access to the Airport or the restaurants or stores in Kissimmee's 192; near a Walmart, Super Target and Publix. Some two miles from the Premium Outlets. Easy access to the airport. Great, great location. Theres nothing in walking distance, though (not that I wanted to walk any more).
No Opinion (didn't use them)
Character Breakfast or Dinner
Sit Down restaurants
4D Movies
Complementary Shuttles to Parks
We ended up with 0.00 in extras, other than food. In fact, is the first time that the front desk didn't ask for my credit card for incidentals. They said "you can pay as you go". I really didn't pay much. We were handed a daily plan of activities called The Script where all the free and charged activities were listed. It was similar to the ones you receive at cruises.
Summary
As I stated before, if you are looking to decide the hotel based on what your children will enjoy the most, I think this hotel is a can't miss. However, I noticed that the pricing strategy for this hotel varies significantly. If you end up paying between 100 and 140 USD/night, including resort fee, I think this is an excellent hotel. If you end up closer to 200 USD/night, you might feel it is not worth it, unless you go for short stays. I wouldn't pay that much for a complete week. Then again, it was named by my children as The Best Hotel in the World. What's the price of that?
