Not that impressed with the Dolphin

[Tinkbell]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, disneychic. You saw trays left in the hallways for days on YOUR vacation. It shouldn't matter to you if other people did not see trays on their vacations. We should all realize that no 2 people ever experience the same vacation. I have read the tray complaints many times on this board over the 2 years that I have been here. I hope they can fix that problem.

 

[dcedwards]

Disneychic -- Your initial post was great. As you may have noticed from the thread that my experience was similar to yours. Having worked in the industry, and trained, I know how difficult it is to run such a huge property. That being said, if my trip to the Dolphin has been a "once in a lifetime trip" to DisneyWorld it really would have been too bad. I realize that some think the Swan and Dolphin are wonderful and my hats are off to you. It is great that you have had such wonderful experiences there. But, for those who might be planning to stay there...I think it is important that in planning the visit that they are well aware that things can go wrong. The information you provided in your post is valuable. It gives newcomers and those planning trips additional information on which to base their decisions. And, I'm sure the managers at Swan/Dolphin are more than happy to find out about those experiences. Too often many people go away mad or disappointed and management never knows why. Not so in my case, as my husband would say "look out she is on that they should do better than this crusade."

As it is, I have been blessed by being able to return on a yearly basis with my family and my parents. And, we have not returned to Dolphin to give it another chance. At the time, management which I now understand is different, could have cared less and I decided that we could rent our two rooms elsewhere. We have done that and had some wonderful trips. But, am I ready to give the Dolphin another try? I might ponder the question for a minute but ....

As for Mr Swan/Dolphin, over the years I have seen him use his pixie dust for many wonderful things. He has been rather elusive lately but I'm sure he still has his bag of pixie dust waiting for that special moment. If you are reading this....thanks for the things you've done in the past...I've seen many a smile over the computer!!!

And, finally...WDWtrekker...I agree...it is okay to disagree but we need to make sure we do it in a way that doesn't belittle anyone else's opinions. Thank goodness we are all different with different perspectives. That is what makes these boards so wonderful.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Ummmm..........last time I checked this wasn't the debate board. Disneychic, is that what you were looking for??? a debate??? probably not, huh?

I appreciated your view. Some things were dissappointing in your hotel. I'm sure you didn't let it ruin your vacation, but you just wanted to inform people (I think that is what a trip report is). Anyway, thanks.

Trekker..... thank you, too. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

 

[NancyIL]

I believe Mr. SwanDolphin is too busy picking up Room Service trays to spread any more pixie dust!

The WDW Swan and Dolphin are actually "owned" by the Tishman Hotel Corporation and managed by Starwood: http://www.tishmanhotels.com

 

[The Pluto People]

LOL!!!

 

[dreamflight99]

Originally posted by NancyIL

The WDW Swan and Dolphin are actually "owned" by the Tishman Hotel Corporation: http://www.tishmanhotels.com

Well...This gets really "sticky" here, and difficult to explain in simple terms. Tishman, Starwood, and several other Major Reality Companies & Corps "Share Ownership" of these properties. It is called Asset-Management, (overseeing of Portfolio assets), and is in layman's terms a Partnership. Through delegation of boards, some companies decide to oversee the "day to day" management of their owned proerties. Starwood owns a dominant share of the WDW Dolphin/Swan, and therefore selected to oversee the day to day of this property. Tishman oversees the "day to day" of their Rio property, and several others. These resorts, and sometimes franchises, are all owned and operated by several persons/companies. As I said...it is very difficult to explain/understand. I could post some board room table talk, but it would appear as gibberish and rhetoric to most! LOL....

 

[Dodie]

I am not a person who likes to debate, but would like to share a quote from my report regarding my recent 4/20 pre-cruise night at the Dolphin:

We were registering at the Dolphin by 12:15! Unfortunately, the king-bed non-smoking room we had requested was not available at this time. Not wanting to waste a minute of precious Epcot time, we took an alternate room which was available. It was a double double-bed room with a balcony and a view of the pool and Disney MGM Studios. Special thanks to everyone who helped us get this one-night pre-cruise rate and a room with a view, but I have to be totally honest. We were simply not impressed with the Dolphin. Our room was a little worse for wear and a smelly tray of left-over room service remained outside a door down the hall (which we had to pass multiple times) for the entire 22 hours we were there. The public areas were nice and the proximity to Epcot and the Boardwalk was a nice plus. Maybe if we’d been there more than one night it would have “grown on us.”

Seems to me that the room service thing - of which I was totally unaware when I visited the Dolphin AND when I wrote my trip report, does seem to be a fairly consistent problem.

HOWEVER, I would never tell people "not to stay" at a particular resort. What bothers me may not bother you. Your experience may be totally different than mine.

There are a LOT of very nice, helpful people on the DIS who are big S/D fans. Mr. S/D is an awesome friend to many. I like to think that my review, above, would not be taken personally by others who love the S/D. However, it WAS my experience.

 

[chatty]

Dodie,

I think that everyones opinion is Great, wether good or bad. Just think how boring life would be if we all either agreeded to the same thing or dis-agreeded to the same thing ..YUCK!!!

Opinions are GOOD!! And I think that us WDW Fans do well with respecting other's views and OPINIONS.. GOOD JOB DIS FAMILY...

Chatty

 

[LBYC-19]

Thank you for your honesty, and I'm sorry you had an adverse experience at the Dolphin.

My hats off to any of you who are brave enough to report on your experiences (and my sympathies to you if they are bad!). If you were honest enough to post, the last thing you probably want to hear is what a wonderful time we all had at the Dolphin. These boards are to share the good and the bad....for the benefit of others when they are planning their future trips.
---------
Joanne

 

[cboudre1]

I agree with not telling someone else not to try a hotel. We were on the 18th floor and I really liked the Dolphin. There was a room with a room service cart in front of a door almost every time we went in or out of our room. Although I noticed it, it didn't bother me. I didn't even really think to much about it until I read that other people noticed the same thing. I remember the elevator being spotless and watching a man polish the floor of it.

The first night I realized we were right next to the elevator. I could hear it run when we turned off the Tv. I thought I would wake up all night long. We were so tired everynight it wasn't a problem. I do see how that could be a problem for someone else. A room that I liked might be a problem for a light sleeper even though I liked our room.

 

[dreamflight99]

I also noticed the polishing of the elevators, and the "stamping" of the sand in the large, tall ashtrays...with the Dolphin-Fish insignia/logo! The little touches...which I LOVE the most!

 

[Jen80370]

Dodie...see you presented your opinion with facts...what you saw, when you saw it, and then presented your opinion. You never presented your opinion as fact. Big difference. You may want to consider telling Starwood in a letter exactly what you told us. If there is a problem trending...maybe they can track the trend by the complaints. Maybe the trays mount at certain times of the day/week/month based on occupancy or people on certain shifts. The more info people have, the more they can do.

In response to your feedback, Starwood has been known to credit points for future stays. It cannot hurt...and it is always good to have your voice heard in a way that it fact-based and respectful-both of which your post was.

Good luck..

 

[Gabrielle]

MY son and I checked out the Swan and Dolphin on our last trip to Dworld - I thought we would give them a try next time.

I didn't like either one of them - they just didn't seem like Disney. They seemed like the type of hotel I would stay in for a business convention - not a vacation.

 

[pbhunt]

Oh Yeah, I haven't posted a review of our stay yet. we were at the Swan Apr. 25-28. We were upgraded to a balcony room with a view of crescent lake and the Friendship launch. Fabulous, Beautiful. Ahhhhemm. Back on topic. There was a Wells Fargo Convention going on during our stay, there were so many conventioneers that they were spread out between both hotels, over 1200+ attendees. We thoroughly enjoyed their presentations! They had their own parades with the Stagecoach and horses, Marching Bands in the courtyard in the evening . The Band "Bare Naked Ladies" put on a private concert for them at the Dolphin Saturday night. Missed that one. Darn I wish I worked for Wells Fargo! I really think the conventioneeers added to our enjoyment!

 

[dreamflight99]

Thanks Pbhunt...great post. Sounds as if you had a wonderful time. We too enjoy all the conventioners, especially the DODGE convention last summer. They gave DD pins, and wrist bands to attend a concert and party, (plus other freebies). They were a lively group...very friendly. Almost all had passes to WDW, and took the boats with us every afternoon. We enjoy all the people visiting WDW...like ONE BIG FAMILY! Thanks again for your post.

 

[Jen80370]

My fingers are crossed for a Starwood convention...they could give away points!