Pros/cons of staying at Swan Hotel

[stinkpickle]

The bus situation wouldn't bother us much. We always Uber to make rope drop, and would take the Boardwalk or BC/YC bus back.

 

[jessiebern32]

Thank you! We are debating between Swan and Caribbean Beach Resort. Only downside to CBR is only the pirate rooms are available.

 

[SarahC97]

Thank you! We are debating between Swan and Caribbean Beach Resort. Only downside to CBR is only the pirate rooms are available.

That is a pickle. The pirate rooms are only double beds, whereas the Swan has queens.

 

[jessiebern32]

That is a pickle. The pirate rooms are only double beds, whereas the Swan has queens.

I'm ok with the double beds. My concern with the pirate room (from what I read) is the rooms are so far from the rest of the resort.

 

[Timandalicia]

Marriott has horrible CS. We had an issue with a non Disney vacation and they have been terrible to deal with. For your first trip I would definitely stay at a Disney hotel. If you want to be near those 2 parks I would do Beach Club or Yacht Club. A suggestion would be to stay at a MK hotel. They have the electrical water pageant at night and hopefully depending on when you go fireworks will be back, Plus at Contemporary you can walk to MK.

It is often much cheaper than Yacht and Beach Club (we stay at Beach Club most times we go). So I think Swan is a great alternative for budgeting.
Westin was only bought by Marriott in 2016 and has retained its great service. I’ve stayed at 6 of them since then, the most recent being the Denver airport. The bell service took our luggage all the way through airport check-in and then refused the tip (I insisted that he take it).

 

[SarahC97]

I'm ok with the double beds. My concern with the pirate room (from what I read) is the rooms are so far from the rest of the resort.

We didn't think so. They're very close to the skyliner station and I don't think unless you're going to pony up for a preferred room that they're any farther from the main buildings than the standard sections.

 

[jessiebern32]

It is often much cheaper than Yacht and Beach Club (we stay at Beach Club most times we go). So I think Swan is a great alternative for budgeting.
Westin was only bought by Marriott in 2016 and has retained its great service. I’ve stayed at 6 of them since then, the most recent being the Denver airport. The bell service took our luggage all the way through airport check-in and then refused the tip (I insisted that he take it).

Thank you! If you stay at the Swan can you still book restaurant reservations at the parks in advance?

 

[Timandalicia]

Crud. No on advanced dining reservations. And I just saw above no more Disney transportation. Times is a changin’.
I wouldn’t listen to me if I were you.
JK. But I guess you have to compare those amenities rather closely nowadays.

 

[nkereina]

The bus situation wouldn't bother us much. We always Uber to make rope drop, and would take the Boardwalk or BC/YC bus back.

To that point, one could also walk over to YC/BC bus stop in the mornings to catch the MK bus in order to avoid the TTC transfer. Its not a terribly far walk.

Thank you! We are debating between Swan and Caribbean Beach Resort. Only downside to CBR is only the pirate rooms are available.

We looove CBR, but I would most definitely choose another resort if pirate rooms were the only option for us. As mentioned, the beds are full size and from what I have read, many complain they are uncomfortable because there are no box springs and the makeshift pirate bed platform wasn't exactly designed with comfort in mind. They are a close walk to the main Skyliner hub; however, I believe Spyglass Grill will be closed for the foreseeable future which makes for a long walk over to Old Port Royale for food and drinks. Also a decent walk to the main pool. And Riviera is a pretty long walk too - would probably make more sense to hop on the Skyliner if you wanted to go to Riviera. There's a reason they designated this section as themed rooms - because Disney knows the location is not desirable, so the theme entices people to book them. The Skyliner proximity is an added perk, but still far from the things we use most often.

 

[SarahC97]

To that point, one could also walk over to YC/BC bus stop in the mornings to catch the MK bus in order to avoid the TTC transfer. Its not a terribly far walk.

I've seen this stated more than once and I just have to say, and I honestly don't mean to pick on you in particular at all, that's not great advice. If Swolphin guests inundate the bus stops for MK and AK at YC/BC, then it's just going to create an unfair situation for people who are paying a premium to stay at those resorts for perks like transportation, especially with reduced capacity on transportation right now. I personally don't think it's cool at all to do this, but that could just be me.

 

[Ross Kratter]

I've seen this stated more than once and I just have to say, and I honestly don't mean to pick on you in particular at all, that's not great advice. If Swolphin guests inundate the bus stops for MK and AK at YC/BC, then it's just going to create an unfair situation for people who are paying a premium to stay at those resorts for perks like transportation, especially with reduced capacity on transportation right now. I personally don't think it's cool at all to do this, but that could just be me.

To that end, it's really just MK that's the issue, as the Swolphin buses can only drop at the TTC, whereas for AK, they drop off right at the park.

 

[empedocles]

And I just saw above no more Disney transportation.

No more Disney-operated BUS transportation. Swolphin still gets the Friendship boats.

 

[sophy1996]

Crud. No on advanced dining reservations. And I just saw above no more Disney transportation. Times is a changin’.
I wouldn’t listen to me if I were you.
JK. But I guess you have to compare those amenities rather closely nowadays.

Why do you say "No on advanced dining reservations"? Just a couple of weeks ago, I was able to book our whole week of reservations at 60th day from the day of check-in.

 

[Dave006]

Thank you! If you stay at the Swan can you still book restaurant reservations at the parks in advance?

Yes as an on-site resort guest you are able to make your ADRs at 60 days for up to stays of 10 days once your reservation is linked in MDE.

Day guests can also make reservations starting at the 60 day mark but only 1 day at a time.

Dave

 

[CynBeth]

It is often much cheaper than Yacht and Beach Club (we stay at Beach Club most times we go). So I think Swan is a great alternative for budgeting.
Westin was only bought by Marriott in 2016 and has retained its great service. I’ve stayed at 6 of them since then, the most recent being the Denver airport. The bell service took our luggage all the way through airport check-in and then refused the tip (I insisted that he take it).

We will no longer stay at a property under them ever again.
My DM is out of a few thousand dollars she really got screwed over. She booked the hotel for the trip overseas we were supposed to go on last summer and because she was a Marriott Bonvoy member she called the dedicated line. She was misled by the rep she spoke to into paying in full and was not told it was nonrefundable or else she would not have booked with this special rate. When we knew we would not be able to go we let the hotel know and they said we could get a voucher good for a year but we explained we would not be able to travel and wanted a refund. The manager of the hotel refused. She contacted corporate and went up as high as you can go and was told the hotel is a franchise and they have no control over it. They can’t make them give the money back. DM put in a dispute with her credit card company but it was denied because the hotel offered a voucher.

 

[cvjw]

I've seen this stated more than once and I just have to say, and I honestly don't mean to pick on you in particular at all, that's not great advice. If Swolphin guests inundate the bus stops for MK and AK at YC/BC, then it's just going to create an unfair situation for people who are paying a premium to stay at those resorts for perks like transportation, especially with reduced capacity on transportation right now. I personally don't think it's cool at all to do this, but that could just be me.

This!! I hate to see people being told to just use the boardwalk or yacht/beach club buses. This is so unfair to the guests actually paying to stay at those resorts. We were at boardwalk in September and had to wait thru 3 full buses trying to get to the MK at rope drop. This was when Swan/dolphin still had their own disney buses. I can only imagine how bad the bus situation will be if they all decide to try and use the boardwalk or yacht/beach buses.

 

[Timandalicia]

Why do you say "No on advanced dining reservations"? Just a couple of weeks ago, I was able to book our whole week of reservations at 60th day from the day of check-in.

Oh good to know. I read it on mousesavers today to check. They said no. I was assuming because of covid. Goes to show you, gotta look into things closely these days.

 

[Timandalicia]

We will no longer stay at a property under them ever again.
My DM is out of a few thousand dollars she really got screwed over. She booked the hotel for the trip overseas we were supposed to go on last summer and because she was a Marriott Bonvoy member she called the dedicated line. She was misled by the rep she spoke to into paying in full and was not told it was nonrefundable or else she would not have booked with this special rate. When we knew we would not be able to go we let the hotel know and they said we could get a voucher good for a year but we explained we would not be able to travel and wanted a refund. The manager of the hotel refused. She contacted corporate and went up as high as you can go and was told the hotel is a franchise and they have no control over it. They can’t make them give the money back. DM put in a dispute with her credit card company but it was denied because the hotel offered a voucher.

That stinks big time. Especially because they own a lot of hotels. I don’t blame you for not wanting to give them your business anymore.

 

[nkereina]

I've seen this stated more than once and I just have to say, and I honestly don't mean to pick on you in particular at all, that's not great advice. If Swolphin guests inundate the bus stops for MK and AK at YC/BC, then it's just going to create an unfair situation for people who are paying a premium to stay at those resorts for perks like transportation, especially with reduced capacity on transportation right now. I personally don't think it's cool at all to do this, but that could just be me.

This!! I hate to see people being told to just use the boardwalk or yacht/beach club buses. This is so unfair to the guests actually paying to stay at those resorts. We were at boardwalk in September and had to wait thru 3 full buses trying to get to the MK at rope drop. This was when Swan/dolphin still had their own disney buses. I can only imagine how bad the bus situation will be if they all decide to try and use the boardwalk or yacht/beach buses.

I get it and understand where you're coming from, but the fact of the matter is that its perfectly permissible for Swolphin guests to do this. Unless and until WDW restricts transportation (or the MK bus, in this instance) to resort only guests, no one is in the wrong for doing this since its not breaking any rules. Its apparently not been an issue because there have not been any restrictions implemented by WDW to address it.

I also have to think that many guests who stay at Swolphin aren't even aware they have to transfer at TTC on the MK bus, and there's probably some who don't even know or realize they could walk to the other resorts to catch the MK bus instead. The ones that are aware may not be keen on walking that far, and would prefer to just use the bus at Swolphin even if it means a TTC transfer (which is not a big deal). Also, the issue people take with TTC is primarily when they are trying to make rope drop - it would be a small segment of guests on a given day that are a) trying to make rope drop and b) realize TTC adds unnecessary time and c) knows they can go to Boardwalk/Beach Club to catch the MK bus instead. I honestly don't think it would significantly impact the MK buses at these resorts enough to notice.

 

[robinb]

We will no longer stay at a property under them ever again.
My DM is out of a few thousand dollars she really got screwed over. She booked the hotel for the trip overseas we were supposed to go on last summer and because she was a Marriott Bonvoy member she called the dedicated line. She was misled by the rep she spoke to into paying in full and was not told it was nonrefundable or else she would not have booked with this special rate. When we knew we would not be able to go we let the hotel know and they said we could get a voucher good for a year but we explained we would not be able to travel and wanted a refund. The manager of the hotel refused. She contacted corporate and went up as high as you can go and was told the hotel is a franchise and they have no control over it. They can’t make them give the money back. DM put in a dispute with her credit card company but it was denied because the hotel offered a voucher.

That stinks. Unfortunately, I think there is enough blame to go around and not all on Marriott. Even if the agent didn't tell her it was non-refundable, she should have received an email with the details about the cancellation policy spelled out. She apparently did not read the email when it came. I too might file away a confirmation email without reading it, but if she had read it she may have been able to change things right away to a refundable rate. Instead, she realized that it was a non-refundable rate only when she wanted to cancel and get a refund. In addition, they tried to work with her and offered her a voucher because she couldn't travel due to Covid. However, it was her choice not to accept that voucher. It's totally within your rights to refuse to stay at Marriott properties, but your DM has responsibility in the situation too. She's out thousands of dollars because the agent didn't tell her it was non-refundable and the hotel wouldn't budge BUT she's also out thousands of dollars because she didn't read her confirmation and wouldn't accept the voucher.