Thought I would throw out an abbreviated trip report, and answer questions if need be:
FYI: Our crew consisted of ME (Ultramega Planner), Wife (Tolerates my ultramega planning ways), Daughters (16 and 13 Years old) and Son (10 Years old)...Kids and I are thrillseekers and love all rides, while wife enjoys people watching and beer drinking while waiting for us)
October 11- Arrive Doubletree Hotel Downtown Disney
(Nice Suite hotel, beds are small though)
DINNER: Planet Hollywood
October 12- Seaworld
Good day, arrived early to get to feed dolphins-Cool !
LUNCH: Voyagers
DINNER: Shark's Underwater Grill
October 13- Checked into HRH (Room #4101)
Room was a Deluxe Queen (500sqft) with two queens and pullout)...Location was bad, as it is directly across from ice machine
LUNCH: Bongo's (Downtown Disney)
DINNER: Hard Rock Cafe (Got a VIP tour of the John Lennon room, and other non-public areas...VERY COOL !)
Saw "The Undertaker" (Wrestler) at the Simpson's Ride....
OCTOBER 14- Islands of Adventure
LUNCH: Mytho's ( One of the best steak sandwiches I have ever had)
DINNER: Bubba Gumps
October 15-Universal Studios
LUNCH: Finnegan's
DINNER: Poolside pizza at HRH
Saw BLUE MAN GROUP...Absolutely should not be missed....!!! We were three rows back-center, in the section behind the "PONCHO SECTION", which was ideal for us...never saw a lot go into the poncho section, so wearing the plastic seemed to be a nuisance, IMO..and the view was great...
October 16- Islands of Adventure
LUNCH: Fireeaters (Decent fried chicken salad)
DINNER: Margarittaville
October 17- Universal Studios
LUNCH: Reichter's (Actually liked their burger)
DINNER: Pastamore
Enjoyed the afternoon poolside, sitting a few chairs down from Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister-80's band)
October 18
Returned home to Chattanooga
Some notes of interest:
I had some issues with the HRH, nothing on a grand scale, but it was the little details I would expect an almost $300/night hotel to handle with no problem. I had requested a specific room on the 6th floor 5 days ahead of time by calling the hotel, and was told the request could not be guaranteed,(which was understandable ) but would be put on the reservation..I asked to at least be on the 6th floor, if that room was not available. Upon our arrival, I was told the room was to be #4101, I asked about the request...NO SUCH REQUEST WAS ON THE RESERVATION AS I HAD BEEN TOLD...Uggghhh, plus the room was not ready yet anyway..(3:30pm) I told them we would be willing to wait for the 6th floor, nope, only room was #4101
Room #4101 is not for the light sleeper, it is DIRECTLY across from the ice machine...and since HRH uses stainless steel ice buckets, the noise can be quite startling at 2a.m., and even without someone actually getting ice, every now and then, a stray cube fall down the shoot and bangs into the drain hole...
Our pullout sofa was actually broken, with a noticable lean down in the corner.Too late that night when we noticed it, but I went to the front desk at 8a.m. the next day to tell them....8 hours later when we returned from the park, it still had not been addressed (again, remember, it is these little details that irked me)...I called and the manager of Housekeeping did take care of it, and as an apology, he ordered extra 'cushioning' for the sofa bed, and also turndown service for us...I was there when he made the call...guess what...that night when we returned from dinner (almost 10pm), no turndown service, and no extras for the sofa bed ( small details gone undone !)...We did eventually get the turndown service the remaining nights, but did not get the promised extras for the sofabed until our last night...
Last little issue was the fact we had a change of plan that allowed us to leave Saturday, instead of the original Friday..I stopped by the front desk on WEDNESDAY NIGHT just to ask about extending our stay...and was told they were booked for the weekend..no problem, and asked if they could put us on a waiting list if something opened up ...they did call Thursday and said to not plan on it, so I went online and started hotel searching...funny, but HRH came up as available..I called the front desk, they said the website must be wrong, and there was nothing available...I told them we did not need the same room, or even the same type room, and would take what was available...again, a no...I called central reservation, and was asking about Portafino Bay...while talking to the agent, she told me there WERE rooms at HRH, and in fact, they had a deluxe queen !!! In fact, she booked ot right then for me...I called the front desk, they were puzzled, but I gave them the reservation number, and they kept us in the same room ! for the extra night...AGAIN, IT IS THESE SMALL IRRITATIONS THAT I FEEL ARE NOT REASONABLE AT A HIGH LEVEL HOTEL...criticize me if you will, but the burden
of proper follow up, etc. should not be left up to the customer.
The hotel itself is quite elegant, but I did notice that the blue paint job in our hallway, was poorly done, as there was paint on the room signs, which should have been removed or better prep would have avoided it...(again, small details, and would not have been a point if this was a Motel 6 )
We really did enjoy the atmosphere of the HRH, and the walk to the parks is a huge benefit...I would also never do the parks without the FOTL priviledges from staying onsite, even during this slow season..there were still some long lines at times..We loved the pool, and the waiter "Will" became a good friend with his great service from the bar.
Also, per advice from this board..My wife and I bought the refillable PILSNERS on Monday, and brought them to the parks every day, so we got that extra 4oz. every time when we got a beer....Maybe not a huge savings, but EXTRA BEER !!!
Fire away with any questions....I could have written much more, but have to plan for our cruise in May now...
David
FYI: Our crew consisted of ME (Ultramega Planner), Wife (Tolerates my ultramega planning ways), Daughters (16 and 13 Years old) and Son (10 Years old)...Kids and I are thrillseekers and love all rides, while wife enjoys people watching and beer drinking while waiting for us)
October 11- Arrive Doubletree Hotel Downtown Disney
(Nice Suite hotel, beds are small though)
DINNER: Planet Hollywood
October 12- Seaworld
Good day, arrived early to get to feed dolphins-Cool !
LUNCH: Voyagers
DINNER: Shark's Underwater Grill
October 13- Checked into HRH (Room #4101)
Room was a Deluxe Queen (500sqft) with two queens and pullout)...Location was bad, as it is directly across from ice machine
LUNCH: Bongo's (Downtown Disney)
DINNER: Hard Rock Cafe (Got a VIP tour of the John Lennon room, and other non-public areas...VERY COOL !)
Saw "The Undertaker" (Wrestler) at the Simpson's Ride....
OCTOBER 14- Islands of Adventure
LUNCH: Mytho's ( One of the best steak sandwiches I have ever had)
DINNER: Bubba Gumps
October 15-Universal Studios
LUNCH: Finnegan's
DINNER: Poolside pizza at HRH
Saw BLUE MAN GROUP...Absolutely should not be missed....!!! We were three rows back-center, in the section behind the "PONCHO SECTION", which was ideal for us...never saw a lot go into the poncho section, so wearing the plastic seemed to be a nuisance, IMO..and the view was great...
October 16- Islands of Adventure
LUNCH: Fireeaters (Decent fried chicken salad)
DINNER: Margarittaville
October 17- Universal Studios
LUNCH: Reichter's (Actually liked their burger)
DINNER: Pastamore
Enjoyed the afternoon poolside, sitting a few chairs down from Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister-80's band)
October 18
Returned home to Chattanooga
Some notes of interest:
I had some issues with the HRH, nothing on a grand scale, but it was the little details I would expect an almost $300/night hotel to handle with no problem. I had requested a specific room on the 6th floor 5 days ahead of time by calling the hotel, and was told the request could not be guaranteed,(which was understandable ) but would be put on the reservation..I asked to at least be on the 6th floor, if that room was not available. Upon our arrival, I was told the room was to be #4101, I asked about the request...NO SUCH REQUEST WAS ON THE RESERVATION AS I HAD BEEN TOLD...Uggghhh, plus the room was not ready yet anyway..(3:30pm) I told them we would be willing to wait for the 6th floor, nope, only room was #4101
Room #4101 is not for the light sleeper, it is DIRECTLY across from the ice machine...and since HRH uses stainless steel ice buckets, the noise can be quite startling at 2a.m., and even without someone actually getting ice, every now and then, a stray cube fall down the shoot and bangs into the drain hole...
Our pullout sofa was actually broken, with a noticable lean down in the corner.Too late that night when we noticed it, but I went to the front desk at 8a.m. the next day to tell them....8 hours later when we returned from the park, it still had not been addressed (again, remember, it is these little details that irked me)...I called and the manager of Housekeeping did take care of it, and as an apology, he ordered extra 'cushioning' for the sofa bed, and also turndown service for us...I was there when he made the call...guess what...that night when we returned from dinner (almost 10pm), no turndown service, and no extras for the sofa bed ( small details gone undone !)...We did eventually get the turndown service the remaining nights, but did not get the promised extras for the sofabed until our last night...
Last little issue was the fact we had a change of plan that allowed us to leave Saturday, instead of the original Friday..I stopped by the front desk on WEDNESDAY NIGHT just to ask about extending our stay...and was told they were booked for the weekend..no problem, and asked if they could put us on a waiting list if something opened up ...they did call Thursday and said to not plan on it, so I went online and started hotel searching...funny, but HRH came up as available..I called the front desk, they said the website must be wrong, and there was nothing available...I told them we did not need the same room, or even the same type room, and would take what was available...again, a no...I called central reservation, and was asking about Portafino Bay...while talking to the agent, she told me there WERE rooms at HRH, and in fact, they had a deluxe queen !!! In fact, she booked ot right then for me...I called the front desk, they were puzzled, but I gave them the reservation number, and they kept us in the same room ! for the extra night...AGAIN, IT IS THESE SMALL IRRITATIONS THAT I FEEL ARE NOT REASONABLE AT A HIGH LEVEL HOTEL...criticize me if you will, but the burden
of proper follow up, etc. should not be left up to the customer.
The hotel itself is quite elegant, but I did notice that the blue paint job in our hallway, was poorly done, as there was paint on the room signs, which should have been removed or better prep would have avoided it...(again, small details, and would not have been a point if this was a Motel 6 )
We really did enjoy the atmosphere of the HRH, and the walk to the parks is a huge benefit...I would also never do the parks without the FOTL priviledges from staying onsite, even during this slow season..there were still some long lines at times..We loved the pool, and the waiter "Will" became a good friend with his great service from the bar.
Also, per advice from this board..My wife and I bought the refillable PILSNERS on Monday, and brought them to the parks every day, so we got that extra 4oz. every time when we got a beer....Maybe not a huge savings, but EXTRA BEER !!!
Fire away with any questions....I could have written much more, but have to plan for our cruise in May now...
David
