silly question re booking dolphin gov't/teacher etc rate...

[katrina1122]

I booked the 129/night rate directly through the dolphin. After taxes and resort fee it comes out to 153/night. Just wanted to make sure that there isn't a place where I can get this for less...ie booking through a place like dreams unlimited or something? Can someone else get the resort fee dropped or are the taxes different etc? I'm assuming the 153 is correct, but I just wanted to be sure. Thanks...the extra $25/night for 8 nights adds up quickly.

 

[Tigger Fans!]

Hi-
They quoted me the same rate. Dolphin $129 per night + $10 resort fee...but the total was lower ($143.84 per night). I haven't stayed here before but it sounds amazing!
TTFN!

 

[#1hockeymom]

You will both love the Swan and Dolphin! 129 is the base quote, before taxes. As we all know Florida has a tax for everything! These taxes would be on your bill no matter where you are staying. I have a feeling that the difference between your two rates is the difference with the resort fee being added on to one of them, and not the other. Take your laptop with you and between free high speed internet access, never ending coffee (just call from your room if you need more) and the health club you won't be bothered by paying the fee! (and by calling it a resort fee the tax is cheaper than if it was a normal room tax, go figure).

If you are unsure about your quotes, call them back again and ask for it to be itemized.

Have a wonderful trip!

Debbie

 

[katrina1122]

well that's good that we booked it right, but that resort fee annoys me. While on vacation I don't want dh surfing the web, he'll be too tempted to do work, he'd agree that a laptop would be too much of a tempting thing. I can't drink coffee or tea for health reasons, and therefor dh rarely drinks it, ie maybe a cup a month. As to the health club, I seriously doubt we'll have time to hit it daily, I don't go daily now (though I know I should)...so a newspaper shouldn't cost me $10. Yes I understand fl taxes are high. I will call and reconfirm that was qouted the corrected final rate as two of us have different rates, and if I was I'll deal with it.
Like I said I was mainly checking to see if there were other ways to book the room discount.
On the other hand there should be a way to opt out of the resort fee as I know we won't be using $80 worth of it, but thus is life.
Thanks for the clarification

 

[Geoff_M]

The hotel tax in Orange county (where most of the WDW resorts reside) is 11.5%. So here's the breakdown:

Room: $129.00
Tax: $14.84

Room + Tax: $143.84

Resort Fee: $10.00

Total Cost: $153.84


Unless you can catch some sort of periodic deal that the Dolphin may run, that's about as good as it gets at the Dolphin.

 

[Tigger Fans!]

So.... is it possible that they didn't add the resort fee onto my total? I requested that they not charge us the $10 mandatory fee (we don't drink tea or coffee, and it'll be hard to get my DH out of the hotel room before he reads the paper if its there). If they didn't add it onto my reservation originally.....will they just tack it on when I check in or did I actually get them to drop it?

TTFN!

 

[jmcross]

From what I've read you can't drop the mandatory $10 fee whether you use the amenities or not.

Joanne

 

[stringercapecod]

We've stayed at the Dolphin twice, most recently Feb. 2003 and never paid the resort fee even though it was listed on our confirmation. We requested it to be waived at checkin and were told "no problem" but when we received our bill on checkout morning it was added on. Went down to the desk and had it removed without question. So,I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask. When I made my reservation for April 2004, I was quoted the Teacher Discount with the resort fee but she told me the charge to my credit card would be without it. Hope this helps!

 

[cdrn1]

I stayed at the Dolphin at the nurse rate in March 2002. I was told at the time of booking that the resort fee could not be waived. I asked again at checkin and they did waive it.

 

[DVC California]

katrina1122 -

Are you a Platinum member of Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program? If you are, the $10.00 resort fee is waived for Plats.'

Steve