Unimpressed with Beach Club

[Kallison]

This is my opinion and those of most of the guests I spoke with during our 9 day stay. BC rooms are lacking in the deluxe department. In comparison to the Contemp. the rooms are small, beds were not queens, I would be really annoyed if I got a standing balcony, bathrooms are just as tiny as the moderates. Our housekeeping was late every day at beginning of week. We would come back at 2 and our rooms were not made up. ONe day I told housekeeping we would be going out in 1/2 hour and she said "Maybe your room won't be made up today". It did get made up after we left. OUr first room was 3700 across from the freight elevator. Kept me up for two nights. Front desk was very nice about moving us to end of hallway which was quieter. Hallways very noisy, fault of the guests more than anything. Requested pillows and blankets one night and it took 2 1/2 hours after we were in bed. Bus service was annoying sharing with so many other resorts. Noticed at park closing the Carib. Beach would have three busses lined up while we waited for one. Bus service picking up was efficient. Laundry room was a joke, two washers and four dryers. If you pay for a water view and overlook a quiet pool you will hear screaming, splashing and yelling well after midnight. When we called resort direct and asked about scaffolding they told us they were cleaning the facade and it would not be disruptive. Heard jackhammers our entire last day at the pool.

Stuff we liked - Art the Greeter
Front Desk always helpful, never a line
All CM's were friendly
Great location
Cape May - breakfast and dinner
Pool

I would stay here again, only with a great rate such as Cathy Miller at Dreams Unlimited got for us. Overall if we weren't swimming I probably would not choose BC.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

For waht it's worth...I didn't like it there either. I love the POLY and would stay there everytime!

 

[jwfla422]

What a bummer! I know what you mean about the quiet pool noise, we had a room over the quiet pool at the BC for our honeymoon yet-(luckily didn't pay the extra for the water view) and I remember it being pretty noisy at midnight...
some "quiet" pool.

Too bad about the housekeeping service. That is something I would definitely email WDW about, that should certainly be addressed. We've come across that a few times but called down in the morning to request our room to be made up before a certain time and it was taken care of. If not I'd be down at the front desk asking for a manager.

You stayed at a deluxe and should be entitled to the benefits they offer.

Sorry to hear about your disappointing stay there

 

[Kallison]

We didn't let it affect our trip, still had a wonderful time. I just expected more from a Deluxe. I would stay there again if we were going to be swimming a lot and we got a good rate.

They also need more elevators and stairs .

 

[Cindy B]

Thats a shame..

this one is on our list to try.. due to the proximity to Epcot/MGM
We ate at Beaches and Cream twice, and found it fun, and accomodating with our vouchers.

We were wondering if transportation would be better there than at the wilderness Lodge.. WL transportation was spotty at best.
We did note that Beaches & Cream did get crowded (they should take away some of the arcade, and expand B & C).

The pool looked excellent, and Cape May buffet smelled fabulous.

 

[tar heel]

No queen beds???? Yikes. I thought only a handful of undersized rooms had doubles, but you were in two different rooms.

We've stayed at YC three times and had two queens and a daybed and a full-size balcony. We found it to very deluxe, too.

 

[Danauk]

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the beach club. I have just come back from 2 weeks in the BCV and loved it. The rooms were big and well kept. We had a huge balcony (it went the full length of our 3 room villa) overlooking the quiet pool and even though the pool was full of children late at night we could not hear them with the balcony doors shut. I loved the location of the BCV and would definately stay there again. Perhaps you could try to get into the villas next time rather than the BC. I understand about the transport though. Most hotels seemed to have dedicated busses where as the BC bus had 4 other hotels on the bus as well. I didn't fins that too much of a problem though. Even if you were standing all the journeys were short enough for it not to be a problem.

 

[goofyfordisney]

I also found our room at the Beach Club a let down. We stayed there 2 years ago at Thanksgiving. On this trip we also stayed at HRH and AKL. Both were great--so the BC was a disappointment.

We paid for a water view room. We requested a full balcony and got one--only trouble, we had a huge tree blocking the view (over the quiet pool). I felt that the room was in need of some refurbishment--everything was alittle worn looking. We had 2 queens--which were very uncomfortable. Our beds at AKL and HRH were so comfy!

The main pool area was great, but extremely crowded! We couldn't find a place for all four of us to hang out so we ended up at the quiet pool mostly.

Overall, I found the BC to be very busy and not very relaxing after a day at the parks. I really liked the location of being near BW, Epcot and MGM. Our next trip in April we are booked at the Swan. Hope we will like the Swan better!


Sue

 

[Kallison]

Originally posted by tar heel
No queen beds???? Yikes. I thought only a handful of undersized rooms had doubles, but you were in two different rooms.

We've stayed at YC three times and had two queens and a daybed and a full-size balcony. We found it to very deluxe, too.

Next time we will try YC or the BCV if possible. We could not get into B&C either, we did take-out on the porch. DH and I are going to Dolphin in 6 weeks, that is my next resort to try. He is at a conference.

 

[jordanyosh]

We've stayed at the YC and found it wonderful. Had a great view and full balcony. YC seemed more sedate than the BC. The older resorts do have larger rooms, but I would take a smaller room at YC over a larger room at CR anytime. We love the proximity to MGM and Epcot, our favorite parks. Everyone has their own preferences.

Hope your stay at the Dolphin is fantastic.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there... yup I forgot to mention in my trip report that the beds were doubles, not queens.

Luckily we had a nice size balcony with 2 chairs and a table... I saw those standing balconies.. they are insane! There is also another balcony style I noticed, long and narrow - 6 people could stand but no chair would fit

We had a nice view of the lagoon & BWI and stormalong... our room was always cleaned by noon.... didn't notice any noises at all from the scaffolding area and the halls or elevators.

Love Art the Greeter and that little salute to the ladies he does.

>>^..^<<

 

[dreamflight99]

We have stayed at the BC twice, and enjoyed it both times. The second time was Concierge, and much better than the first. Yet, both times were memorable, without any of the problems you have described.

The following year we stayed at the WDW Dolphin, and lost the desire to stay anywhere else in the "Epcot Resort" area. The Beach Club can seem a bit crowded at times, (pool/B&C, etc.), yet is still a beautiful place to stay. We just prefer the WDW Dolphin/Swan resorts.

There is NO excuse for the lack of service you received from HK, and I hope you email WDW guest services asap to make them aware of the problem (and comment made by one of the associates...completely unprofessional!). Hopefully, someone in GS can amend the problems, and restore the BC to the DELUXE status/standard expected by guests.

I've heard/read nothing but wonderful things about the Villas (DVC), at both the Y & BC, as well as the BW. We loved the BW, and stayed in a cottage by chance on our last visit. It had an open loft area, and an adorable yard setting. It was like a quaint little english retreat! We were actually "upgraded" to this suite by mere coincidence. It was in August, and a nice/slow week. I inquired about these cottages, as I'd heard so much about them. The CM offered to "show" one to us, and took us on a private tour.

We returned to the front desk, and she handed us the price sheet/list for these accomodations (which was not bad at all), but would be more than double what we were paying. Yet, we kindly and politely declined, as we were fine with the reservation we made, etc. She looked at me for a moment, and then...wishing me an early Merry Christmas and an "Extra-Magical" stay...smiled & processed our check-in for the COTTAGE (@ no additional charge)! Elated, would be an understatement. So...if we ever returned to the BW, I would have to reserve the cottage, as everything else would "pale" in comparison (except the Prez. suite, LOL!).

MAGIC is still ALIVE and WELL in WDW! I hope you return soon, to experience more...and put this trouble behind you.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I'm so sorry you were unimpressed by the Beach Club! We stayed there last year, and I really liked the place.

We had one of the rooms with the small standing room only balcony. When we checked-in, our assigned room was not ready (it was a full balcony garden view room), so we asked if we could have a room that was ready. The CM checked, but came up with a room with a standing room only balcony with woods view. We took it since it was available. If we had been spending more than 3 nights there, we would have probably waited for the assigned room. And, the balcony wasn't a huge problem at all. Two could stand on it, and we were able to watch IllumiNations from it. Yes, I would have preferred a full balcony, but, oh well!

 

[Marianne0310]

We weren't impressed with the BCV. We were there from 8/10/03 to 8/22/03. We had room 550. At first glance our room seemed clean, that was until we went on the balcony and found someone must have cut their hair out there and it was never cleaned up. There was also a bandaid on the floor next to the sleepsofa. What bothered us more was the mattress. It was the most uncomfortable bedding we ever slept in. Half way through our stay we decided to turn the mattress when we found a 3/4" piece of plywood between the mattress and foundation. We spoke to the hotel manager, and it was fixed that afternoon, he said that it was unacceptable. I can't believe that would ever happen at a Disney Resort. We love the BWV, we'll be staying there from now on.

 

[soccer mom]

Kallison,

We felt a lot like you and some of the others. We were on the concierge floor with our three teenagers and managed to get one of those smaller rooms with double beds. It was awful. We also had a waterview, couldn't see one drop of water because of a courtyard full of trees. Also agree on the buses.

The only things BC has going for it is its proximity to Epcot and the pool.

 

[Briar rose108]

We were also disappointed with the Beach Club. We stayed there last year for a week at the end of Nov./beginning of Dec.

Front desk was friendly & quick (we were actually upgraded to concierge level). Art the greeter was great.

The room was very disappointing for a deluxe room. Very small room, full size beds (No Queen beds!!). The room was so small that the table in the room was pushed half way over the sofa bed, which made both practically impossible to use. Only one chair was at the table and while we had a regular size balcony(which was nice) we practically had to climb over the one chair to get to the balcony.

Concierge did not seem all that special to us.

Not one towel animal from housekeeping.

The positive things, great location (5 minutes from Epcot and about a 15 minute walk to MGM), great pool, Beaches & Cream (food was good, but the restaurant is way too small for the resort).

We probably will not stay at the Beach Club again.

Just my opinion

 

[palmtreegirl]

We've stayed at the YC and found it wonderful. Had a great view and full balcony. YC seemed more sedate than the BC. The older resorts do have larger rooms, but I would take a smaller room at YC over a larger room at CR anytime.

We just stayed at the YC for 9 nights and it was wonderful!! Big room, queen beds, huge balcony with a beautiful view if the BW and lighthouse. We booked the YC because all the rooms have full balconies and we heard the BC didn't. We stayed at the CR for 3 nights before checking into the YC and we didn't even notice the change in room size.

The YC is by far, our favorite resort, it surpassed the AKL/WL(they were tied). The only down falls it had for us were the busses, shared by too many resorts and the lack of a self serve station for the mugs. Everything else was just incredible.

 

[Divamomto3]

Gotta agree, the Yacht Club was awesome to us. If the beds weren't Queen, I didn't notice. We had a full size balcony with a view of the BW and marina. We had a rollaway bed in our room for our 3rd child, as the room they put us in didn't have a daybed. We never closed it, and had plenty of room. I'd stay there again in a heartbeat. I liked the lobby and resort decor better at the YC as compared to the BC also. We had no problems with busses. We only had 2 standing room only rides and both were from Downtown Disney.

 

[tnkrbell]

We LOVE Yacht and Beach!!!! The only two complaints I would have would be the buses!! Unacceptable wait times!!! We never waited less then 20 minutes!!!!
Also I would like a food court counter service type resteraunt that is open late for quick bites!!

 

[ead79]

We stayed at the BC this past May, and I was a little underimpressed as well. Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful trip, but we did have a few snags at the BC. The first night we were kept awake all night by an exhaust fan in the bathroom that had a short in it and kept going on and off over and over (we didn't figure out what it was until later on). We politely asked at the front desk for a new room, and the CM was a little curt with us--we weren't asking for an upgrade or anything like that, just a room without all that noise. We did get a new room. That room was clearly marked as a non-smoking room, but it reeked so much of smoke that the bellman asked us if we wanted a new room (though I know the BC can't control guests who smoke in non-smoking rooms, so I don't hold them completely responsible). We decided to keep this room. Due to no fault of the BC, a screaming child kept us up the next night.

I have also stayed at the YC (concierge in Dec. 2002), and we loved that resort. We had no noise problems there, and we found the YC to be much more sedate and calm. The staff there was excellent as well. All in all, I would gladly stay at the YC again, but I will likely not stay at the BC again soon.