What is favorite Downtown Disney hotel?

[jjsmom]

Please tell which one you like best based on the following criteria:
-best value for the money
-proximity to Downtown Disney Marketplace
-best bus transportation
-room amenities such as frig, coffee maker, microwave
-reseasonable resort fees/free self parking
-nice landscaping/nice pools


All opinions and pros and cons are welcome! Thanks!

 

[Planogirl]

I like your topic! I was looking at those resorts myself.

Of those we've tried we liked the Hilton the best so far. I like that it is included in EMH.

 

[leonhamilton]

Watercress Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch and offers bright, cheerful surroundings.Goofy's Kitchen isn't too bad either, food isn't fantastic at any of the character dining, but it's decent. Goofy's is in the Disneyland Hotel.I ended up not reserving through Hotwire for this stay, as I got a better deal for this hotel somewhere else.

 

[ColdNorway]

Please tell which one you like best based on the following criteria:
-best value for the money
-proximity to Downtown Disney Marketplace
-best bus transportation
-room amenities such as frig, coffee maker, microwave
-reseasonable resort fees/free self parking
-nice landscaping/nice pools


All opinions and pros and cons are welcome! Thanks!

I have NOT been on Hilton or Holiday Inn (formerly aka Courtyard by Marriot),but heres my views /pros/cons for the rest.
(My English are not excellent but i hope you can use my reviews)
We have NOT used a car on any stays.
The Disney parks Transportation are the same at all the DTD hotels,as they shear the buses. 30,min max wait for a bus to a park
--------
Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort : (aka Grosvnor)

Had a nice look and the lobby was quite elegant.
We had a room in the low buildings. Room was nothing to brag about. Quite regular and not particular clean.
It had a large pool and Jacuzzi. The restaurants was elegant looking,but we never used them.
This hotel are close to DTD-Marketplace. I say a 3-5 min walk.
I think they have free self parking. They use to have that.
If you dont have a car,i´ll say the biggest drawback are the long walk to the crossroads.(dining and big grocery store,located at the opposite side on hotel plaza blw,HPB)
I´ll say a 25-30 min walk.
This is usually the lowest priced hotel on HPB.
In low seasons you can get this hotel for 60-80 $
This is also the hotel you usually get on price-line if you choose location HPB.
I´ll will not stay there again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel : (aka Travelogue)

This is a 18 story (17 if you count away the 13 floor that do not exist in the US)
We had a room on 7´th, and 17 on our 2´nd stay there.
Room is large for this area,and the standard are in the middle.
The room was not particular clean,and LOTS of fuzz was stuck on the AC. Also found toys under the bed.
All rooms have balcony/tables and sheers that is quite nice to have.
This hotel only has a small pool.
The cafeteria was quite worn with there was holes in the table covers.
Food there was yakky. Other food places was not visited by us

This hotel are the closest to the x-roads, and the longest way to DTD.
7,min to x roads. 25 min to DTD.
They have free self parking.
This is a low priced hotel on HPB. In low season its 80-100$
I´ll will stay there again if im on a budget.
---------------------------------------------------------
Doubletree Guest Suites (Hilton owned)

This are located at across from Best Western,so walking distances are the same.
This is a 7 story all suites hotel
Here you get the biggest rooms at HPB (Hotel Plaza Blv)
All rooms take 6 people. 2 large queens,and a pull out sofa.
All the rooms have 2 rooms with a screen door dividing bedroom/living room.
2 hd flat-screen tvs, large fridge,micro,kitchen,sink.
I´ll say the rooms are over average standard vice and clean.
We stayed there twice,and last time was in 2010.
The rooms need an refurbishment,there was lots to half broken items in the room,and we change room 3 times.

This hotel only has a medium size pool,and the pool area are nice
The breakfast room are ok,and the food are average. Not anything to brag about,but ok.
Other food places was not visited by us,but room service served a yammy burger for 10$
They have NOT free self parking.
In low season you get this hotel for 80-100$. Its a very GOOD prize.
I´ll will stay there again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Plaza Hotel :

This are located at the middle of HPblw
It is about 15 floors high.
We had a upgraded superior room here (superior means that the room are in the main building,and NOT the wings)
All rooms are quite fashionable with a roman tub.
The lobby are also nice,and this is a higher class hotel .
The room was spotless,nice and have a balcony that is useless to use.
This hotel only has a medium size pool,and a whirlpool and the pool area are nice.
We did not use any restaurants here.
They have NOT free self parking. It cost 10 $.
In low season you get this hotel for 80-100$. from mousesavers w upgrades Its a very GOOD prize.
I´ll will stay there again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa

This is the most elegant and nicest hotels i stayed at DTD.
Had a nice look and the lobby are magnificent.
We had a water view room on the 10´th floor and the view are gorgeous. Room was quite big,and had a good balcony with cheers and table.
Room where spotless and the AC was so quiet we didn't hear it. That is a huge plus for us.
It has a 3 large pools and Jacuzzi w waterfall.
The restaurants was elegant looking and the 17$ buffet breakfast are "the best". Many items to choose from and a cook that made whatever you wanted.
This hotel are close to DTD-Marketplace. I say a 3-5 min walk.

If you dont have a car,i´ll say the biggest drawback are the long walk to the crossroads.(dining and big grocery store,located at the opposite side on hotel plaza blw,HPB)
I´ll say a 30min walk if you take a short cut over the pool area and walk over the pool area at Wyndham hotel.

In low seasons you can get this hotel for 100-120 $ usually with links from travelzoo.com.
I will stay here again with a prize around 100. They do have a very high resort fee for 17$ a night.
No free parking here. This is a very high class hotel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this will give you some hints along the way

Good times
Roger.

 

[jwfla422]

I have NOT been on Hilton or Holiday Inn (formerly aka Courtyard by Marriot),but heres my views /pros/cons for the rest.
(My English are not excellent but i hope you can use my reviews)
We have NOT used a car on any stays.
The Disney parks Transportation are the same at all the DTD hotels,as they shear the buses. 30,min max wait for a bus to a park
--------
Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort : (aka Grosvnor)

Had a nice look and the lobby was quite elegant.
We had a room in the low buildings. Room was nothing to brag about. Quite regular and not particular clean.
It had a large pool and Jacuzzi. The restaurants was elegant looking,but we never used them.
This hotel are close to DTD-Marketplace. I say a 3-5 min walk.
I think they have free self parking. They use to have that.
If you dont have a car,i´ll say the biggest drawback are the long walk to the crossroads.(dining and big grocery store,located at the opposite side on hotel plaza blw,HPB)
I´ll say a 25-30 min walk.
This is usually the lowest priced hotel on HPB.
In low seasons you can get this hotel for 60-80 $
This is also the hotel you usually get on price-line if you choose location HPB.
I´ll will not stay there again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel : (aka Travelogue)

This is a 18 story (17 if you count away the 13 floor that do not exist in the US)
We had a room on 7´th, and 17 on our 2´nd stay there.
Room is large for this area,and the standard are in the middle.
The room was not particular clean,and LOTS of fuzz was stuck on the AC. Also found toys under the bed.
All rooms have balcony/tables and sheers that is quite nice to have.
This hotel only has a small pool.
The cafeteria was quite worn with there was holes in the table covers.
Food there was yakky. Other food places was not visited by us

This hotel are the closest to the x-roads, and the longest way to DTD.
7,min to x roads. 25 min to DTD.
They have free self parking.
This is a low priced hotel on HPB. In low season its 80-100$
I´ll will stay there again if im on a budget.
---------------------------------------------------------
Doubletree Guest Suites (Hilton owned)

This are located at across from Best Western,so walking distances are the same.
This is a 7 story all suites hotel
Here you get the biggest rooms at HPB (Hotel Plaza Blv)
All rooms take 6 people. 2 large queens,and a pull out sofa.
All the rooms have 2 rooms with a screen door dividing bedroom/living room.
2 hd flat-screen tvs, large fridge,micro,kitchen,sink.
I´ll say the rooms are over average standard vice and clean.
We stayed there twice,and last time was in 2010.
The rooms need an refurbishment,there was lots to half broken items in the room,and we change room 3 times.

This hotel only has a medium size pool,and the pool area are nice
The breakfast room are ok,and the food are average. Not anything to brag about,but ok.
Other food places was not visited by us,but room service served a yammy burger for 10$
They have NOT free self parking.
In low season you get this hotel for 80-100$. Its a very GOOD prize.
I´ll will stay there again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Plaza Hotel :

This are located at the middle of HPblw
It is about 15 floors high.
We had a upgraded superior room here (superior means that the room are in the main building,and NOT the wings)
All rooms are quite fashionable with a roman tub.
The lobby are also nice,and this is a higher class hotel .
The room was spotless,nice and have a balcony that is useless to use.
This hotel only has a medium size pool,and a whirlpool and the pool area are nice.
We did not use any restaurants here.
They have NOT free self parking. It cost 10 $.
In low season you get this hotel for 80-100$. from mousesavers w upgrades Its a very GOOD prize.
I´ll will stay there again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa

This is the most elegant and nicest hotels i stayed at DTD.
Had a nice look and the lobby are magnificent.
We had a water view room on the 10´th floor and the view are gorgeous. Room was quite big,and had a good balcony with cheers and table.
Room where spotless and the AC was so quiet we didn't hear it. That is a huge plus for us.
It has a 3 large pools and Jacuzzi w waterfall.
The restaurants was elegant looking and the 17$ buffet breakfast are "the best". Many items to choose from and a cook that made whatever you wanted.
This hotel are close to DTD-Marketplace. I say a 3-5 min walk.

If you dont have a car,i´ll say the biggest drawback are the long walk to the crossroads.(dining and big grocery store,located at the opposite side on hotel plaza blw,HPB)
I´ll say a 30min walk if you take a short cut over the pool area and walk over the pool area at Wyndham hotel.

In low seasons you can get this hotel for 100-120 $ usually with links from travelzoo.com.
I will stay here again with a prize around 100. They do have a very high resort fee for 17$ a night.
No free parking here. This is a very high class hotel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this will give you some hints along the way

Good times
Roger.

Thanks for your reviews. A few questions:

At the Doubletree, you mentioned items in the room being broken and changed rooms 3x, why? What was broken that you had to change your room so many times?

Buena Vista Palace-did you have an in-room frig? Is the parking a pain? Is it a hike from the main bldg to get your car?

Do you recall the noise level at either of these resorts regarding rooms next to you, above you? Hallway noise? Outside noise, etc?

Thanks!!

 

[ColdNorway]

Thanks for your reviews. A few questions:

At the Doubletree, you mentioned items in the room being broken and changed rooms 3x, why? What was broken that you had to change your room so many times?

Buena Vista Palace-did you have an in-room frig? Is the parking a pain? Is it a hike from the main bldg to get your car?

Do you recall the noise level at either of these resorts regarding rooms next to you, above you? Hallway noise? Outside noise, etc?

Thanks!!

Hi.
At the Doubletree in Sept 2010.

We like the DoubleThree allot so its a little unfair to bring up this issue,but... Our first room had the AC broken
We got a new room.
After 1-2 hrs we see sugar ants in the kitchen.
We called and the maintenance guy showed up about 20,min later.(im guessing)
We was not in the room at this time,so when we got back to the room the maintenance guy was in the bathroom with a silicon tube and closing cracks a little here and there.
We told him that the ants was in the kitchen and he said their was it the bathroom.
Well we showed him the ones alive in the kitchen and the 20-30-40 dead ones hiding under the silicone strips in the kitchen.
When he was working there,i went to the windows,and see ants there also.
So.basically...(u guess the rest).
So we got a new room again.
Not an ants there,because we DID look for them.
About the wear and tear.
The pullout sofa had needs for a upgrade.
The toilet flush handle was very loose,this was also the case in the other room.
Half broker towel hangers i the bathroom.
Half stuck shower head adjustment thingy.
The AC adjustment thingy that let you choose the air flow up/down thats located on the fan itself was all curled up on all 3 AC and i streintend them up in a fast fix.
Just little things that showed a wear and tear/sloppy quality control.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Buena Vista Palace

Yes there was a mini fridge.
We did not have a car on any of our stays. But the Palace are quite large.

Except once we never heard any noise on any of the rooms.
Because DoubleThree are so close to I4 we was a little concern but no noise on either room side of this hotel.

When we had the top floor room at the Best Western the top floor bar was directly above us,so there was some noise (and a glass landed on our balcony at midnight)

Roger

 

[jwfla422]

Thanks for your honesty about why you changed rooms. That is one of my pet peeves when on vacation. I absolutely hate to see bugs in my room, ants included (and I have dealt with them over the years during some of the Disney stays). Being a South Florida resident we have to deal with them at home at one time or another so the last thing I want to deal with on vacation are ants! (of course I would take the ants over bed bugs but we can start a whole other thread about that).

The first thing I do when we check into our resort/hotel room anywhere is inspect the mattress and surrounding area for bed bugs with a flash light (yes extreme but necessary for me) and I also got into the habit of looking around especially if there's a kitchen/kitchenette area in the room for ants.

I'm torn between the Doubletree and the BV Palace. The Doubletree is a little cheaper but I like being right across from DTD as this is where we plan to spend our nights. We're doing a NON-Disney park trip as dd wants to go to SW and the Factory Outlets which are a quick drive from this area. We usually stay at SSR but I just don't want to spend that kinda $$ to stay there this year since we won't be doing the Disney parks we don't have to be concerned about Disney transportation, etc.

It's been several years since we've stayed at any of the DTD hotels/resorts. (stayed at Grovsnor which is Wyndam now and Hotel Royal Plaza pre hurricane Charley), so it's like starting from scratch. They were both ok at the time we stayed at them but it was years ago and I know they've rehabed since but would like to try somewhere else. Was looking into the Bonnet Creek area but I don't want to drive to DTD if I can help it.

 

[ColdNorway]

Thanks for your honesty about why you changed rooms. That is one of my pet peeves when on vacation. I absolutely hate to see bugs in my room, ants included (and I have dealt with them over the years during some of the Disney stays). Being a South Florida resident we have to deal with them at home at one time or another so the last thing I want to deal with on vacation are ants! (of course I would take the ants over bed bugs but we can start a whole other thread about that).

The first thing I do when we check into our resort/hotel room anywhere is inspect the mattress and surrounding area for bed bugs with a flash light (yes extreme but necessary for me) and I also got into the habit of looking around especially if there's a kitchen/kitchenette area in the room for ants.

I'm torn between the Doubletree and the BV Palace. The Doubletree is a little cheaper but I like being right across from DTD as this is where we plan to spend our nights. We're doing a NON-Disney park trip as dd wants to go to SW and the Factory Outlets which are a quick drive from this area. We usually stay at SSR but I just don't want to spend that kinda $$ to stay there this year since we won't be doing the Disney parks we don't have to be concerned about Disney transportation, etc.

It's been several years since we've stayed at any of the DTD hotels/resorts. (stayed at Grovsnor which is Wyndam now and Hotel Royal Plaza pre hurricane Charley), so it's like starting from scratch. They were both ok at the time we stayed at them but it was years ago and I know they've rehabed since but would like to try somewhere else. Was looking into the Bonnet Creek area but I don't want to drive to DTD if I can help it.

Glad i could be of any help.
I have not seen any bugs on other stays,but i haven't search for them either.
Well, it looks to me that the BV Palace are a high class hotel,but i heard that the bugs can turn up anywhere,but i bet the chances are smaller at a high-class hotel. My last stay there was in sept 2010.
We did an 98$ waterview room with the 4´th night free, then we moved over to the DoubleThree for the last 8 remaining nights.
I think this link will get you the best price if you gonna travel before sept.2011.
http://www.buenavistapalace.com/travelzoo/?src=lxr_se_2011_travelzoo
if that link do not work,try this direct booking page :
https://reservations.ihotelier.com/...&languageid=1&referID=38373&rateplanID=762296
For anyone else, this around 100$ night rate are available on expedia as on "flight+hotel" booked together special, but its 150-170$ otherwise.
Have a wonderfull stay.

Roger.

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks for the details Cold Norway.

I do have a question. You said that you like the Doubletree in spite of the maintenance issues. I usually like Doubletree hotels and it sounds like this one might be a nice place except in major need of refurbishment. Do you agree with that?

Even more importantly, did they give you cookies as Doubletree is prone to do?

 

[james.burnes]

The Hilton is always a good place to go...we like it there!

 

[ColdNorway]

Thanks for the details Cold Norway.

I do have a question. You said that you like the Doubletree in spite of the maintenance issues. I usually like Doubletree hotels and it sounds like this one might be a nice place except in major need of refurbishment. Do you agree with that?

Even more importantly, did they give you cookies as Doubletree is prone to do?

I dont think the refurbishment needed is MAJOR,it just need some small repairs here and there and it will be just fine. I think this also shows that the hotel must have an "sloppy" manager,when they cant keep up with the little things.

We stayed there in Jan 2009 also,and then everything was fine.

In their defense,my last stay there was in sept 2010,right after the summer school holiday,and that time are crazy buzzy for the hotels. Can be that the manager finally had his/hers vacation.

What am i thinking about the sugar ant happening.
I never seen any ants there before,or in the other rooms.
Some visitors before us have spelled sugar all over the place and ants can smell sugar from a long distance. (just my thoughts)

As described on my first review, we like this hotel and i dont have any issues with it.
I absolutely stay with them again if we are traveling more than 2 people.
This is the only hotel (at a normal prize,u can get suites on some of the others) on HPblv that have 2 rooms,and you can have some privacy if you traveling with older kids.
We did get a whole box (10or12) of cookies when checking out,and 20 free star-bucks coffee coupons on our 3´rd day for the hassle(im guessing).
And a cookie at check inn as always.

Have a wonderful time.
Roger