bmleroy
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2001
- Messages
- 23
Hi everybody,
I'm mid-vacation at the Wyndham Palace, using the Wyndham-by-Request free high-speed internet, and thought I'd write up a quick review and see if anybody had any questions.
I got the room for $65 a night thru Priceline. I was quite excited because it has a Resort rating and I've never stayed anywhere that I would consider more than 3 star.
REALLY SHORT SUMMARY: Worth the $65 or less, definitely NOT worth rack rates
LONGER SUMMARY: Our flight was late getting in from Minneapolis on Saturday due to the big snowstorm and Mears didn't drop us off until almost midnight, about three hours later than we expected. I was exhausted and stressed from the day (seemed for awhile like they would cancel our flight) and really was looking forward to seeing the hotel. When we checked in and got up to our room, I was so disappointed on top of being exhaused that I started to cry.
The room was old, shabby and reminded me of the Days Inn in Rochester, Minnesota, that I once checked into and immediately left and went somewhere else. The paint was peeling off the walls, and entrance and bathroom doors appeared to have some sort of smoke damage, the furniture was worn, and the carpet was stained and rippling. The bedspread looked relatively new but when I pulled it back to get into bed, the ruffle separated from the bedspread. I know this is an older building but I don't think our room has been taken care of very well. (FYI: We're in the part of the Palace that has 12 floors, and we're on the 12th floor. We can see Epcot and the fireworks from our balcony.)
At that point, if this hadn't been a prepaid Priceline stay, I would have turned right around and moved down the street. We stayed at a much cheaper Hilton Garden Inn in Eagan the night before we flew out and it was 10 times nicer, roomwise.
But, we had paid (and for 7 nights) so we decided to stay and try to not let it ruin our vacation. Even though it was late, we decided to walk over to Downtown Disney since we've never been, and see what was over there. It was an amazingly close walk. Down the elevator from our pool, past the pool/Recreation Island, and across a road, we were there. Walk time, about two minutes. We really liked Downtown Disney and have been back several times, and its proximity to the Wyndham Palace is a definite plus.
The pool area is not terribly large but there are usually only 2-3 people in it. I'm amazed by how deserted the pool area is every day, even in midday when it's so hot. It seems most of the people here are not tourists, but businesspeople. There is another smaller pool that is usually closed due to some sort of business function, so we haven't been to it. There is a pool concierge that is heavily marketed by the hotel and is barely ever open. We've only see it open once and that was at exactly noon.
No one said anything about us being Priceline customers and we've received only wonderful service from the staff. We're WBR members and got a fruit plate and bottled water. It wasn't much but it was a nice touch.
The food is insanely priced - a 20 oz Coke costs more here than at Disney World. When we're hungry for a quick snack, we walk to the McDonalds at Downtown Disney. The small shop sells sandwiches and desserts but nothing has a price label. We bought two 20 oz pops, a tiny Pringles (snack size, 13 chips or so) and a candy bar for $13. We haven't been back since.
The lobby and common areas are nice, but there are little things everywhere that make me question the hotel's rating. The hallways are dark, mildewy and discolored, again with stained carpets, and the paint on our door is about 30% chipped and peeling. We haven't seen any other floors besides our floor so we may have just had the bad luck to end up on the worst floor.
The gift shop on the first floor which sells Disney tickets and souvenirs tried to convince me that I had to buy my E-tickets at the park gates. I explained to her, no, you buy e-tickets at your resort. She got quite upset and called someone to ask, who confirmed that yes, you buy e-tickets at your resort. She glanced at her computer and said they weren't available. I had a feeling she was outright lying, but I let it go and went back later that night and got my e-tickets when a different man was working without any problem. (And, on a side note, E-nights must be the best idea Disney has ever had - what a great night.) Unpleasant people show up everywhere but that little episode made me pretty upset.
This is our fourth day here now and I no longer sit around worrying about the chipped paint or the stained carpets. We're here so little during the day it's just not that important. However, I really don't care for the resort in general and probably would avoid bidding 4 star/resort in the future just to avoid it. Rack rates for this resort are in the $150-$250 range and I would feel robbed if I had paid that. We went to the Contemporary for dinner last night and even though the style doesn't really appeal to me, I was so impressed by the cleanliness and theming I think this will be my last trip offsite.
Any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.
Brandy
I'm mid-vacation at the Wyndham Palace, using the Wyndham-by-Request free high-speed internet, and thought I'd write up a quick review and see if anybody had any questions.
I got the room for $65 a night thru Priceline. I was quite excited because it has a Resort rating and I've never stayed anywhere that I would consider more than 3 star.
REALLY SHORT SUMMARY: Worth the $65 or less, definitely NOT worth rack rates
LONGER SUMMARY: Our flight was late getting in from Minneapolis on Saturday due to the big snowstorm and Mears didn't drop us off until almost midnight, about three hours later than we expected. I was exhausted and stressed from the day (seemed for awhile like they would cancel our flight) and really was looking forward to seeing the hotel. When we checked in and got up to our room, I was so disappointed on top of being exhaused that I started to cry.
The room was old, shabby and reminded me of the Days Inn in Rochester, Minnesota, that I once checked into and immediately left and went somewhere else. The paint was peeling off the walls, and entrance and bathroom doors appeared to have some sort of smoke damage, the furniture was worn, and the carpet was stained and rippling. The bedspread looked relatively new but when I pulled it back to get into bed, the ruffle separated from the bedspread. I know this is an older building but I don't think our room has been taken care of very well. (FYI: We're in the part of the Palace that has 12 floors, and we're on the 12th floor. We can see Epcot and the fireworks from our balcony.)At that point, if this hadn't been a prepaid Priceline stay, I would have turned right around and moved down the street. We stayed at a much cheaper Hilton Garden Inn in Eagan the night before we flew out and it was 10 times nicer, roomwise.
But, we had paid (and for 7 nights) so we decided to stay and try to not let it ruin our vacation. Even though it was late, we decided to walk over to Downtown Disney since we've never been, and see what was over there. It was an amazingly close walk. Down the elevator from our pool, past the pool/Recreation Island, and across a road, we were there. Walk time, about two minutes. We really liked Downtown Disney and have been back several times, and its proximity to the Wyndham Palace is a definite plus.
The pool area is not terribly large but there are usually only 2-3 people in it. I'm amazed by how deserted the pool area is every day, even in midday when it's so hot. It seems most of the people here are not tourists, but businesspeople. There is another smaller pool that is usually closed due to some sort of business function, so we haven't been to it. There is a pool concierge that is heavily marketed by the hotel and is barely ever open. We've only see it open once and that was at exactly noon.
No one said anything about us being Priceline customers and we've received only wonderful service from the staff. We're WBR members and got a fruit plate and bottled water. It wasn't much but it was a nice touch.
The food is insanely priced - a 20 oz Coke costs more here than at Disney World. When we're hungry for a quick snack, we walk to the McDonalds at Downtown Disney. The small shop sells sandwiches and desserts but nothing has a price label. We bought two 20 oz pops, a tiny Pringles (snack size, 13 chips or so) and a candy bar for $13. We haven't been back since.
The lobby and common areas are nice, but there are little things everywhere that make me question the hotel's rating. The hallways are dark, mildewy and discolored, again with stained carpets, and the paint on our door is about 30% chipped and peeling. We haven't seen any other floors besides our floor so we may have just had the bad luck to end up on the worst floor.
The gift shop on the first floor which sells Disney tickets and souvenirs tried to convince me that I had to buy my E-tickets at the park gates. I explained to her, no, you buy e-tickets at your resort. She got quite upset and called someone to ask, who confirmed that yes, you buy e-tickets at your resort. She glanced at her computer and said they weren't available. I had a feeling she was outright lying, but I let it go and went back later that night and got my e-tickets when a different man was working without any problem. (And, on a side note, E-nights must be the best idea Disney has ever had - what a great night.) Unpleasant people show up everywhere but that little episode made me pretty upset.
This is our fourth day here now and I no longer sit around worrying about the chipped paint or the stained carpets. We're here so little during the day it's just not that important. However, I really don't care for the resort in general and probably would avoid bidding 4 star/resort in the future just to avoid it. Rack rates for this resort are in the $150-$250 range and I would feel robbed if I had paid that. We went to the Contemporary for dinner last night and even though the style doesn't really appeal to me, I was so impressed by the cleanliness and theming I think this will be my last trip offsite.
Any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.
Brandy
