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View Full Version : Bay Lake Tower Review



jonahbear2006
12-20-2011, 02:01 AM
It was our first stay in Bay Lake Tower and so I thought I would give a quick review of what I thought about our new DVC villa. We checked in and they had a room ready on 9th floor. We requested a first floor and they said they could accommodate us, however, we decided to take the room that was ready. I hate balconies. They scare me to death after we almost had a 4 yr old fall over one last Aug. but we were extremely careful to lock them all and say off limits this time. The exclusivity of this resort is nice, however, we had one night where my inlaws ran off with the stroller and baby back to the room and unknowingly locked us into the pool area. We looked like fools returning to our room since we had to flag down other guests to let us back in. I am not sure that this is really necessary, for it to be so locked up, being that this building is all just rooms. There is no refill station, no restaurant, no lounge, no gift shop, and no fitness center. You have to travel back to the contemporary for these things which brings me to my next conclusion...why not just stay at the contemporary?!? Getting to the monorail was a pain, I felt. I preferred to walk to Magic Kingdom or drive to Epcot. This deleted the monorail from my pro list, at this resort because I will never use it when I stay here. The HUGE bonus is being able to walk to MK bc you can then bus to any resort or park you wish to go to! The world is your oyster, from this location. The pool is nice, however, the slide isn't enough of a change from the contemporary pool to even want to pool hop, so again, I question the need for this resort to be so locked up. As a matter of fact, the hot tubs at contempo are placed much nicer than at BLT.
Onto the rooms, the villa itself is very pretty...pretty but not all that functional. It is all very cramped and we struggled with finding a place for the playpen bc there is absolutely no place to put it, unless you want to lose access to a balcony or to your bathroom sink. We almost considered putting it in the bathroom before we just moved furniture around. Saratoga had a perfect spot for the playpen and I felt the rooms were much larger there. The bedding was hospital bedding, at best. I have stayed in regular deluxe rooms and the sheets are high thread count and they triple sheet the bed and its soft and warm. These sheets were like paper and when we pulled our blankets up they woke the baby bc they were so crinkly and loud. The kitchen is not equipped to the room size. The room sleeps 9 but we only had place settings for 6. How much more expensive could it be for them to give us a few extra plates and silver. We had to take turns eating. On the same complaint, there is not a skillet or stock pot big enough to cook for a group of 9 and the can opener was janky. I had to have my husband open cans because I was not strong enough to use it. Halfway through the trip we came to realize that the kitchen was invested with bugs and we had to throw out a lot of our food. Mousekeeping came on day 4, however, she did not make any of the beds nor did she do any cleaning. All she did was replace towels and shampoo and they didnt give us nearly enough shampoo to get by on with 4 girls that all have long hair. She blew a light in the bathroom, over the tub, while she was in there and didn't bother to replace the bulb, so I wasn't very happy with the assistance we got from her. We had a lake/pool view and this is the first time I truly loved the upgraded view. We left the balcony open at night, after the kids went to sleep, and I really enjoyed the sounds of the foghorns, the pool/kids, the lake, and the gentle winds coming off the lake. I would do this everytime. The community hall is very nice for the kids. It is equipped with video games, computer games, crafts, movies, games, and coloring for the kiddos. The staff at the pool was excellent with the kids and danced the afternoons away with them. There are good things and bad things to all resorts, I feel, and though there are some downsides here it is still one of my favorite resorts. Best point being location and worst point being that I don't like the fact that it resembles a high rise condo. I really want to have a fitness center right next to me, a cafe, a gift shop, and not have to walk across the sky way to get to it. This wasnt an issue until it started to get busy, then it was a noticeable problem. Your resort is no longer an exclusive private club when you have to jump into the mess of people at the contemporary to get anything you need for your family back at the other resort. It was obvious that they didn't want to lose any space that could go to rooms at BLT and that is understandable. The pool is designed to be cold; the height of the building shades it from the sun and the other side of the pool constantly sweeps wind off of the lake which is great in the summer and makes it the coldest pool in the winter. We pool hopped quite a bit and our pool was the coldest of all of them; poly being the warmest. The DVC private beach was disgusting. It looked creepy and was not kept up. The other beaches are clean and sandy, this one was covered in foilage that had fallen from plants and needed some serious care. We almost went back there alone at night but we were scared to because it looked like a great place for wildlife to come relax. The hallways, by the elevators, people are already graffiti-ing up the walls. I am not sure if that style of backsplash is washable or what but people were writing in it somehow and leaving messages all over it. It was kind of aggravating to see things like this when the resort is so new and we came expecting it to still look brand new. I never made it up to the observation deck, so I cannot comment on that at all. I will stop rambling....all in all it is a cute resort but I feel like what it has going for it is mostly superficial qualities. I feel like they have some work to do here and I would be first to sign a petition to please please please build bridges and jogging paths to all of the bay lake resorts. It would be so wonderful to be able to walk from Contemporary to G.F to poly to W.L to F.W. How fun would that be!? We did have a great vacation and this is the 2nd time we have used our DVC, so it is still pretty new to us and we are still learning. I have pros and cons to it still rolling around in my head but that is an entirely different discussion.:thumbsup:

disneymom15
12-20-2011, 09:36 AM
Absolutely loved our stay at BLT. Staying there again in about 5 weeks. I will agree with you about the bedding, the sheets on the pull out were very crunchy. Also, the toilet paper holder fell off the wall and the shower head sprayed water all over the place. We called housekeeping and they took care of it that day. The Contempo Cafe was just OK, not thrilled with the food options.

ozmom
12-20-2011, 10:21 AM
We stayed there a couple weeks ago and also were somewhat disappointed with the state of the room. Stains on carpeting and sofa and refrigerator not cleaned well.

For future reference the maid does not do any cleaning or making beds when they come to your room on the 4th days, it's strictly towel and trash day. But I agree they should have had the light bulb fixed. :mickey:

Basket Mommy
12-20-2011, 05:35 PM
We stayed in a 2 BR dedicated with lake view in May. I loved it. I thought everything was beautiful, and I'm super picky about hotels. I loved the bench in the shower and the sliding doors. I thought the kitchen was plenty big and I loved how it's open all the way around vs. being semi-enclosed in other DVC resorts. Paper plates are always available through Mousekeeping or in the food court. That would solve the problem of needing more plates. We're a family of 6 and had plenty. We just washed dishes a lot, even if the dishwasher wasn't full.

We loved Contempo Cafe'. We have picky eaters, and everyone was able to find something to eat there. I agree that the Contemporary pool was better than the DVC pool (we felt like the DVC pool was cold, too - I like my pool in the sun!) I do agree that it is a bit of a walk from BLT to any restaurant, b/c they're all at Contemporary. That's the only thing I would change; they could serve counter service at the BLT pool to save the walk.

We stayed on the 5th floor, so our floor connected to the walkway to the Contemporary. We were on that side of the building, and if we stay at BLT again we'll definitely request 5th floor or that side of the building again. We thought it was an excellent location. I love the Monorail, so we always took it around to the MK. We rarely stay in the MK vicinity, so it was a treat to be so close to the Monorail.

faline
12-20-2011, 06:57 PM
We've had two stay at Bay Lake Tower and have enjoyed both.

Was your stay more than a week? If not, all you would get would be towel refresh and trash service and not a full cleaning.

PETE FROM NYC
12-20-2011, 09:16 PM
We had a 1BR 9/10, 9th fl, lake view, we were right above the tennis cts.
Just 2 of us so space was not an issue.
We made in room breakfast, and packed sandwiches to carry into the parks, along with a cooler jug of drinks. At least this way we had decent coffee.
We had no real complaints about the room, except that the bathroom floor was brand new and slick. I almost fell a few times.
We have ressies to go back next September with DWs side if the family in a 2 BR lock-off.

MinnieMommie
01-02-2012, 11:35 AM
We just returned from a 2 bedroom stay at BLT and our accommodations were perfect! The mousekeeper staff was excellent and were close by to help us with any needs that came up including noticing that our keys would not let us in the room the first day and coming to the rescue to let us in our room. Have stayed in a 1 bedroom and studio and have had no issues with any our stays. I am sorry your stay was less than ideal. I know we can all have disappointing experiences at a resort that is for the most part excellent but not the best during our stay(and this has happened to me). Glad to hear you did have a great vacation. :mickey:

faline
01-02-2012, 07:15 PM
We had no real complaints about the room, except that the bathroom floor was brand new and slick. I almost fell a few times.

I found that floor to be very slick as well!

Septbride2002
01-08-2012, 11:30 AM
We thought the Contempo Cafe was awesome! In fact we've discussed on our MK days leaving the park to go to Contemporary just to get lunch where we know everyone will be able to get something they want.

~Amanda