stephicakes
07-09-2013, 09:58 AM
Overall:
Our family (15 of us) stayed in 2, two bedroom villas at Beach Club. We rent DVC points and we have stayed here before. Definitely my favorite resort so far! I absolutely LOVE the smell of the lobby and wish I could buy the scent for my house (anyone know what it is or where I can find it?? I’m addicted). The staff was wonderful even after a little hiccup at check-in with the reservation (3 res #s for the two rooms) but it was soon ironed out and our rooms were ready by early afternoon. We were in rooms #377 & #378 at the VERY end of the hall on the 3rd floor. Now for me, this was no problem. But for anyone with mobility issues without the use of a scooter or wheelchair, I can see how this would be extremely tough every day. It is a very long walk to the central elevator that takes you down to the ground floor in order to get to the main lobby (although there is stairways and another elevator that lead down to different areas like the quiet pool). Plus side - it was very quiet at the end of the hall with no other traffic. The one thing I did notice was how dirty the hall carpets were including bleach stains. Not even sure if a deep shampoo would take care of all the dark worn areas. Makes me wonder if they plan to just replace them soon? Other than that, the rooms were what we expected – clean & comfortable. We had a combo alarm clock/charging station by our bedside. I just wish the towels they provide weren’t as rough as sandpaper, or the sheets for that matter. It’s always great to have a kitchen and a washer & dryer right in the room. Love that. I did utilize the Ship Shape Health Club a few mornings and it is clean and has a nice variety of weights and elliptical machines for a small gym. Towels and water are also provided. Being the holiday week, it did get busy quickly and I found the best time to go was around 5am. Anything after 6am felt a little cramped. We never ate at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop or the Cape May Café for main meals, but we did frequent the Marketplace & Hurricane Hanna’s for quick meals & snacks. The newly refurbished Hurricane Hanna’s waterside bar & grill located at the Stormalong Bay pool is AMAZING! Very well done with plenty of seating for the times we needed to duck out of the rain. The granite bar top is a beautiful light ‘water’ blue and even the lights on the ceiling are kept in theme and resembled captain wheels. The oscillating fans on the ceilings kept the air moving while we enjoyed some drinks. One of our favorite spots this trip for sure! Chatted with some great folks. The bar offers a full menu from the grill and kids are welcome to sit at the bar and eat along with the adults. Very family friendly. Of course on the 4th of July the pool was PACKED and not a seat to be found around SAB in the afternoon but that was expected. We also visited the quiet pool “Dunes Cove” for a few hours where it was less hectic and we enjoyed swimming with some ducks. Towels are also provided there along with restrooms. It isn’t much deeper than 4 feet so it’s a great pool for little ones and it is also handicapped accessible. You just CAN NOT beat the location of this resort – a walk to the Boardwalk, EPCOT, and HS! This is the main reason I love this place - Can’t wait to go back!! :thumbsup:
Buses/Transportation:
We never had a major problem with the buses and a couple mornings there was an attendant at the stop to make sure buses were coming for pickups. I believe the longest we waited was possibly 20 minutes but we always try to give ourselves plenty of time to get where we are going anyway. Again the holiday week kept the buses full and many times it was standing room only for us. Only one time did the wheelchair lift not work (2 people in our group had scooters) but that was one of the oldest buses and some very kind people helped us lift the scooters off the bus manually. No complaints from me about bus transportation at the BC. Our party did utilize the taxi service a couple of times in front of the resort and it was prompt, efficient, and rates were reasonable.
Customer Service/CMs:
All CMs that we encountered at the resort were extremely friendly and helpful even when our party had some issues with their KTTW cards (details below). Management was helpful and readily available. Even on long hot days the CMs were always friendly. We never experienced negative attitudes or rude behavior (maybe sometimes slow, but never rude). All in all, a great experience with customer service at the BC. :number1:
Negatives during our trip:
My BIL & SIL’s KTTW cards were overcharged for their park tickets (like 3 times!!) and failed to work during their stay and they didn’t realize until they tried to order food and get into Disney Quest. One would think that with all this new “tap to pay” technology they could at least get the basics right. Concierge did fix it eventually and comped them a dinner, but it was still a pain. The bill at checkout was VERY messed up as well (had wrong credit card #s linked to wrong KTTW cards!). Management was attentive and polite and fixed the issue in the end even though we had to do some urging. Just be sure to double check things yourselves.
One other negative aspect we found with BC this trip was how slow the food service was at the Marketplace as well as Hurricane Hanna’s Grill. Now again, it WAS a holiday week so we expected large crowds and longer wait times for things. But one time at the Marketplace a CM took our order and then casually walked away to go do some other things around the store and chat with other CMs. It made no sense. We were literally told that there was only one “salad maker” (aka: a large bowl) so it would take a while for a caesar salad. They were clearly understaffed and the CMs seemed overwhelmed. People were clearly getting agitated standing in line for 20+ minutes for quick service food. This is a last resort for a meal for us, but great for grab n’ go snacks. The food wasn’t bad, just REALLY slow. But I love walking outside across from the Marketplace and seeing the little sparrows hopping around under the while tables & chairs in the courtyard. We usually walk over to the Boardwalk or WS for dinner (a full Dining Report can be found in that forum, and an overall Trip Report can be found in that forum as well).
Thanks for reading! :D
Our family (15 of us) stayed in 2, two bedroom villas at Beach Club. We rent DVC points and we have stayed here before. Definitely my favorite resort so far! I absolutely LOVE the smell of the lobby and wish I could buy the scent for my house (anyone know what it is or where I can find it?? I’m addicted). The staff was wonderful even after a little hiccup at check-in with the reservation (3 res #s for the two rooms) but it was soon ironed out and our rooms were ready by early afternoon. We were in rooms #377 & #378 at the VERY end of the hall on the 3rd floor. Now for me, this was no problem. But for anyone with mobility issues without the use of a scooter or wheelchair, I can see how this would be extremely tough every day. It is a very long walk to the central elevator that takes you down to the ground floor in order to get to the main lobby (although there is stairways and another elevator that lead down to different areas like the quiet pool). Plus side - it was very quiet at the end of the hall with no other traffic. The one thing I did notice was how dirty the hall carpets were including bleach stains. Not even sure if a deep shampoo would take care of all the dark worn areas. Makes me wonder if they plan to just replace them soon? Other than that, the rooms were what we expected – clean & comfortable. We had a combo alarm clock/charging station by our bedside. I just wish the towels they provide weren’t as rough as sandpaper, or the sheets for that matter. It’s always great to have a kitchen and a washer & dryer right in the room. Love that. I did utilize the Ship Shape Health Club a few mornings and it is clean and has a nice variety of weights and elliptical machines for a small gym. Towels and water are also provided. Being the holiday week, it did get busy quickly and I found the best time to go was around 5am. Anything after 6am felt a little cramped. We never ate at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop or the Cape May Café for main meals, but we did frequent the Marketplace & Hurricane Hanna’s for quick meals & snacks. The newly refurbished Hurricane Hanna’s waterside bar & grill located at the Stormalong Bay pool is AMAZING! Very well done with plenty of seating for the times we needed to duck out of the rain. The granite bar top is a beautiful light ‘water’ blue and even the lights on the ceiling are kept in theme and resembled captain wheels. The oscillating fans on the ceilings kept the air moving while we enjoyed some drinks. One of our favorite spots this trip for sure! Chatted with some great folks. The bar offers a full menu from the grill and kids are welcome to sit at the bar and eat along with the adults. Very family friendly. Of course on the 4th of July the pool was PACKED and not a seat to be found around SAB in the afternoon but that was expected. We also visited the quiet pool “Dunes Cove” for a few hours where it was less hectic and we enjoyed swimming with some ducks. Towels are also provided there along with restrooms. It isn’t much deeper than 4 feet so it’s a great pool for little ones and it is also handicapped accessible. You just CAN NOT beat the location of this resort – a walk to the Boardwalk, EPCOT, and HS! This is the main reason I love this place - Can’t wait to go back!! :thumbsup:
Buses/Transportation:
We never had a major problem with the buses and a couple mornings there was an attendant at the stop to make sure buses were coming for pickups. I believe the longest we waited was possibly 20 minutes but we always try to give ourselves plenty of time to get where we are going anyway. Again the holiday week kept the buses full and many times it was standing room only for us. Only one time did the wheelchair lift not work (2 people in our group had scooters) but that was one of the oldest buses and some very kind people helped us lift the scooters off the bus manually. No complaints from me about bus transportation at the BC. Our party did utilize the taxi service a couple of times in front of the resort and it was prompt, efficient, and rates were reasonable.
Customer Service/CMs:
All CMs that we encountered at the resort were extremely friendly and helpful even when our party had some issues with their KTTW cards (details below). Management was helpful and readily available. Even on long hot days the CMs were always friendly. We never experienced negative attitudes or rude behavior (maybe sometimes slow, but never rude). All in all, a great experience with customer service at the BC. :number1:
Negatives during our trip:
My BIL & SIL’s KTTW cards were overcharged for their park tickets (like 3 times!!) and failed to work during their stay and they didn’t realize until they tried to order food and get into Disney Quest. One would think that with all this new “tap to pay” technology they could at least get the basics right. Concierge did fix it eventually and comped them a dinner, but it was still a pain. The bill at checkout was VERY messed up as well (had wrong credit card #s linked to wrong KTTW cards!). Management was attentive and polite and fixed the issue in the end even though we had to do some urging. Just be sure to double check things yourselves.
One other negative aspect we found with BC this trip was how slow the food service was at the Marketplace as well as Hurricane Hanna’s Grill. Now again, it WAS a holiday week so we expected large crowds and longer wait times for things. But one time at the Marketplace a CM took our order and then casually walked away to go do some other things around the store and chat with other CMs. It made no sense. We were literally told that there was only one “salad maker” (aka: a large bowl) so it would take a while for a caesar salad. They were clearly understaffed and the CMs seemed overwhelmed. People were clearly getting agitated standing in line for 20+ minutes for quick service food. This is a last resort for a meal for us, but great for grab n’ go snacks. The food wasn’t bad, just REALLY slow. But I love walking outside across from the Marketplace and seeing the little sparrows hopping around under the while tables & chairs in the courtyard. We usually walk over to the Boardwalk or WS for dinner (a full Dining Report can be found in that forum, and an overall Trip Report can be found in that forum as well).
Thanks for reading! :D