Off Site Hotels

@ddindy you mentioned a few off site hotels, I don’t remember the location or names? Was it Flamingo Crossings? @Joanie Eddis-Koch you stayed at Hawthorne Suites?

 

Yes, I was at hawthorn Suites. It's cheap but it's a little run down. For example, it's very clean, cleaner than Disney resorts in my opinion, but in the suites that have the kitchens, maybe the laminate on the counter might be chipped or cracked. The fit and finish of the doors is not great, but none of that really matters to me because I'm looking for the lowest price, with the cleanest resort, And no stupid resort fees like for parking, internet or amenities.

The hotel staff is generally very accommodating and helpful. The only thing that I've noticed is that none of the housekeepers speak English.

That's not really much of a problem because every time they've come to clean the room they've done an excellent job and I haven't really had to mention anything or request things.

The only thing that I would do would be to take extra trash bags down because they have those stupid little hotel trash cans and I always wind up overfilling them everyday, especially if you have the kitchen suite.

Hawthorne also has a free breakfast in the morning but the hot breakfast is the standard low quality hotel egg breakfast and the bagels and pastries and fruit are just fine.

I'm not a breakfast person so sometimes I'll just run down and get some fruit to throw in the fridge for later or some pastries or oatmeal that you can make with hot water. You can also take that stuff back to your room and save it for when you come back at night for a snack.

So in summary, is the value there to stay at the hawthorn Suites resorts? Yes especially if you're only spending around $110 plus a night plus taxes.

Definitely join whatever the rewards program is for any hotel that you're considering staying at. For example Wyndham runs the rewards For this hotel so I get rewards points and a lower rate which I would get none of that at Disney.

The only disadvantage I can see is that, if you're flying down,you would have to either rent a car or depend on Uber which would be an added cost that way.

In the larger scheme of things, not having to wait for Disney transportation is definitely a bonus, especially if you have an annual pass and don't have to pay for parking at the parks.

As with everything, it's a numbers game, so you have to factor in all the costs and the savings, benefits and disadvantages, that you can get and come up with the number versus staying at The Disney resorts. With the way they're destroying the value and the experience while staying at Disney, off-site is definitely looking like the better deal IMHO.

~J

 

Thank you. I just signed up for Wyndham Rewards. In December Pop Century is running around $230+ a night and the cheapest is the AllStars around $180+ a night. We stayed at Movies once and it was ok, I’d prefer not to stay at the AllStars. Nothing wrong with the resort, not a fan of the busses, having to stop at all resorts. We might have to think about driving down sometime.

 

Thanks Dennis. Pop is getting too expensive, and not sure if the AllStars at almost $200 is worth it either. I don’t these hotels charging for parking. WTH ? Any an ‘amenity fee’?