Disappointment at CBR

[chrispooh1963]

First, let me say that I love WDW. Our family has vacationed at WDW since 1977. And in the last 20 years probably more than most WDW lovers. When CBR and Port Orleans were built we were huge customers. We would toggle back and forth each year as to which hotel we would stay at. Then we ended up at Coronado Springs because my husband attended a conference there and we fell in love with that resort also. We stayed at Coronado Springs consistently until we purchased into DVC. Our home resort is Boardwalk which we love.

Our family moved from Massachusetts to outside of Tampa about 4 years ago. I knew we could not move to Orlando because I would be at WDW every day. So we choose a location 60 minutes door to door.

My family and I recently stayed at CBR November 6-9, 2008. We also stayed there October 24-25, 2008 to run the TOT 13k. Because the visit for the TOT was so short I didn't have time to really look at the resort. But after our stay this past weekend I have to say I am sadly disappointed with the cleanliness of our rooms (3917 and 3918). I understand the terms “wear and tear” but I do not believe that is the case with CBR. I also understand the rooms are in the process of being refurbed. But the rooms we were in are in bad shape. There are stains on the carpet, the TV armoire is filthy, the window blinds need to be dusted, the carpet along the wall which leads to the carpeted baseboard is filthy. There is food and dirt in the crevices. It does not look like the entire rooms have been vacuumed in a very long time. On another note, the bed linens are a disgrace. The sheets are paper thin and clearly by looking at the underside of the guilt they have not been washed in a long time. We elected to continue our stay at the resort because it had already been paid for with DVC points but are very disappointed. As anyone who knows me, knows I sing the praises of WDW 24x7. The people I work with cannot believe the amount of time we spend at WDW. All the members of our extended family are also huge fans of WDW.

I sent an email to guest services and hope they look into the situation at CBR.

[kakn7294]

I'm sorry you were disappointed in your stay. We've always loved CBR and I'm sorry to hear about the lack of cleanliness in your rooms. We had a similar experience in August at CSR - the room and grounds around our room were dirty and disgusting in some places. Fortunately though, with the new queen beds, the linens were new and clean. Complaints to management at the resort got us nowhere. I hope you have better luck!

[Cinderelley]

We also had shall we say "less than stellar mousekeeping" when we stayed last year. A complaint then didn't get us anywhere. I did send an e-mail and got a message left on my answering machine that the message would be passed along. We won't be staying there again.

[Roland]

It's been my experience with WDW resorts that any one of them at any time can have a room not up to Disney standards.

However, on the whole, the rooms have been quite good and well above what I would find outside of WDW.

I stayed at Coronado Springs just once and I thought it was a wonderful resort on the whole. I did stay at CBR just once and hated it but it was just a single stay.

I'd gladly do CSR if my favorite POFQ were booked solid.

[PetefromRI]

I truly believe that this is a problem that will eventually kill Disney.If Disney continues to charge a premium for an average hotel/motel room they will end up having people stay outside the gates which means daytrips to Seaworld and Universal and eating at restaurants outside.I know that we're paying for location but dirty rooms don't work even in the best locations.We also have experienced dirty rooms in other Disney properties and are even starting to plan vacations outside of Disney unless they can start giving us value for our hard earned dollars.Don't get me wrong,we love Disney,but it's not the only game in town,and I think that they're executives better get off they're high horses and realize that!I's just like the special offer (4 nights get 3 free).In essence it's an AP rate because after you pay for 4 days of tix it's only about 3 dollars a day more per day.Not a bad deal overall but not the deal of the century either.Sorry if I sound a little negative but I've spent a ton of money there over the last 3 years and I see alot of corners being cut.Now I'll get off of my.

[brian2000boston]

I have to say that when we stayed at CBR we were not 100% thrilled with the quality of the room vs our expectations. The resort itselft is beautiful and hopefully the refurb of rooms will bring it to what we had expected. Someday we may try it again but not for a couple years. Though i didnt know if I should have laughed or got mad when i saw a french fry in the vent of the AC unit. Man it looked old and not one time during our 5 days did it get removed. I left it alone as a test as did many visitors before us. The thing that killed me about it was it was so obvious it was there, it was the first thing i saw. I just dont think the cleaners wanted to take the second to pull it out, or even cared. All in all i rate this 6 out of 10 for cleanliness, kind of on the room scale of an old holiday inn.

small rant - first day the DW and DS decided to take a nap after the early flight and arrival. We got to our room and they went to sleep. I went and got lunch and bring it back for them. We ate and they returned to sleep. As i am falling asleep they decide to powerwash the buildings. I have to say it was great having high powered water hit the windows, walls and doors while just falling a sleep, so much for the nap. And by the way...the door is not sealed well, as high powered water squirt about 5 feet into the room.

I like to stress again, I am not completely biased the hotel itself is very nice and the ppol is incredible.

[Ian]

The biggest issue for me is the dramatic inconsistency you see. You'll see some people complaining bitterly about horrible experiences at a resort and then someone else comes along and talks about what a wonderful experience they had there ... that's a very bad sign.

One thing people expect (and absolutely have a right to expect given their pricing structure) is consistency. They've built their brand on consistency ... more specifically on consistently providing world class service.

Clearly, they're falling short on that a significant amount of time and that's very dangerous ... especially in this economy.

[KatMark]

Unfortunately, this can happen at any resort. We have had nothing but the best in service--room clean, grounds clean, friendly service, at the CSR; we've paid more money and had fair to bad service at the Contemporary. You read this about each and every resort.

[buzz2001]

Sorry about your stay

[Ian]

Unfortunately, this can happen at any resort. We have had nothing but the best in service--room clean, grounds clean, friendly service, at the CSR; we've paid more money and had fair to bad service at the Contemporary. You read this about each and every resort.

Right, which is the problem. You shouldn't be reading about it at any resort, but the sheer volume of complaints lately is making it quite clear that, despite some people's protests to the contrary, there is an issue with upkeep at Disney's resorts.

[vicster]

We had a similar experience last year during our first stay at CBR. We'll never stay there again. This year we tried POFQ and the housekeeping left a lot to be desired. I, too, am afraid Disney's standards are dropping. We've gone many years and have never had this experience in the past. I'm guessing Disney has had to make cuts like everyone else. I still love WDW and can't see myself not going.

[Disney Doll]

I too have been noticing that things aren't quite where they should be. I know these rooms get a lot of wear and tear and that most mousekeepers do a decent job of day to day cleaning, but it doesn't seem like these hotels ever get a good deep cleaning- scrubbing the grout, using a crevice tool to vacuum all the crumbs along the walls and in the tight spaces around the furniture, or dusting the light fixtures. I know that I tend to be cleaner than most people so I try to keep in mind that my standards are not the same as everyone else's, but I miss the attention to detail at Disney resorts in general. When I travel outside of Disney and stay at other chain resorts the rooms usually feel cleaner. Maybe that's because only Disney resorts are inundated with kiddos day in and day out so they just get dirtier. I don't know, but it's a quandary. I like being on property, but sometimes I wonder if we should go back to staying off site. So far I'm sticking with staying on property, but who knows what the future holds.

[thumperbug]

In Feb 08 we had to take my son to Florida for medical reasons (nothing life threatening..but he needed to be in the warm sun as part of the threatment). We literally had a week to plan and book the trip. We are DVC members and long story short our option and where we ended up staying was at CBR. I had read so many negative posts about the resort that I was almost dreading the trip.

Overall we were quite pleased. We are spoiled by the DVC Villas so we kind of have high expectations.

I really only had 2 complaints about the room...there was a puddle of soda on the carpet near the bathroom which I found when I stepped in it and my sock got soaked. This was when we first got in the room. It irked me a bit but I just put a towel down to dry it up. I was not in the mood to change rooms.

The other was the creaky beds (get your minds out of the gutter...lol)

You couldn't even turn your head on your pillow without those beds making all sort of noise.

But for us, the room is a place to shower and sleep and after all you are still at Disney.

Ok so there will always be complaints about mousekeeping and since people tend to complain more then praise, the complaints always seem to overshadow all the good reviews.

[thrillme]

I wasn't keen on CBR for various reasons but the room was "OK" as far as "clean" went (not awesome...but clean enough).

In the "bathroom" I found a few hairs in the tub but it wasn't anything that couldn't simply be rinsed away. The next day there was a little spilled "shampoo" that didn't get rinsed out...I guess to me "rinsing" the tub is a "standard" thing to do. But otherwise the room was clean enough.

[Ian]

When I travel outside of Disney and stay at other chain resorts the rooms usually feel cleaner.

I absolutely agree with this. When you stay in a Marriott or a Hilton pretty much anywhere, I've found their rooms tend to be cleaner and a lot nicer than Disney hotel rooms.

I really only had 2 complaints about the room...there was a puddle of soda on the carpet near the bathroom which I found when I stepped in it and my sock got soaked. This was when we first got in the room. It irked me a bit but I just put a towel down to dry it up. I was not in the mood to change rooms.

Maybe I'm a little picky, but I would NOT consider that a minor issue!

Something like that would be cause for me to be at the front desk, filing a formal complaint with the manager.

[LarryBoy]

When are the rooms at CDR supposed to be remodeled? It sounds like they need it.

[KatMark]

When are the rooms at CDR supposed to be remodeled? It sounds like they need it.

They are currently remodeling some rooms with Nemo theme and then some with Pirate theme. I don't think they are changing the actual furniture--just bedspreads, wallpaper, curtains, etc.

[Auntie]

Right, which is the problem. You shouldn't be reading about it at any resort, but the sheer volume of complaints lately is making it quite clear that, despite some people's protests to the contrary, there is an issue with upkeep at Disney's resorts.

I couldn't agree more. I've been visiting for 17 years with our family (before that when I was a kid!) so it's been a long time. The inconsistancy is problematic. We were at POR Riverside for all of one day last week. The Magnolia Bend area. It was the dirtiest hotel room I've ever seen.(gets slammed on Trip advisor as well) I've got the pictures to prove it..soda stains running down the walls, stains on the carpet, toothpaste ground into the bath tile..smashed dead bugs on the bathroom ceiling, along with slimy,moldy shower heads. I mean I have never been in a hotel room this dirty. The furniture was worn, and the best was GRAFFITI on the underside of the bedspread. It was actually "signed" by a former occupant. One..it goes to show you they DON'T change the spreads after each occupant...and TWO.. the mouskeeping staff would have to have been blind not to see it. THEY DON"T CARE. While we had requested an Aligator Bayou room, management said there wouldn't be one available until the following day. So we waited for the following day. only to be told at that point, we would have to wait again until 5 pm. We left, loosing two days already. The manager didn't even try to justify the condition of the room. He's heard the complaints a thousand times. He knew it. He told us he was a covering manager for the WL(that's where we were checking into next), and "don't worry...you'll have a great time there."
I have to say..I'm sorry to read this about CBR...because we did visit there three times last week and thought the resort looked VERY clean, bright and cheerful. I did take a peak into some rooms that had the blinds open, and they appeared the same. Although of course you can't tell that much until you're inside. There are people who swear that there rooms at POR were beautiful. They probably were. Ours sure as heck wasn't. I mean long black hairs on a the worn blanket..(by the way..they obviously don't change the blankets either)Again..inconsistencies.

One thing I have also noticed is that I don't read (and maybe it's just me..but) many complaints about the values being dirty. Small, yes..dirty...not so much. I have read more posts regarding the inconsistincies at moderate resorts than the deluxe or values combined. Just my observation.

[Cinderelley]

thing I have also noticed is that I don't read (and maybe it's just me..but) many complaints about the values being dirty. Small, yes..dirty...not so much. I have read more posts regarding the inconsistincies at moderate resorts than the deluxe or values combined. Just my observation.

Sorry about your experience at POR. That really sounds disgusting.

I've never had a problem at Pop Century. Although I want to try AKL, I've had such good luck at Pop, I'm afraid to switch.

We've also stayed at the Fort Wilderness Cabins and didn't have any problems. Come to think of it, I've never read any mousekeeping complaints about them either.

[PirateLover]

We had a problem with CBR in our stay in 2005. The carpets were damp, we couldn't get a good temperature, the upkeep of the grounds was terrible- debris everywhere. We vowed that we wouldn't return unless we had tried every other resort and it was rehabbed. I also think that the Nemo re-theming, albeit minor, is an insult and a blatant ploy to get more families to come. Pirates, I get, but Nemo has nothing to do with Caribbean.