Swan Club Level Reports

Matt Moran – January 2005

The Swan is a terrible place to stay for families. Other then the Camp Dolphin feature (which my kids loved), it primarily caters to business travelers. The staff is not as "Disney oriented" and not nearly as friendly as a true "resort hotel". We had several problems with the concierge….i.e., unable to get us a transportation car to Universal Studios….unable to print out Southwest boarding passes for our flights. I would suggest the Yacht and Beach Club over Swan and Dolphin.

*****

Bonnie Y – August 2003

We just got back from a trip in August. We stayed at the Swan for the 2nd time in a year. We stayed at the Dolphin the trip before and have also stayed at the Beach and Yacht Club. We have been very pleased with the Swan and Dolphin. My sister gets Club Level privileges and the Club Level lounge is one of the great parts of our trips. Mama T actually remembered us from our prior trip. She really made our trip special this time by sending big cookies and milk to my mother's room because my mom told her that she was going to be having a birthday and this would probably be the last time that she came with us. My husband thinks she is great and gives outstanding service. It is so nice to be able to have breakfast before we go to the parks and water bottles when we leave. They also have a toaster with bread, English Muffins, and bagels. That was vital because my mom has to have toast, juice and coffee for breakfast. On prior trips my sister had to look all over for a restaurant that served toast. It's very hard to find at a
resort.

We love having such close access to Epcot and the Boardwalk. In the afternoon we could go back to the hotel and swim. On three days my husband and son went over to the Boardwalk with my son's fishing pole and fished. You can't keep the fish, but my son had a blast even though it was terribly hot.

Our rooms were very clean and the maid service was good. We always had plenty of clean towels even when we used some in the afternoon.
Our only complaint was about the TV channels. Toon Disney or Nick would have been nice besides the Disney Channel. I will take my laptop next time because they now have internet access in the rooms.

Overall, we've been very happy with the Swan and can't wait to go back.

*****

Lindsay G – May 2003

My husband and I just returned from a 3-night stay at the Swan. We have stayed in other Disney properties, and been very pleased. However, this was our first stay at the Swan, and we stayed for free using Starwood points.

Bottom line, even though our visit was not overly unpleasant, I would not spend money to stay at the Swan, particularly if you've had experience with the outstanding service at other Disney resorts. First and foremost, the Swan is run by Westin, and is still basically a corporate hotel, catering to business travelers and conventioneers. It does not have the subtle nuances that carry the magic throughout your stay like at the other Disney properties. Beyond the WDW channel and the Disney transportation system connected to the hotel, you would never know that you were steps away from Epcot if you didn't look out your window.

We stayed on the 12th Floor, and had access to the Royal Beach Club, which was really the only nice "perk" of our stay. Mama T and Thabo are very personable, as noted by previous reviewers, and the food selection is nice and varied, and easy to eat on your way out in the morning. We also took advantage of their small bottles of spring water to drink in the parks.

The rooms were clean overall, and had been refurbished to include a Heavenly Bed (although it was not as comfortable as Heavenly Beds at other Westin properties, it seemed). The square footage was good, and we had dual vanities in our room. However, the overall décor is a bit jarring and hard on the eyes. I have no problem with themed hotels, as long as the theme is done well and with some purpose. This looks like an interior decorator's worst nightmare!

My biggest complaint about the Swan – the climate control sensor in our room! I'm unsure if this is a feature in all rooms, although I would imagine so. As in some other hotels, the room came equipped with a sensor in the upper corner of a wall that is to sense when guests are no longer in the room and return the room temperature to a pre-determined level (warmer or colder, depending on the season, to save the hotel cooling/heating costs). Once a guest returns, the sensor quickly returns the room's temperature back to your preferred level. These sensors are annoying – however, I've always found them to be body heat-activated. Not so at the Swan – they're motion sensors! That's right – when you're still in your room for any length of time – watching TV, talking on the phone, SLEEPING, the air will go off, and you have to move around (to the tune of actually sitting up in bed from a vertical position) to get the air to come back on. This was particularly frustrating, and will most definitely keep us from staying at the Swan again. (During our trip, they also decided to test their emergency generator, leaving guest rooms without power and air conditioning for an hour and a half in the middle of the night. When I complained about the procedure, I was told to make my room really cold before I fell asleep, and then caught them off guard when I pointed out that their sensor would keep that plan from working. Needless to say, I got several thousand Starwood points for my complaint, but it still left me with a bad taste in my mouth.)

My recommendation – if you're spending your money on a deluxe resort, STAY ELSEWHERE. I've had better experiences, even at Disney's moderate resorts. When staying with the Mouse, go all the way. Westin's Swan just does not come close.

*****

Adrienne Basso – August 2002 – Swan

We recently returned from a terrific visit to the Swan, staying on Club Level (a first for our family). The Swan is a Starwood property and as a Starwood member (it's free to join) I was able to upgrade our regular room to Club Level using points. It "costs" 750 points per night to "move up" – a bargain in my opinion, especially since we were paying the extremely low government employee rate of $129/night ($143 with tax).

We booked our room back in December for our July trip and had to wait until 5 days before our arrival to "upgrade" to club level. That was done by calling the Starwood member 800#, giving them our Swan reservation number and our Starwood number. Once the change was made, an email was sent so I had documentation of the upgrade. I took that with me, but didn't need it.

At the Swan, the 11th and 12th floors are designated the Royal Beach Club. At check-in we received a letter telling us about the Royal Beach Club Lounge, located at the east end of the 12th floor. Breakfast from 7-10 AM ( 10:30 on Sunday); evening snacks from 5-7 PM and drinks from 5-9:30 PM.

We were on the 11th floor – in a very nice, quiet room at the end of the hall. It was close to the elevator and ice machine, and since there wasn't a room on one side of us and the rooms across the hall were for Cast Member storage, it was very quiet – we really appreciate the silence. We had a standard view and faced the "parking lot" at the front of the Swan, but could clearly see the Tower of Terror and most of MGM, large sections of the Boardwalk hotel, and the fountain and flowers at the front of the Swan. We could also see the fireworks for Fantasmic and Epcot Illuminations.

The room was the same size as the standard view room we had last year, which is a little smaller than other Disney deluxe hotels. It did have two terry cloth robes that we used and turn-down service was provided each evening – with delicious chocolate mints. My one complaint is that there are only two queen size beds at the Swan – no day bed and certainly no room to put a roll-away. That meant our two teenage sons, ages 13 and 15, had to share a bed which got a bit trying towards the end of our stay.

The stairs to walk up to the 12th floor lounge were at the opposite end of the hall, but it was an easy and pleasant walk (though our boys often took the elevator). Overall we felt the hotel was NOT nearly as crowded as it had been on our trip in August 2001. We had breakfast at the lounge each morning. Because of our touring schedule we went at different times each day.

Often there were only 1 or 2 other families in the lounge in the morning. Mama T. was there to greet us each day. She is probably the nicest, most friendly CM we have met in our 16 years of Disney trips. She was always smiling, happy and eager to please.

Offerings in the morning included: 2 large trays with baked goods – several types of muffins and pastries. Each tray held a different selection, which we didn't realize until much later in the trip! There was also a very large basket filled with a wide variety of bagels, sliced white bread and English muffins (plain and raisin). There were toasters if you wanted your selection toasted – also butter, cream cheese and several types of jelly/jam.

Another large basket held boxes of cereal – usually Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Frosted Flakes, Corn Flakes, Fruit Loops. Right next to that was a large silver bucket filled with ice and cartons of milk – regular, 2%, skim or chocolate. There were always several containers of each type. We found exactly what we needed, but if we didn't I am positive Mama T would bring out what you wanted with a smile.

Right near the cereal was a basket of bananas and next to that a large tray of sliced fruit. Watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries. It was great – looked beautiful and tasted even better.

A very nice coffee bar was set up in another area – which included flavorings to "jazz" things up. We tried several different flavors throughout the week and really enjoyed them. The other drinks offered each morning were orange and apple juice.

Our boys never wanted to stay in the lounge in the morning, so we would come in, fill our china plates and take our breakfast back to the room. Some mornings there were bottles of water out near the coffee (these were always warm). We really liked having the chilled water bottles, so we would ask Mama T and she would happily get them from the fridge – often asking if I wanted more than 2 or 3.

As I mentioned before, we usually were very surprised at how empty the lounge was at this time. It was only on our final morning, when we arrived at 9:30, that it seemed more crowded. But to be honest, I think that was more due to the fact that two large groups had arrived and they were letting all their young children run around the food without any supervision. It made for a hectic and noisy lounge. Even at that later hour there was a lot of terrific food to choose from and it all looked fresh and inviting.

We got to the lounge a few times in the evening during the trip. It was even LESS of a crowd than the mornings – often we were the only family in the lounge. No Mama T – generally one or two older gentlemen who never said much of anything. In the evening there was another great tray filled with sliced fruit, sliced cheese (5 or 6 kinds, plus a "spread") a basket of assorted crackers & small rolls, veg & dips, plus one hot item. Those changed nightly and all were very tasty – mini quiche, spinach turnover; pizza "bites"; artichokes stuffed with cheese. The hot food was in a large covered dish that always seemed to be full. Some days there was also a large tray filled with several types of cookies – yummy.

At that time of day there were cans of soda put out on the "bar" – coke, sprite, diet coke. There were also lots and lots of water bottles – usually warm, but one night they were all chilled.

Again, my boys didn't like to sit in the lounge, so they would get a few snacks, a few sodas and go back to the room. My husband and I liked sitting at a window table, eating, relaxing and enjoying the view (which was basically the same view as our room window).

We only went to the lounge later in the evening on two occasions. At this time they had the "honor" bar and also cans of soda and bottled water. We said hello, grabbed a few waters and sodas and left. Another night there was a large tray of the big cookies, the bucket of ice filled with cartons of milk, soda and bottles of water. I brought back a few cookies and some milk for all of us to share, which was a very pleasant way to end the day.

We now feel completely spoiled by this club experience. It was so convenient to get our breakfast each morning and saved so much time. The evening offerings were the perfect little snack to tied us over until dinner and all those cans of soda and bottles of water saved us from taking a trip to Publix or Goodings.

I would highly recommend club level, especially with points, to everyone.