Spent one night, 7/9/10, here. Glad it wasn't longer. I got two rooms on Hotwire for $154. I was travelling with my mother and two teenagers. When we checked in, I upgraded one room to a Fireplace Suite for an additional $40 (way down from their original quote, but still a little more than I wanted. Anyway.) The standard room adjoined the suite. The surroundings couldn't be lovelier, and the main building is gorgeous. During check-in, the desk clerk answered a call and ended up spending more time trying to get a fax number for the employee on the other other end of the line than checking us in. After we were finally checked in, we exited through the rear of the building and walked through an open-air shopping arcade to get to the rooms. Beautiful views of the grounds, including the pools/hot tubs/sport court (with lots of kids, more about that later) and the idled ski lift and tram right next to the guest room building. The suite was set up rather strangely -- we walked through a narrow kitchenette and into the living area, which had a loveseat, chair, coffee table, tv, small table w/4 chairs, and the fireplace. Large windows, and one even opened! The Fireplace Suites are true suites, with a separate bedroom. The bathroom is large and can be accessed through the kitchen/hall or bedroom. Pots/pans/utensils were provided; there was a smooth top two-burner stove, microwave, and small dishwasher-in-a-drawer. There was a coffeemaker, but we were not provided with cream or sugar. Both rooms were rather small. The Fireplace Suite had strange little nooks and angles, like someone designed it as the solution to an engineering problem but didn't think about how it would actually look or work. The windows in the suite were absolutely filthy, with lots of little fingerprints and streaks. We arrived late, and hit one of the restaurants, Sandy's, about 8:30. This is the more casual of the two restaurants on the property. We snagged the last table and settled in comfortably. That didn't last long, though, because we were seated by some kind of game table. Don't know the name of it, but it resembled a very long and skinny air hockey table...except it wasn't. Anyway, it was the focal point for lots of EXTREMELY LOUD families who were cheering and jeering with great enthusiasm. We're talking yelling. Bellowing. Fist pumps and jumping, screaming children. All this while we're about 10 feet away. We asked to be moved, but there were no other open tables. Decided to stick it out. A family would leave the table, only to be replaced by another, just as loud. We asked our waiter to please ask one incredibly loud group to pipe down, but he refused and said "I'm not allowed to do that." Just as I was about to go over and nicely ask them to be quiet, this particular family sat down about three tables away. The parents proceeded to ignore the kids, so after awhile the kids were jumping on the banquette like it was their own personal bed. Then the kids began to scream and try to climb up the very tall banquettes. I was amazed -- no one on staff did a thing. Our party was clearly not the only ones who were having a terrible time because of this feral family, yet not a word was said to the parents. Look, I have kids (both big and small) myself. I have pretty good noise tolerance because of this, so it takes a lot to set me off. And this was a lot. It was not helped by the fact that we spent over $130 for dinner for four, and couldn't even hear each other at times. I found out later that Disney Tours brings a lot of groups through here since it's such a child-friendly resort. Had I known this, I would not have stayed here for this particular occasion, which was my mother's birthday. If you want a stay that's relaxing/romantic/not child-centered, this may not be the place for you. This would be a great place to vacation with kids of all ages if money isn't a concern. Upon checkout, I politely voiced my displeasure about the terrible experience the evening before. The desk clerk showed virtually no concern. This was my first and last stay here!
