Hilton HHonors - Doubletree Club Lake Buena Vista is no more - yes the big banana yellow one!

Anybody that has stayed here have information on this hotel? I will be staying there May 16-19, on a PE3 Point Stretcher award.

Thanks in advance for all replys!

I have been trying for over a week to get award reservations at the Hilton or Doubletree in the Disney Resort but the Doubletree Club is as close as I can get. Does anyone have a review of the place? The picture on the Hilton website doesn't look promising.

I just finished three days at the Doubletree Club Lake Buena Vista. I was down in Florida and stayed at another Doubletree that was just an awful experience (thats another post altogether), and ended up calling HHonors and switching to this hotel. Not that this matters much to you if you're redeeming a reward, but it was pretty cheap at $71/day and $80/day on the weekends. The room I stayed in had two queen sized beds, and wasn't anything really special. The outside of the hotel looks a bit strange (bright colors with a huge pineapple to greet you when you pull into the parking lot), but inside its just like any other hotel. Theres free transportation to and from the Disney parks at certain times of the day, which I found to be very convenient. Its also pretty close to Downtown Disney, almost within walking distance. Theres also several restaurants on the same road as the Doubletree Club. Big pool outside with a hot tub.

Regarding HHonors, I'm Gold and wasn't upgraded or didn't receive free breakfast. But to me this didn't matter, as there probably weren't rooms that were much better than mine anyway. I was happy enough with the free transportation, the Au Bon Pain in the lobby (amazing grilled chicken caeser pitas!!), the big pool & hot tub, and would have been even happier if the Free Internet Kiosk in the lobby actually worked. Overall, if you're taking a large family there, it might not be the fanciest place in the Disney area, but it got the job done for me and the free transportation made it worth it.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.. Like I said I was there for three days just last week so its fresh.

I appreciate the info. I have reservations there and at the Doubltree Castle in Orlando. I was told that both had free transportation to the Disney Parks which was a big plus for me. I will have two small children so keeping them happy is very important. I doubt we will spend that much time in the rooms anyway. Again, thanks.

My brother stayed at the Guestsuites castle with his family and loved it. I stayed at the guest suites maingate last saturday for $69 we got 2 bedrooms upstairs, and living + kitchen down. Whined for a free breakfast, not great. Room was spacious, not fancy. Rooms at Castle property are similar. Neither is real close to WDW.

Any opinions on this property and how they treat elites?

As there are 4 Doubletrees in the Orlando area, this is NOT the Suites in WDW, Resort/Villas at Maingate nor the Castle.

I have not stayed there, but did pass by on the way WDW everyday. The property looks decent, but it is on a main road, and it apprears kind of squeezed into it's location.

We stayed at the Embassy Lake Buena Vista and could not have been happier.

I stayed there last year. The rooms are a bit small but OK. As a then gold I recieved two drink coupons, a small fruit basket and a terry robe in the room. There is a small bar and a sandwich place that has breakfast stuff also(can't remember the name) in the lobby. A small pool, small video game room and an exercise room. It's a good walk to Downtown Disney but you can do it. I think they offer transport via their van to the Disney parks but make sure and check on this. Overall it was OK for the price I paid. It is off a busy street but I wasn't bothered by the noise where my room was. It's an ok choice if you get a good price. Nothing special.

[This message has been edited by MoreMilesPlease (edited 07-08-2002).]

I found the aircon louder than average and pretty irritating. It's hard to say if this just was a problem with my specific room.

The fruit basket I got as a Gold was a poor substitute for breakfast, which some here mention receiving. (I gave it away.)

The front desk was busy with personal phone calls and other staff weren't that helpful. I found both the nearby Embassy Suites and Hilton-WDW better. Free parking like all these hotels. No high speed Internet.
Rich

Thanks for the replies. My GF and I are looking for a cheap HHonors stay toward the 50k after her conference finishes (can't wiggle out of the Rosen her company has booked). Since we're not interested in any mousey activities, we'll stay at the Homewood on Int'l Drive for $18 more ($71 vs. $89).

I stayed there on a point-stretcher award last year as a Diamond. I was upgraded to a suite, there was a fruit/cheese plate in the room, I was given 2 breakfast coupons for each day to use at the Au Bon Pain in the hotel, and two drink coupons.
A breakfast coupon would get the user a filled croissant, a drink, and maybe a pastry. A couple of the ABP employees were not familiar with the coupon, but the manager was.
The decor in the room was just as funky as the outside of the hotel.
Overall, I was impressed with the hhonors benefits given.

My family and I were there in September of last year on a PointStretcher reward. Even though it was a freebie, based on my Gold HHonors card and a polite request they upgraded us to a Kids Club Suite (nice seperate bunk bed area walled off for the kids, with their own tv). My toddlers thought it was nearly as cool as Disney itself. Plus the fruit and cheese tray was nice.

Then when the Magic Kingdom ended up closing on September 11th, it was clear that we weren't going to be flying home on the 12th as planned. The manager there was incredibly gracious and told us that we could stay as long as we liked (and even at the lowest rate for the additional days).

The restaurant in the lobby is an Au Bon Pain, and is good for sandwiches and breakfasts. Plus there's a grocery across the street, microwave and fridge in the rooms, and lots of decent places to gnosh nearby. (Including Giordano's Pizza across the street: one of Chicago's best deep dish purveyors.)

I hope this helps!

It appears that the "Reservation Error" which I had been getting on the website is not because the website was busted (as I had been thinking for a couple of weeks....) but because it appears to now be the "Orlando Vista", see http://www.orlandovistahotel.com.

As an aside, what do tripadvisor do when hotels change allegiance, do they ditch the 'old' reviews?