Originally Posted by
sam_goh
Quick review of the Dolphin from our stay over President's day weekend. We had two back-to-back reservations - one cash and points and one full points stay.
Checkin:
Reservations weren't linked, the second night was upgraded to a junior suite (SPG Gold) the first was not. The check-in staff told us that to avoid moving, taking a "downgrade" to a regular room was our best option. Sad to do so, but we did.
Paid for self-parking, key card kept giving a "room not found" error message. Eventually had to user the buzzer, and they said take a ticket and fix at front desk. Went to front desk, and same check-in staff said "oh yeah it happens all the time, just use the buzzer and valet will let you in and out".
Room was somewhat dated, sink drained really slow, and for a family of 4 only 1 bottle conditioner and shampoo. But we slept well even though we had to rig the blinds the first night. Second night however was a complete fiasco. We stayed 13 hours at Disney and got back around midnight. After kids got ready and went to bed, my wife took a hot shower. The fire alarm went off at 1 a.m waking everybody. We didn't know what to do or if it was the whole hotel, so we stood out in the hall in our pjs while I called the front desk.
Front desk sent security up an after about 10 minutes in the hallway he peaks in and says oh this is expected - smoke detector in wrong place and hot shower sets it off. You're not the first even tonight. Of course now the kids are all riled up after being woken up like that and we don't get much rest. The next day, I mentioned the issue at the front desk, and apparently it's "very common". I'm sorry but smoke detectors going off after a shower being "common enough" that it gets ignored will get somebody killed one day.
Anyways - location wise the Disney buses were fine. Didn't explore many of the amenities but the food onsite was decent (though expensive as expected). I don't mind the value, but the indifference of the security staff and front desk really blew my mind. Not sure we'd pick this hotel again.
Sorry to hear about the issues you had. However, I guess I can say that I'm glad that we decided to choose the Swan. We were there the same time as you as no issues at all. My only complaint was that I couldn't get a room higher than the 4th floor (SPG Gold). They were completely sold out that weekend so I guess all the SPG Platinums got higher floors for that balcony type. SO and I ended up not even using the balcony and should have saved our money for the upgrade.
Our friends had reservations similiar to yours. P&C one night, full points the next. Front desk had no problems linking them. The only problem though was that each night was considered a separate reservation and one of my friends was pissed that they took out a second $100/night hold on her debit card.