Walt Disney World Swan Reserve — Hotel in Bay Lake

This has to be one of my worst ever hotel experiences - in my 50 plus countries. I honestly don’t know where to start with this place. I hate giving bad reviews but I’m still angry a month after leaving there. While this hotel is fine - but unremarkable - the customer service was just awful. So bad it ruined our trip. ||||Let’s be honest, this is a fairly faceless business class hotel. It could be anywhere, there’s not much of a hint it’s near Disney. But at least it’s clean. The bar area is nice enough with good food and drink. Staff throughout are generally helpful and friendly - which one exception (more about her in a minute). Pool area is good, the live music is a nice touch making for a very relaxed vibe. Rooms are comfortable and I would’ve slept well if they hadn’t ruined our visit. ||||This was a three night stay booked and paid for through Agoda before arrival. So when they asked for my credit card to pre-authorise $100 for incidentals against the room I didn’t think anything of it. But this is when the problems began. Incidentally, I never saw an amount for $100 pending on my credit card for the duration of our trip, which is strange with all the amounts I had on there from this hotel during our stay. ||||But this hotel seems to think they can charge whatever they want to your credit card as soon as they have your details. The first time I noticed a problem was the following morning when I saw an unauthorised charge of £1223.37 from “Disney Swan Reserve” from the previous day. They had charged me for the stay that I’d already paid for!||||I spoke to Shane who seemed very confused by this. He said he had no idea why it was coming up as “Disney Swan Reserve” or why it had been charged but sometimes it just happens… does it? Well it really shouldn’t!You know, because it’s illegal? He also stated it should’ve been “Autograph, that’s us”, he said. Anyway, he reversed it (which shockingly took 10 days to be refunded) and I thought that was the end of the matter. But I was wrong.||||The following evening I had an alert from my credit card company telling me I was dangerously close to my credit limit. That couldn’t be right, I had loads of credit left. So I checked my statement and Autograph (ie: them) had charged yet another £1341.51 to my card. It was 10:30pm (November 22) but I couldn’t leave it until the next day. So I went down to reception again. The lady there was very friendly but didn’t know what to do, so went out back to speak to her manager. She said her manager would be right out and knew I was waiting to speak to her. She wasn’t straight out, she left me waiting for 45 mins, without coming to see me or asking my side of things. It was now 11:15pm.||||I thought I’d been forgotten, so I stood up and waited in the lobby area. At this point the manager in question (wish I had her name) appeared and stomped towards me ranting before she even reached me. To my surprise she was being aggressive and confrontational (not apologetic at all) and she actually said to me; “Mr Xxx we’ve refunded your money, WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM NOW?!”. I hadn’t even spoken at that point so I definitely hadn’t been rude and didn’t deserve to be spoken to as a guest like I’d kicked her dog. I was well within my rights to ask why another £1341 had been charged to my card without my permission. ||||When I said I’d been charged again, she gave me a lecture about not knowing the difference between a credit card and a debit card. What on earth has that got to do with anything? But I told her I did know the difference and mine was a credit card. She just said; “you don’t know that!” Then she stomped off back to the desk and demanded the details of the transaction. ||||And yes; she did demand it. No please or thankyou, in fact she didn’t even look up from the the screen until she said; “nothing to do with us, I suggest you take it up with your bank!” She literally looked for 30 seconds and made no effort to phone head office or accounts. That was it as far as she was concerned. She then told me Autograph wasn’t them. When I said Shane told me earlier Autograph definitely was them, she started to argue again. Absolutely shocking customer service! She was talking to me like I’d crawled out from under a rock. Although, no hotel should EVER talk to their guests like that, wherever the issue, or whoever was in the wrong. ||||I was getting nowhere, and I was starting to get annoyed by her aggressive unhelpful behaviour. So I turned round and walked off and as I did she shouted “YOU’RE WELCOME!!” sarcastically across the lobby, highly unprofessional and other guests checking-in actually saw her do that, not a great first impression. ||||I kept walking, all I know is this lady shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the public. I’m pretty sure the Marriott bosses know who this manager is, after a quick scan on Tripadvisor, other reviews have mentioned her special brand of customer service.||||The next day I spoke to Shane again, who appeared to be a lot more helpful on the face of it. Unfortunately he wasn’t. He assured me he would sort out the issues and get the latest unauthorised charge refunded (he didn’t) then gave me his business card and said to contact him if there were any further problems. He also said no further payments would be added to my card until it was all sorted and I was happy. He didn’t stop any payments. They took another one almost instantly.||||What actually happened was; as soon as we landed in London I had an alert from my credit card company telling me I’d exceeded my credit limit (thanks to this hotel) and requesting I speak to them. I’d been charged another £387 the moment we left for the airport. This was for food / drink / resort fees (not even mentioned on check in). Admittedly it’s in the terms and conditions on the booking but I do think they should also make you aware of these charges when you arrive. I emailed Shane to ask for his help again. He never ever replied. ||||For the record; the first charge was eventually refunded after 10 days (way way too long when it’s the hotels fault in the first place). The second charge which I disputed with my credit card company was partially refunded… they decided to keep £73 for themselves… administration fee maybe? But luckily my credit card company noticed this straight away and refunded that amount to me. This charge for food / drink and resort fees was in addition to the pending amounts for food and drink that were added every time we signed for the bill. And while these were eventually refunded after 10 days they still added to my balance and sent me over my credit limit. I have never seen another hotel do their charges like this, even in America and I’ve been there a lot. The accounts department here is a mess which means this hotel cannot be trusted with your credit card. ||||One last thing, if you just think I’m a moaner, have a look at my other reviews on here, you’ll realise I’m not. The problems at this hotel are very real. Stay somewhere else this hotel is too much of a risk when there’s plenty of great to stay around Orlando. This establishment shouldn’t be anywhere near your short list....

I've stayed at Marriotts for over 1100 nights around the world and have been Platinum or Titanium for 16 years; this is the worst experience I've ever had. My original rating is a low 2/10, upgraded to a 3/10 after efforts by hotel management.

Details:

Issues with room: -Poop smear on toilet seat -TV didn't work -AC didn't work to set below 72 -No hot water -Crib not provided -Sink clogged (both rooms) -Spotlights from pool area reflect off window frame and shine directly into bed -Locked out of room -Lights turned on in living room and bedroom closet at 1:15 am with everyone asleep, waking up the entire family -Similarly to the lights, the TV in the sitting area would randomly turn on

Issues with service: -Took combination of 4 followups including trips down to front desk, and calls to get the crib we requested on initial room booking -Took 2 followups across 2 days to get TV fixed -Because of all issues above we were told we could move to a new room. I was told in the morning the room was fully 100% ready and we could move right then if we wanted. We couldn't because of our plans to visit the parks that day and needing to leave directly after we received the call. Further, we couldn't move that night because we had dining reservations and our kids needed to go to sleep right after. So instead we requested if we could move our things into the room that night (while the kids were asleep) and then fully move everything early the next morning. I was told no. Instead the check-in desk told me the bellhop could store all our things overnight and I would have to move everything the next morning. I explicitly asked if they and everyone would be ready for me to do the move between 5-6 am so we could head out to the parks again and received an enthusiastic confirmation. Seemed like a dumb idea, but I went along with it if that is the hotel policy. Turns out it was a dumb idea. The room that I had confirmation was fully clean and ready the day before, and then had confirmation would also be ready by 5am, and then had confirmation the morning of the move was not clean and had poop smears across the toilet seat. -New room also had exact same clogged sink issues. This was also fixed in new room but by time we checked out it was starting to clog again -Waited 20 mins in hallway for bellhop to show up to store our things during room move. Carrying everything to the elevator to bring it myself when they showed up -Compensation discussed with management was to the benefit of the hotel and not in consideration of the differential between booking different nights -On checkout day, left the room at 8am, and our room key did not let us back in. Trip 1 back to the front desk for re-keying didn't work. Trip 2 they said the credit card was declined when processed and that's why we were locked out. I gave them the exact same credit card and it processed successful (which begs the question- considering everything about how this property operates, was the problem the card or the person processing it?). Re-keyed again after successful auth, still can't get in. Trip 3, still can't get in. While getting on elevator for trip 4 a security guard comes to let us in.

From reading other reviews it appears that I received the typical response for what appear to be systemic and typical issues at this property: Epcot view room move, invitation to Vue on the 15th floor, and compensation. Unfortunate that the underlying issues with the service are not being resolved. A Disney trip with a family is all about fun and efficiency (and inefficiency gets in the way of the fun). There is nothing efficient or seamless about this property and I could not in good faith recommend it to anyone in its current mode of operation.

The location is great, the property is beautiful, the rooms are well-appointed, pool is really nice, and both food and drinks from Stir and Tangerine were surprisingly good and not nearly as unhealthy as what's typical available around Disney (except for the frozen premade drinks-grossly over sweet, and the guacamole...

SERVICE & TRANSITIONS -- From the minute we walked in, everyone was exceedingly professional, engaging, & always greeted us with a smile. Transitions were pristine-- impeccably clean, bright, & exuding elevated glam ✨. Dazzling artwork adorns the halls & a tasteful playlist of quality tunes is always within earshot. 1hr (12pm) late checkout is a heinous $50. Not worth it. Laundry services are available at the sister property (Dolphin). $3 wash; $3 dry; dryers aren't performant & it took 2 cycles for us.

ROOM -- https://youtu.be/K9LMT4C3L5s Contemporary-lux, while also feeling cozy & fun-- not to mention spacious! Amazing lighting & views from our floor-to-ceiling windows, with blackout drapes that came in handy when we wanted to sleep in. A pool/park view is definitely worth the premium! My only complaints are: The Minimal table top space, esp for a junior suite. Ergonomics weren't conducive for remote work.

BED -- For the most part I liked this composition. It would be a lot better if this pillow build had more loft (lacked support). The linens were also uncomfortable bc this blend isn't breathable; not what you want in this microclimate. Overall, the quality of sleep was good after adjusting the thermostat a few times.

BATH -- Picturesque from the wallpaper down to the wash basins. The shower experience itself was mixed... 😞 Water takes a while to heat & pressure is on the weak side. Their brand of bath products, "Vitamin C", smell awful & left my skin dry. Everything else was positive: good dimensions, large fluffy towels, cozy robes, wide sinks, & lots of vanity space. Worthy of eye candy status.

TV/ENTERTAINMENT -- 65" HDTV Marriott TV solution: high-end wall-mount. Streaming Taylor Swift era's tour was spectacular from bed ✨. A cornucopia of activities on & off site. The resort's mobile app is actually useful & is the best way to get familiar with those offerings. We were most excited by the large pool, water toys, & Mini golf! Access to amenities at sister resorts (dolphin & swan) like Game Room, paddle boats, etc are also included.

WI-FI & CELL RECEPTION -- GREAT free WiFi offering, minus being unencrypted. Security should be a priority in such a large, contemporary, & family-friendly hotel where children regularly connect to the network. Cellular was generally a struggle throughout the building. --Performance-- Video streaming - good Online gaming - average Video chatting - good --Nerd Stats-- 83-122 Mbps download 78-125 Mbps upload 0% packet loss 10 ms latency 1 ms jitter

FOOD & DRINK -- ⚠️Not DoorDash friendly. In-room dining was DELICIOUS, although food arrived cold consistently. The experience remained positive because the flavors stand all on their own-- so so good! We tired the Bistecca, Half-Half Souvlaki, Filo, Roasted turkey club, Pepperoni flatbread, Avocado toast, & Mickey Mouse Belgium waffles. Each dish was exceptional! The pepperoni pizza doesn't present well but it's the best tasting gluten free pizza I've had in years! in-room: ❌ microwave ✅ mini-fridge (small) ✅ coffee ❌ tea ❌ wet-bar ❌ mini-bar

NOISE -- sound proof 👍

LOCATION -- Not crowded during the height of summer & felt as safe as can be. Transportation to Disney parks & access to the other sister resorts is included. Bus drivers can be absent-minded while making rounds; stay alert to avoid missing your stop. Minnie Vans were such a cute concept & better than the typical Lyft experience. I highly recommend trying at least 1.

RATING Loved everything about it, minus the resort fees. The other functional amenities are provided by sister properties & it's a newer (2021) hotel. This feels disingenuous & unjustified for a property that didn't exist before the pandemic... Drip Pricing + Resort Fees will eventually be outlawed so the pricing should be more different by then (🤞). The experience is still really unique: the design (Michael Graves is brilliant), hospitality, & accommodations all exceeded our expectations. I would stay here again & highly...