Walt Disney World Swan — Hotel in Bay Lake

The location of this hotel is excellent but our frustration with inconsistent/contradictory information and services leads me to rate the hotel 2 stars. Bell services made up the rules as they went along which was aggravating. We parked where everyone else parks to checkin but the fellow from bell services told us there was no parking there. I pointed to the 20 other cars parked there and he told me the car in front of ours belonged to the manager. I know I should not engage but I did - I told him that I am aware that all employees, including the manager, must park in the cast member lot. Then he said the car actually belonged to the owner of the hotel. Grrr. Ok so now a publicly traded corporation, the stock of which I have owned in the past, is owned by a person? It’s not. Fine - we decided that we would let it go and not engage. I stepped out to check in while my bf parked the car. The gal at the front desk was great - when we asked where we were supposed to park for checkin, she told us that the area we were first shooed out from was the correct spot. My bf came in and reported that the bell services fellow continued to harass him. I honestly don’t know what the issue was. We weren’t difficult or rude.

We are DVC members and have Disney annual passes, so we decided to go to Epcot until our room was ready. The location of the hotel is outstanding and the grounds are beautiful.

We came back a little while later, after our room was ready. I asked at the front desk whether we are able to use the luggage carts (like the rest of the Disney hotels) and she told us yes, just let bell services know.

We walked to the parking lot and tried to use our room key to exit (like all directions say to do) but it didn’t work. After a long time trying to reach the parking lot help line, the person who answered in very broken English didn’t offer any help. At that point, my bf was yelling at me to tap the card, which I did 100 times and it didn’t work, and the help line guy was useless. My car sat there blocking the exit for what felt like an eternity. Finally I told the help line guy my room number and asked him what the heck the problem was because it’s not my fault the card wasn’t working. He finally opened the gate and we drove around to unload our bags.

The bellman outside was super condescending when he told us that we were not allowed to bring our own bags to the room and we had to use bell services. Fine. We did. I decided at that moment we’d never be back. I don’t like to use bell services when I am physically capable of bringing my bags to my room. Others may not feel that way but I do and there’s nothing wrong with that. If the Waldorf Astoria in Boca Raton is fine with it and super on every level, I find it offensive that a lesser hotel is condescending about it.

The room was beautiful but (1) very few electrical outlets; (2) the bathroom door doesn’t close unless you slam it and lock it, (3) the tv clicker didn’t work, (4) the phone didn’t work, and (5) I had to call several times (from my cell phone) to get a microwave sent to my room. The AI answering the phone told us that there were microwaves on the 9th and 6th Fl W. So we went in search of them. The AI answering service is giving wrong information. There is one on 6 East but that is too far to be reasonable. There are none on 9 or 6 West. That was wrong and sent my bf on a wild goose chase.

When the gal from housekeeping finally brought the microwave after about 40 minutes, she asked if there was anything else we needed. I told her that the clicker didn’t work. That has happened to us at DVC resorts and housekeeping has usually exchanged the remote. However here, the gal told us we’d have to call the engineering department about it. I don’t know how we’d go about doing that. We just made due - some employees were great but there were too many very frustrating annoyances that we figured we’d just checkout the next day and be...

My best friend and I are teachers and we both love Disney. We've been planning this trip for two years.. I've been a Marriott member and stayed at their hotels my entire life. I have stayed at the Dolphin during 4 other trips to Disney. We booked the hotel room more than five months in advance.

We were flying from Massachusetts after our school day and I knew we would be getting to the hotel a bit after midnight. I called to be sure we wouldn't have any trouble checking in. When we made it to the desk we were told the hotel was completely sold out and they didn't have a room for us even though I had booked directly through the hotel and received confirmation through email and earlier when I called the hotel. They told us they had a room for us at the Swan and I asked if it was the same caliber as the room at the Dolphin. I was told the rooms at the Swan are nicer and we would have a room ready for us when we went over.

We had ordered groceries (including a case of water) to be delivered to the Dolphin and asked about having them brought to our room at the Swan. They told us the best they could do was bring it out and then we could carry it from the Dolphin to the Swan. Eventually we got the 3rd person we spoke to to agree to bring the groceries to our new room at the Swan.

We made it to our room a little after 1:00am and noticed that the room was not up to par. The hotel is listed as a 4 star resort and our room was absolutely not reflective of that. It smelled musty, we only had a few towels, and the bathroom was disastrous. They tub was chipping, the caulking and grout were peeling and yellowed, the walls were chipped, the grout on the bathroom floor was not clean. Worst of all there was mold all over and inside the handle. We went to bed and the next morning I made the front desk aware of the issue. They told us that we were in an unrenovated room and that we could take it up with guest relations. We asked to be moved to a different room and they told us they didn't have any others available.

We had another package that was delivered to the Dolphin. I called and asked if it could be brought over to the Swan and I was told they were not allowed to. I walked over to the Dolphin and when I tried to retrieve it they told me it was locked in the business center. Two hours passed and the package was not brought to our room. At this point it was almost midnight and we wanted to go to sleep.They told me to put my Do Not Disturb sign up and they would bring it back to the business center. When I asked if there was any way to keep it at the Swan I was immediately told no. We didn't have a Do Not Disturb sign in our room so I made one and hoped for the best.

The next morning I headed back to the Dolphin from the Swan and asked for the package. I was told it would be brought over, but there would be a charge for delivering from one hotel to the other (even though they switched our hotel). I ultimately signed for the charge and finally got the package.

When we returned I filled out the survey and asked for someone to call me. It took a few days for someone to get in touch with me. Our final bill was nearly $1700 and I was told the best they could do was refund $200. I told him I did not believe that was adequate compensation considering that wouldn't even cover one night of the stay. I asked to speak with the general manager and was told no. The guest relations person told me that he had spoken with the manager and that was the best he could do.

In the meantime I reached out to Marriott directly and they assured me that I would be contacted within 3-5 business days by management and after 10 business days I've had zero communication. The guest relations specialist I was corresponding with has ignored all of my follow-up calls and emails and I still haven't heard...

Honestly, this hotel was a real disappointment, and it has taken me close to two years (our stay was early Dec of 2020) to be able to calm down enough to write something that would be in a decent tone. I HATE writing negative reviews as I truly want to find the best for every business but sadly not much could be found good here.

We had booked an upper price level - Deluxe Resort view room with Balcony - room deliberately so we could get a view of the Disney property. A call to the resort both before and after booking assured us that this room category would provide that for us.

When we arrived, we had a very long check-in wait (despite being an upper-level Marriott elite) to reach the front desk. Upon finally making it there, we were put into a room that overlooked the inner courtyard by Il Mulino, which also served as the overflow area for the resort's bar. We had a view of nothing but some very loud tables below us and the four walls of the resort directly around us.

Access to the room was nearly impossible, with very limited elevator access for the crowd level that this hotel accommodates. The hotel recognizes there is an issue and has put down footstep cutouts you can follow that takes you over to the fire exit staircase that one can then climb up to their room via and then take the long hallway over to where your room is located. After a long day at the park with thousands of steps, this extra haul can be wearisome.

Dining options at this resort are mixed, with the Java coffee shop being your best option (see other separate review) and the Garden Grove character breakfast being your worst option (also see separate review). Garden Grove was beyond abysmal in regard to the surly customer service skills that they practice there. Unless you want to start your morning off in a bad mood, heed this advice .... Dine elsewhere.

Staff at this resort overall tends to be surly and unpleasant. It is clear that most staff members here are miserable in their jobs, and it very clearly shows in their attitudes and the way they interact with guests. Management displayed the same attitude, which would help explain why the hourly staff here is also in a sour mood. We learned quickly not to interact with them and to just ignore them unless one was in the mood to be snapped at.

The whole facility is also very compact and feels tight and confined in its spaces.

Positives of this property which gave it a second star, are:

Despite being a Marriott property, it provides some of the Disney resort guest privileges - like free parking at the theme parks

The location is within walking distance of EPCOT and the Disney Hollywood Studios

The phenomenal Dolphin resort is across the way, which despite being another Marriott property, has a TOTALLY different feel (we would stay here or at a Disney resort the next time)

Disney's Beach and Yacht Club and Boardwalk resort are also right next door which, along with the Dolphin, provide some great dining options with friendly service that makes up for the complete lack of these things at the Swan.

Outside of these elements, we found the best feature of the Swan was when we were able to leave this property and the very toxic environment that this property displayed to us. For a hotel that one would expect to display hospitality we found very little hospitality here.

Parking is some distance from the property, but that was not an issue for us as we were always just looking forward to getting away from the place. Truthfully, we tried to stay away from this property as much as we could.

There are many other places to stay on Disney property that can offer a much better experience for your dollar. The Swan is NOT where we would ever stay again. It was a real...