Good Service Matters

So we decided to try a dry run of theme parks by going on a last minute Disneyland vacation with my son next month. This will give us a good ideal as to whether he can handle Walt Disney World next year, or if we just extend the cruise. We booked an on property hotel (Disney's Paradise Pier) and i wanted to upgrade it to the Grand Californian ( I just like the laid back feel). I want a specific room if it was available but could not remember the room number. I decided to call up the GC switchboard and see if I can get some assist with this problem. I talked to a nice guy named Nick who understood that I wanted this room becasue my son is a train nut. He spent 25 minutes on the phone with me as we narrowed our search using clues that I remembered. I believe that we finally got the room found, and will be reserving it. I just wanted to let everyone know:

1. There are cheaper hotels out there that offer really good service. You do get amazing sustomer service when you are staying at a Disney property though and they can and will go way above and beyond for you.

2. If you get great customer service let the managers know. People are all to eager to make complaints in hopes of getting comped something. It is a rare thing that people seek out the manager ( as I did) and tell him/her that their staff did something exceptional.

I just want to say again "Thanks Nick for your great help, See you in a month"

Checking out where you will check into.

I have learned the hard way that you must research the hotel that you are going to stay in. I have stayed at a Best Western in Anaheim that gave me an upside down lunch tray with lawn chair legs for a shower bench. It made all the water puddle on the floor and into the towels (could have been shocking for my wife when she used the hair dryer). Another experience was in Florida where we stayed at the Disney Port Orleans Riverside after our cruise disembarked. We discovered mold in the shower (lots of it), the hardest bed I have ever tried to sleep on and a questionable cleaning job (run a vacuum), plus no room service put me on edge. What I am saying is that just not all accessible rooms are created equal, and along those lines not all moderate rooms are equal either.

Our trip to Walt Disney World Resort in 2013 is over a year away and we are already scouring the Internet to figure out which place is best for me, my wife and our son (who will be 4). There are many great sites like Frommer's, Fodor's, and Trip Advisor that offer an unbiased review of the hotel. This is great because you get a ton of opinions. However you have to read the reviews because some of the complaints can be just nit picky little things like "the sheets were to rough", "I didn't like the soap", or "I had a pool view from my room that didn't look like the brochure". There can be serious ones like " we found cigarettes on the headboard under the pillows" and "there is old in the corner of the bathroom" which any reasonable hotel should want to correct right away.

We are weighing out several hotels on property for their location to the parks we really want to visit, reviews from independent sources, and information we have gotten from our travel agency. The front runners are the Animal Kingdom Lodge, The Beach Club, and The Polynesian. All of these have different ammenities that we may want to have access to. They are all located at different points of the resort so that we can have a home base near the parks that we may spend the most of our time at. As we get closer to the travel date the rates for next year will come out and there may be additional hotels we will look into with better rates. It is important to look ahead so that you do not get overwhelmed when you have to book. There is nothing worse than going into something blindly, as it can have a very negative effect on you vacation overall. I will revisit this as we get closer and review in depth each of our choices.

5 Fave Friday-Top Hotels

These are five of the best hotels that we have stayed at.....so far.

5. Orlando Airport Hilton- You can sum this up with two words...excellent service. Every staff member here just exuded a level of friendliness and competence that you seldom see in a busy property like this.

4. Paris Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, NV- This is a sentimental favorite as I got married here. The grounds were great and we have a ton of gorgeous pictures. If you are in Vegas check it out.

3. Hotel Monaco Portland Oregon- Great location, friendly staff, beautiful room. Located near lots of cool restaurants, clubs, shops and for my wife Powells City of Books.

2. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel Anaheim, CA- True this could be summed up as another Disney attraction. However I have stayed here several times and it is truly a relaxing experience with some elegant touches that will appease everyone in your family.

1. The Inn at the Market Seattle, WA-A recent find. We have only stayed here once but it made a huge impression on us. It is steps from the world famous Pikes Place Market. Minutes away from the waterfront and right were everything is happening (Seattle Art Museum, Benaroya Hall, Washington Convention Center, Pioneer Square). The Staff was helpful, and courteous without being phony. The rooms were clean, maneuverable, and pretty. We plan on making the trek back to this little gem in the near future.


This was a very difficult post because I have had many great experiences in hotels of various levels and price ranges. If you have any hotels that you would like to bring to my attention let me know in the comments section.