TheMouseForLess Resort Reviews

TheMouseForLess members review off-property resorts.

Courtyard by Marriott

Submitted By: Skamarakas Family (Anna, Jim, Brighid and Eilis)

Name Of Resort: Courtyard by Marriott at Down Town Disney

Date Of Stay: February 26 - March 03, 2003

Type Of Resort: Downtown Disney Resort

Rate Paid During Your Stay: Two free nights with Marriott Reward Certificates; then $89 per night with free buffet breakfast for the other nights.

Room Sleeps : We requested a king room - one king sized bed and a fold out sofa, which allows 4 people to stay in the room.

Please Rate The Following On A Scale From 1-10 (10 being the best):

Theming: 5
Room Size: 8
Amenities: 10
Quality: 8
Cleanliness: 8
Transportation: We didn't use, but seemed to be pretty good.
Recreation: 7 Value: See comments on How Much Is Breakfast Worth in coming email.

Over All Rating: 7

Don't Miss: Once again, do not miss the manager's reception if you need a break. You get free soda, beer, and wine along with popcorn and nachos and salsa. This afternoon pick me up really helped as we prepared the kids for dinner. They also had some cute things in the on site Disney store.

Room Location Suggestion: We were in 509, and got to watch fireworks at Pleasure Island each night at midnight :-)

The Mouse For less Tip: The managers' reception; welcoming cookies - new this time, did not have last time; great ways to keep from buying snacks for the room.

Comments: As Marriott Reward program participants, they gave us free breakfast each morning - which was a surprise. The breakfast was pretty good, but we never would have paid $9 for it - which was the menu price. Also, we intended to switch to a cheaper hotel after our second free night, but they reduced the room rate from the amount they quoted ($139) in order to entice us to stay. We just asked the night before check out and had to have our keys re-programmed the next morning.

Submitted By: The Skamarakas Family (Anna, Jim, Brighid - 11 years, and Eilis - 2 years)

Name Of Resort: Courtyard by Marriott at Down Town Disney

Date Of Stay: July 11 - July 16, 2003

Type Of Resort: Off-Property

Rate Paid During Your Stay: $74 per night with AAA discount and free buffet breakfast

Room Sleeps : 4

Please Rate The Following On A Scale From 1-10 (10 being the best):

Theming: Not really a themed hotel.
Room Size: 8
Amenities: 9
Quality: 6
Cleanliness: 6
Transportation: N/A
Recreation: 9
Value: 4

Over All Rating: 6

Don't Miss: I say this every time I stay here - the Manager's reception is a great thing. Free sodas, wine, beer, popcorn and chips and salsa. The kids love it, it's a good way to wind them down from a day in the parks, and you can take a basket of popcorn or chips to your room for a snack at bedtime.

Room Location Suggestion: In the tower facing DownTown Disney.

The Mouse For less Tip: We booked last minute, and still got a AAA discount. This hotel has run a $20 special, which you have to call the hotel directly to inquire about. We knew there would be no $20 days available during our stay, so we didn't even try. Also, the breakfast buffet is about $9. Because we are Marriott Rewards members, we got it for free.

Comments: I have reviewed this resort twice - and I have really enjoyed staying here in the past. When we walked into our room last night, however, the first thing I did was look for availability at another hotel in the area. The room we are in, while it has a view of Pleasure Island and DTD, looks like it is in serious need of a face lift. The room is "dingy". The old metal sliding glass doors on our balcony had broken locks. They sent someone who fixed the bottom lock, but the top lock could not be fixed. As a result, we have a bar in the track to keep the door from opening (mostly worried about the 2 year old, not someone breaking in - we are on the 8th floor). The wood furniture - coffee table, desk, dresser, night stand - all needs to be refinished. The ceiling in the shower has signs of numerous patches, and there is still a big crack in it right over the shower. There were a few stains on the sofa. Having just stayed here in February, I have to say, there really is a difference in the quality of the room, and therefore the value for your money. For this amount of money, we could have been in a much newer Marriott property with continental breakfast. Especially since we are not visiting Disney parks this trip (here for a family medical crisis), we had numerous options in terms of staying in another hotel.

We did not end up moving. It was late when we got here last night, we are only here for a few days, we are spending most of our time with my in-laws, and it is nice to have the big breakfast and the view. It seemed more effort than it was worth to move to another hotel.

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