... or not!
Hello everyone!
We're currently online from our Empire State Club room at the Hotel New York, and I was about to post pictures here from the rooms, as so many people that already booked, or were interested in seeing what the rooms look like, requested for someone to post pictures on several occasions...
I'm disappointed to say, however, that I don't need to post any pictures, as the rooms are exactly the same as the regular rooms in the hotel, and definitely not worth the price we paid.
I'm sor sorry to say that with over 10.000 EUR spent at the resort only this year, and over 60.000 the past five years, I'm worried that the next few years might just be a little less expensive for us, Disney-wise.
We've always been great fans of the resort, coming here since 1992, but the way they have been ripping us off now, is simply not acceptable to any hotel!
Considering that we are paying the same rates as some of the other 5 star hotels in Paris, we're not getting any service here at all... No-one to take up our luggage to the room, not a simple bottle of water or coffee-making facilities in the rooms, the lounge reserver for empire state club members closes before you get back after park closing hours, so you don't get the advertised free included beverages, and best of all... Even though we reserved lake view (or at least we were told this room would be lake view), we're seeing nothing but a nice parking lot from our window...
People on the board know I've always been a huge Disney fan, defending some of their pricing strategies, but this, combined with the recent price increases of an average 20% on all merchandis is making me think twice...
Oh - and if people are interested: Crush's coaster is not testing fastpass this weekend; tests will begin monday and last until next sunday, according to the cast member onsite :)
Cheers
David.
Did you ask to be moved to a lakeview room, or were there none available?
How did the rest of your "perks" go for the Empire State Club? Did you get VIP fastpass, character breakfast? Is check-in any better over the usual HNY room procedure? Are there any other perks for paying the extra for Empire State Club?
Elaine
emmm.........That sounds, well dissapointing, to say the least :(
I have been hearing some poor reports lately regarding the New York, which is a shame because it is a lovely hotel.
I recently paid the extra for an Admirals floor room at the Newport, and even though I love the hotel, I'm not really sure that the extra cost was worth it :roll:
I think DLRP need to review what they offer when charging extra for these more 'Up Market' rooms. A free cup of coffee really doesn't hack it..... :x
Epcot_Boy :ears:
Hello again...
Thanks for replying to the topic. First of all - I need to correct my figures. Not that it matters, but we spent 40.000 last 5 years, not 60.000 - sorry about that mistake.
Secondly. The first post we made was on saturday morning, before leaving for breakfast. Although one of the perks says you're getting your character dinner, I must say that this character dinner is nothing you can compare to what they are doing at DLH for instance. When we were there, we only got pluto for about 15 minutes, and nothing for the rest. Also - since you are in a very small room, there is only about 15 other people in the same room, so Pluto got pretty bored himself having to run through the area for a full 15 minutes...
Furthermore, elaborating on the breakfast... It's not our first time experience with HNY, so we can compare, but the breakfast in the Empire State Club doesn't even come near to what they offer downstairs to the other guests. If they charge these amounts, you should be able to expect at least the same amount of food choices for your breakfast. In stead - again, I blame this to the room that is too small - the choices are VERY limited, and you don't get ANY service. I know for one that in DLH (not even castle club), they came to our table to serve coffee and tea; even that seems to be too much to ask for at the Empire State Club.
Basically, and this has been confirmed by some of the cast members I spoke to, I believe that due to the high demands there seems to be for the Castle Club rooms at DLH, they wanted to fill the gap between Castle Club and Admiral's Floor, so reservations can advise Empire State Club when Castle Club is fully booked, but they didn't think about this thoroughly.
I spoke to the manager on duty friday evening, and he simply waived all our complains away, as if I was expecting the impossible from a hotel that "only charges 509 EUR per night per room". When we left on sunday however, I wanted to throw out a little fish so they would bite, so I went to the reception again to ask for the address where we could send our letter of complaint to. Although I had that information already, I was hoping they were clever enough to get in another manager that would hear us out, and they actually did. This guy, Clive, appeared to be much more aware of the issues with the Empire State Club, and actually agreed to most if not all issues that we communicated to him.
Basically, and it really really does hurt me to write this on the forum, I have never felt more disappointment when visiting Disney than we did this weekend.
We were really looking forward to a great weekend, but unfortunately, it turned out to be our worst Disney experience ever. Last Halloween, we booked a suite and four connecting rooms at HNY. We were planning on doing the same for this year, but I think we'll drastically change plans, and not go to Disney at all. If they actually believe they can get away with treating their guests like this, I sincerely hope this is not a sign of what else is to come for the next 15 years...
Also - we never ate at the buffet restaurant at HNY, but in case anyone did - does anyone actually believe this is even worth being in such an up-market hotel?!? We wanted to try out the Manhattan restaurant and give its Italian cuisine a go, but much to our surprise, on a very busy saturday, this was closed! Well, if you are charging your guests 500+ EUR, why would Disney think they can pull it off to put these guests in something like that over-noisy, disorganised, service-lacking Buffet "restaurant"?
I know it must seem like I'm overacting now, and over-dramatising, but we've always been huge fans, have over 50 Disney Classics Collections Figurines, our house has Disney paintings on the walls, we used to go to Disney an average of once - twice a month, and never hesitated to book some of the more expensive rooms at DLH, HNY or NPBC, but this weekend simply killed all the magic for me. They'll have to throw in big stuff to ever regain my trust again, as DLRP and us had a a long relationship that they managed to destroy in just three days.
Again: very disappointing, and while we probably were the best ambassadors for DLRP amongs our friends and other social networks, we might just have turned into the worst. I hope I'll be able to turn my gut feeling again, but I never felt worse about them than I do now.
So please do apologise me if you believe I'm over-dramatising things...
I'm just so lucky that we didn't bring friends this time...
QuoteWe've always been great fans of the resort, coming here since 1992, but the way they have been ripping us off now, is simply not acceptable to any hotel!
I'm really sorry you feel this way, but didn't you get what you ordered (besides the Lake View which you're right about)? I don't want to sound rude at all, but you knew the list and you knew what you were going to pay for it?
I hope you did complain at the reception, so you could get some compensation?
QuoteThe official list of privileges for Empire State Club, as communicated by DLRP:
• Personalised welcome area exclusive for Empire State Club
• Continental Buffet Breakfast in a private lounge with Disney Character(s)
• Exclusive in-room services with dedicated staff
• VIP FASTPASS for all guests
• Relaxation area with free soft drinks
• Possibility to book interconnecting rooms (upon request and subject to availability)
Well Kristof,
We've spoken to eachother before, and as you very much know, I've always been a BIG defender of Disney, but when they screw up, they screw up, and to me, their Empire State Club offer is possible the biggest mistake ever.
--> received it, but a hotel like this should at least offer you to take the bags for you and not just instruct us to take our bags, and follow his lead.
Great! Just very strange that the breakfast is only about half what you get downstairs. Pay more, get less? Not for me, thank you. We ended up getting breakfast downstairs sunday morning...
- Exclusive in-room services with dedicated staff.
Considering it took 20 minutes to get roomservice up for just a coke and a bottle of water at about 11.45 pm, with the limited rooms on the floor, I like to believe I can seriously doubt the dedicatedness of the staff on the club...
If this is what is worth the 509 EUR, well then they should just start selling them seperately. VIP fastpass is not THE reason why we come to a Disney hotel, and certainly does not make it all worthwhile. By the way - we often don't like using the VIP fastpass if you're there for 3+ days; what fun is there to do ToT 25 times, BTM 25 times etc if you go the times we do
As said, it closes if before park closure, so...
Not applicable to this reservation.
All of this however, Kristof, doesn't matter. Just broaden your horizon, and look at what other hotels with 5* ratings offer for the same or even lower price, and you'll soon notice that the Empire State Club is nothing more than a way to make more money. They'll soon understand that it's their biggest mistake though, because if you have customers used to book Castle Club, and reservations offers them Empire State Club as an alternative because Castle Club is fully booked, I can definitely guarantee you that they will feel very much the same way we felt.
For this price, the minimum you can expect is
- some bottle of water in the room or coffee/tea making facilities.
- a manager on duty not just ignoring your discomforts with the stay
- some guy with decent training knowing when to offer luggage service
- get the room that you ordered through reservations when you did (lake view)
- get CLEAN towels (sorry, I didn't mention this before)
- get Soap (second day without soap?!?)
- get two bathrobes (why just one?!?)
I'm very sorry, Kristof, but if you look at my previous posts, and how I always defended Disney when people started whining about pricing strategies, I very much defended them in the same way that I will now defend my feeling that this is the most disappointing stay ever, and that they really should reconsider the offer...
I hope you don't think of this post as being attacking or rude, as this is not my intention, but I feel somewhat misunderstood by you, and if you look up myprevious posts, you will soon notice that I'm right :)
Cheers!
David.
You have my sympathy, David. I felt the same way about the Admiral's Floor at the Newport Bay Club (tiny room, dumpy public areas, broken ice maker and view of parking lot -- this is worth an extra heap of money how?). Thanks for the warning.
Kristof -- With luxury experiences, you can't really justify things with lists. You can't have a five star hotel (which the Hotel New York isn't, but I'm trying to illustrate a point here) and offer room service but have peeling wallpaper, or offer complimentary bottled water and not have staff that will carry people's bags. It's about the whole package. It's what people expect for what they pay, and rightfully so. It's pretty undeniable that the Empire State Club stops short.
Quote from: "pussinboots"You can't have a five star hotel (which the Hotel New York isn't, but I'm trying to illustrate a point here)
Well - exactly my point.
Either offer five star service, or stop charging five star prices :)
Thanks for your sympathy... It's much appreciated, as I was just talking about it to my girlfriend, and I was getting a bit afraid of becoming too demanding, but as we have been fortunate enough to being able to stay ay the Ritz and Le Grand (Intercontinental) in Paris for less than what we paid at HNY, and for far better service!
And yes - a few years ago we had the same bad experience with Admiral's Floor, which is why we stopped going there... They really should reconsider their strategy urgently.
Oh - and in case you didn't know - the 509 EUR we paid is room only; no entrance tickets included... It's just plain and simply ridiculous, whatever lists they advertise. The Ritz or any other five star hotel don't publish a list of just normal to be expected service on their sites either, really...
And lastly - we were really amazed to learn that they didn't even have a first aid or pharmacy service at the hotel?!? My girlfriend had a terrible headache so I called concierge to see whether we could get a painkiller, but they just referred me to the First Aid Center at Central Plaza in Disneyland Park...
Honestly: I have always been such a big fan, but if you consider all these issues, I can't understand that people can catually be satisfied with the hotel's offerings :(
Wow! What a bomber! :-( I'm so sorry to hear about your stay. I'm very thankful though, that you're honest and just to "happy as long as it's Disney". And maybe it's about time, that we speak up and try and force them to deliver some better goods. Actually as you describe it, it sounds like a Michael Eisner-strategy: As long as it's got the Disney-brand, the fans will pay the bucks". And you definitely SHOULD be demanding. It would take me about half a year, to gather the money for a hotel stay as the one you had - and my expectations would be MILE high.
I feel a bit depressed now..... :-(
Sorry if any of this sounds rude its not meant to be. You keep going on how much the room cost, fair enough but why don't you just book a normal room in one of the other hotels and spend your money in one of the park restaurants or village restaurants in the evening, i understand what u say about the price and comparison to a ritz room etc. but i have never understood the desire to spend all that money on some where im going to mostly sleep in, as i would really like spend most of my time in the park. i do agree you should get great service for that money but im not sure why you would want to spend that kind of money on a room in the first place unless its for a really special occasion ( then if i had spent 500+ euros i would be annoyed) . its somewhere to sleep at the end of the day. At the end of the day its not that bad, there are far worse things in the world like cancer and poverty, you are lucky as we all are that we can go to somewhere like Disney, but i do hope you get some compensation for the bad experience
Not sure where that would fit in the picture, really.
Some people spend 8.000 EUR on their car; others pay 50.000 EUR. Should those that pay the 50k not have the right to demand what would need to be expectable for such a price? Or would you also say - why not take the 8k version, as all you really do is drive in them?
Luxury items are sold for all kinds of goods... Be it food, means of transportation, cameras or places to sleep.
I get your point, as we also stayed at Holiday Inn on several occasions as well, but that is just not the topic in this thread...
In all fairness Speedpacket your talking about the hotel as if its 5 star... but to my understanding its not.
I have been to loads of hotels all over Europe. Only 2 have ever delivered my luggage to my room, both of those were 5 star (Marriott Brussels and the 5 star deluxe Don Pedro in Lisbon)
Its a sad that you paid so much, but just because its a Disney Hotel you shouldnt expect a 4 star to compare to a 5 star no matter what the price is. At the end of the day you got everything on that list.
I can understand you might be upset that it wasnt what you expected from the price you paid, but glass no matter how finely cut is still glass, you cant just make it into a diamond.
i get your point but you did get everything that was 'special' for the room type you got ( apart from the view ), if i bought a luxury car and it didnt have feature x but it wasnt on the spec list then i wouldnt complain. where i think the fault lies is that you were given an impression that you were going to get something similar to the castle club which didnt materialise. its a great shame in business where something is hyped to be something it isnt as you are then going to get disappointed customers, this is where i feel you have been let down. at work im always reminded to under promise and over deliver , never over promise and under deliver as that is a terrible customer experience. i really hope you do get some compensation.
Quote from: "PetiteSirene"In all fairness Speedpacket your talking about the hotel as if its 5 star... but to my understanding its not.
I have been to loads of hotels all over Europe. Only 2 have ever delivered my luggage to my room, both of those were 5 star (Marriott Brussels and the 5 star deluxe Don Pedro in Lisbon)
Its a sad that you paid so much, but just because its a Disney Hotel you shouldnt expect a 4 star to compare to a 5 star no matter what the price is. At the end of the day you got everything on that list.
I can understand you might be upset that it wasnt what you expected from the price you paid, but glass no matter how finely cut is still glass, you cant just make it into a diamond.
That's a fair point -- you can't expect a four star hotel to deliver five star service, even if they charge Ritz prices -- but none of this speaks very well for the Disneyland Paris hotels. It's probably if unfortunately true that Disneyland Paris' hotels deliver the least bang for your buck of all the world's Disney resorts. As Smurfy said, the best business strategy is to deliver just a little more than people expect, so they're pleasantly enough surprised to return without hesitation. No experienced traveler would say they felt this way after a Newport Bay Club stay.
Quote from: "PetiteSirene"In all fairness Speedpacket your talking about the hotel as if its 5 star... but to my understanding its not.
I have been to loads of hotels all over Europe. Only 2 have ever delivered my luggage to my room, both of those were 5 star (Marriott Brussels and the 5 star deluxe Don Pedro in Lisbon)
Its a sad that you paid so much, but just because its a Disney Hotel you shouldnt expect a 4 star to compare to a 5 star no matter what the price is. At the end of the day you got everything on that list.
I can understand you might be upset that it wasnt what you expected from the price you paid, but glass no matter how finely cut is still glass, you cant just make it into a diamond.
I'm not comparing 4 to 5-star. I'm comparing 500 EUR to 500 EUR.
I don't understand why people won't see it. Also, don't think of me as someone who doesn't know what you can expect from Disney. We've been going for 15 years, always had very good experiences, and this time they screwed up. Big time.
If it was my first time, I would understand your comments, but it's not, and I've had far better experiences. Even for a 4 star hotel, as it indeed is, they charge too much, and give too little service.
Even for a 4 star hotel, it's not fair to offer better breakfast to people paying less. It just doesn't add up, and I don't see why you can't see that.
I would settle for glass, as that is what we can expect, but then at least the glass should be clean and polite, and remain glass when you upgrade; now it went down to paper.
Quote from: "pussinboots"No experienced traveler would say they felt this way after a Newport Bay Club stay.
There you go - they seem to hope to get non-experienced travellers, and make it seem as if Disney is all that different. Well, it's not. It's a hotel as any other hotel, and therefor, people should be able to expect the same as in any other hotel.
I really must be missing something regarding what you expected and the price then...
Considering a stay in the DL Hotel is 700 Euro a night for 2 people with tickets for a standard room, how could you expect the same service as the castle club which would obviously be more than that for 500 euro?
They said it was an option for people to book if the castle club was full, from what you are implying its cheaper than the castle club... yet you still get the VIP fast passes, you get service to your room, you get everything on the list... So it IS an option, before if the castle club was booked, then that was it, no other choice even if it was cheaper, but now there is that option.
As I said I can understand you are dissapointed as you were expecting something different, however I would understand a lot more IF you were paying the same as staying in the castle club, but by the looks of it you really are not.
Quote from: "PetiteSirene"I really must be missing something regarding what you expected and the price then...
Considering a stay in the DL Hotel is 700 Euro a night for 2 people with tickets for a standard room, how could you expect the same service as the castle club which would obviously be more than that for 500 euro?
They said it was an option for people to book if the castle club was full, from what you are implying its cheaper than the castle club... yet you still get the VIP fast passes, you get service to your room, you get everything on the list... So it IS an option, before if the castle club was booked, then that was it, no other choice even if it was cheaper, but now there is that option.
As I said I can understand you are dissapointed as you were expecting something different, however I would understand a lot more IF you were paying the same as staying in the castle club, but by the looks of it you really are not.
I'm about to give up, but again. WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND RESORT PARIS FOR 15 YEARS NOW, AND HAVE STAYED IN ALL HOTELS, INCLUDING DLH, CASTLE CLUB, AS WELL AS TRIED SOME OF THE SUITES.
WE KNOW PERFECTLY WHAT TO EXPECT AND WHAT NOT, AND THIS SIMPLY DOESN'T COVER IT!
Hey!
I really get your point and i can understand your feelings! If you don´t get any value for your money and even nobody wants to understand your complaints at the hotel, you´ll really have to doubt on the whole system!
I hope you´ll get any compensation!
By the way:
I always thought, that Bell Service is included at the NY, even for the Standard rooms???
Is the Manhattan Restaurant is still closed everyday? I guess the refurbishment isn´t finished yet... am i right?
Mathias
It's strange as weve always had Bell service at the HNY in the standard rooms :?
It's a simple fact though if you think you've received bad service then you are correct to complain.
I'm worried now that maybe the service is going downhill in my favourite Disney
Hotel :cry:
Let's hope thats not the case.
Mr_B
i can agree with speedpacket about the breakfasts we stay at the DLH and we chose to upgrade last year to castle club, the breakfast was a fraction of the size downstairs with only three or four hot things to choose from e.g. sauages, bacon, scambled egg and toast if you can count that. we where really gutted that as you say you spend the little extra to treat yourselfs and things seem to be downgraded :evil:
Well... I'm just a bit disappointed to see that many people on the board seem to be closed to criticism on their beloved Disneyland.
Believe me though - it really did put us off, and being one of the greatest fans of the resort for the entire 15 years that just passed, it came to a great disappointment to us to see how they ruined it all in just three days...
All I'm saying is that it's not because it has the name Disney printed on it, that 500+ EUR or up to 1000 EUR at Castle Club is worth it. That's almost as arrogant as Apple is with the launch of their iPhones...
Without wanting to sound rude, but people believing that these prices are worth it, really should spend a day in a five star hotel in Paris city, and you'll soon know how much service is to be expected for these prices. Not that we would expect the same, but at these restaurants they almost chew your food before you swallow it. Overhere, it's almost too much to ask to being served a cup of coffee. In stead you have to go to the buffet, get a cup that has not been dried when they took it out of the dishwasher, and get the most awful tasting cup of coffee ever (although I must admit that compared to other dust-coffees, Nescafe is probably the best :) )
Seriously, guys. You don't even realise how much of a disappointment we had, and it seems some of the other forum members have experienced the same. It's really not because you print the Disney label on it, that you can put these price tags on your products or services...
I'm just very worried that with the great results for their 15th, they seem to be trying to cash in as much as they can while it lasts, launching things such as Empire State Club, but also for instance by increasing their prices on merchandise for 20% (agreed we're living in a time with high inflation, but that is just about 4 - 6%, depending on which EU country you live in...)
I'm just saying that with this strategy, I wouldn't be surprised to see the results go down again, and that would be a real shame, wouldn't you all agree?
I must admit that I too am a little bit suprised about some of the reponses in this thread :o
It seems to me that DLRP is the same as any company or organization, they will charge whatever the market rate is, or whatever they believe it to be :(
In this case, they believe the market rate for an ES room is 500euros, or nearly £400 :shock:
Considering what they are offering as, well extras........it is beyond me how anyone can say that that is good value.
Sure when people book they know what they are getting, to a degree, but that still has nothing to do with what is or isn't good value.
£400 for a room in a 4 star hotel demands, in my view, much better extras and services than is clearly available in ES rooms :( Sure, it's a Disney hotel, but £400.
And as regards Market value, I think DLRP needs to be careful. I paid £300 for a room on the Admirals Floor in the middle of the Summer season..........But speaking to a CM regarding the Admirals Floor, she told me that the Admirals floor was half empty.........in the Middle of the summer :-k
Further pressing from me led to her saying that she was convinced it was to expensive for what it was.
It seems to me the market was telling DLRP that it needs to look at its prices........or what it offers in these rooms :)
When the novelty of the ES rooms wears off, they might also end up being unoccupied.
So to me, that is the discussion........is a ES room worth the money or not.........it seems pretty obvious to me it isn't.........even if you know what your getting before you book :wink:
Epcot_Boy :ears:
Oh........and no one loves DLRP more than I do......but every now and then a few home truths are required.........and DLRP's pricing policy for their Hotels needs to be looked at.....although I won't hold my breath.........and in truth it won't stop me from going again next year :oops: :wink:
Quote from: "Epcot_Boy"I must admit that I too am a little bit suprised about some of the reponses in this thread :o
It seems to me that DLRP is the same as any company or organization, they will charge whatever the market rate is, or whatever they believe it to be :(
In this case, they believe the market rate for an ES room is 500euros, or nearly £400 :shock:
Considering what they are offering as, well extras........it is beyond me how anyone can say that that is good value.
Sure when people book they know what they are getting, to a degree, but that still has nothing to do with what is or isn't good value. [...]
I agree. That "you knew what you were getting before you booked" thing as well as "you got everything on that list" is kind of the verbal equivalent of a Gallic shrug. It's hardly an excuse for the poor value of Disneyland Paris' hotels.
Speedpacket - you are not alone. We stayed in the Hotel New York for 6 days this week and I doubt I will ever return. We stayed there because we could not get in to our beloved Marriott Vacation Club. We have stayed in all the DLp hotels over the last 16 years and the HNY always was the best, even better than the DLH in the past.
But I was shocked. We got less than a Holiday Inn for a Ritz Carlton rate.
- Check in was confused with queue jumping (rare in past)
- Bathtub tiles were moldy
- we were charged for minibar which we did not use (they rectified)
- Cleaning complaint every day
- Breakfast was ok
- They have reduced the number of characters they used to have
- The room service menu was greatly reduced with 2 items on it after 11pm!!!!! (used to be more)
- No turn down service any longer
- The one thing that really annoyed me was we had to fetch our own bags - despite them coming up to the room to get them (bell services used to sort it all for you - no help getting the bags to the car.)
- Manhatten restaurant closed and Parkside ruined as a stupid buffet.
We chose the HNY to have a nice service hotel to help with kids - room service, bell services, location etc.
Kristoff, stop defending poor service. I am not a kid. As someone who has stayed in almost all the deluxe hotels Disney has, as well as about 1200 nights in hotels over the last 14 years, the HNY has gone from being one of my favoured hotels in the world, to being a very disappointing experience. The park was awesome, best experience we have had since opening day. However, the hotel was one of the most disappointing experiences we have had at DLP. Not great.
Some very good points however -
- we had a castle view which was great for watching the fireworks from our room.
- the pool was excellent and they provide free water wings for kids (that is excellent)
- the breakfast was a good standard
- location is good, but that is a moot point as we park there often as Dream pass holders.
I am really sad because the Hotel New York used to be great, but now, not so much. It really is sad.
Oh, and the builders refurbing the suite across the hall started at 7:00am!!!
Thanks for your support, Dave.
We will be sending an official letter of complaint to them anyway, as we feel this is no longer to be accepted by long-term customers (or even first-time experiencers for that matter...)
Quote from: "davewasbaloo"Oh, and the builders refurbing the sweet across the hall started at 7:00am!!!
LOL - glad we were saved from that!!! That would have been the drop for us ;)
You get my support too ! At these prices service should be exceptional !! If you paid that rate for a hotel in a city centre service would be outstanding ! And the comment that was made about just being a room to sleep in ,I often wonder if these people have paid for a 4 or 5 star hotel ever,of course the hotel can add immensely to the pleasure of a trip anywhere !
The trouble is that Disney has a captive market,and because of this they become complacent.People will always want to stay in a Disney hotel and close to the magic (myself included ) and they lack any serious competition . If Ritz Carlton were allowed to open a hotel at the entrance to the Studios (like the DLH) I'm sure things would be very different !They don't need to make the effort with great service ,hotel occupancy is at 89% IIR and people will just try another Disney hotel if service at one of them is below par !
Good luck with your complaint ,Disney need a sharp reminder of what they should be offering for the price paid !
And before anyone asks,I am a lifelong Disney fan and have stayed in all the DLP hotels over the years,usually the DLH in later years !
Thanks, Timbo.
I'll keep you all posted on whether we get a response to our complaint. I'm very curious really... Never felt the need to send a complaint letter like I just did, but yes - they need to be reminded of why fans kept on coming the past 16 years :)
After having moved away from the DLH (steep price increase since 2005) we have been an extreme fan and advocate for the HNY. We are just planing our winter trip and don't want to be disappointed - since it is our only vacation in the year. Has anyone made positive experiences with the HNY lately?
Regards from the 100 acre woods.
Quote from: "MrSanders"After having moved away from the DLH (steep price increase since 2005) we have been an extreme fan and advocate for the HNY. We are just planing our winter trip and don't want to be disappointed - since it is our only vacation in the year. Has anyone made positive experiences with the HNY lately?
Regards from the 100 acre woods.
Well the info I wrote in this thread was from last week when we were there. The HNY used to be my favorite, preferring it even to the DLH. But now, the level of service has almost sunk down to the other hotels :(
Quote from: "MrSanders"After having moved away from the DLH (steep price increase since 2005) we have been an extreme fan and advocate for the HNY. We are just planing our winter trip and don't want to be disappointed - since it is our only vacation in the year. Has anyone made positive experiences with the HNY lately?
Regards from the 100 acre woods.
I'm sorry, but I must say that I don't recommend going there AT ALL at the moment.
AS I already pointed out, the service is far below what should be expected and what it once was. Unfortunately, judging from this thread, and another one posted in the Trip Planning board, I don't seem to be the only one having issues with the hotel and where it's heading...
Also, but this is just a rumour I really can't confirm. Apparently, the former manager of the hotel has left and is no longer working at this hotel. The managers taking over don't seem to be as good as the former one...
I would love to say that I highly recommend going there, but unfortunately, I really can't :(
Good luck with your choice, whatever it may be, however and let us know how it turned out!!!
David. (still a big Disney fan, just a very disappointed one at the moment...)
This topic has been going for over a week now, and I have just one question. Where are the pictures mentioned in the title ?
Quote from: "Pete's Dragon"This topic has been going for over a week now, and I have just one question. Where are the pictures mentioned in the title ?
Read the first post...
Hi Speedpacket,
I've just found this - as I said in my thread about the HNY, I haven't been on the forum much lately (new dog at home to settle in and general disney disappointment).
I know exactly what you mean on this thread, I understand completely that you didn't get what you paid for. I'm appalled that the breakfast was worse than ours downstairs when you paid more. For us, a huge disney breakfast is a big part of our trip. The room service was poor wasn't it? The treatment we had I wouldn't expect from any hotel never mind Disney. We are seasoned disney holidaymakers too, and to say that the HNY was much poorer than our previous stays in the newport bay club is mind boggling. The only thing we liked was that it was nearer to the parks. We had mouldy bathroom tiles too. :(
I'm waiting to see what Disney say about this, but what happens if we're not happy with their response? Is there a telephone number?
Also, I think everyone shouldn't make assumptions about people not using their hotel rooms much. We like to use ours. We stay for 6 or 7 days and we don't want to be in the parks 16 hours a day, we like to come back for a swim and to get changed etc, and sometimes just to have a rest. To come back to a pigsty is unacceptable anywhere.
We paid extra for a lake view once at NBC and they gave us a ground floor room overlooking the pool. I had quite a job that time to get them to change it.
I dunno, I really don't. Hubby does not want to spend our hard earned cash at Disney again as a result of this recent fiasco, so I'm hoping Disney are coming up with something.
Anyway, despite what some people have said on this thread - I completely understand your point and sympathise 100%.
Quote from: "Suzy"Also, I think everyone shouldn't make assumptions about people not using their hotel rooms much. We like to use ours. We stay for 6 or 7 days and we don't want to be in the parks 16 hours a day, we like to come back for a swim and to get changed etc, and sometimes just to have a rest. To come back to a pigsty is unacceptable anywhere.
i agree with you suzy about using the hotel than just more than to rest your head, when we're on holiday at disney we trend to go back to the room during the day just to lie down or kick our shoes of for an hour :P and as you and speedpacket say for the amount of money we pay for the hotels you expect the service that gos with it :roll:
Hi there - sorry for not getting to this topic again.
Thanks for all the feedback. It confirms that we're not alone in this, and that we're not being overdemanding.
In fact - our point was just proven to me again last night where we stayed at the Radisson SAS hotel in Antwerp, and their service was absolutely fantastic.
For only 209 EUR (300 EUR less than what we paid at Hotel New York!) we got:
- 2 bathrobes
- room larger than Hotel New York ESC
- nice and comfortable beds with spare pillows and sheets
- a GREAT view on the Antwerp city park which we did not need to pay extra for
- free chocolates (not just a chocolate coin, but the actual chocolates) on our pillow
- coffee and tea making facilities
- bottle of water
- even mouth water in the bath room
- two bath robes
- a great breakfast not to be compared to what we had at Hotel New York
- coffee and tea served to your table at breakfast
- bellhop service
- FREE and included wireless internet access (you get internet at Empire State Club, but not wireless; you need to go to the business center one floor higher; your key will give you access... Not that comfortable at all...)
- voucher for two free drinks at the bar as a welcome gift
- undamaged furniture
- clean bathroom
- a smile from staff when checking in / having breakfast / checking out...
- a great feeling of relaxness to start your day with...
- ...
So for all the people on this board - hotels CAN do better than what HNY is supplying, and I'm just very happy that it was once more confirmed. I'm thinking about trying out the Radisson Sas at the Disney Golf next time. I'm sure it will be a much more relaxed stay than what we had to endure at HNY.
Sorry to keep the thread going, but just to prove to the non-believers that HNY is just becoming a poor service hotel at five star rates.
Cheers,
David.
Quote from: "speedpacket"So for all the people on this board - hotels CAN do better than what HNY is supplying, and I'm just very happy that it was once more confirmed. I'm thinking about trying out the Radisson Sas at the Disney Golf next time. I'm sure it will be a much more relaxed stay than what we had to endure at HNY.
Sorry to keep the thread going, but just to prove to the non-believers that HNY is just becoming a poor service hotel at five star rates.
Cheers,
David.
The Radison SAS on the Golf Course is much better, or may I also suggest the Marriott Vacation Club - a full suite for the price of a hotel room.
Quote from: "davewasbaloo"The Radison SAS on the Golf Course is much better, or may I also suggest the Marriott Vacation Club - a full suite for the price of a hotel room.
Hi Dave,
Do you own at DLRP? What - if I may ask - are you paying to Mariott?
Quote from: "speedpacket"Quote from: "davewasbaloo"The Radison SAS on the Golf Course is much better, or may I also suggest the Marriott Vacation Club - a full suite for the price of a hotel room.
Although I have not stayed there myself, friends of mine stayed at the Radisson last year, and although they felt a bit isolated at times, they raved about it. Excellent quality room, super breaky, lovely restaurant for a quiet meal and most important of all...........superb service. I know for a fact that they will be staying there for their Christmas visit this year.
Seems like it's worth some more investigation.
Epcot_Boy :ears:
Quote from: "speedpacket"Quote from: "davewasbaloo"The Radison SAS on the Golf Course is much better, or may I also suggest the Marriott Vacation Club - a full suite for the price of a hotel room.
Hi Dave,
Do you own at DLRP? What - if I may ask - are you paying to Mariott?
We own a 2 bedroom villa gold week (Jan-June) at MVCI. It works out really well for us. We paid £14,000 (17,434 euro) for 75 years of ownership, with 700 euro maintenance a year.
For that we get 7 nights a year, and if we opt to trade for another location (we went to California earlier this year), they often will give you another week elsewhere (we got a free week at the 5star golf villas in Mallorca in November and a bonus week in Playa Andaluzia in Feb). there are tons of perks, and I love it. I feel so disappointed vacationing in a hotel room ever since.
Just to update you all.
We got a response from Disney regarding our complaints, and it amazes me that they defend themselves in every way, and despites "our lies" are awarding us a partial refund in the amount of 234 EUR.
Well - I don't care about this refund at all, as the way they make it seem as if our complaints are not correct, is just beyond me.
For instance; we complained about not having extra pillows or bed sheets available; their response is they are available in ALL rooms, in the closet...
they also still believe that the breakfast offering in the ESC is exactly the same as downstairs, and so on...
I really can't understand it.
i think we'll make new reservations, and bring along our email, so we can cross-check every item on there, and I'm sure we'll need to bring in a manager so he can verify that their email is just plain and simply not true. Very interested in what their reaction might be then...
I really can not understand that when a 15-year long client has such an extensive list of complaints, it simply is not believed, and they are not even making the smallest effort to verify these things...
As if the 234 EUR is what we wrote the mail for... Unbelievable...
they dont have a time machine so they will be unable to verify your complaints but they have given you answers. Id see the compensation of admission that they didnt get it right. If they believed it was all fabulous then they wouldnt have offered you anything. In reality they arent going to admit they got it wrong as they cant prove it either way. But they will have looked at your comments and im sure if enough people let them know then they will have to change things for the better. If know one said anything then nothing would change.
I agree absolutely 100% with what speedpacket is saying. The level of service and quality at DLRP is shocking for what we pay for. There are many members on this board and indeed in general that go to DLRP that use the hotel room (at whichever hotel they stay in) as purely a place to sleep, we however as I suspect speedpacket is, like to use the full facilities of the "resort". I personally couldn't give a flying fart about theme parks, i'm not interested, we go to Disney because it's Disney, we absolutely love just being there, we don't need to be on rides or even in the park, it's the whole atmosphere of the place which is probably why we enjoy spending time in the hotels as well as the parks. When we went for Christmas 2006, we ended up with bitterly cold freezing fog, lots of people braved the cold and stayed in the park, we however decided to go back to our room which was NPBC/AF/LV and relax in the warm, so it's horses for courses as they say. I have noticed that generally the guests that stay at the Santa Fe and Cheyenne tend to stay in the parks for far longer than guests that stay in the DLH & HNY etc.. maybe this is because the guests that do stay in the more expensive hotels want to have a little bit of pampering when they pay €500+ per night. Just for the record, our favourite is the Davy Crockett, we love the whole thing including theming, it's low cost but pure fun and I can say without question that we have loads of fun away from the park whilst in the DC. We have stayed in all of the Disney hotels and can appreciate why guests want the luxury of DLH/HNY... but we have noticed a steady decline in the quality of the food especially, the current trend is to go for the all you can eat buffets which, believe me earn DLRP a ton more money than any other kind of offering and the standard of those isn't brilliant. There are a few bastions of quality left at DLRP but these are sadly dwindling - we all love the park otherwise nobody would be reading this post but lets not be blinkered, everyone has an opinion and whether you go to DLRP on a budget (we've camped in a tent and driven in to the parks!!) or want to have a blow out which means you can spend thousands of you hard earned €/£, the fact remains we all keep going, it'd just be nice to have a little value for money.
Bravo Samnintysix, I totally agree with you here. We are going to try the DLH again next weekend (it's been a while), but if it disappoints like the HNY last month, never on site again.
But I am going in with an open mind.
Davewasbaloo: This is one of the reasons we stay in the Davy Crockett, it is more expensive than the Santa Fe or Cheyenne but we do get a bit of flexibility with our eating habits. We had a magical stay in the DLH in April 2007, got made the Crystal Family, had roses, champagne, wine, chocolates in the room and we couldn't fault it - if every stay at the more expensive establishments were as good then no problems. Our meal at the Magical World of Tinkerbell show at the NPBC was less than I'd serve at a soup kitchen, the description was something along the lines of "gastronomic delights......." It really was disgusting - most of my gripes are about food really, I can understand the need for cutbacks but when it takes over the very basics of quality then that's where it becomes a problem. It's starting to make money now, I hope they don't keep taking the quality away. Anyway, we're making a traditional xmas dinner in our cabin at DC on xmas day so if yer feeling hungry and wanna pop in, i'll tell u the cabin number soon as I know ;)
I think she meant to say "Roast Chicken, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, yorkshire pudding, pigs in blankets << (ask if you dont know) and gravy" - I'm most likely cooking the bloody thing anyway :D
Quote from: "Jayna62"Davewasbaloo: This is one of the reasons we stay in the Davy Crockett, it is more expensive than the Santa Fe or Cheyenne but we do get a bit of flexibility with our eating habits.
It's why we bought a week in Marriott Vacation Club, but we swapped our week this year for a trip to California, hence staying on site a few times. truth be told, I much prefer the Marriott to virtually all the DLP hotels (I will hold judgement on the DLH until next week).
Quote from: "davewasbaloo"Quote from: "Jayna62"Davewasbaloo: This is one of the reasons we stay in the Davy Crockett, it is more expensive than the Santa Fe or Cheyenne but we do get a bit of flexibility with our eating habits.
It's why we bought a week in Marriott Vacation Club, but we swapped our week this year for a trip to California, hence staying on site a few times. truth be told, I much prefer the Marriott to virtually all the DLP hotels (I will hold judgement on the DLH until next week).
Please let us know how your trip turns out.
I'm still considering booking on site, but just not sure what hotel, and am still hesitating to do so, afraid of having to endure the lack of service again.
I'm actually just thinking about booking at HNY again, print the email, and prove them that their response does not match with the actual service level...
Or I'll make reservations at the radisson sas :)
Quote from: "speedpacket"Or I'll make reservations at the radisson sas :)
I've decided to go for a quick Christmas visit on the 13th December and have decided to give the Radisson a go this time............depending on what it's like will determine where I stay for my summer 2009 visit.
I'm staying for 2 nights in a standard room and it's costing £204, but breaky is not included. Another advantage is that I've booked using my credit card.......so I don't pay until I get there.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to the Disney Resorts.
Epcot_Boy :ears:
Quote from: "speedpacket"Or I'll make reservations at the radisson sas :)
I've decided to go for a quick Christmas visit on the 13th December and have decided to give the Radisson a go this time............depending on what it's like will determine where I stay for my summer 2009 visit.
I'm staying for 2 nights in a standard room and it's costing £204, but breaky is not included. Another advantage is that I've booked using my credit card.......so I don't pay until I get there.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to the Disney Resorts.
Epcot_Boy :ears:
Quote from: "speedpacket"I'm actually just thinking about booking at HNY again, print the email, and prove them that their response does not match with the actual service level...
Or I'll make reservations at the radisson sas :)
Hey Speedpacket,
we are going to the HNY on the same date as you would like to go. Arriving on 14th of December and we will be there for 4 nights!
I´m a little bit afraid now, because two friends of mine are going with us for their first time. Hopefully the HNY will not turn into a nightmare!
Do you have some tips, how to get a good room? Can you give them a call before arrival or can we send an Email? Does that help?
It´ll be my 10th time at Disneyland Paris and we also celebrating our examinations, so maybe we can request a newly refurbished room with a nice view?
Or can you also ask for it during Check In? I guess that this could be too late, because the rooms will be already arranged to the bookings...
Summary: What is the best procedure getting a "new room" with lake view?
Thanks so much for your help in advance,
Mathias
Quote from: "speedpacket"I'm actually just thinking about booking at HNY again, print the email, and prove them that their response does not match with the actual service level...
Or I'll make reservations at the radisson sas :)
Hey Speedpacket,
we are going to the HNY on the same date as you would like to go. Arriving on 14th of December and we will be there for 4 nights!
I´m a little bit afraid now, because two friends of mine are going with us for their first time. Hopefully the HNY will not turn into a nightmare!
Do you have some tips, how to get a good room? Can you give them a call before arrival or can we send an Email? Does that help?
It´ll be my 10th time at Disneyland Paris and we also celebrating our examinations, so maybe we can request a newly refurbished room with a nice view?
Or can you also ask for it during Check In? I guess that this could be too late, because the rooms will be already arranged to the bookings...
Summary: What is the best procedure getting a "new room" with lake view?
Thanks so much for your help in advance,
Mathias
Quote from: "Medici"Quote from: "speedpacket"I'm actually just thinking about booking at HNY again, print the email, and prove them that their response does not match with the actual service level...
Or I'll make reservations at the radisson sas :)
Hey Speedpacket,
we are going to the HNY on the same date as you would like to go. Arriving on 14th of December and we will be there for 4 nights!
I´m a little bit afraid now, because two friends of mine are going with us for their first time. Hopefully the HNY will not turn into a nightmare!
Do you have some tips, how to get a good room? Can you give them a call before arrival or can we send an Email? Does that help?
It´ll be my 10th time at Disneyland Paris and we also celebrating our examinations, so maybe we can request a newly refurbished room with a nice view?
Or can you also ask for it during Check In? I guess that this could be too late, because the rooms will be already arranged to the bookings...
Summary: What is the best procedure getting a "new room" with lake view?
Thanks so much for your help in advance,
Mathias
Hey Mathias,
Just read this post from you again - sorry I didn't get back to you earlier...
How was your stat at HNY now?
David.
Thank you for your posts regarding the Empire Club rooms. Ive booked a Lakeside room at HNY but called today to enquire about an upgrade to ESC. Got quoted £600 (you do not get shareholder discount on upgrades). This is for a ESC LakeView room as apparently the normal ESC rooms with two beds are all booked. From your experiences i think that ill give it a miss and perhaps esquire when i check in. That way ill be able to take a look at the room before parting with my hard earned money. As a regular visitor im going to investigate the Marriot option as it sounds a great alternative to the very expensive Disney Hotel experience.
I am a great fan of the DLH, but on our last visit in January, due to the number of us going, we stayed in the Marriott Villas. Wow!! They are really great, only a few mins drive from dl. We are staying there again for our next trip in May. Although I miss the closeness and convenience of the dlh, after staying in the marriott once, I find it now pretty hard to justify the cost of the dlh! to give you an idea, 5 nights in the marriot is costing me 520 euro (about 420 pound) thats probably 4 times cheaper then dlh (although we are annual passholders)
I didn't read the entire thread just the first few posts but by what I read I can tell you really had a horrible experience. I'm sorry to hear that because I've had such wonderful memories there, not one bad experience in the past 20 visits. During our 16th visit (and coincidentally Disney's 16th birthday) we got to HNY a bit too early and so our room hadn't been cleaned yet. They tried explaining the system to us but we responded saying it was our 16th visit and we knew the parks in 'n' out. The lobbyist smiled and gave us our entrance tickets. When we came back after an exhausting day at the DLP the lobbyst informed us that we had been upgraded to an Empire State Club suite. It was a nice gesture (one that we still carry with us every time we go). The staff was extremely nice and we were treated like royals.
I do agree that it's probably not worth its money but your experience seems extremely rare and probably occured only this once. Bad service can be expected at any time and any place (not just DLRP), it's just sad that it happened to someone who'd been so dedicated to the parks.
Wow David! That sound really bad....
just to give you a propper comparison: I was the whole last week at Barcelona (expensive in hotel prices...). We had a 4 star hotel in the central city.
What we get:
QuoteThe Exterior Terrace room, approximately 26m2, is comfortably decorated with soft relaxing colors. Rooms include one bed (width ranges from 1.60m to 2m and a length of 2m) or 2 individual beds (105cm in width and 2m in length) and are furnished with a classic style and equipped with the finest textiles: a lush duvet and a plaid cover to ensure your comfort. We have 10 rooms of this type available, located on the sixth floor of the hotel. All rooms have a spectacular 20m2 outside terrace overlooking the Gran Vía and CalleBruc of Barcelona. Terraces include furniture (lounge chairs, table, and chairs) to enjoy the sun even in the winter months. The room also includes terry slippers and a bathrobes. Rooms are equipped with direct dial telephone, LCD TV with Canal+ and thematic channels. Each room has access to individual air conditioning and heat, CD player and radio, mini bar, free access to a coffee maker, a secure safe large enough for a laptop to protect your valuables for free, an office desk, reading chair, and a free basic WIFI connection. Bathrooms are designed with Italian marble including a bathtub, hair dryer, and amenities designed by Javier Mariscal.
+ more amenities then I ever saw in my life (more then disneyland hotel)
+ room service
+ a great really great breakfast with everything you just could think about
+ the took our lugage to the room and they were nearly horrified cause we took our lugage down on our last day (3 people were running to us to take our lugage out of our hands)
+ turn down service
+ free pastries and newspapers
+...
We expected much, cause the prices at Barcelona are high. And at the end we get more.
so: yes you are right. what you get at disney is not service or quality, it´s just a short walk-way to the parks... :(
Quote from: "Riebi"Wow David! That sound really bad....
It didn't sound ideal, but I suspect time may have healed this particular wound...Is there any reason that a 4 year old thread has suddenly returned to life? I have no experience of the rooms in question, but it's conceivable that the entire situation has changed completely. So unless anyone has a new experience to add, it seems a little pointless to discuss it.
Quote from: "Riebi"so: yes you are right. what you get at disney is not service or quality, it´s just a short walk-way to the parks... :(
What is it they say; location, location, location? Prices do not only depend on the level of service of the hotel. You'd pay more for a Travelodge (for example) in central London than you would for a 3 or 4 star hotel somewhere else. That's not exactly a surprise.
This is not to say that I don't think that the "top end" Disney hotels don't over-charge, especially for the suites, because I think that they do. If you don't get the service that they say they will provide, then you have grounds for complaint. But if you don't think the described service is worth the money that they are asking, then the solution is not to pay it: not pay it and then object.
As far as mid-range goes then I think that the prices are actually very reasonable, especially if you take advantage of the special offers. We are going in October to the Newport Bay and when you deduct the current price of park entrance for our total stay, then it works out at about 80 euros per night for the room and 4 x breakfast for 3 people. If I'd been a bit quicker off the mark, I could have got the Hotel New York for about the same price. You can't really argue with that!
sorry...I live in germany...we don´t get the good prices :lol:
But as you said at DLP you just pay the location. So maybe it´s 20 years after opening the better option to walk or drive a bit.