Royal Plaza Hotel

This is the little hotel that could - but isn't quite there yet. Our room was nice - the beds are great. Request a high front view floor and you can clearly see Downtown Disney and the Epcot fireworks. It is an easy ten minute walk to Downtown Disney too. The worst part about this place is the food service. A previous poster commented about no cups with the coffe or tea when ordering room service and I second that. Our "server" told us to use the cups that they put near the in room coffee maker and he wasn't kidding - that is the hotel policy which really needs changing. There is no formal room service menu other than a few breakfast items. The restaurant only offers an awful $12.95 breakfast buffet. Don't like buffets? Tough. The restaurant is empty at lunch and dinner with good reason - it stinks. Other than that, the management really tries to be nice and the location is great. One day this will be a great hotel - but not today.

Let's just start by saying that you need to consider that Feb 1st 2006 was the Royal Plaza's re-opening after being repeatedly damaged during the 2004 hurricane season. They must have been struggling on for the last 18 months with minimum staff and poorer service. The hotel has clearly undergone a major remodeling recently, both public areas and rooms. Any reviews made before this time frame may be obsolete now. We booked a deluxe tower room with a great rate from Mousesavers.com (around $160 plus taxes/fees)for five nights in Feb. We had three adults and two children in our party and room size was a consideration. This room is much larger than value/moderate on-site Disney hotels for not much more money and certainly cheaper than a suite. It had two doubles and a pull out sleeper twin sofa located in a sitting area near the window. I should point out that they have some of the most comfortable hotel beds I've slept on. While the hotel had a pool, bar, restaurant, workout room, executive office, tennis courts, etc; we did not use much of these amenities. We had one breakfast in the restaurant that was above average but somewhat overpriced. We left early for WDW and returned late every day. One benefit of this 'official' Disney property is we had our souveniers shipped from WDW direct to our hotel each day. While we had a great experience, there were a few hiccups. When we checked in late the first night, the sheets looked like they had not been changed (had a few hairs). The staff came in to change them in about 30 minutes. The next morning the room safe did not work and the engineer came out to repair (again, took about 30 min). Most of all, there was only lukewarm water in the shower at nights. Mornings were fine but we called repeatedly about no hot water. It wasn't fixed until the last night. RoAnna the night manager adjusted our rate substantially to make up for this hassle. We were pleased with this result. We can definitely recommend this hotel to future WDW visitors. Pros: great location, attractive price, room size, comfortable bed, cleanliness, staff attitude/service. Cons: may have a few bugs to work out in such a new hotel.

We stayed here while going to diseny and were very disappointed. The beds were wonderful as promised, but when we arrived at 5:30 p.m. our room was not ready and we had to wait. Also when we arrived, we had to wait 30 minutes to valet the car. There was only one bellman working and was also incharge of valet. Me and my pregnant wife ended up carrying our own bags to our room (no luggage carts available) after waiting 10 minutes for the elevator. When we got to our room, the bathroom sink was broken and there were no extra pillows or sheets as we requested for the sofa bed. We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner and they brought my pregnant wife raw fish instead of what she ordered, because it took so long to get, we ended up sharing my meal. We ordered room service both mornings that we were there and the first morning it did not arrive for an hour and we ended up cancelling it. The second morning, it took an hour to arrive and it the pancakes and french toast were cold, no butter or syrup, no sausage as promised, no bagel as ordered. There was also no cup, cream, or sugar for the coffee that we had ordered. The hotel is very very nice and updated, but the service leaves something to be desired.

This is a lovely hotel, almost completely renovated, as promised. Upon arrival at 2am, the night staff seemed irritated and more interested in eating their pizza than helping my family get checked in. They looked at me and stated matter of factly, "all we have left is smoking rooms." I had reserved a nonsmoking tower deluxe suite with late check in and they put my family in a very small smoking standard. The next day, the day staff, far more accomodating and polite, comped the first night and moved our bags for us into a lovely tower suite while we were playing at Walt Disney World. the room was fitted with the most delicious beds I have ever slept on during a vacation, a lovely marble sink and a garden style jacuzzi tub fit for a king. The maid service did a fine job of cleaning up after my sloppy family, and room service was always prompt, though one morning they forgot my husband's toast. I had a great stay and it truly was a magnificent rise after a disasterous fall the first night. I would recommend this hotel, but make sure you get there around check in time, to avoid having your room "given away."

I stayed here for a business trip and was very pleased with my room, 2 double-beds with a poolside cabana. The lobby is beautiful & spacious. Beds were very comfortable with deluxe bedding & sheets, and the room had recently been redecorated in Florida pastels. I did not eat at the restaurant, but the room service was OK. Also, as another reviewer commented, I was able to check-in early at noon for a conference at a nearby hotel. The reasonably priced room was a great value, and I would consider returning here with family. No sign of renovation or construction dust anywhere!

The advertised refurbishment is not completed, I hope. Not as promised: No business center. Non "gourmet" room service (cold sandwiches only); nearly non existent restaurant staff, and I had to use my nonexistent Spanish to her; non working phone the entire stay ( but I got someone's 5AM wake up call), no room service menu, restaurant closed until 6PM everyday. But the beds are the greatest, as advertised. A good hotel operator could make this a great hotel, but they should wait until ready to do it for real.

Supposed to be completely updated, but they are far from done. Many of the advertised amenities are missing. Supposed to be an in room safe--not, should be a minbar--not. Bathroom door had a problem with the doorknob and we kept getting trapped, shower had no shelf or ledge so had to keep reaching to the floor for soap or shampoo. Would never recommend this hotel.

As a DUTCH Disneypark fan, I have been here in 1990, 2001 and 2002.In 2002 there was even a DUTCH woman working at the cafeteria,were you could grab a cup of coffee and something to eat to take it with you in your room. All day long every 30 minutes a bus is coming to bring you to the Disney parks. EVERY bus is marked with the names of the parks on it. take a good look at these buses before you step in and otherwise ask the driver were he is going to. when the bus stops at the park,you have to step into the bus at the same place! the driver will tell you that.the buses are ONLY going to the parks. in 1990 they also brought you to DownTownDisney! Going to Down Town Disney from this hotel is a walk from 20-30 minutes!!

I stayed at the Hotel during the middle of Jan 2006 - and the it was still under renovation. I knew that when I booked the reservation, so when I checked in - I asked to be on a quiet floor away from the construction noise. The Hotel is lovely! Even though many of the ammenities are not fully functional - the room (which was a free upgrade) was perfect! I had a tower room with a view of the Disney Fireworks. Large tub, spacious room - and the most comfortable hotel bed I have ever slept on! Firm yet pillowy-soft. I'd stay there again just for the beds! The serivce was great. I needed to be checked in early because of a business meeting - and the front desk staff accomodated me by checking me in at 11am! Almost unheard of around Disney! All in all - the hotel was clean and beautifully appointed. Lovely hotel - looking forward to returning when the renovations are complete.

We stay in WDW every year and have stayed in most of the Hotel Plaza Bouvelard hotels along the way. Upon arrival we were greeted by a friendly staff member. I explained (nicely) that I loathed parking lot views and would be very disappointed if I had to look at one from my hotel room for a week. She chuckled and said "Well then how about a free upgrade to a deluxe room overlooking the pool?" We were pleased to say the least. We found the rooms immaculate and replenished daily and the hallways smelled wonderful. (Some type of citrus thing) We are going back in May 2006 and with the new remodel things should be even better. I'll post again after we return. The only drawback is a very basic pool. No fountains, slides or anything of that nature but at least you can rent floats to sunbathe and the poolside bar had excellent food.