DISchurners Hotel Reviews Thread (extension of I love credit cards so much! thread)

[travelmomof3]

Hotel LeVeque, Autograph Collection
Columbus, Ohio
September 2019

My 13 yo DD and I just took a girls trip to Columbus, OH. The rest of the family was out of town for various things and it was a great place to explore!

We stayed at the Hotel LeVeque Autograph Collection.

The location: fabulous! Right off the expressway so easy access and relatively easy to find. It's in an old skyscraper building so I was looking for an obvious Marriott sign out front but did not see it. I may or may not have circled the block a few times to find it . Once I did, I opted for valet parking which was the easiest option for us.

It is right along the river, and the riverfront is a lovely parkway with walking/biking trails, benches, etc. My daughter and I enjoyed walking/jogging along it in the morning. The hotel is also in a great location to access some fabulous restaurants and walking distance to the Ohio Theatre, which was what we wanted as we were seeing a Broadway show there.

The hotel itself: The staff was wonderful, very helpful and friendly. Half the hotel is a hotel and the other half is residences so they let you know that at check in so as to not wander off to the residence side. Easy enough to stay on the hotel side. There is a bar on the 8th floor (If my memory serves me correctly) and it's very large. DD went to get a drink/soda after the show. Definitely an adult only vibe so we just took our drinks back to our room. The hotel is unique - both in decor and type of building. Very boutique hotel feeling. There is also a small Starbucks on site, which was perfect for a quick breakfast for us in the morning.

The room: We had a King Room, it was a decent size, large flatscreen TV, very large, beautiful bathroom. Overall great, although I'm VERY picky about cleanliness and saw a few areas that could have used improvement. The room was modern and looked to have been recently renovated.

Redemption: I used 40,000 points. I booked it only a few days ahead of time.

Overall, I loved this hotel, mainly for it's location. Would absolutely recommend.

 

[travelmomof3]

New York Marriott Marquis
New York, New York (Times Square)
August 2019

We took a long weekend trip to NYC this August, with the whole family. We had been before, about 7 years prior, so it was fun to explore again with the kids much older!

We stayed at the New York Marriott Marquis.

The location: Times Square! We love staying in Times Square, in the heart of the action. I think it's esp great for first time visitors as it's pretty incredible to see it at different times of the day. Beware, though, if you take a taxi or Uber to the airport on your way out of town plan for a lot more time. Getting out of Times Square is no easy feat! We walked a lot, took the subway, and also took Ubers and taxis to get around. With NYC, there really isn't one central location as all the sites are spread out, so it really depends on the type of experience you want. With kids, we love staying right in the heart of the action. If you want to see a Broadway show this location is perfect. We saw one show and walked there and back, which is great at the end of the show. No jockeying for a taxi or Uber, just walk right back to the hotel.

The hotel itself: The hotel is huge! There are several elevators and you have to learn the system: there is a panel right before the elevators where you type in your floor and it directs you to which elevator to take. Sometimes you can wait a bit, but there are a lot of people at this hotel so I guess it's to be expected.

There is a large gym onsite, which we used. Has all the standard equipment and set up nicely.

The restaurant on the top floor of the hotel is neat. It is the only 360 degree restaurant in Manhattan. DH and I had a meal up there and took a time lapse of the hour we were up there which was really cool. I'd rec going up just before sunset so you can see the city go from day to night. The decor up here is majorly lacking. They REALLY need to give it a good makeover. The food was fine but really the appeal is the view.

The restaurant on the (8th?) floor is fabulous. HUGE area to dine in, wonderful waitress, fab food.

Two Starbucks on site - always a good thing.

A market, which was handy for some snacks and drinks, it also sells a variety of souvenirs.

The concierge lounge was wonderful for breakfast as well as snacks and drinks. This had been renovated so it's really nice now - we stayed here 7 years ago and it was very dated at the time. Staff is great!

The room: The room fit our family of 5. Two double beds plus a chair that pulled out to a twin size sleeper. The room itself also REALLY needed a makeover. It was very dated. We used four Suite Night Rewards hoping to get a larger room but instead got a Times Square view - which was fab! This room will set you back $3,000 on New Years Eve, however just cost us points on this trip

Redemption: 40,000 points per night/160,000 for four nights + 4 suite night rewards for Times Square view

Overall, we love the location and how big and cool the hotel is. I just saw that they are renovating some areas. If so, we'd love to stay here again in the future.

 

[pillow]

New York Marriott Marquis
New York, New York (Times Square)
August 2019

We took a long weekend trip to NYC this August, with the whole family. We had been before, about 7 years prior, so it was fun to explore again with the kids much older!

We stayed at the New York Marriott Marquis.

The location: Times Square! We love staying in Times Square, in the heart of the action. I think it's esp great for first time visitors as it's pretty incredible to see it at different times of the day. Beware, though, if you take a taxi or Uber to the airport on your way out of town plan for a lot more time. Getting out of Times Square is no easy feat! We walked a lot, took the subway, and also took Ubers and taxis to get around. With NYC, there really isn't one central location as all the sites are spread out, so it really depends on the type of experience you want. With kids, we love staying right in the heart of the action. If you want to see a Broadway show this location is perfect. We saw one show and walked there and back, which is great at the end of the show. No jockeying for a taxi or Uber, just walk right back to the hotel.

The hotel itself: The hotel is huge! There are several elevators and you have to learn the system: there is a panel right before the elevators where you type in your floor and it directs you to which elevator to take. Sometimes you can wait a bit, but there are a lot of people at this hotel so I guess it's to be expected.

There is a large gym onsite, which we used. Has all the standard equipment and set up nicely.

The restaurant on the top floor of the hotel is neat. It is the only 360 degree restaurant in Manhattan. DH and I had a meal up there and took a time lapse of the hour we were up there which was really cool. I'd rec going up just before sunset so you can see the city go from day to night. The decor up here is majorly lacking. They REALLY need to give it a good makeover. The food was fine but really the appeal is the view.

The restaurant on the (8th?) floor is fabulous. HUGE area to dine in, wonderful waitress, fab food.

Two Starbucks on site - always a good thing.

A market, which was handy for some snacks and drinks, it also sells a variety of souvenirs.

The concierge lounge was wonderful for breakfast as well as snacks and drinks. This had been renovated so it's really nice now - we stayed here 7 years ago and it was very dated at the time. Staff is great!

The room: The room fit our family of 5. Two double beds plus a chair that pulled out to a twin size sleeper. The room itself also REALLY needed a makeover. It was very dated. We used four Suite Night Rewards hoping to get a larger room but instead got a Times Square view - which was fab! This room will set you back $3,000 on New Years Eve, however just cost us points on this trip

Redemption: 40,000 points per night/160,000 for four nights + 4 suite night rewards for Times Square view

Overall, we love the location and how big and cool the hotel is. I just saw that they are renovating some areas. If so, we'd love to stay here again in the future.

We love this hotel too!

Some of the rooms have been renovated (upper floors). They were very well done, but they lack a sleeper sofa (bummer).

How in the world did you get it for 40k? I'm going up this coming Sunday for 60k/night.

I second your comment about the lounge. We thought it was terrific! The evening offerings were enough for dinner (note that the lounge is closed on weekends).

 

[travelmomof3]

We love this hotel too!

Some of the rooms have been renovated (upper floors). They were very well done, but they lack a sleeper sofa (bummer).

How in the world did you get it for 40k? I'm going up this coming Sunday for 60k/night.

I second your comment about the lounge. We thought it was terrific! The evening offerings were enough for dinner (note that the lounge is closed on weekends).

I think I got it for 40k because it was just an August weekend in the summer and I booked it further out. If I remember correctly I think I planned it in early spring.

Glad to hear some rooms are reno'd!

Yeah when we travel as a fam of 5 we def need that extra bed!

 

[tink1970]

Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport
October 2019

Redemption of 12,000 Hyatt points for a 1 king room, usual cash price $250-300.

Pros:
In MCO so easy to check in for an early flight or to crash after a late flight
Clean, large, rooms
Motion sensors for late night potty runs
If you have a room overlooking the airport fun people watching opportunities


Cons:
Some rooms are at the end of a long hallway so can feel like a loooong walk late at night!

Sorry, no photos...I erroneously believed there was already a review.

This is a very convenient hotel if you're transiting through MCO, especially very early or late. I have stayed here several times and my extended family has reservations in December prior to the cruise.

 

[wanderlust7]

Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay, CA
November 2-3
70,000 Bonvoy points (Category 7 peak)

Stayed here on a Saturday night for our anniversary. We were supposed to go the weekend before, but the hotel was affected by the PG&E power shutoffs. We got a call the day before saying that the hotel was still open on generator power, but lights in the room would only be in the bathroom at certain hours. We had booked their fancier restaurant, Navio, which was not going to be open. We had the option to cancel with no penalty or to move the date, so I opted to move it to the next weekend. We're local to the area (a little over an hour away), so not a big deal.

When I got the new confirmation e-mail, I saw that we had been upgraded to an ocean view room! However, the bad news was that I lost the 60k rate I had booked under (before the peak pricing change) and was recharged the 70k peak rate. Also, I had booked a guest house room hoping to avoid the valet charge (reviews say that you can self park for those rooms, but not for the main hotel). The valet charge is a whopping $52/night...comes with in and out privileges though. While I'm mentioning that, there is also a $35 resort fee. In any case, it was all worth it! Because this was our view!



The room was beautiful and luxurious. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Notice the hidden Mickey above the lamp, lol. There is a Nespresso machine in the room and several bottles of Ritz branded water (always appreciate water). Toiletries are Asprey, which I'm not familiar with, but smelled nice. DH found the plush Frette slippers in the closet as we were getting ready to leave, so we took them home. The pens are a nice heft and say Ritz-Carlton on them, but no logo or the location. Is that a weird thing to mention in a review? There is turn down service, but we happened to be in the room. So just got the chocolates (small squares, 1 milk, 1 dark), and asked for more coffee pods and water.



Room was ready when we arrived at 4. We walked around the grounds and along the coastal trail before dinner. There's a beach pretty close, down some stairs. It would be nice to come back and bring the kids in the summer. There were a lot more kids and strollers at the hotel than I expected.





The hotel seemed pretty busy. I'm not sure if it's due to the power outage and everyone moving their reservation the next weekend. We left right at check out time at 11 when everyone else was leaving. The valet took literally half an hour. Not sure if I can fault them though as everyone was working very hard running back and forth. We asked the valet to charge the electric car when we dropped it off, which they did (and we very much appreciated).

Dinner at Navio was wonderful. We had a table by the window and watched the sunset. Service was attentive and food was delicious. I enjoyed everything we had, though there were a couple components I could have done with a tad less salt. I had a couple things I've never had before - fermented green blueberries (sour) and basil ice cream (rather refreshing, though I probably won't seek it out in the future lol). I think DH liked the ice cream more than me, but he likes garlic ice cream too (go figure). We got a nice box of yummy chocolates since it was our anniversary (Ritz branded with the logo and magnetic close on the box).



I tried to use the Amex offer for spend $500 get $100 at Bonvoy luxury brands. Tried to buy gift cards to get up to $500 when we checked out. The first guy said the manager can help us, the manager said to go to the gift shop, the gift shop said credit and debit only (can't charge to room). I didn't think that would work, so gave up. Churning fail, lol.

All in all, we had a lovely stay and super relaxing weekend sans kids. Would love to come back. ❤

 

[pillow]

Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay, CA
November 2-3
70,000 Bonvoy points (Category 7 peak)

Stayed here on a Saturday night for our anniversary. We were supposed to go the weekend before, but the hotel was affected by the PG&E power shutoffs. We got a call the day before saying that the hotel was still open on generator power, but lights in the room would only be in the bathroom at certain hours. We had booked their fancier restaurant, Navio, which was not going to be open. We had the option to cancel with no penalty or to move the date, so I opted to move it to the next weekend. We're local to the area (a little over an hour away), so not a big deal.

When I got the new confirmation e-mail, I saw that we had been upgraded to an ocean view room! However, the bad news was that I lost the 60k rate I had booked under (before the peak pricing change) and was recharged the 70k peak rate. Also, I had booked a guest house room hoping to avoid the valet charge (reviews say that you can self park for those rooms, but not for the main hotel). The valet charge is a whopping $52/night...comes with in and out privileges though. While I'm mentioning that, there is also a $35 resort fee. In any case, it was all worth it! Because this was our view!

View attachment 450187

The room was beautiful and luxurious. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Notice the hidden Mickey above the lamp, lol. There is a Nespresso machine in the room and several bottles of Ritz branded water (always appreciate water). Toiletries are Asprey, which I'm not familiar with, but smelled nice. DH found the plush Frette slippers in the closet as we were getting ready to leave, so we took them home. The pens are a nice heft and say Ritz-Carlton on them, but no logo or the location. Is that a weird thing to mention in a review? There is turn down service, but we happened to be in the room. So just got the chocolates (small squares, 1 milk, 1 dark), and asked for more coffee pods and water.

View attachment 450189

Room was ready when we arrived at 4. We walked around the grounds and along the coastal trail before dinner. There's a beach pretty close, down some stairs. It would be nice to come back and bring the kids in the summer. There were a lot more kids and strollers at the hotel than I expected.

View attachment 450190

View attachment 450191

The hotel seemed pretty busy. I'm not sure if it's due to the power outage and everyone moving their reservation the next weekend. We left right at check out time at 11 when everyone else was leaving. The valet took literally half an hour. Not sure if I can fault them though as everyone was working very hard running back and forth. We asked the valet to charge the electric car when we dropped it off, which they did (and we very much appreciated).

Dinner at Navio was wonderful. We had a table by the window and watched the sunset. Service was attentive and food was delicious. I enjoyed everything we had, though there were a couple components I could have done with a tad less salt. I had a couple things I've never had before - fermented green blueberries (sour) and basil ice cream (rather refreshing, though I probably won't seek it out in the future lol). I think DH liked the ice cream more than me, but he likes garlic ice cream too (go figure). We got a nice box of yummy chocolates since it was our anniversary (Ritz branded with the logo and magnetic close on the box).

View attachment 450188

I tried to use the Amex offer for spend $500 get $100 at Bonvoy luxury brands. Tried to buy gift cards to get up to $500 when we checked out. The first guy said the manager can help us, the manager said to go to the gift shop, the gift shop said credit and debit only (can't charge to room). I didn't think that would work, so gave up. Churning fail, lol.

All in all, we had a lovely stay and super relaxing weekend sans kids. Would love to come back. ❤

Great review. Beautiful!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hard Rock Hotel - Universal Orlando
Orlando - onsite Universal
November 2-4
Future Rock Star Suire

So I'm just going to copy/paste what I put out on the main thread. This isn't exactly a hotel review but probably will benefit some folks nonetheless! I really liked the Hard Rock and will stay there again on future Universal trips.
@SouthFayetteFan's Brief Universal Trip:
We had a nice trip - our flight into Orlando landed at noon on Saturday. Our flight home landed back in Pittsburgh at 9:30 this morning. So we did not even spend 72 full hours on the ground in Florida. Despite that it was a great trip - to my any trip where I focus and spend time with my girls is a great trip!

As you may recall - we stayed in a Future Rock Star Suite at the Hard Rock Hotel. The room featured a King bed, a couch & 2 chair seating area, separate tub/toilet/sink and shower/sink bathroom areas, and a separate bedroom for the kids with 2 twin beds sprawled across 800 square feet. It was pretty amazing! My younger daughter (whose career goal at 6 yrs old currently is pop star) was so excited when she saw it!! My parents, sister and brother in law were in a separate room a few doors down in a 2 queen room. They came down to visit one night and watch the football game.

At $735 a night, this room was NOT cheap. It would be hard to recommend paying that price for this but if you want space it was very nice. We did not experience any dining options (other than coffee for some of the folks in our travel party) at the hotel. We made a quick run to the food mart at the Shell Station for cereal and milk and POP TARTS to expedite our park departure each morning.

View attachment 450555

My (scattered) thoughts about Universal:

• I should preface this by saying, I'm not a huge fan of Universal...I enjoy it, but it's NOT Disney to me
• My general thought on Universal has always been that when I get home from a Uni trip I never say "I wish I could go back there NOW!" When I go to Disney, I could literally get on a plane back to Orlando when we get home...I don't feel that way with Universal.
• This trip did not change that for me... (I'm not surprised)
• This was my first trip where I had seen the Harry Potter movies (I never read the books) so that helped tremendously in my understanding of the Gringotts and Forbidden Journey rides.
• Harry Potter again did not disappoint... LOVE the theming, Hagrid's was awesome (more on that in a moment), got to ride Hogwart's Express (both ways) after not getting a P2P ticket on our last visit and truthfully all the rides and shops there are amazing. Jurassic Park area has always had great theming to me but was behind a lot of construction walls this time (which I knew going in). Aside from that, I'm not crazy about the theming anywhere else in the park. It just feels shoddy to me...
• Hulk is an ok coaster but I'm not a fan of banging my ears anymore and Rip Ride Rockit is not a very enjoyable experience after the first loop. Again too much jostling and banging.
• I don't find much of the screen based stuff to be re-ride-able, it's all "1 and done" for me and some of it (namely Simpsons) have the potential to ruin my day by making me dizzy/disoriented for hours thereafter.
• They took out 3D on Minions which made that SO much more enjoyable! It truly was a great change!!
• As for things we did re-ride, we did Hulk 3x, Hagrid's 2x, Dr. Doom 2x, Forbidden Journey 2x, Hippogriff 4x, E.T. 2x, Gringott's 2x, The Mummy 2x.
• The Mummy and Hagrid's are both PHENOMENAL coasters to me! I could ride them both over and over again! I like Gringott's but I wish it had a bigger finish with a couple more drops/fast section, I feel like that would make for a better ending.
• We missed the Raptor encounter on the first 2 days and it was down the last day. I'm not exactly sure how the Raptor encounter goes down...but it did...it felt very odd/frustrating that basically a "character meet" was not operating...we really wanted to do that too.
• I'm not sure I can ever go back to Universal without Express pass now. It was awesome to not wait in any lines...
• We saw the Dark Arts projection show - that was neat but had no cohesive story-line so it didn't really create anything memorable for me unlike Disney's nighttime projection shows.
• I do not like the eating situation at Universal. Maybe it's just my lack of knowledge of the in park options but we do not have good meals there. And every restaurant we've chosen at City Walk has had terrible (slow) service. We hit up Hard Rock and NBC Grill on this trip and both were way too slow for us. Toothsome was quoting an hour wait so we walked away from there. And priority seating as an on-site guest got us nothing. Our best meal of the trip was at Perkins last night, lol! We're just simple people. I think in the future we'll head off-site for dinner to something simpler and less expensive, it just fits our tastes better, haha!
• So in general my 2019 trip was very much like my 2017 and 2015 trips. I enjoyed the time together as a family, the rides were ok and kept us entertained, and we'll probably look to go back in 2-3 years. I could not envision buying an AP to Universal despite it's relatively low price point. I can't imagine wanting to go back multiple times in a 12 month span.

Hagrid's Rope Drop Information: (@CyndiLouWho - if you want a detailed explanation here you go)
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure on both Sunday Nov 3rd and Monday Nov 4th. Here is a detail of our experiences on both days:

- Sunday Nov 3rd

• 8:15 am - Arrived at Park entrance. We were approx. 3/4 of the way back from the entrance to the ticket booths
• 8:40 am - gates opened, people began full out sprinting to the coaster after scanning their tickets. There was no crowd control whatsoever to slow people down.
• 8:45 am - (approx.) we got through the turnstiles after scanning our tickets and briskly walked to the coaster. We were passed up by a bunch of runners and I had to really protect my short 9 year old from a few folks who were darting in an out of groups.
• 8:50 am - (approx.) we entered the extended queue for the ride and could hear people on it already, we continued to slowly move forward without stopping, we went past the lockers (which was a cluster of people separating from groups then pushing their way to join back up...) They DO NOT make you leave your cell phone in a locker and DO NOT have metal detectors. You just need to put bags in the lockers.
• 9:05 am - we stopped moving finally. We already were past the pre-show movie at this point. They were not showing the pre-show movie this early which was super dumb because we still were going to wait 25 minutes from this point...a 5 minute movie would have been nice to watch...
• 9:29 am - we boarded the ride - IT WAS AMAZING. Very well done in every way imaginable. I literally have no criticisms whatsoever of this ride.
• 9:34 am - on our way to meet up with my wife and younger daughter who wouldn't (wife) and couldn't (daughter) ride.

- Monday Nov 4th

• 8:15 am - Arrived at Park entrance. We were approx. 3/4 of the way back from the entrance to the ticket booths again.
• 8:40 am - gates opened, sprinting occured again. We picked a bad line where EVERYBODY in the first group had ticket issues. We managed to merge in with the line beside us instead but got moving a little slower than the day before. There was again no crowd control whatsoever to slow people down.
• 8:55 am - (approx.) we entered the extended queue for the ride and were told that it was experiencing a delay. We continued to meander forwards at a much slower pace than the day before.
• 9:05 am - we heard the first people go by on the ride. This indicated to me that we were at least 15 minutes behind schedule from the day prior (plus we took awhile to get in the park due to the stupid ticket issues).
• 9:24 am - NO PRESHOW MOVIE AGAIN! I seriously was angry about this. We literally were not going anywhere in the midst of 30 more minutes of line and yet no preshow movie for us.
• 9:48 am - we boarded the ride - got the very back seat - it was so fun and more thrilling than a middle seat in my opinion!
• 9:53 am - on our way to meet up with my wife so despite the delayed start still not terrible. We were able to get over to Pteranodon Flyers before the line backed up there. It was 10 minutes when the girls got in line (with my mom/sister) and ballooned to 50 minutes before they got off 15 minutes later.
• If I had it to over again, I'd have tried to get to the park entrance prior to 8am both days.

 

[pillow]

Hard Rock Hotel - Universal Orlando
Orlando - onsite Universal
November 2-4
Used 129,200 AA miles for a Future Rock Star Suire

So I'm just going to copy/paste what I put out on the main thread. This isn't exactly a hotel review but probably will benefit some folks nonetheless! I really liked the Hard Rock and will stay there again on future Universal trips.
@SouthFayetteFan's Brief Universal Trip:
We had a nice trip - our flight into Orlando landed at noon on Saturday. Our flight home landed back in Pittsburgh at 9:30 this morning. So we did not even spend 72 full hours on the ground in Florida. Despite that it was a great trip - to my any trip where I focus and spend time with my girls is a great trip!

As you may recall - we stayed in a Future Rock Star Suite at the Hard Rock Hotel booked with AA miles (129,200 of them to be exact). The room featured a King bed, a couch & 2 chair seating area, separate tub/toilet/sink and shower/sink bathroom areas, and a separate bedroom for the kids with 2 twin beds sprawled across 800 square feet. It was pretty amazing! My younger daughter (whose career goal at 6 yrs old currently is pop star) was so excited when she saw it!! My parents, sister and brother in law were in a separate room a few doors down in a 2 queen room. They came down to visit one night and watch the football game.

At $735 a night, this room was NOT cheap (but I had AA miles to burn so to me it cost nothing). It would be hard to recommend paying that price for this but if you want space it was very nice. We did not experience any dining options (other than coffee for some of the folks in our travel party) at the hotel. We made a quick run to the food mart at the Shell Station for cereal and milk and POP TARTS to expedite our park departure each morning.

View attachment 450555

My (scattered) thoughts about Universal:

• I should preface this by saying, I'm not a huge fan of Universal...I enjoy it, but it's NOT Disney to me
• My general thought on Universal has always been that when I get home from a Uni trip I never say "I wish I could go back there NOW!" When I go to Disney, I could literally get on a plane back to Orlando when we get home...I don't feel that way with Universal.
• This trip did not change that for me... (I'm not surprised)
• This was my first trip where I had seen the Harry Potter movies (I never read the books) so that helped tremendously in my understanding of the Gringotts and Forbidden Journey rides.
• Harry Potter again did not disappoint... LOVE the theming, Hagrid's was awesome (more on that in a moment), got to ride Hogwart's Express (both ways) after not getting a P2P ticket on our last visit and truthfully all the rides and shops there are amazing. Jurassic Park area has always had great theming to me but was behind a lot of construction walls this time (which I knew going in). Aside from that, I'm not crazy about the theming anywhere else in the park. It just feels shoddy to me...
• Hulk is an ok coaster but I'm not a fan of banging my ears anymore and Rip Ride Rockit is not a very enjoyable experience after the first loop. Again too much jostling and banging.
• I don't find much of the screen based stuff to be re-ride-able, it's all "1 and done" for me and some of it (namely Simpsons) have the potential to ruin my day by making me dizzy/disoriented for hours thereafter.
• They took out 3D on Minions which made that SO much more enjoyable! It truly was a great change!!
• As for things we did re-ride, we did Hulk 3x, Hagrid's 2x, Dr. Doom 2x, Forbidden Journey 2x, Hippogriff 4x, E.T. 2x, Gringott's 2x, The Mummy 2x.
• The Mummy and Hagrid's are both PHENOMENAL coasters to me! I could ride them both over and over again! I like Gringott's but I wish it had a bigger finish with a couple more drops/fast section, I feel like that would make for a better ending.
• We missed the Raptor encounter on the first 2 days and it was down the last day. I'm not exactly sure how the Raptor encounter goes down...but it did...it felt very odd/frustrating that basically a "character meet" was not operating...we really wanted to do that too.
• I'm not sure I can ever go back to Universal without Express pass now. It was awesome to not wait in any lines...
• We saw the Dark Arts projection show - that was neat but had no cohesive story-line so it didn't really create anything memorable for me unlike Disney's nighttime projection shows.
• I do not like the eating situation at Universal. Maybe it's just my lack of knowledge of the in park options but we do not have good meals there. And every restaurant we've chosen at City Walk has had terrible (slow) service. We hit up Hard Rock and NBC Grill on this trip and both were way too slow for us. Toothsome was quoting an hour wait so we walked away from there. And priority seating as an on-site guest got us nothing. Our best meal of the trip was at Perkins last night, lol! We're just simple people. I think in the future we'll head off-site for dinner to something simpler and less expensive, it just fits our tastes better, haha!
• So in general my 2019 trip was very much like my 2017 and 2015 trips. I enjoyed the time together as a family, the rides were ok and kept us entertained, and we'll probably look to go back in 2-3 years. I could not envision buying an AP to Universal despite it's relatively low price point. I can't imagine wanting to go back multiple times in a 12 month span.

Hagrid's Rope Drop Information: (@CyndiLouWho - if you want a detailed explanation here you go)
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure on both Sunday Nov 3rd and Monday Nov 4th. Here is a detail of our experiences on both days:

- Sunday Nov 3rd

• 8:15 am - Arrived at Park entrance. We were approx. 3/4 of the way back from the entrance to the ticket booths
• 8:40 am - gates opened, people began full out sprinting to the coaster after scanning their tickets. There was no crowd control whatsoever to slow people down.
• 8:45 am - (approx.) we got through the turnstiles after scanning our tickets and briskly walked to the coaster. We were passed up by a bunch of runners and I had to really protect my short 9 year old from a few folks who were darting in an out of groups.
• 8:50 am - (approx.) we entered the extended queue for the ride and could hear people on it already, we continued to slowly move forward without stopping, we went past the lockers (which was a cluster of people separating from groups then pushing their way to join back up...) They DO NOT make you leave your cell phone in a locker and DO NOT have metal detectors. You just need to put bags in the lockers.
• 9:05 am - we stopped moving finally. We already were past the pre-show movie at this point. They were not showing the pre-show movie this early which was super dumb because we still were going to wait 25 minutes from this point...a 5 minute movie would have been nice to watch...
• 9:29 am - we boarded the ride - IT WAS AMAZING. Very well done in every way imaginable. I literally have no criticisms whatsoever of this ride.
• 9:34 am - on our way to meet up with my wife and younger daughter who wouldn't (wife) and couldn't (daughter) ride.

- Monday Nov 4th

• 8:15 am - Arrived at Park entrance. We were approx. 3/4 of the way back from the entrance to the ticket booths again.
• 8:40 am - gates opened, sprinting occured again. We picked a bad line where EVERYBODY in the first group had ticket issues. We managed to merge in with the line beside us instead but got moving a little slower than the day before. There was again no crowd control whatsoever to slow people down.
• 8:55 am - (approx.) we entered the extended queue for the ride and were told that it was experiencing a delay. We continued to meander forwards at a much slower pace than the day before.
• 9:05 am - we heard the first people go by on the ride. This indicated to me that we were at least 15 minutes behind schedule from the day prior (plus we took awhile to get in the park due to the stupid ticket issues).
• 9:24 am - NO PRESHOW MOVIE AGAIN! I seriously was angry about this. We literally were not going anywhere in the midst of 30 more minutes of line and yet no preshow movie for us.
• 9:48 am - we boarded the ride - got the very back seat - it was so fun and more thrilling than a middle seat in my opinion!
• 9:53 am - on our way to meet up with my wife so despite the delayed start still not terrible. We were able to get over to Pteranodon Flyers before the line backed up there. It was 10 minutes when the girls got in line (with my mom/sister) and ballooned to 50 minutes before they got off 15 minutes later.
• If I had it to over again, I'd have tried to get to the park entrance prior to 8am both days.

VERY cool room!!! Makes me wanna jump on a plane right now. Thank you!

 

[Haley R]

Hilton Garden Inn by SeaWorld Orlando
December 12-14
16,971 Chase points
(I forgot to take pictures)

We stayed at Disney over the weekend and there were hardly any rooms in that area so we decided to use some points and drive a little further. It was much cheaper than the Disney Springs hotels. Here is our pro and con list from our stay:

Pros:
-Really not that far of a drive to Disney, only 2 exits away from the Disney Springs hotels
-Much cheaper option (at least for our weekend)
-Free parking and no resort fees
-No problems with noise at night when trying to sleep

Cons:
-Didn't acknowledge Gold status at breakfast. Dh was charged even after he told the server he had Gold status. He had to talk to someone else to get them to remove the charge
-Breakfast quality wasn't very good. It's like a normal buffet you would get for free at a hotel, but they charge for it here
-Room shows some slight wear and tear and showing its age. Our bathroom door had a big dent on the back like someone had hit it with the main door

Overall, it wasn't a bad stay for just needing a room to sleep in. We did the Christmas party at Magic Kingdom the first night so we didn't even get to our room until well after midnight. The free parking and no resort fees is a huge plus. We didn't deal with any staff members since we did online check-in, used our phone for a room key, and checked out on the app so I can't comment on that. If we stayed near SeaWorld again we would stay at the Hampton next door. We've stayed there before and like it a lot more.

 

[miztressuz]

-Didn't acknowledge Gold status at breakfast. Dh was charged even after he told the server he had Gold status. He had to talk to someone else to get them to remove the charge

I don't think the Chase portal is an eligible booking method to get status benefits. It was a nice goodwill gesture for them to comp it for you though!

 

[Haley R]

I don't think the Chase portal is an eligible booking method to get status benefits. It was a nice goodwill gesture for them to comp it for you though!

Actually after I made the reservation through chase I chatted with Hilton and they added the reservation to my account. It showed in my Hilton app that we would get the breakfast as our benefit

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Hilton Garden Inn by SeaWorld Orlando
December 12-14
16,971 Chase points
(I forgot to take pictures)

We stayed at Disney over the weekend and there were hardly any rooms in that area so we decided to use some points and drive a little further. It was much cheaper than the Disney Springs hotels. Here is our pro and con list from our stay:

Pros:
-Really not that far of a drive to Disney, only 2 exits away from the Disney Springs hotels
-Much cheaper option (at least for our weekend)
-Free parking and no resort fees
-No problems with noise at night when trying to sleep

Cons:
-Didn't acknowledge Gold status at breakfast. Dh was charged even after he told the server he had Gold status. He had to talk to someone else to get them to remove the charge
-Breakfast quality wasn't very good. It's like a normal buffet you would get for free at a hotel, but they charge for it here
-Room shows some slight wear and tear and showing its age. Our bathroom door had a big dent on the back like someone had hit it with the main door

Overall, it wasn't a bad stay for just needing a room to sleep in. We did the Christmas party at Magic Kingdom the first night so we didn't even get to our room until well after midnight. The free parking and no resort fees is a huge plus. We didn't deal with any staff members since we did online check-in, used our phone for a room key, and checked out on the app so I can't comment on that. If we stayed near SeaWorld again we would stay at the Hampton next door. We've stayed there before and like it a lot more.

Usually HGI has a nice hot breakfast, with cooked to order omelets, fresh bacon, grits, etc plus all the continental stuff. Did you not see that hot and cooked to order stuff there? The HGI breakfast is generally much better than a Hampton breakfast, IMO.

 

[Haley R]

Usually HGI has a nice hot breakfast, with cooked to order omelets, fresh bacon, grits, etc plus all the continental stuff. Did you not see that hot and cooked to order stuff there? The HGI breakfast is generally much better than a Hampton breakfast, IMO.

Dh said he did get an omelet the second morning but said it was really bad. I never went to breakfast so I can only go off of his experience

 

[calypso726]

Waldorf Astoria - Orlando

Used 2 free weekend night certificates from our Hilton Aspire cards.

We didn't have any huge plans for the FN certs his year and just wanted to make sure they didn't go to waste. We chose a weekend with no DVC availability that was also over $250 per night had we paid cash. We did request that the nights get linked once we received an email from a concierge hostess but the concierge hostess never responded to our request. Whne we checked in we also requested to link the nights so we didn't need to check in and out again. They said that they did it but we still needed to get new key cards issued the following day. Parking was $29 per night and valet would have been $37. We were not offered an upgrade but we never requested one either. We did receive two complimentary drink/cocktail tickets but didn't use them.

I would definitely stay here again. The room was very nice and the resort is lovely. This experience makes my Aspire card a keeper even without an easy use for the airline credit. Between the free night and the resort credit I am still coming out ahead.

 

[hsmamato2]

Fairfield Inn Palm Beach (Lake Worth really) We needed to stay one extra night on our trip last week,and used our Bonvoy free night cert. It's only a cat. 4, but we wanted free breakfast and parking,that was our main criteria. We chose this over the downtown W Palm Beach Residence Inn for that reason,even tho the nightly price over there was much higher. Hotel is in a decent location ,kind of on the corner of two waterways,and across the street from the town beach. I liked it, it was pretty basic and old fashioned inside,(not too many plugs etc,you know) but it was very clean and it all smelled good. We had a little balcony overlooking the parking and waterway,which I enjoyed very much.
Rooms basic but clean, breakfast was plentiful if not exciting, we walked over to the beach in the evening,it was lovely. Went out on the pier for the views which was quite nice,and had dinner at Bennys right there. Very relaxing ,we loved it all. Bennys was pricey,being right there on the beach, but surprisingly delicious. The key lime pie was wonderful.
All in all, I fell like I picked the right place for a relaxing night before we had to head home from FLL. I'd stay here again.

 

[calypso726]

Baker’s Cay Key Largo a Curio Collection Hilton Property

We stayed here for one night using 60,000 Hilton points. I had been stalking the website for availability on points as the resort was $1,000 for the night New Year’s Eve. Our Diamond status, thanks to the Aspire card got us an upgrade to a one bedroom ocean view suite. We were also entitled to a breakfast credit which made our buffet breakfast complimentary. The hotel did not charge any resort or parking fees. We were told much of the rental gear was complimentary as well. However, we did not take advantage of bike, snorkel or fishing gear rentals. A sunset cocktail is also complimentary each day.

The property features an adult and family pool. The hotel is also dog friendly. We absolutely loved our stay and wished it was more than one night. The resort is listed as one of the properties where you could use the annual $250 resort credit from the Aspire card. We will definitely return and use the resort credits and/or free night certificates here as a staycation.

 

[Albort]

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa And Marina
Date: 1/4/20-1/5/20
Cost: 1-4 Free Night Cert. ($0). True cost( $202 room rate +$40 parking + $35 resort fee)
Category 3 Hotel (12k Hyatt points)

I typically dont do these hotel reviews but since its super close to Sea World, i think a lot of ppl might be interested in it. The property is located about .5 miles from SeaWorld, its about an 1.5 mile walk to the park where u have to walk around a few things to get there. We never ended up walking as we werent sure how it was like after dark so we just drove and paid the $25 parking at Sea World.

I was offered an upgrade as i was a globalist. At check in around 3pm, they put me on the 16th floor with an ocean view but was given a choice of a suite in their 3 floored Marina building. This is where ive learned the Tower only has king bed suites, only the Marina Building had queen bed suites... i ended up choosing the high floor ocean view.



Room Pictures:

Although the tower was refurbished, there were a few dinks and wear that is still visible. The tub looks pretty beat up and a lot of random spots are very dusty. The vents were full of dust too. The maids i guess werent too attentive on a few things as we found a very old looking Turkey Leg still sitting in the fridge.

Night Shot with a Pixel 3:


Things to note:
With a view of the pools, i think this property would be great if you like to use the pool. There are 3 pools in total and a hot tub. there are also 1 kiddie slide and 2 other slides. It seems fun! I didnt bring my swimming trunks so i wasnt able to check them out. (night shot i took through the glass balcony so you will see the residue on it, my bad!)


The shower is low pressure but always had hot water to it.
The Bed was super soft and big, i slept like a baby on it.

Red Marlin Restaurant:
As a globalist, we were given free breakfast here as the Hyatt Regency Lounge was closed. Since it was a Sunday, we were given the Breakfast Brunch buffet which was nothing special. Food was subpar and is stuff you would find in a regular buffet. The kicker was that the cost per person was $27.99 + 4% service charge. they also included an 18% Gratuity but im not sure if we are allowed to change that.


Final Thoughts: i think the fees here are heavy. If this is a property someone is interested in, book on points or GOH or if you have globalist. my original cost was $157(cheapest room rate at the time) but was upgraded to a room that would cost $202. The $40 parking fee and the $35 resort fee is a bit much but the resort fee does cover rentals like paddle boards which i would love to take advantage next time. Breakfast wise, i would much rather order food from their regular menu(buffet only on sundays(i think)). Its also a nice quiet area to stroll around and relax. I do want to note that when you are driving to this property, use GPS. We got lost a few times getting there because theres no actual signs that tell u this way to the Hyatt Regency. Hope that helps, feel free to ask questions!

 

[Ngwira]

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa And Marina
Date: 1/4/20-1/5/20
Cost: 1-4 Free Night Cert. ($0). True cost( $202 room rate +$40 parking + $35 resort fee)
Category 3 Hotel (12k Hyatt points)

I typically dont do these hotel reviews but since its super close to Sea World, i think a lot of ppl might be interested in it. The property is located about .5 miles from SeaWorld, its about an 1.5 mile walk to the park where u have to walk around a few things to get there. We never ended up walking as we werent sure how it was like after dark so we just drove and paid the $25 parking at Sea World.

I was offered an upgrade as i was a globalist. At check in around 3pm, they put me on the 16th floor with an ocean view but was given a choice of a suite in their 3 floored Marina building. This is where ive learned the Tower only has king bed suites, only the Marina Building had queen bed suites... i ended up choosing the high floor ocean view.

View attachment 463166

Room Pictures:
View attachment 463167View attachment 463168View attachment 463169
Although the tower was refurbished, there were a few dinks and wear that is still visible. The tub looks pretty beat up and a lot of random spots are very dusty. The vents were full of dust too. The maids i guess werent too attentive on a few things as we found a very old looking Turkey Leg still sitting in the fridge.

Night Shot with a Pixel 3:
View attachment 463171

Things to note:
With a view of the pools, i think this property would be great if you like to use the pool. There are 3 pools in total and a hot tub. there are also 1 kiddie slide and 2 other slides. It seems fun! I didnt bring my swimming trunks so i wasnt able to check them out. (night shot i took through the glass balcony so you will see the residue on it, my bad!)
View attachment 463173View attachment 463174

The shower is low pressure but always had hot water to it.
The Bed was super soft and big, i slept like a baby on it.

Red Marlin Restaurant:
As a globalist, we were given free breakfast here as the Hyatt Regency Lounge was closed. Since it was a Sunday, we were given the Breakfast Brunch buffet which was nothing special. Food was subpar and is stuff you would find in a regular buffet. The kicker was that the cost per person was $27.99 + 4% service charge. they also included an 18% Gratuity but im not sure if we are allowed to change that.
View attachment 463176

Final Thoughts: i think the fees here are heavy. If this is a property someone is interested in, book on points or GOH or if you have globalist. my original cost was $157(cheapest room rate at the time) but was upgraded to a room that would cost $202. The $40 parking fee and the $35 resort fee is a bit much but the resort fee does cover rentals like paddle boards which i would love to take advantage next time. Breakfast wise, i would much rather order food from their regular menu(buffet only on sundays(i think)). Its also a nice quiet area to stroll around and relax. I do want to note that when you are driving to this property, use GPS. We got lost a few times getting there because theres no actual signs that tell u this way to the Hyatt Regency. Hope that helps, feel free to ask questions!

Thanks for the review. I picked Manchester Hyatt which is 20,000 WOH points over this 15,000 property.

 

[Albort]

Thanks for the review. I picked Manchester Hyatt which is 20,000 WOH points over this 15,000 property.

that was originally my #1 choice but there were no free nights available...