Caribbean Beach is a Dump!

[fla4fun]

Ah . . .this post is bringing back some memories for me. I had a vacation scheduled at a beach resort where family works (I visit there frequently, so everyone who works there knows me), and a tropical storm came through and damaged the hotel pretty badly. They only had about ten rooms that were still "habitable", the restaurant was damaged, the meeting rooms were damaged - it was a mess. They ended up closing the hotel for about five months for a full renovation. In the meantime, the GM said I could still come to the hotel for my trip (which was during the beginning of the renovation), and my room would be free, but there would be ZERO amenities. I decided to go. When inside the room, everything looked normal - but when you stepped out in the hall, it was gutted, the lobby was gutted, the restaurant was gutted . . .I guess I could have said it was a dump, but I preferred to call it an adventure. One of my favorite photos is of my car sitting all alone in the middle of the empty parking lot. Of course, getting the room free makes a big difference. You can put up with a lot for a free room!

This is a situation where Disney can't really win. If they shut the hotel down, there would be complaints, and if they don't, there are complaints. I believe they are doing the best they can and will try to get the public areas up and running as quickly as they can. I probably wouldn't stay there for a full length vacation during the construction, but for a short trip, and the right room rate, I would.

 

[AngiTN]

If they closed down completely you would have even more complaints than you are getting about the construction with CBR being one of the few Mods that can sleep 5. Many of the families can't swing a Deluxe or a suite at a Value (which are as much money as several Deluxe) so the Mods that sleep 5 are very sought after. Closing just isn't an option.

 

[WEDWDW]

My brother's family just got back from 10 days at CBR. They are not frequent visitors and had never stayed at any moderate before and they loved it. They loved the pools and the breakfast buffet & food trucks.

They were aware of the construction, got the GCs for each night and made the best of it. I do think not having stayed there before probably made it easier to overlook what was missing.

The "key" info here is "got the GCs for each night"!

That makes a tremendous difference in a Guest's "perspective" on staying there during the refurb!

 

[megs1313]

I didn't read anything except the first post, but...

we stayed at CBR like *right* before the construction announcement and it was a dump then, too. It's a dump. It needs the refurb.

 

[shameless3]

I didn't read anything except the first post, but...

we stayed at CBR like *right* before the construction announcement and it was a dump then, too. It's a dump. It needs the refurb.

I don't think you would satisfy any of the people complaining - even if they received their rooms for free. I stayed at this resort a few times this year, and it was by no means a dump - unless their definition of dump and mine is verryyy different This resort underwent an extensive room renovation in the part 2-3 years (can't remember exact time now), and the building facades and grounds were immaculate. Maybe I have been lucky the last three years and each room I have had has been one of the few un-dumpy rooms . I also stayed at deluxe resorts 8 times during this same time and think that OKW is much more of a "dump" than CBR - but this is only my opinion. I do have a split stay booked for November at CBR and AKL and have not been put off by the negative comments.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I think a better set up would be that no one pay full rate. I think the cost of this resort should be the same cost as a value resort for all guest staying here during construction.

I received an offer for a promotional rate of $129 a night for July and I already had a $114 a night rate at Pop. There was no question for me that Pop was the better value.

We stayed at CBR last September and, while it did not seem like a dump (the grounds, the main pool, the playground, the food court, and the gift shop were very nice), the rooms were dark and musty smelling (the first one we were given we stayed one night and had to move, it smelled so bad), the 7 bus stops were inconvenient, and the resort was huge and even being in a preferred room we were farther away from the food court than I was in a standard at Pop. CBR is easily our least favorite of all the resorts where we have stayed. I would stay there again because I am just crazy about Disney, but if I had a choice of other resorts, I would choose a value over CBR for price and convenience- even when CBR is just $15 more per night than a value.

I hope the refurb really makes it awesome. It has a lot of potential, but the dark, musty rooms and the size of the resort (the refurb probably won't fix this) make it low on our list of preferred resorts right now.

 

[AngiTN]

I don't think you would satisfy any of the people complaining - even if they received their rooms for free. I stayed at this resort a few times this year, and it was by no means a dump - unless their definition of dump and mine is verryyy different This resort underwent an extensive room renovation in the part 2-3 years (can't remember exact time now), and the building facades and grounds were immaculate. Maybe I have been lucky the last three years and each room I have had has been one of the few un-dumpy rooms . I also stayed at deluxe resorts 8 times during this same time and think that OKW is much more of a "dump" than CBR - but this is only my opinion. I do have a split stay booked for November at CBR and AKL and have not been put off by the negative comments.

Yes it did. They went from Full to Queen beds and did a major change to the non Pirate rooms, changing out the bathroom areas. Pirate rooms are fairly old though so they should be due for a hard good refurb before anything else is done. The current work is all related to removing of buildings and reworking of the Old Port Royal area, nothing on the resort room buildings of any sort. Pool was also totally redone. So you have it right, those hating on it just hate on it, and it has little to do with the current construction. Because if they hate on the rooms now, they'd hate on those same things without construction.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I really try to avoid resorts during refurbs. It definitely steals some magic away from me. Unless they were giving a super stellar nightly rate I'd take a hard pass.

 

[Sparkly]

You stayed at a resort during heavy construction so now you're complaining because the resort was under heavy construction?

 

[Arthur92]

"Dump" that's being just Extra!!!!!!! No standing O on the food tent from me but it could've been worse. My family stayed in Trinidad North first week of June 2017. We knew going in about the construction so we was ready. the grounds were still wonderful didn't hear much noise from construction. Only ate breakfast at the tent and heck if you've done a Value Resort at breakfast time then this place was a super easy.

 

[shrcpark]

It is a little inconvenient and if you were able to book the CBR during the $75 GC per night, then it is worth it. I really don't care if my family eats at the CBR. We have so much time to spend outside of the resort, that the food does not matter. Our family goes with the flow when we get there, and the $75 GC per night is very attractive at this point.

 

[kandb]

I think it is totally unfair that Disney gives some people who stay at CBR $75/night gift card and others don't get it. That to me is OUTRAGEOUS. Some will say they are getting the $75 because they booked before Disney let everyone know about the construction. This happens a lot of times. Disney books hotels and then springs it upon people closer to the reservation that "there will be construction". Also, the construction is extensive and if one family is inconvenienced by the major construction and gets the $75, than every family should get it, regardless of when they booked. It's just Disney's way of getting out of giving everyone the $75 gift cards.

 

[kandb]

I for one would be interested to hear why the OP is calling it a "dump" if there is something more he was unhappy with besides the food and shopping situation.

Was the room in bad shape? How were the pools? Any place to get a drink? Landscaping issues?

OP, there are not enough details IMO.

It's not just about the room. When there is major construction being done around you and there is not a nice food court and gift shop etc and construction around you, yes your vacation can really feel different.

 

[kandb]

Ah . . .this post is bringing back some memories for me. I had a vacation scheduled at a beach resort where family works (I visit there frequently, so everyone who works there knows me), and a tropical storm came through and damaged the hotel pretty badly. They only had about ten rooms that were still "habitable", the restaurant was damaged, the meeting rooms were damaged - it was a mess. They ended up closing the hotel for about five months for a full renovation. In the meantime, the GM said I could still come to the hotel for my trip (which was during the beginning of the renovation), and my room would be free, but there would be ZERO amenities. I decided to go. When inside the room, everything looked normal - but when you stepped out in the hall, it was gutted, the lobby was gutted, the restaurant was gutted . . .I guess I could have said it was a dump, but I preferred to call it an adventure. One of my favorite photos is of my car sitting all alone in the middle of the empty parking lot. Of course, getting the room free makes a big difference. You can put up with a lot for a free room!

This is a situation where Disney can't really win. If they shut the hotel down, there would be complaints, and if they don't, there are complaints. I believe they are doing the best they can and will try to get the public areas up and running as quickly as they can. I probably wouldn't stay there for a full length vacation during the construction, but for a short trip, and the right room rate, I would.

Well you got to stay free. I doubt very much the OP had a room close to free.

 

[Colleen27]

Is there a rough timeline of the construction anywhere? CBR is my least favorite of the Disney mods but my son really wants to stay there for his "last hurrah"/belated graduation trip in the spring (March) but I'm not sure I want to humor him enough to put up with things as they currently are. But a lot can change in 8 months...

 

[AngiTN]

Is there a rough timeline of the construction anywhere? CBR is my least favorite of the Disney mods but my son really wants to stay there for his "last hurrah"/belated graduation trip in the spring (March) but I'm not sure I want to humor him enough to put up with things as they currently are. But a lot can change in 8 months...

There is an Everything CBR thread (as there is for each resort) here at the Dis. This is the best place to find up to date info

 

[Colleen27]

There is an Everything CBR thread (as there is for each resort) here at the Dis. This is the best place to find up to date info

Thanks. I didn't pop over there to begin with because it is so long. Since the DIS stopped closing threads at a page limit it seems like some of the resort threads have gone a bit stale. But I see the CBR first page is still being updated regularly so I'll keep checking in. I haven't even booked yet anyway since I am willing to adjust for discounts and availability, so I have time to watch and wait.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks. I didn't pop over there to begin with because it is so long. Since the DIS stopped closing threads at a page limit it seems like some of the resort threads have gone a bit stale. But I see the CBR first page is still being updated regularly so I'll keep checking in. I haven't even booked yet anyway since I am willing to adjust for discounts and availability, so I have time to watch and wait.

yes, the first page is updated continually so that's where to watch for current info.

 

[shameless3]

It's not just about the room. When there is major construction being done around you and there is not a nice food court and gift shop etc and construction around you, yes your vacation can really feel different.

Most of deluxe resorts do not have food courts and there was construction going on the last two times I stayed at the Boardwalk Villas - did this impact my vacation? Not for one minute - I knew going in there was no food court, and that there was on-going construction - as did the OP....if you know this going in, you cannot be surprised when you get there. I don't think it is an ideal solution, but Disney did put in food tents/trucks, etc., they didn't have to do this. I rarely eat at a food court regardless - an occasional breakfast, so when I head there in November I won't mind if there is a food tent instead of a food court.

 

[Dug720]

Has anyone with food allergies had experience with the food set-up as it is now? I'd almost consider this for a pre-cruise one-night stay, but I am gluten-free and would need to have something for breakfast before as I won't have a car and would likely not have time to get to another resort and back for a sit-down breakfast before being picked up by Disney Cruise transportation.