sahmomoftwo
Registered: January 2012
Location: Garner, NC
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Fri January 20, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Room, resort size, location
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Cons:
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nothing
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Loved this resort! Stayed in a renovated room. The queen beds were great. The resort is a nice size and it was easy to get from one side to the other with just a short walk. My daughters (age 9 and 7) loved the boat ride to Downtown Disney and the pool. The only negative was the crowds on the buses to the parks. However, I did not note this above because the drivers were very proactive and immediately called for more buses when they saw issues. One morning we filled 3 buses to Magic Kingdom! After reading previous reviews, we knew to walk over to the South Depot and catch our bus there as opposed to the stop closest to our room, which was the North Depot. It was just a short walk. My suggestion to the resort would be to start buses at the West Depot and finish at the South Depot. Many mornings the buses were so full that they were unable to go to the other three stops. I would imagine people waiting for buses at the West, North and East stops would be disappointed with the long waits and very crowded buses. LOVED this resort and will probably stay here on our next visit!
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NINALINDA1023
Registered: August 2009
Posts: 50
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Review Date: Sat January 7, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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WONDERFUL RESORT, GREAT STAFF
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Cons:
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NOT A THING
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This is our first time at this resort. We stayed from 1/3 to 1/6/12. Living in South Florida, we travel a lot to Walt Disney World, and have stayed at a lot of the Disney's resorts. (Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans (French Quarter), Caribbean Beach, All the Value Resorts).
This resort is very nice, we checked in at 11am and our room was ready. Check-in took about 5 minutes. Our room was really nice and clean. We had a King size bed, with a wonderful view. We walked around the grounds (very large and beautiful resort). This resort has a really big dining area, a nice restaurant, nice lobby. The pools are also very nice, well kept. Housekeeping staff was also wonderful. There is a place on the grounds where you can go fishing (that really surprised me). They have a campfire (for roasting marshmallows). I was very impressed with this resort. I liked most that it is across the street from Best Friends Pet Care, so I was able to walk over and see my Dog. Thank you Walt Disney World for a really great resort.
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tiger_mom
Registered: October 2010
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 21
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Review Date: Tue January 3, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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overall atmosphere, resort theming
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Cons:
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bathroom, front desk staff
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Stayed here with hubby and daughter Dec 27-Jan 1 for first time at moderate resort. Loved the theming and landscaping, the pool looked great although we didn't use it. It was nice to walk around in the early morning along the river when no one was out.
Checked in early and had to wait for a room which we expected but front desk had no idea when room would be ready (2 hours, 4 hours, etc) and blamed "housekeeping" for the delay. Then my husband slipped and fell on the wet steps and badly bruised his ankle and arm. When I made him report the incident to the front desk, the manager did absolutely nothing about it - no one even called to see how he was doing! Finally on our last night, he talked to another manager who gave him some information in case he had problems later.
We stayed in a renovated room which was nice but the bathroom is smaller than my closet, you barely have room to turn around! One day we didn't even have hot water. The showerhead was a joke, it took me 3 times as long to wash my hair because we had no water pressure from the "rain" showerhead.
Bus schedule was not bad, we only had one day that it took forever to get the bus for the park we wanted.
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kuriozidee
Registered: November 2010
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 16
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Review Date: Thu December 22, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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River Roost Bar, scenery, location
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Cons:
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Bathtub, cleanliness of room
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We stayed here again this year and still love the property; however, I was a little disappointed in the room. I know they are refurbishing but we paid extra for a king room, which is what we got, but it was not in very good shape. There was standing water in the bathtub when we took showers and I found someone else's nylons that had been left behind. There was also a stroller (not a DW stroller) outside of our room the entire time we were there (10 days.) If you pay a premium, I would think that more of an effort would be made to make sure that the room was clean and in good condition. The room was not so bad that I felt the need to complain but if it happens in the future, I will probably request a different room.
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momof3inMadisonAL
Registered: December 2009
Location: Niceville, FL
Posts: 67
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Review Date: Mon December 19, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? No
| Rating: 4
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Pros:
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sleeps 5
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Cons:
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cramped, needs updating, grounds too spread out
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We usually stay at a value resort and split up our family of 5 between 2 rooms. However, economically it made more sense to get a room that sleeps our family of 5 (very limited choices at the World). It was cramped. My 7 year old daughter slept on the pull out bed. Not a full length twin but a bit bigger than a crib mattress. It didn't have fitted sheets so it irritated her when the sheets pulled off the mattress in the night. The beds were full size just like at the value resorts. There was a thing that looked like a trunk but didn't open. It pretty much just wasted space in the room where we could have put luggage. The bathroom vanity was larger than the value resorts and had a curtain to pull for privacy. However, the pedestal sinks didn't provide much space for placing belongings. I prefer to do without the double sink and have more counter space. THe grounds were beautiful but very spread out. We had to drive our car from our room to the main building because it was so far. It was nice to have a refrigerator, but the inside of the room just seemed like it needed updating. A bit grungy.
I just expected more from a Moderate Resort. Back to All Stars for us.
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coachq
Registered: November 2010
Location: Lake Village IN
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Thu December 15, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Beautiful Grounds, Food Court, Renovated Rooms and Accommodating Staff
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Cons:
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None
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Love this resort and would definitely come back. We usually stay at the deluxe resorts, or villas, but I was trying to save some money on this trip and I'm glad I stayed here. We stayed 12/9-13
We came in about 2:00 am and was given a room in the mansions that were not renovated and had full beds. After walking to the room I had my husband call to see if we could get a renovated room that had queen size beds. They were accommodating and we were given a room in alligator bayou. The room was a corner room that was renovated.
Our bus stop was a quick walk and bus service was excellent. We didn't wait for more than 5 minutes ever to get to the parks.
The food court here is excellent. I am a vegetarian and you can find a great vegetarian lunch/dinner here.
I can't wait to come back with my family
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TheLivingSeas
Registered: December 2011
Location: Medford,Ma
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Wed December 14, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Food Court, Quiet, Friendly, Nice theme
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Cons:
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Walking Distance to room
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We were transferred from All Star Sports because of the noise there, to this hotel. WE stayed there from 12/4-12/8 It was like heaven. The rooms were nice, the staff was friendly, they did everything to make out stay great! The only part I didn't like was we were in a preferred room, but the walking distance was nuts. After walking in those parks all day, the walk to the room killed us. The food court was clean, they pool areas were nice, lots of activities for children... just a nice place all around! The grounds were very well kept.. and the horse and carriage was so pretty! Very pretty during Christmas!
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sknoell
Registered: December 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 23
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Review Date: Mon December 5, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Theme, food court, service
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Cons:
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We have stayed over the years at all the moderates and some value resorts and this is now our favorite. It was the cleanest of any resort and the theme is just beautiful. It is rustic and relaxed but still feels like Disney. Everyone we encountered was pleasant and helpful. We requested late check out and was granted the request. We stayed in Building 39 in Alligator Bayou. Yes it was a little bit of walk across the bridge to the pool and another to the food court but we never minded. We never used the buses as we had a car and parking was convenient. The food court is the best around. Loved the jazz Christmas music that was playing and it was nice to have an indoor bar as well as the outside one especially on a cool night. There was so much to do from the boat ride to downtown Disney which was a relaxing scenic ride, fishing, campfires and lots of pool activities. We have found our home away from home!
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JEMommy
Registered: December 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Sun December 4, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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room size, resort amenities, grounds
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Cons:
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We just returned from a stay at POR for the weekend. It was great!
Our room was in in Alligator Bayou #27. It was a great location---3 minute walk to the pool (too cold to swim but we walked over to check it out) and a 3 minute walk to the main building. The room was nice--just like all the pictures on this site. It was very clean. Our son (4yo) loved sleeping on the pull out trundle bed!
We had lunch and dinner at the food court and found the prices pretty much in line w/ Disney in general. We had a good custom made salad and custom made pasta. Portions were HUGE. 2 people could have easily shared the pasta, making a $10.99 meal very affordable.
We loved the grounds of the resort. It was just beautiful walking around and it was quiet, calm and serene.
On Sat. nite they had a marshmallow roast at the fire pit by the pool, and that was fun for our 4 year old. They should have had chocolate and graham crackers, but that's just my opinion!
Bus transport was easy and efficient--we never waited more than 10 min. for a bus to magic kingdom. We also took the boat to downtown disney and that was fun as well.
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at POR, and would definitely stay there again.
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disneydad78
Registered: February 2011
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Mon October 31, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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grounds, upgrades, bus depots, food court
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Cons:
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walking distance
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My wife and I had a getaway at POR from 10/27-10/29. Our entire family had only previously stayed at value resorts (ASMovies 2x/POP 1x).
Most of the room upgrades from value to this resort were worth the extra cost. Above all, the extra bathroom space (in particular, 2 sinks) was the most practical upgrade. Our Alligator Bayou room came with a refrigerator, flat-screen TV w/armoire, and a ceiling fan. The furniture doesn't have as much of a "cheap" feel as in the value resorts. The shower was equipped with a waterpik removable shower head. There is also decorative tile around the sinks. The only thing I enjoyed more about the value rooms was the adjustable thermostat. Our POR room had an old floor AC unit under our window. It did wake us up one night when it roared to life.
The room was clean when we arrived. The room stayed clean during our stay.
The grounds at POR have a natural feel. It's as if the resort was built into the landscaping, not vice versa. If you like being up close to nature--I mean in-the-woods-up-close--then you'll love POR. We had some close calls with a lizard or two when walking around the resort.
The resort is set up so you have a WDW bus depot within a certain distance from your building--no matter where you're staying. Our Alligator Bayou room was a 5min walk to the nearest bus depot. We've stayed in value resorts where it took longer to navigate to the main depot.
While it took 5min to get to a bus, it took 10min to get to the main building. My wife and I didn't mind the walk at all. While value resorts have you walking by hotel rooms and large characters, POR walkways take you through the woods, over bridges, and beside rivers. However I could imagine little legs would get quite the workout if they had to walk to and from the room several times a day.
Value guests know how much a drawback crowds can be. There's so much space at POR that crowds aren't possible. The only crowd we encountered was in the food court around 9am--which is what we expected (food court at 9am is a bad idea, I don't care where you stay).
The food court was also an upgrade from our value experience. The service in the food court followed suit.
We are very seriously considering POR as our next week-long stay. If amenities count, and you're looking to rid yourself of the negative aspects of a value stay, then the extra cost is justified.
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mommasquared
Registered: October 2011
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Sat October 29, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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clean room, nice property, friendly staff
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Cons:
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BIG resort
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We visited Riverside from 10/12/11 to 10/19/11. Stayed in Alligator Bayou section since we had 5 (3 adults and 2 kids) in a room. We were in building 23, very close to a bus stop but a 20 min walk to lobby/resturant. Very quiet in Alligator Bayou, felt like we were the only ones there! Requested ground floor since there are no elevators in Bayou, moved our room with a smile. Rooms were fine, average size, clean and tidy. Trundle bed is small, but an adult (me) was able to sleep on it (5ft 3in) since neither of my kids would cooperate. Didn't get towel animals every night, but were too tired to care. Left something in the safe and didn't realize till we got home, called the next day, they found the item and are mailing to to me. We would certainly stay at Riverside again. You won't be disappointed.
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trexdix
Registered: October 2011
Location: Indiana
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Sat October 29, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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beautiful grounds, friendly staff
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Cons:
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old room
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The room is cramped for our family of 5. Our room was in building 16 and was very convenient to the main building for the food court and buses. There was a sour smell in our room like old wash cloths and the room was old and dingy. The beds are small for 2 adults. The lighting was very dark. The first night we arrived, we were told our luggage would take 3 hours to arrive from the time we checked into our hotel (10PM). We thought it was supposed to be 3 hours from when we arrived at the airport(8PM). It came around 1:50AM with a knock on the door waking everyone up. I didn't know to ask for a refurbished room. I would recommend this resort based on getting a refurb. room.
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traci26
Registered: June 2006
Location: Ft. Lauderdale,FL
Posts: 39
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Review Date: Tue October 25, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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We just had a quick overnight stay here at PO Riverside. We have been to this resort before but always on the mansions side. This time we were in Alligator Bayou. Room was adequate, beds are small. One adult, one child max per bed. The sink area had enough space for all our stuff. We were in bldg. 28 on the first floor. No elevators in the bayou area. A bit of a walk to lobby area but not terrible. If I was staying a longer period of time I am sure it would wear on me. Overall I think our family of 5 is outgrowing the moderate resorts but we'll see what we do next time. I must add that we ate at the Riverside Mill and the pasta station and ciabatta sandwiches is a great deal and yummy too.
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Mousega2k
Registered: October 2011
Location: New England
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Wed October 19, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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cozy
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Cons:
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long walk to some buildings
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I've stayed at POR since '95 , total of 4 times. Each trip I find a new reason to fall in love. 3 of the times , I stayed in the Bayou rooms. I love them the most, especially since the redo. Beds are very comfy, I request a room near the Main Building and each time have been lucky.
Buses can be packed late and stop at POFQ first.
I didn't like the Manors . We were in Oak House in May '08 and it seemed dingy and uninspiring to me. It is also a bit of a hassle getting over to the Main Building and Bus stop. The pool was nice tho, the quiet one. And laundry handy , as we had a very hot Mother's day and took that day to just rest a bit.
Food court has a good selection. Love the boats to DTD, and rented a bike one day.
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Tink28
Registered: October 2011
Location: Hampshire, UK
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Tue October 11, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Everything
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Cons:
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None
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Stayed at POR from 19th Sept to 4th Oct and had a great stay. First night after 16 hours of traveling was a bit rough, my mum found the bed and pillows very hard but we were able to get a mattress topper and softer pillows the following morning.
Housekeeping was excellent all through the stay, and several towel animals, I had requested a refurbished room which we didn't get but had no problems with the Parterre Place room we had, not at all tatty and very clean.
No trouble with the buses or boat, never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus even after MNSSHP.
Staff all really helpful and always polite to my Mum who is in her 80's and just loves this resort.
We always wonder why people moan about this resort being spread out, that is the beauty of it, and the grounds are beautiful.
Our only negative was the fact was the family in the room next to us for a few nights. They arrived back in their room after midnight each night and then seemed to moved furniture around for 2 hours before going to sleep which woke us every time. They showed no consideration for other guests and we were pleased when they left. Try to remember there are other people staying please!
But overall, a great stay and we will be back.
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