Beach Club or Beach Club Villas?

[DeeCeeSW]

Hi all,
I recently switched my Poly ressies to the Beach Club for the last week of September, but now I'm wondering if it would make more sense to change that to a studio at the BCV??! I understand that the studios at BCV are actually larger than the standard rooms at BC. I know the difference is that the BCV has one queen bed and a sleeper sofa and that BC would probably have 2 queen beds and possibly a daybed. However, BCV has a microwave, fridge and coffemaker in the room. I have a 2 y.o. DS, and having these things in the room would be great! It appears as though the price is the same for both.....any advice???!!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Terry S]

In my opinion, givien the fact that they are the same price, I would go with the BCV Studio. Its nice to have the fridge and microwave. Also, when you put the sofa bed up into a sofa, there is alot of room for your 2 year old to play around.

 

[Poorman]

You could rent points from a DVC member. For any week in September a studio is 104 points. Thats about $149 a night.
How does that compare with the room rate?


Just a thought . Rich

 

[Terry S]

The truth in the matter is you could rent points from a DVC member and get a one bedroom for $285.71 a night. This would be the final price because there is no tax This is 200 points for the week at $10 per point. (The normal rental price on the rental board here). The one bedroom is really nice, it has a master bedroom with a King size bed and jacuzzi tub and a seperate Living Room and Kitchen with a full size fridge, stove, microwave and a washer and dryer.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

I have no idea how to rent points, so I guess I should go to the appropriate DIS board on the topic? Can anyone give me a primer on how that's done? The rate I got for BC in late September is $193.34 per night (includes taxes). I would be willing to pay a little extra for a one-bedroom at BCV, though.

 

[Tagrel]

TerryS gave a great description of a BCV one bedroom, but if you'd like to take a virtual tour, I've put one together:

BCV One Bedroom Virtual Tour

Of course, once you stay there, you are spoiled for anything else!

 

[DeeCeeSW]

The one-bedroom villa at BCV would be more than my DH is willing to spend, as there would be a difference of almost $100 a night. He's also willing to give up the microwave, fridge and coffeemaker we would get in a studio even though it would save us a good $45 a night. He prefers having the two queen beds that a standard room at BC would provide. Oh well! Maybe next time! Thanks for all your help!

 

[CarolynFH]

That little fridge in the BCV studio would come in awful handy when that 2 year old needs some milk in the middle of the night, or you want to give him some cereal in the morning while you get dressed. And the studio is $45 LESS than the regular BC room? I don't understand why an extra queen size bed is so useful, unless DH is planning to sleep there while you get the other one.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Carolyn--Fortunately, our DS does not wake in the middle of the night anymore to be fed (hallelujah!), but during our last stay at the Poly in November, he woke up at around 2-2:30am. and would not go back to sleep in the crib. He would end up with my DH in the other queen bed, with bedrails. There is a strong possibility that neither one of us would get enough sleep if it meant both sharing the one queen bed with DS (which is something we don't normally do at home but have little choice when on vacation because we don't want to let him cry it out in the room and disturb other guests). True, there is the sofa sleeper, but DH is concerned that it will be uncomfortable, as most tend to be. I think the $315 we could save that week would get us a lot of nice dinners, but I guess I see DH's point as well.

I am curious about housekeeping at the villas--how often would the room be cleaned?

DH asked me a few minutes ago if I really think we should stay in the villas and I listed the pros and cons, so I guess he may be open to it if I can gather as much info. as possible to show why it would be better for us.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you get your studio from CRO, you will have daily housekeeping. If you stay on points, you will have trash and towels on day 4, unless you stay 8 nights. Then you get a full cleaning on day 4 and trash and towels on day 8.

The villas are farther from the main desk than the BC units. You will have a view of the quiet pool, the lawn area between the villas and the Beach Club or the lawn area between Epcot and the villas. If you get the latter, you may be able to see Illuminations fireworks from your balcony.

The villas have one queen sized bed and one sleeper (may be queen sized by now, but may be only a double). The sleeper is fairly comfortable.

 

[Gillian]

The DVC rent trade board will give you more info on renting.

We rented a studio in september with our 2 year old. It was perfect for us because he still slept in a crib. Luckily, he didn't wake up at all!

We loved having the extra floor space, the fridge, coffee maker & toaster. The microwave is good for quick snacks like easy mac & popcorn. No housekeeping was fine. We made the bed ourselves & the trash room was right down the hall. There is no W/D in the studios but there is a free laundry room in the building.

This may not be possible for you, but we got an even lower nightly rate by just staying the weekday nights sunday-thursday. Friday & saturday are more $$. It's $120/night. This worked out well for us because we switched to the AKL and relaxed for a couple of days.

Feel free to PM me if you want a renter's side of things!

 

[DisneyKidds]

For $45 a night less I'd go with the BCV studio. The rooms are very similar in size and decor. Yes, the BC room has the two queen beds. On the other hand the BCV studio has the fridge and micro, and more room to move around when the sofabed is closed. They both have their benefits I suppose, but if one is cheaper (especially by 25%) I'd go with it.

As for the sofabed, it is ok. They are in the process of replacing the full size sofabeds with queens. It is a sofabed, but I get a good nights sleep on it. We don't tour commando style and I'm still so beat at the end of the day that I sleep like a rock. We have a son is is almost 2 (he was one and a half on our last trip). We also have a daughter (4). Seeing as our son was never one for a crib, the girls get the queen bed while the guys get the sofabed. It works out fine.

As for other things to consider - you have free use of washers and driers at BCV (just have to bring/buy detergent). While I never thought we'd be happy about doing laundry on vacation, it is nice to be able to do a quick wash if you need something, and not have to bring so much stuff home dirty. The fridge is a must for us. Our kids drink a lot of milk and juice. My son also takes some medication he has to take with food. We always make a trip to the supermarket and buy milk, juice, yogurt, pudding, soda, etc. You can't imagine how much it can save, and how convenient it can be, to have these drinks and snacks/a quick breakfast in the room. If you stay at BCV there are more facilities you are likely to take advantage of. There is the BCV pool, which is nice for a simple, quiet swim when you don't want the excitement of SAB. You can use the pool and hot tub just about any time. That midnight soak in the hot tub sooths the tired muscles - and you can't do it at the hot tubs by the main pool. Sure, if you stay in a BC room you could go over to the BCV pool, but you probably won't. The BCV building also has some nice places to relax, regroup, and gather. The TV room of the BCV lobby has comfy couches and kid size chairs, and is a great place to safely let a 2 yo run around for a few minutes while you sit and relax (as much as that can actually be done with a 2 yo ) - or just catch your breath. If you rent points to stay at the BCV you will also be able to take advantage of some discounts available to DVC members. Technically, guests and renters aren't entitled to DVC discounts. In reality, when you check in your room key will say "Member" on it and you will be given most DVC discounts.

One word of caution. Beware staying in BCV if you have no desire to own. We rented points to stay in a DVC studio two and a half years ago. We have been members for two years now .

 

[Terry S]

DisneyKidds... just wanted to clarify, that they are replacing the double size sofas to queen size sofas in the 2nd bedroom of 53 of the dedicated 2 bedroom villas at BCV. None of the studios will be replaced.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Thank you all very much! We have lots to think about! I'll let you know what we've decided!

Is it true that a BCV studio is 412 square feet and that a standard room at BC is 381 square feet?

 

[Terry S]

I am not sure about the room sizes but I just wanted to metion on a point that was brought up earlier. The way the DVC point structure works is this. Studio Sun-Thurs 12 points and Fri- Sat 22 points. 1 Bedroom Sun-Thurs 22 points and Fri - Sat 45 points. Points usually rent on the rent/trade board at around $10 a point. You haven't mentioned how long you are staying, but as someone else mentioned, if you are staying Sun-Thurs you can get the room even cheaper. You could even get a 1 bedroom for $220 a night on Sun - Thurs.

 

[Gillian]

I'm not sure about the square footage. The BC rooms vary in size. It's pretty strange, actually! Some rooms have 2 queens, some 2 doubles. some have the daybed, some don't. THe BCV rooms are more consistent. And a lot of the BC balconies are too small to sit on, but almost all of the BCV can fit 2 chairs.

 

[Terry S]

DeeCeeSW..... I just wanted to say before you stress over this too much, that I have stayed at both the BC and BCV and both are wonderful and you will have a great time either way. You are still at the Beach Club either way with all the amenities of a deluxe resort. This is a wonderful place! Make sure you have breakfast the BC restuarant Cape May Cafe with Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale and also stop in at Beaches and Creme to have an Ice Cream, it is the best!

 

[DeeCeeSW]

We're actually going for 7 nights, Saturday-Saturday. We split our stay last trip and it was not something that my DH wants to do again! Thanks to everyone again! Terry, I know we will have a good time no matter what we decide, for as you said, we'll be at BC and I have been wanting to swim in SAB for years and will now have that wish come true! DS will enjoy it as well!!!!!!!!!