Overpriced hotel rooms.

Spent a week at Disney World this summer. Went to all 4 parks, both water parks, Downtown Disney, Disney Quest, etc. Stayed on property and ate on the dining plan. Had a good time but have no interest at all in going back (maybe when I have grandkids in 20 years). View it as a "been there, done that" type trip. I understand that there are a lot of folks who like to go there year after year and who are always thinking about their next trip. Just not me.

What hurts Breakers I believe is the Bon Air section. Most of the negative reviews seem to be from people staying in that old part of the hotel. Possibly the Twin Section also. The reviews from people in the tower or east sections were generally positive.

My extended family goes to Breakers every August and we get a poolside suite in the East section. I'm pleased with the room and the view but several things should be upgraded for the price they charge. They need better mattresses, WiFi should be in every room, not just the lobby and the room service menu needs to be upgraded. Other than that, I find the hotel fine. It is clean and the staff is efficient.

Is the room overpriced? Well, we pay for it every year and have a good time, so the value for us must be there. It is expensive, but it is also at Cedar Point, which makes the price easier to swallow. In the comparison to Disney, a lot depends of what you like. There are only a handfull of rides at the Disney parks that I have an interest in riding, so for me a Disney vacation would not hold much value regardless of the price of the rooms. My last two long vacations were in Quebec City Canada and Vail Colorado. For me those place rate much, much higher on the vacation scale than Disney does.

We almost always stay in the Bon Air section of the hotel.

It's the most reasonably priced section and while not

spectacular, the rooms are clean. It's basically a place to 

sleep and the convenience to everything on the peninsula

is the main selling point. Nothing like walking back to

your room at night and not fighting the traffic. It also

makes it possible to take breaks during the day. Raining?

No problem,head back to the room awhile.

I really can't stand that "it's only a place to sleep" line of thinking. When I got on vacation, and I pay for a room, I want a place to relax. Not to mention, a place I wouldn't mind spending a couple of hours in the event of a rain delay.

Now, if you're going for one night, and it's basically a stopover until you head out the next day, that's a different story. Spending multiple days in a place that's "acceptable" - I don't really see the value in that.

Then stay away from teh dorms exit. Cedar Fair justifies their miserable conditions as "well..the kids only sleep there anyway". But, they sleep there for up to four months.

I use the "only a place to sleep" line of thinking once in a while. I would stay in BonAir for the night to save money while staying on Point. But, I wouldn't stay there at all if it wasn't on the Peninsula. Meaning, if that same building where anywhere else in Ohio I likely would never pay for it.

If I was staying more than one night and thought I'd be in the room for any significant chunk of time then it would not be a place I would consider. Then again, I don't typically stay at a Knight's Inn or Days Inn anymore either and there are pleny of hotels in Orlando I wouldn't stay in no matter the rate.

Cedar Point is boring to me now. I mean, I have ridden everything many times ya know. I used to love the place, but the overall quality of things other then rides have gone down considerably over the past few years...I have been to Disney twice now. That place really makes you feel like your in your own world. Next year we will be going to Universal and maybe Sea World.

I have never stayed on point and really have no desire too either. The hotels are overpriced if you are going to spend 80% of the time in the park. Why spend $200 a night if you can spend $50 outside. I dont care is there is a beach and the views and what not. I cant justify paying that much for a view or a beach...

GoBucks89 said:
Probably not many folks finding much value in outdoor pools in northeast Ohio or 5-7 night stays in CP area this time of year. And the economics of 365 day parks with large number of visitors who stay overnight are very different from parks with 3-5 month operating seasons with a much smaller percentage of visitors who stay overnight. And those differences have significant impacts on many things in particular lodging and dining offerings and prices.

And none of that means a hill of beans to people when a dollar is a dollar, whether it's spent in Florida or Ohio, in December of July.

Obviously there is a market for what CP puts out there, but I'm not in it. Now that I'll live 2,400 miles away, I still won't be in it. Regardless, whatever that market is, it shrunk this year, because occupancy was down. If the economy still sucks next year, they really need to make some adjustments, and not just for the last few weekends.

I noted that few people care about those differences in the paragraph after the one your quoted. So no disagreement there with respect to the consumer. However, it matters a great deal to the park owners. A park that has a significant number of guests who stay overnight will act differently with respect to lodging than one that doesn't. And the economics of a year round vacation/lesiure hotel are totally different from those of a 5 month vacation/leisure hotel. Patrons in July may expect the same types of luxury/amenities in both but the year round hotel will have folks there in December to help cover overhead which isn't the case for the 5 month hotel. The owner of the 5 month hotel will need to take all of that into account when building, operating and pricing that hotel (and if they don't think its important, their lenders will).

And I have said in numerous threads that different people will find different values in different things. As such, people will have different preferences as to parks and vacations/leisure/entertainment in general. Its why there are different options out there.

And I have also noted that I think that the biggest issue facing CP is the fact that the region it depends on for its core customers has little if any growth and its ability to attract folks from outside the core region in large numbers is limited.

I'll just stick with my $40.04 clean Motel 6 thats 8 miles away from CP this weekend, and the Platinum pass that gets me in early. Can't beat that.

SuperNitroForce said:
I'll just stick with my $40.04 clean Motel 6 thats 8 miles away from CP this weekend, and the Platinum pass that gets me in early. Can't beat that.

If you go in May the Howard Johnson at the end of the causeway is around 40 bucks a night. That way you dont have an 8 mile drive.

I stayed at the ho-jo twice before, and had a bad experiance both times.

Fist time, there were ants all over the room. Second time the water in the sink did not work, we did not get our wake up call, and they did not have any more cedarpoint discounts like they told me on the phone when I booked the room.

Needles to say, I am done with that ho-jo.

The challenge isn't finding the cheapest place near the park in the slow seasons or October but ones that aren't nasty. Sure I can get a HoJo for $40 but those have terrible reviews and looks hideous from the outside. It is terrible how many of the motels near CP are run down and dirty, yet during the summer charge ungodly high prices. I live in the Chicago area so I have not been to CP a million times like some of you, but usually 2-4 times per year for the past 10 years. The following places are ones that I approve:

Milan Motel 6
Milan Red Roof Inn (formerly Ramada Limited)
Milan Super 8
Comfort Inn (at 250 and 2)
Comfort Suites (at 250 and 2)
Days Inn Sandusky (last stayed at in 2000, could be different now)
Breaker's Express (worth it when I got it for $50-70 a night seems those days are over)
Lighthouse Point (fun to stay in if you have 6 people to offset the high price)

Notice how the 3 I have stayed at near the turnpike are ones that are ok with me? Maybe this is because they are open year round therefore can keep up with maintaining it? I dunno. Hope this helps someone though.

djDaemon said:
LaQuinta gets our money on multi-day visits, though they're not exactly the nicest hotel in the area. But they offer a decent value.

They do offer a decent value. I actually work for La Quinta in Michigan ;) Some La Quinta's are nicer than others of course, depending on if they are corporate owned or franchise. Sometimes that makes a difference sometimes not.

IvyRose-MissX said:

djDaemon said:
LaQuinta gets our money on multi-day visits, though they're not exactly the nicest hotel in the area. But they offer a decent value.

They do offer a decent value. I actually work for La Quinta in Michigan ;) Some La Quinta's are nicer than others of course, depending on if they are corporate owned or franchise. Sometimes that makes a difference sometimes not.

Oh yeah absolutely! I have stayed in some dumps by a franchise that can also have pretty nice places. Cheap places like Motel 6 are a good example. Some have indoor hallways with new bedding and nice clean rooms, others are outdoors and look like they havent been updated in 20 years. Like I said, the one nearest to CP is one of the good ones, as I stayed there last weekend. The only complaint I would have is the poor TV reception but who sits and watches TV anyway? We just turned it on while getting ready to leave in the morning.

I'm going to do one night in Breakers this weekend, sharing with another couple. We'll see how that goes. I felt less dirty about the price splitting it. Can't be a good sign for occupancy that you can book less than two weeks out though.

Jeff, which style room did you go with? Old sections, balcony suite or regular window in the newer sections?

Regular 2-queen in tower or east.

We are doing the same as you Jeff, sans the price splitting. We stayed at Breakers Express many years ago and enjoyed it. Booked a handicapped queen double room. At $165 it is pricey, but with rain in the picture it will be nice to skip off to the room for a break. I have never stayed in the park so I will let everyone know my thoughts after the weekend.

Everybody is expected to pay full price at the flag ship park.

Jeff, when you check in see if room #3561 is available in breakers east....It's a huge 2 queen room, don't know why it is laid out the way it is but it is alot bigger than all the other 2 queen rooms. We stayed right next to it a couple weeks ago and while they were cleaning, we looked in there and were wishing that was our room. Alot more elbow room for you and your friends.