Earlier this year, I received an email from Hyatt Regency MCO a few weeks in advance of our stay. The hotel informed us that there would be construction during our stay and noise levels would be higher during the day. It was nice to receive the warning. But, based on the details in the email, we decided to keep our reservation. Are hotel refurbishments no big deal? Or can they put a serious damper on family vacations?
Whether a hotel’s refurbishment will affect your vacation really depends on the type of renovation and the purpose of your hotel stay. If you’re just using the hotel to sleep and the main purpose of your trip is to explore outside the hotel, chances are you won’t care about the hotel renovations. However, if you’re using the hotel itself as your destination, you may be disappointed.
Types of Hotel Refurbishments and Renovations
Room Refresh: This is the most common type of hotel refurbishment. Room renovations keep rooms from looking outdated and dirty. Hotel room refreshes happen on average every three to seven years and include things like mattress replacement, new furniture, new carpet and paint.
During my family’s recent stay at Hyatt MCO, we saw hotel rooms across the hall in the process of refurbishment. The doors were all open, and new toilets were stationed outside of each room. My kids thought it was hilarious! “Why are there toilets in the hallway, mom??!!”
Public Space Overhaul: Refurbishments on public spaces like lobbies and meeting rooms can be loud and invasive. But, these types of refurbishments can change the entire look of a hotel drastically.
A few years ago, my family stayed at Hyatt Regency SFO after a renovation. I was curious what it looked like before the renovation. Check out these photos. Whoa, what a difference!
Pool Renovations: Resorts with extensive pool and water park areas have to do a lot of upkeep and renovations to keep the area looking decent. Earlier this year on spring break, I took my kids to Point Hilton Squaw Peak in Phoenix, AZ. Some of the reviews said the waterpark was looking old and tired with peeling paint. However, the resort did a renovation on the pool area before our arrival, and it was good as new.
New Additions/Wings: Sometimes, hotel refurbishments include adding on a new building or wing. My family visited the Gaylord Texan twice while a new tower was under construction. We had to walk by it to get from the parking garage to the lobby. Gaylord Texan finally opened the new tower last year, and now the hotel has the third largest convention space in the U.S.
Deal Breaker: Aulani’s Pool Refurbishment
Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii is currently undergoing a major refurbishment on its pool area and water park. The rumor is that the resort is replacing the entire surface of the pool deck area due to its slick surface and multiple slip-and-falls (myself included—took me months to recover!)
Aulani’s pool area is the main selling point of the resort, in my opinion. It is hands down the best pool area of any resort my family has visited. Aulani has an 8200-square foot zero-entry family pool:
Lazy River:
Grotto Pool:
Kids’ Play Area:
Infinity Hot Tubs:
Aulani also has water slides that start at the top of a “volcano”.
The refurbishment runs from August 19 to December 17. From August 19 through October 11, the lazy river, the curl waterslide, a hot tub and kids’ play area are closed. From October 12 through December 17, the family pool, vertical water slide, Rainbow Reef snorkel lagoon and hot tubs are closed. During the refurbishment, the smaller adults-only pool will be open to all age ranges. Those closures have a HUGE impact!
To compensate, Aulani is offering a $50 per day resort credit. According to this thread on the Disboards, Aulani has also offered some guests a free one-day car rental. However, in my opinion, that is not anywhere near enough to compensate for the jack-hammer noise and dusty construction zone at Aulani.
As I mentioned in my review of Aulani last year, it’s not the place you should stay while sightseeing around Oahu. It’s the place you should come to relax and unwind after staying in Waikiki. So in this case, the refurbishment at Aulani is a deal breaker. I don’t recommend anyone stay there until after this construction is over.
How to Check for Hotel Refurbishments
If you want to make sure the pool will be open and you won’t be dodging construction cranes during your next visit, I recommend checking in advance for hotel refurbishments. The first place to start is the hotel website.
If you’re planning to splurge on a Disney Resort hotel, Disney publishes refurbishment schedules well in advance. Undercover Tourist maintains a list of Disney hotel refurbishments.
Aside from calling the hotel, you can also reach out via social media or ask a question on TripAdvisor. Many hotels have a knowledgeable staff member answering TripAdvisor questions.
Bottom Line
Hotel refurbishments are very common, and most of the time they won’t affect the quality of your vacation. However, if the refurbishment is major and it closes a lot of the hotel’s amenities, it’s worthwhile to consider alternative hotels.
Have you stayed at a hotel during a refurbishment or avoided a hotel during a refurbishment? What has been your experience?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
The only bad experience I’ve had with a renovation was in April at the Hyatt Place Mesa. We’ve all been at hotels that were replacing mattresses. Normally the hotel puts a notice under every guest’s door, and if that doesn’t work, you tell the front desk and they schedule around you.
Not at this Hyatt. The front desk told me they were changing the beds, but gave me the wrong day. O.k. Then they put a notice under my door, with a different day, but also the wrong day. In the meantime I scheduled a day to have work done on my car and spend that day working in my room. Sure enough, that was the day they changed out the mattresses, and changed all the mattresses in the entire hotel at once, so there was no saying “come back later.”
The worst part was the staff’s attitude. The notice they gave out was not at all business-like, but instead tried to convince the guests we were lucky to be there while they changed the beds. It sounded more like it had been written by a preteen girl in pink ink. The notice actually included the sentence “This is great news!” (including the exclamation point).
This was a hotel I had spent nearly 50 nights at in the last year. Never again. I’ll overlook a staff only until they impinge on my ability to work.
@Joseph Of course the day they want to change the bed is the day you have to be in the room to get work done. Murphy’s law. Sorry you had a bad experience.
Kinda funny this article came up! I’m at Marriott Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale was upgraded to a nice one bedroom suite but the balcony is being worked on so we cannot use it. We were also given a $50 credit. The first morning I come out of the shower naked with the curtains wide open to a guy hanging near the balcony! I ran back to bathroom and my husband closed all the curtains in the bedroom and living room area than the loud noise started. Luckily for us and unfortunately for them with the hurricane coming the next two days there was no work being performed. Which was good because we both haven’t been feeling great so been in the room allot and the work noise would have been unbearable.
@Boonie Happy you got the upgrade, bummer about the balcony! I hope you feel better soon and you’re not caught in the hurricane.
In May, my friend and I were staying at the Westin Times Square in NYC and we had jackhammering and banging noises at 8:00 AM. I was happy to leave and explore NYC, but my friend had a horrible migraine and so the noise was an issue. To compensate, they offered BOTH of us 100,000 points. My friend whispered to me, “that’s good, right?”. I was kind of speechless and quickly agreed so they wouldn’t take it back. I guess that was the opposite of being bonvoyed. It definitely wouldn’t have been a deal breaker for me had I known ahead of time. I am kind of glad I didn’t- I can do a lot with 100,000 points😊
@Kelnland 100,000 points! That’s amazing!