B Resort – Disney Springs Hotel Review
B Resort & Spa is a hotel located in Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs. This review covers my recent stay at the newly-opened hotel, featuring photos of rooms and hotel amenities. A little too large and standardized to be described accurately as a boutique hotel, B Resort is like a mix of boutique and trendy, minimalist hotels. The hotel recently reopened after an extensive top to bottom overhaul, and more or less looks brand new.
This is apparent as soon as you step foot in the lobby, which conveys both a minimalist and luxurious tone. This is where the hotel really shines. The walls are a crisp white, which looks striking juxtaposed against blue accents and other features of the area. Here, there are also lounge-ish areas with comfortable chairs and large, touch-screen kiosks where guests can access a variety of information (including the ability to print boarding passes). Next to these lounges is American Q, where the smell of smoked meats beckons carnivores inside. There’s also a small display of artwork hanging on the walls in this area, which is promised to be rotated out, gallery style.
This entire main entrance area of the hotel looks really nice and is very ambitious. It’s a common area with a lot to see and do, and that is just plain enjoyable. It didn’t feel at all chaotic with arrivals and departures, instead more like a place where people (many of them well-dressed and looking like they were ready for a night on the town) were hanging out and mingling. I’ve noticed this type of atmosphere in other hotels at which we’ve stayed, but this was a first for a hotel at Walt Disney World.
Actually, B Resort & Spa seems like a bit of an outlier for Walt Disney World hotels in a number of ways, both good and bad…
The room itself was exceptional. The bedding was incredibly comfortable and lush. Perhaps I focus on the wrong things, but I really liked the carpet. It felt thick and high quality, with its design giving just enough character to the room.
The sofa and chair were also really comfortable, and there was a cubby-like seating area that was a nice place to sit with a laptop in the morning or at night transferring photos…or doing whatever non-photographers do with laptops!
The rooms had other touches like artwork on the walls, an overpriced snack bar, a fridge, a rotary phone (meh), cool lamps, flat panel HDTVs, and the mascot frog, but I was most impressed with the bedding, furniture, and carpet.
Outside of the main bedroom, the bathroom was probably the highlight of the guest room. The bathroom has a vessel sink, plus fancy toiletries, and an excellent, minimalist walk-in shower. I’m pretty sure they scored some black market Yugoslavian shower heads from one of Newman’s buddies…those things were nice.
There are some rooms with bunk beds–a nice touch for families.
One of the things I really wanted to try at B Resort but just didn’t have the time for was the BBQ restaurant, American Q. B Resort boasts that it’s a modern take on BBQ by acclaimed New York City restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, with a classic truck housing an all-you-can-eat appetizer and salad buffet. The meats are carved tableside by cowboy/girl servers, and consist of a selection of smoked meats and poultry from places such as the Carolinas, Kansas City, and Latin America. It didn’t open for another hour when I was in the lobby, but the place smelled amazing! If only they were open at 1 am when I typically returned from the parks. Perfect late night snack!
Convention space is another selling point of B Resort, and I suspect it’s going to be a big draw for the conventioneer set. It has roughly 25,000 square feet of space for events in multiple ballrooms, almost all of which are flex spaces that can be made smaller or larger. Some of these are really nice, with modern-looking carpeting and grand chandeliers. Since I was visiting by myself and didn’t have the time to throw a spontaneous convention, I didn’t have the chance to put these rooms through their paces, but they looked nice.
The pool is zero-entry, but I wasn’t impressed with it. It looked like a holdover from the previous incarnation of this hotel, but it was also still being worked on, so maybe the jury is still out on it. I also didn’t have a chance to visit the spa, as it was not yet open during my stay.
B Resort offers complimentary theme park transportation every half hour, and despite having a rental car for this trip, I decided to test this out to see how useful it was. My concern was that this transportation is shared with the other Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, which would make it inefficient. Well, it is shared, but I didn’t find it any more inconvenient than standard Walt Disney World bus transportation. There’s an internal path between the hotels for the bus, and it flew between the hotels Mr. Toad style. With that said, I would only use this in a pinch–presumably you will have a rental car if you’re staying here. Use it.
In terms of price, B Resort seems to be competitive with Walt Disney World Moderate resorts. If you’re searching for rates you might think it’s on par with Value resorts at first blush, but note that the price does not include the dreaded “resort fee” nor does it include taxes or parking. Once you factor those items, you’re looking at a Moderate rate. It really annoys me that hotels play games with non-optional resort fees to make their rates appear more appealing, but even with hidden fees factored in, B Resort has very competitive rates. I would say it’s actually priced fairly aggressively given its quality and location. (In the interest of full disclosure, my stay at B Resort was comped.)
In terms of luxury, it is definitely superior to a Moderate resort, although I think it’s aiming for a different demographic than a Moderate (or any Walt Disney World hotel, for that matter). Many guests who are fans of Walt Disney World hotels probably aren’t going to consider B Resort, and the type of guest who wants something like B Resort probably wouldn’t consider a Walt Disney World hotel. B Resort is sort of like a trendy/minimalist version of the Four Seasons for a younger crowd. That probably doesn’t make any sense, but whatever.
It reminds me of the type of hotel you would find in a larger city, near nightlife with a lobby seemingly always filled with beautiful twenty-somethings. I know one of B Resort’s other locations is in Miami, and I can totally see this hotel being a tamer version of a hotel in South Beach. Given that, what’s interesting to me is to whom this style will appeal in terms of Walt Disney World guests? Conventioneers? Newlyweds? Twentysomethings without kids? It’s not that the hotel isn’t family-friendly (it is), I just don’t see it being a family’s first choice given that other Walt Disney World hotels specifically cater to families with kids much better. If it is a family’s first choice, those kids are probably lucky enough to have the coolest parents ever.
B Resort is unquestionably stylized, ambitious, and really unlike anything else at Walt Disney World. At the same time, there were times during my stay when I questioned whether it was trying just a little too hard. I thought very highly of the hotel, but there are places where it crosses the line from chic and trendy to being like the dude with the popped collar, pink polo, spiked hair, and gradient aviator sunglasses. Where I thought B Resort would have hit the minimalist, chic look with its clean lines and white and blue color palette, the hotel took things further and added design flourishes that are either cool and hip, or ostentatious and tacky, depending upon your perspective. I’m not hip, so maybe I’m the problem…
Overall, this minor qualm does little to detract from B Resort. It does feel much like you’ve stepped into a “happening” urban hotel when you walk into B Resort, and this type of hotel is totally unlike anything else I’ve seen at Walt Disney World. It’s a really ambitious hotel, with very attractive prices considering its quality and on-site location at Walt Disney World. Once Disney Springs is finished, I expect we will return to B Resort for a trip focusing on nightlife there and some of the other non-park offerings at the Vacation Kingdom of the World. Whether B Resort is for you should be as easy as looking as the photos of the hotel. If you are interested in this type of aesthetic and style, B Resort is definitely a great choice. If the aesthetic or staying in a hip locale holds no interest for you, or you’re a family looking to be encapsulated in an environment that is ‘distinctly Disney,’ there are certainly better options for you at Walt Disney World.
To book a room at B Resort & Spa, visit their website.
Not sure which Walt Disney World hotel is right for you? Check out our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page, which offers quick-hit capsule reviews of the strengths and weaknesses of every Walt Disney World hotel, plus links to our reviews and photo pages for every hotel we have reviewed.
Looking for comprehensive Walt Disney World vacation tips? Make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide.
Your Thoughts…
Do you like the look of B Resort or is it not your style? Have you stayed a B Resort? Planning on staying here someday? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Hello – I’ve been thinking of staying here but after reading your review of the price and hidden charges, I’m not so sure…What I find confusing is that when I chose it via the official Disney web site to compare packages side by side, it actually came in less expensive that a VALUE resort…It sounds like the hidden fees may not be included in that Disney quote though? I would hope that if they are quoting an entire vacation price, they would include those numbers. How disappointing! 🙁
I’m currently staying here and so far i love it. The price is grrat, yhe room and bayhroom are both huge, well designed, and comfy. The bus to Disney is not the best but uber is quick and cheap.
Day 4 update. Do not take the bus, especially at park close – you will regret it! Use the savings from the hotel cost to take an uber. Seriously!
My husband and I stayed for one night last December to check out the hotel. We were very disappointed, given the price. The staff at the front desk were very rude and pretentious. We were stuck in a ground floor room with construction going on above us. We went back to the front desk to request another room due to the excessive noise and were treated very poorly. Once we did get a room in the tower, it was very nice but our biggest complaint was the SMELL!!! They use some kind of over powering fake spray everywhere and it literally gave me headache. I’m sensitive to smells and this was simply overwhelming. It made me wonder what they were trying to hide because there was a faint smell of bleach everywhere too. If you have any kind of asthma or breathing issues, you could not stay at this hotel. We tried the restaurant and were very disappointed with both the drinks and food, but the service was excellent. My drink (a simple mixed drink that I asked ONE ingredient be omitted from) was delivered incorrect twice, and the bar tender argued with me about it. I also had the wrong burger made for me and when it came out the second time it was almost raw in the middle. The place looks cool, but couldn’t deliver when it came to the food. Its a decent walk to Disney Springs, further than you’d think. Its not that cheap and for the price, you can do better.
We stayed at the B Resort in November 2014, right before Thanksgiving. We had a king bed for us with bunk beds for the kids (boy 8, girl 9). My husband and I loved the luxurious bedding, and the kids loved the bunk beds. The pool was nice, the breakfast buffet was good, but I felt it was overpriced. We did enjoy that they had Mickey waffles. We did not use the transportation to the Magic Kingdom, as we had just returned from a trip on the Disney Dream, so we went to Downtown Disney (we drove) and Sea World for this part of our trip. Due to the construction I wouldn’t have wanted to try to walk to DD, but we did find the drive and parking easy to manage. On our last night, the cable went out due to storms, so the front desk suggested we order a movie on PPV. That was great, but they didn’t offer to comp it or discount it in any way, which would have been nice since we were trying to get the kids to wind down in the room and rest, and there was nothing to motivate them to be still other than the offer of television. We did get the $89/night rate with free parking and the resort fee waived from Mousesavers.com. I had to show them my confirmation twice to get the resort fee waived, as they kept trying to charge me for it. All in all it was a nice place to stay and we all enjoyed it.
We have stayed at the B resort twice now and enjoyed it both times. The rooms are very spacious, way more so than the moderate resorts at WDW. As you said the bedding was super comfy. We found a great price of $89/nt on the internet. That being said, we are in the middle of becoming DVC owners so I do look forward to enjoying the DVC resorts. The B resort is a great option though off property.
Did you find this hotel to be an easy walk to Downtown Disney or a bit far?
Actually didn’t do the walk, so I can’t speak to that, but based on Google Maps, it doesn’t look too bad. YMMV.
For those wondering, as I was, this building was formerly known as the Hotel Royal Plaza. Hard to keep track of which Hotel Plaza Boulevard building is which when they keep changing names and brands.
Oops, left out that detail. Thanks!
Great pictures and review. I really like the look of this hotel; the clean white base with the bold blue accents is really very remarkable. Perhaps it is the stunning pictures (as usual) but it really just seams that I’m a not in the target demographic (re: socio-economic wise) for this hotel; it just looks to be a bit to rich for my vacation dollar. That said, a nice hotel is not the number 1 priority for a Disney Vacation and if I am spending that kind of money, I will stay “on property” in Disney World.
Incidentally I laughed at the spontaneous convention remark.
Thanks!
-Kyle.
I guess it’s a matter of perspective. For what it offers, I’d call B Resort a good value. It’s Deluxe-caliber, but at Moderate (or below) prices. Granted, if you’re typically staying in a Value, it’s more money. Otherwise, you’re probably saving by staying here.
Do you not have spontaneous conventions either?! 😉
Looks like a place I’d enjoy staying at, but not instead of staying on property. That’s only because I really don’t want to give up the perks of being at a Disney hotel unless we are staying somewhere incredibly affordable and with luxuries not afforded by a standard hotel room.
I urge you to review Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We stayed there for 7 nights recently in a 1 bedroom and at a cost of $65 per night through a great reseller on eBay (similar deals are available all the time). Their pools are nearly on par with disney deluxe hotels, their rooms are bigger than Disney’s 1 bedrooms (except old key west), and the location is only bested by the monorail loop hotels and crescent lake hotels. Having all that space with a 5 month old baby and at that price made Disney much more enjoyable that it would have been otherwise- all for much less than the cost of a value resort!
Wyndham Bonnet Creek review is coming soon. Sounds like you got a crazy-good deal on the place!
The images are looking so good and cool….
While I haven’t stayed at this hotel, I did walk through twice to pick up and drop off a rental car at the Enterprise desk. My original take was that the public spaces looked fresh and nice, but the music was WAY too loud.
The music is too loud, the colors are too bright, and STAY OFF MY LAWN YOU PUNKS! 😉
I kid, I kid!
Thanks for the review – especially the photos – very helpful with planning. Especially like the two beds and love seat. My first thought when I saw the photos were of the hidden Mickeys in the carpet. It looks like a really cool place. I’d rather they list a room rate that includes the resort fee than list a relatively low price only to have to add the fee. We had looked into staying there over the holidays. They had a very price advantageous opening over Christmas, however, we have planned for just after Christmas and the prices were more than staying on Disney property. One of these days we will probably give it a try when we want to extend our Disney stay.
Interesting about the price differences. For what it’s worth, when Sarah saw the photos, her opinion of the place was even more favorable than mine (she didn’t stay here with me) and she said she thought the design touches that I thought were ostentatious were actually nice touches. So what do I know! 🙂
Am I the only one who immediately started counting the Hidden Mickey’s in the room carpet?
I really appreciate these offsite reviews; even though I’m not sure if I’ll ever use any of these options, it’s a great resource to know they exist and what they consist of for help in planning friends and families trips which seem to happen more and more frequently.
Good form.
Thanks–there will be plenty more reviews like this coming. Stay tuned!