Saratoga Springs is located in the Downtown Disney area. There is actually a boat available to transport guests to Downtown Disney. This resort is listed as a Deluxe Villa resort. When I stayed in April, I had a Disney Vacation Club room. It is not listed on the website, so I had no idea what to expect. I was thrilled with my room and its location.
Saratoga Springs is themed around horses and horse racing. There are 6 sections of hotel rooms;
The Springs, The Paddock, Congress Park, The Carousel, The Grandstand and the Treehouse Villas. I stayed in the Paddock area. Every section has its own pool, which is really nice. The Grandstand is the general area, which seems to be the most crowded. It is also where the main pool is. I am pretty sure that my section was DVC only, so it was very quiet and there were very little people around.
Saratoga also has a golf course on the property. I crossed the gold course on the way to my section of the hotel. There is a Hidden Mickey sand trap as you leave/enter the hotel on the buses. So keep your eyes open! Along with the golf course, Saratoga offers other amenities such as, The Spa and The Health Club. The Spa is advertised in all of the rooms and the brochures look very nice.
There are also bike rentals, jogging trails and a play ground. The rentals are all located at Community Hall. If you are a DVC member you can rent movies for free. My room had a DVD player in it, but I could not rent any because I am not the registered DVC member. Only the people with the official DVC cards can access all of the DVC perks. Kind of a downside for the rest of the family members, but oh well.
The Carriage House is the lobby area. It includes the check-in desks, a DVC meeting area, a gift shop and the quick-service restaurant: The Artist's Palette.
The Artist's Palette is pretty fancy for a quick bite to eat. The one time I went there, the only thing that looked normal was the chicken tenders.
There is also a sit-down restaurant called The Turf Club Bar and Grill.
The decorations are really well themed. There are statues right outside the Carriage House.
Below are all of the photos of my room. The first picture shows the seating area, the pull-out bed and the doors to the patio.
Here is my bed. It was the standard Disney bed, nothing special.
The sink was located outside of the bathroom.
The small kitchen area. There was a microwave and fridge plus a coffee pot and toaster. There were plates in my cabinets but I'm not sure if they were left there since they were just paper plates. I also had dish soap, a towel and sponge but again not sure if those are always provided.
Here is the shower, it had great water pressure so I was happy.
This was the pool that was right outside my room. The main pool is not pictured, what is pictured is out of order. It was themed like a derby race, so that was pretty nice. Even though the pool was so close, if there were people in it I couldn't hear.
I also could see the bus stop from my room. That was perfect! There is no bus stop at the main lobby, but one is located at every section. Depending on what section you are in, you could be on the bus for 10 minutes before you even leave Saratoga Springs. I had to leave early everyday to compensate for that, but once you learn the system its not a problem. I was lucky enough to be the first drop off spot every night though.
I greatly enjoyed this hotel. I was in a secluded area due to my DVC status, so it was nice and quiet. There were never more than 5 people waiting for the bus with me. This could be because of the April crowd level or the hotel. I had an amazing room location and the room itself was perfect.
The only thing that I did not like was the extra time on the buses and the food choices at the Artist's Palette.
I would stay at this hotel again for sure!
