Newport Bay or Sequoia Lodge

[HappyPanda]

I'm also in the opinion of the SL being an amazing hotel in the Winter and NPB is fab in the summer. But I'd never pay drastically more for one over the other as they are both comparable so I would normally just go with whichever is cheapest.

[HeatherSPNF]

I stayed at Sequoia Lodge in July this year, was upgraded for free to the Golden Forest Room and absolutely loved my time there. It was a nice walk to and from the parks so we didn't bother with the buses to and fro. This was the first time I'd booked and planned a holiday on my own and when I told the staff this they were so helpful. Overall it was a lovely, cosy-feeling hotel that I would highly recommend.

~ April 2024 ~

Having revisited last September I can now give an honest review of both and an updated view of where I would choose to stay upon a return to Disneyland Paris.

In 2019, I stayed at Sequoia Lodge with 1 other person, as stated in my original post. I will simply reiterate that it was one of the best Disney hotel stays I have had, (excluding Old Key West in WDW, that hotel will always have my full heart and love).
The staff were wonderful, the room was a good size for 2 and the food in the Golden Forest buffet was great. Due to our free upgrade, we could also have drinks from that room whenever and an afternoon tea every day. The walk around the lake was a nice easy-breezy trip where you could stop to look at the beautiful fish within the lake and it led you straight into the Disney Village right next to my favourite quick serve, Earl of Sandwich.
We stayed for 5 days and 4 nights and I can honestly say the hotel played a big role in not wanting to leave at the end, though don't we all get those feelings upon leaving Disney?

Upon my return in 2023, I went with 3 different people to my previous trip. They did all the booking and I simply went along for the Disney trip, I mean who wouldn't? This time I stayed at Newport Bay. By this time, the new Marvel hotel was open, which it had not been when I went previously, it had large boards covering as they redid it, so we did have 3 choices of hotel but wanted to give this one a go. Our first impression of the outside of the building, from the lakeside, was that this place was going to be a lovely place to stay. The building was clean and tidy and beautifully presented. When entering, however, we found the lifts up to the reception were out of order. With us were my grandparents, one of whom does not find stairs easy, this meant having to lug our suitcases up the stairs along with hers which was no easy task. When reaching the top we asked a member of staff if they knew when the lift would be fixed and they simply shrugged and walked away. This should have been our first worry that perhaps we had picked the wrong hotel.
After this, we went to get into the queue to check in. I stayed with my nan, sitting down in the lobby whilst my aunt went to join my grandad in the queue. He had used his info and cards to book however my aunt had been there beside him telling him exactly what buttons to press, he's tech savvy enough but Disney was a whole new board game for him. They went to join the queue and were told by a cast member that only one person per party could join. My aunt proceeded to explain that my grandad had booked the tickets but wouldn't know what to do upon reaching the desk and the woman still refused to let her go too. All parties involved remained calm and my aunt simply said that she would go up instead then, letting my grandad come and join me and my nan. She was then told that due to my grandad being the lead name, she could not go up and he had to be the one to check us all in. This is something I had never heard of before and after checking with multiple cast members after the whole matter, we realised she could have gone up the whole time as my grandad had printed out absolutely everything he needed to check in so no phones or emails were needed, he had one large folder for the whole holiday, ready and waiting in his hand!
My aunt stayed cool and told my grandad everything he may need to know before sending him through, whereupon she joined us on the sofa. After far too long, we were checked in and the cast member gave us the most horrible looks and said something along the lines of "See that wasn't so hard was it?" we made our way up to our room. This was the most un-Disney welcome I have ever experienced and I would like to say it got better but in this hotel, it did not.
Our room was the wrong room, we were four to a very small area that the staff would not allow us to change from, we had booked a larger room but apparently because we booked too far in advance, they oversold and gave the rooms out on a 'first come, first serve' basis. Unacceptable.
The pool was lovely I will say, very big, with enough space to lark around, but the lockers would not lock so 1 of us had to stay on the side with our belongings at all times.
Breakfast was good, I can't fault the buffet or the staff in this area they cleared tables, kept everything well stocked and were generally helpful; having the Disney manner we all look for when going. Same with dinner.
By the end of our holiday, although we did not want to leave the Disney magic of the parks and the Village, we were more than ready to leave the hotel. It was also the busiest I have seen a hotel in September although we figured out after that this was due to it still being summer holidays for some European countries, that one was on us.
Now I don't want people to read this post and think that I do this with all hotels I stay in, moan about every little thing to gain something from it. I made no complaints to anyone, my grandad may have done but that would be on him. This just did not entice me to go back there! I hate complaining! I know these are people just trying to get through their days too, it's their livelihood, not just a fun trip away like for visitors but Disney is different. You expect to be able to go up to any cast member and, maybe just have a nice chat, maybe ask a question you've been dying to know the answer to, maybe have a little cry and hope they can point you towards your next shoulder pal, or maybe to just tell you where the closest toilets are, but in this hotel, I didn't feel like I could go near any of them for any reason.

I know this is a long-winded way of saying it, but after staying in both hotels, my mind has not changed! I would still choose to stay in Sequoia Lodge