In this post, we review the Innkeeper’s Club, the Club Level offering at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. If this is the first post of ours you’re reading, there might be two others you’re interested in. First, we have separately reviewed Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. If you’re looking for information about the hotel generally, you’ll need to read that post.
Second—and maybe more importantly—we have an entirely separate post covering the ins and outs of Club Level at Walt Disney World. If you’re wondering about the details of whats included, whether it’s worth it, and just how we evaluate it broadly, you’ll want to check out that post. This post focuses specifically on the Innkeeper’s Club at BoardWalk.
In this post, we often compare BoardWalk’s Innkeeper’s Club to nearby Yacht Club’s Regatta Club. This is both because it was our most recent club visit and because the two are popular alternatives to each other given their proximity.
Booking Club Level at BoardWalk
Club Level is a special room designation at all the the deluxe resorts (and one moderate resort) at Walt Disney World that includes a variety of perks. If you’re interested in reading about Club Level at the other deluxe resorts, we have reviews here (links open in new tabs):
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kilimanjaro Club Level Review
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn - Innkeeper’s Club Level Review (you are here)
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort - Royal Palm Club (Main Building) Level Review
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort - King Kamehameha Club Level Review
Disney’s Coronado Springs (Moderate Resort) - Chronos Club Level Review
We booked our Club Level Standard View room through our choice go-to travel agent, Lauren Quirk of Travel With Character LLC. We used a 35% off Annual Passholder offer rate, our most common way of booking Club Level.
For 2024, Club Level rooms at BoardWalk start at $897 per night. That’s a premium of $256 per night over the lowest prices standard room. Most club rooms are the same as other rooms, just in a club-exclusive section of the 4th floor. BoardWalk also has garden / outer rooms that are club level and distinct from the “regular” rooms.
BoardWalk Inn Club Level Check-In
We weren’t greeted immediately on arrival at BoardWalk (a 50/50 thing at deluxe resorts), so we checked in at the front desk. If you check in at the hotel’s front desk you’ll want to make sure they either give you directions to the lounge or have someone from the lounge come get you (this sometimes happens, sometimes doesn’t). If you use Disney World’s online check in, you can just head to the lounge before or after stopping at your room.
In either case, it’s important to pay a visit to “check in” with the lounge staff once you’re at the hotel. This was they know who you are and have an opportunity to show you around the lounge and give you any welcome information/gifts.
Our room wasn’t ready (11:30AM arrival) so we headed to the lounge. The Cast Member at the club concierge desk gave us some information about the resort and provided us with the welcome letter and the resort map before telling us we could enjoy the lounge until our room was ready.
BoardWalk Inn Club Level Perks
Again, our post on Club Level at Walt Disney World more generally is a better place to get a sense of the value of Club Level. Briefly though, by staying Club Level at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, you’ll get:
access to a lounge (The Innkeeper’s Club Lounge) with four small food and beverage servings throughout the day
access to a dedicated concierge staff, including by phone and text
The first of these is really the most important, and it’s what we focus most on in this review.
As a guest of a deluxe resort at Disney World, you’ll also get all the perks of a Disney stay, like Early Theme Park Entry and transportation to the parks, plus the deluxe-exclusive Extended Evening Hours.
The Innkeeper’s Club Lounge at BoardWalk Inn
Accessing the Innkeeper’s Club Lounge is a bit strange. It’s located on the fourth floor of the hotel, but that floor is not exclusive to the club. When you take the elevator to the fourth floor and follow the club signs, you’ll reach what I call the “gatekeeper’s desk.” It’s actually the only concierge desk for the club.
They can either open the door for you, or you can scan your Magic Band to get through that door. Then you’ll have to walk down a hallway past some club level rooms until you get to the lounge itself.
It’s a bit strange that you have to walk all the way down the hall to speak with the concierge. There’s also only one concierge (several other lounges have two).
The lounge room is essentially one big room with seating for thirty-six people.
There is seating for a few more in an adjacent foyer area, but this is outside the lounge.
There is only one television, and it faces the entire lounge. Having only one television is a bit odd. Regatta Club had three—one main one, one for kids, and one in a small sitting room.
The balcony has no seating, but a decent amount of standing room. This is possibly because it offers a partial view of the nighttime show at Epcot, and they don’t want tables in the way.
Just next to the television is the beverage service area, where you’ll find assorted beverages like coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, iced tea and lemonade.
We were very impressed to see cold brew available. Unfortunately, they only make small batches (even with milk and ice, probably only enough for around five people), and they take four hours to brew a new batch.
Canned and bottled beverages (including bottled water) are in small refrigerators right at the lounge entrance.
Alcohol (beer, wine, champagne) is available on request throughout the day. Included alcohol is what makes club level one of the better hotel options for adults visiting Disney World.
The serving area is on the side of the room opposite the television and consists of a counter along the wall and an island station.
Like Yacht Club’s Regatta Club, the room can feel a bit small when it is crowded. We were arriving just after the holidays, and guests and Cast Members were lamenting recent days when there was a big seating shortage.
The vaulted ceiling does create a sense of space, though, while the Regatta Club felt much more cramped.
Service at BoardWalk Inn’s Innkeeper’s Club
If our only Disney World Club Level experience was at BoardWalk’s Innkeeper’s Club, we might stay Club Level every time. That’s how good the service was. This was markably better than our most recent stay a few weeks ago at Yacht Club’s Regatta Club.
Several staff were very proactive in waiting on us, even if they were openly bemused by our constant presence in the lounge during our stay. They were also very friendly.
There was some variance depending on who was staffing at the moment, but it wasn’t just one or two people who were superb, it was several. (If I had a tip for BoardWalk, it’s that they need to mix up the staffing a bit—it seemed like one crew in particular was a notch above the rest.)
If you haven’t read our review of other clubs or our feelings on Disney’s Club Level in general, this might not shock you—Club Levels are supposed to have superb service. Disney’s generally don’t, though.
The Innkeeper’s Club still isn’t quite to the standard of, say, the Ritz-Carlton (which has comparable club level pricing), but the staff did their part to keep the gap as small as possible.
In-Room Touches From Innkeeper’s Club Staff
There were a few other touches we found impressive. First, we received a welcome card and welcome golden chocolate bars in our room:
We also received a personalized itinerary laying out our day, which is standard for most club, and it’s a touch I appreciate.
If this just had generic information on it, I’d write it off as just a basic gesture. But including personalized plans is key because you’re really nudging people to come to you for help.
BoardWalk Club Level Servings, Food, and Beverage
The Innkeeper’s Club has four servings:
7:00AM to 10:30AM - Continental Breakfast
11:30AM to 4:00PM - Light Snacks
5:00PM to 7:00PM - Appetizers and Select Beverages
8:00PM to 10:00PM - Desserts and Cordials
Unlike the Regatta Club, the Innkeeper’s Club is not 24 hours. It is only open from 7:00AM to 10:00PM. During those hours, you shouldn’t have a problem getting beer and wine on request.
We managed to catch the lounge during a lower season, so crowds weren’t really an issue. But Disney’s lounges are very small for the amount of club level rooms they have, and as we said, Cast Members were recalling the recent days when the lounge was completely full.
Continental Breakfast at the Innkeeper’s Club
Please forgive the bad pictures of the bread / pastry options—I somehow completely forgot these until the end of the service.
Light Snacks at the Innkeeper’s Club
Appetizers and Select Beverages at the Innkeeper’s Club
I want to note that for appetizers there was a Chef preparing food on site. I got a photo of the Chilean Bass and Cauliflower saucer, but I missed getting one of the Steak and Mashed potatoes.
Desserts and Cordials at the Innkeepers Club
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn - Innkeeper’s Club - Conclusions
It’s pretty shocking how much better the Innkeeper’s Club was than the Regatta Club, just on the other side of Crescent Lake. The lounge was better. It was better staffed. The food was much better. There were no issues of cleanliness / tidiness. The service in and outside of the lounge was impressive.
But “is it worth it”? You still can’t avoid that the Boardwalk area as a whole offers so much by way of food and beverage.
Throw in nearby Epcot, and it’s hard to think your $250 per night—the approximate premium for club level over other rooms at Boardwalk—couldn’t be better spent as far as food and drink go. If you’re looking at this for the free food and beverage, I think you’d be better off using that money for a few nice meals.
A couple of adults visiting Disney World might prefer the variety of nearby bars and restaurants to spending too much time in the lounge for $250.
A family that prefers consistency and the ability to walk in at a moment’s notice and get everyone a treat might get good value out of the club. $250 per night is a lot, but for a family of four you’re talking about trying to find $65 per person, which isn’t outrageous.
Here’s what I can say for the Innkeeper’s Club—it definitely is a treat. Contrary to most of our other Club Level experiences, we actually felt like our visit the to the Innkeeper’s Club was something special.
Yes, I focus a lot on the $/night, but Innkeeper’s is one of the few clubs where the staff made you feel like the value of the lounge went beyond the straightforward analysis. This lounge really had an attitude of “what can we do to make every guest’s experience special.” It’s a gem, and I look forward to returning one day.
Innkeeper’s Club Surprised Us…Have You Every Visited Disney’s BoardWalk Inn or the Innkeeper’s Club?
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