Innkeeper’s Club is the concierge lounge at Walt Disney World’s BoardWalk Inn, the closest hotel to EPCOT. We’ll review whether this Club Level is worth the money and how it compares to other options, what’s included, as well as photos of the food served for breakfast, lunch, dinner & dessert.
Note that this review focuses only on the BoardWalk Inn’s Club Level experience. if you’re looking for our thoughts on the hotel as a whole, check out our Disney’s BoardWalk Inn Review. Spoiler: it’s one of our favorite hotels in all of Walt Disney World. We love the location, like the redone rooms, and appreciate the attention to detail and whimsical themed design. But as with any resort, it’s not for everyone–so that also covers the pros & cons.
We’ll also mostly gloss over the various perks and benefits of staying Club Level, instead focusing on what’s unique to the Innkeeper’s Club. If you’re looking for general info, our Guide to Club Level & Concierge Lounges at Disney World offers overarching thoughts on what you can expect in terms of service, the various resort tiers, and an index of other specific Club Level lounge reviews from around Walt Disney World…
Upon arrival at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, you might be greeted by a Cast Member who escorts you up to the Innkeeper’s Club for check-in. “Might” is the operative word here, as we’ve found this happens about half the time when checking into Club Level at Walt Disney World. It seems less common in the last few years.
This bit of white glove service is nice, but not necessary. That’s because the Innkeeper’s Club is not its own floor at BoardWalk, meaning you can access it via the elevator by pressing the “4” button (which, for the elevator newbies out there, stands for the 4th floor).
Innkeeper’s Club takes up a portion of the 4th floor, meaning there are also regular ole guest rooms up here. Follow the directional signs to the Innkeeper’s Club and you’ll find a desk. We recommend checking in here as opposed to the front desk on the main floor. Even if you do online check-in, stop here.
These desks are staffed by two concierge Cast Members from 7 am until 10 pm; in addition to helping while you’re at the hotel, they can be contacted while you’re in the parks should you need any assistance.
At this desk or in your room, depending upon how/where/when you check-in, you’ll receive a welcome letter and various info about Innkeeper’s Club, plus taffy. Nice touches.
It’s good to stop by this desk to get a bit of facetime with the concierge Cast Members. They can assist if you need assistance or planning (hopefully you don’t–it’s a bit late at this stage of the game for that!).
If your room isn’t ready, they can also give you manual access to the Innkeeper’s Club. For this reason, we always arrive early when doing a Club Level stay. We are frugal fans who enjoy Club Level as the occasional splurge (one of our favorites at Walt Disney World!), and every hour of access is worth $X from our perspective. Time is money!
I don’t care whether that means booking a redeye flight and getting here at 7:48 am or doing a split stay and checking out of our previous hotel to arrive here for breakfast. The first one of those is a very specific time because, as you might guess, it’s an actual example.
Above we mentioned that you walk down the hall of the fourth floor to get to the Innkeeper gatekeeper.
After you leave this desk and go through the door, you walk down another hallway to get to the lounge itself. Normally, the desk is right outside the lounge, streamlining things a bit. My guess is that the Innkeeper’s Lounge was a retrofit, and this was the easiest way to do it? I don’t know.
Outside the Innkeeper’s Club there’s an atrium with additional seating. It’s a pleasant space and the couch is comfy, but not particularly practical if you’re serious about getting your eat on. Good for coffee and cocktails, though.
Inside, the Innkeeper’s lounge is basically one large space with seats for a few dozen people. We’ve stayed here a couple of times now, and the space was redone during the recent reimagining of the BoardWalk. There are no substantive differences as a result, just aesthetic. It mirrors the new hotel rooms at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn.
The design fairly humdrum, and the highlight is arguably the television. Not exactly high praise, unless you’re a bigtime TV fan (your room will also have one, don’t worry). There are a few windows in the Innkeeper’s Club, but these do not offer BoardWalk views.
This is the biggest downside. If the Innkeeper’s Club afforded BoardWalk views, one “hack” to booking Club Level would be that you could downgrade to a standard room from a BoardWalk view and put that money towards Club Level.
The lounge instead has a view of a quiet pool and half of Spaceship Earth. This means that it also has an EPCOT fireworks view, which I guess is better than nothing. Beats a bus stop view.
Nevertheless, there’s nothing unique about the view offered by the Innkeeper’s Lounge.
Personally, this is a kinda-big thing for me–I love overlooking the lobby at Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge, or having theme park views as is the case at some of the Magic Kingdom resorts. I wouldn’t call this a dealbreaker, but a good view is nice if you’re going to spend a decent amount of time in the lounge.
Throughout the day, the Innkeeper’s Club lounge serves the following:
- Early Riser Coffee: 6:30-7 a.m.
- Beverages: 7-10 a.m.
- Continental breakfast: 7-10:30 a.m.
- Light snacks and refreshments: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Hors D’oeuvres and beverages: 5-7 p.m.
- Desserts & cordials: 8-10 p.m.
Here are food photos and glimpses at the spreads for each of these meal services:
Consistent with other Club Level lounges around Walt Disney World, we found the 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. spread to be best of these.
Walt Disney World refrains from calling this dinner, because they don’t want to encourage guests to make a full meal of it, but no encouragement is necessary for me. Or, presumably, anyone inclined to squeeze the most bang for their buck out of Club Level.
Also as is typical, breakfast was the time when the lounge was busiest, followed closely by fireworks/dessert time and dinner. The middle of the day is least busy–it’s also the worst of the spreads. Not just at the Innkeeper’s Lounge, but at every single Club Level at Walt Disney World. (I’d say this parallels most real world hotels, as well.)
We even found don’t-call-it-dinner disappointing. In the past, we’ve encountered chefs preparing small plates of meats or other ambitious dishes in the Club Levels at the Crescent Lake (and other) resorts. Not so here.
There were no nice little touches, inventive dishes, or anything of the sort. I had hoped that we’d be treated to a sampling of chef’s choices from Flying Fish, the Signature Restaurant along the promenade. That was not the case.
There were a couple of decent items mixed in there, but most of it was a far cry from the delicious cuisine we enjoyed at Old Faithful Club Level in Disney’s Wilderness Lodge or Chronos Club Level in Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs Resort.
Honestly, my favorite meal at Innkeeper’s Club ended up being breakfast.
The smoked salmon was delicious, there were eggs and fruit, and I was able to take plates back to my room and enjoy the meal on my balcony. If you have a room with a BoardWalk view, I’d definitely recommend this over eating in the lounge itself.
This isn’t so much a ringing endorsement of breakfast as it is an indictment of the evening spreads. Perhaps I just got unlucky, but I was underwhelmed by the cuisine quality. With that said, I was surprised to see so few people in the lounge from 5 to 7 p.m., so perhaps this is not a top priority for most Innkeeper’s Club guests?
Beer, wine, and champagne is available throughout the day at Innkeeper’s Lounge. During my stay, it was open access at some times and upon request at others.
Alcohol is potentially outcome-determinative for Club Level for adults doing Walt Disney World. I know that if we had our honeymoon to do over today as really-for-real adults instead of fresh-out-of-college-and-broke twentysomethings, we’d absolutely be doing Club Level. And probably here or over at Beach Club, since those would put us closest to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT!
Or perhaps not. We don’t drink like we did coming out of college, so booze doesn’t move the needle much (or at all) for us anymore. What I do know is that we have friends who love and rave about Innkeeper’s Club due to the create your own Bloody Mary station. Meanwhile, I might’ve not noticed it at all if Sarah didn’t draw my attention to it.
In terms of cost, you’re looking at rack rates ranging from around $950 to $1,500 night for standard Club Level rooms, depending upon your view.
Suites or multi-bedroom units cost even more. Even with a good Annual Pass or Florida Resident discount, you’re likely looking at $600 per night to stay Innkeeper’s Club Level at minimum. And the best discounts aren’t always available, as demand is high for Club Level and room inventory (supply) is often low.
By contrast, standard rooms at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn start at around $675. This amounts to a minimum spread of around $275 per night before discounts. I’d add that, anecdotally, discounts are more abundant and easier to book for standard rooms than Club Level at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. So while you could reduce the difference in theory, it’s unlikely in actuality outside of the off-season, which is not-so-coincidentally when we booked the Innkeeper’s Club.
Most of the time, we give a cop out “it depends” answer when it comes to questions of value for money. While we enjoyed Innkeeper’s Club, I just cannot say there are many scenarios where I’d recommend it.
I do think there’s a strong case to be made for staying Club Level in the Crescent Lake Resort Area, but if that were the best option for me, I’d opt for Stone Harbor Club Level at Beach Club or maybe Regatta Club Level at Yacht Club. Those get the edge in part for the lounges and food but, more importantly, because I personally think that Stormalong Bay is a great compliment to Club Level.
With that said, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to “which Club Level at Walt Disney World is best?” What I’ve learned over the years is that each of these has its diehard fans. Guests who have been staying at a certain Club Level–and only that Club Level–for years, maybe even decades. They’re on a first-time basis with Cast Members and have compelling reasons for favoring each.
What I can say is that, on an objective level (food, view, value proposition) and subjective level (vibes, atmosphere, my random preferences), Innkeeper’s Lounge is among my least favorite Club Levels at Walt Disney World.
With that said, there are a lot of unique and novel room types at BoardWalk Inn and we’re huge fans of the hotel as a whole. It’s a good idea to consult a travel agent before booking–they can offer personalized advice and make an expert recommendation based on your unique needs and preferences.
As always, we highly recommend requesting a quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. The agents there will not only assist you with planning and resort recommendations (as necessary), but also book your vacation with the best-available special offer, and monitor your package for future discounts that can be applied retroactively.
Ultimately, we enjoyed our stay at Innkeeper’s Club. I don’t want to make this sound like a negative experience, as it certainly was not. But “not bad” isn’t the bar when grading a Club Level–an add-on that costs almost $300 per night extra. Viewed through the lens of the added cost, I don’t really think it was worth it–and was underwhelmed as compared to other Club Level stays we’ve done at Walt Disney World, including Innkeeper’s Club in the past.
For us, something feels wanting about Innkeeper’s Club–it doesn’t have that X factor that really elevates some of the other lounges. There’s nothing distinct or special about the lounge itself, there’s no spectacular view or other feature, and the food is only fine. Of course, others are likely to disagree; the good thing about Walt Disney World is that there’s something for everyone–Innkeeper’s Club simply isn’t the right fit for us. Your mileage may vary.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Innkeeper’s Club Level at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn? Are you a fan of this, or do you prefer other concierge lounges at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
