I have been to Disney over a dozen times and have stayed at mid-range and deluxe Disney hotels. This was the first time we stayed at the Boardwalk Inn. You can't beet the location if you are an Epcot fan. Also, the boat ride to Hollywood Studios was convenient and quick. The hotel was unique and we really liked the Boardwalk theme and music. The local bar was nice, but we spent more time just getting coffee and tea every morning. Given that our favorite resort is Yacht Club, we would certainly recommend Boardwalk if you want a change of scenery. Can't wait to go back!

The boardwalk Inn is , of course, in a wonderful location. We only stay at Epcot hotels because of the proximity to everything. We had an absolutely wonderful time in early December. The decorations were beautiful, and the property and rooms were spotless. The pool, however, was too cold for us.

We have stayed in the Boardwalk Vilas several times and decided to try the Inn for the WDW Marathon weekend. Perfect location if you are doing Pasta in the Park for the race weekends. We were able to walk back to the hotel through Epcot after the half marathon and marathon. Was also very nice to be able to walk out to the international gateway bridge and cheer on the marathoners.

The room was HUGE. Two queen beds and a pull out couch. Plenty of room for our kids to play and we never felt cramped. We had a court yard view that looked out at the quiet pool and cottages. Very quiet, the races had us up at 3am and we never had trouble with noise when going to sleep early. Cast members were all great despite the busy weekend.

I definitely love the Boardwalk property and will have a hard time deciding between the Inn and the Vilas in the future. While the vilas offer the kitchen space and convenience the Inn has a special luxury to it.
One Downside:
Like my review for the Vilas I will mention that there are serious bus problems at the Boardwalk and if you plan on spending most of your time at the Magic Kingdom I would recommend staying at a Magic Kingdom resort.

My wife and I stayed at the Boardwalk Inn for the 2013 marathon weekend. We were doing it as a couple's weekend and left the kids at home with Gram.

Overall the hotel was very good with no real complaints at all. The hotel was very clean but there were a few things that looked a bit dated and needed some work (for example a couple of the pot lights in the room were loose).

The location is fantastic with short walks to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios - the walk to Epcot is slightly longer here than from the Beach Club but the walk to Hollywood Studios is much shorter.

Another nice feature is the short walk to the Dolphin and Swan Resorts - if you are not a fan of Disney coffee the Dolphin and Swan Resorts sell Starbucks coffee as an alternative. We did the walk to the Dolphin a couple times for my wife to get her fix.

We had a king size bed in a corner room that ended up having 2 balconies - one overlooked the walking path to the buses and the other overlooked a courtyard that is used for the convention center. Both balconies were generally south facing which provided the room with some fantastic light and added to the atmosphere.

As we were taking part in the marathon races we knew were likely to have a nap in the afternoon and were concerned about the proximity to the bus path and the convention area but in the end these concerns were unfounded. We did hear some noise from the buses and people walking to them but it wasn't very loud at all (there were some very nice lush trees blocking a bunch of the noise). The convention center courtyard could have been a concern if there had been anything going on there that weekend.

The room itself was quiet and we didn't hear any of the other nearby rooms or any traffic in the hallway.

The king size bed was quite comfortable - my back is picky about beds and I had no issues for the period we stayed.

Because we had some strange hours during the marathon weekend we kept the do not disturb sign up so we can't speak to how well housekeeping maintains the rooms - the room was very clean when we checked it.

We enjoyed the ambiance of hotel and the overall theme and decor but the lack of a quick service restaurant you could reach from inside the hotel was a bit disappointing. There are several restaurants on the Boardwalk easily accessible but they weren't quite as convenient as we would have liked. Additionally the bakery on the Boardwalk is current closed for renovations further limiting choices for breakfast. They had opened a tent on the Boardwalk with quick breakfast items like bagels and croissants but they were still working the kinks out of that when we were there and the selection was limited.

In the end we enjoyed our time there and it was a very convenient location to be at during the marathon weekend (especially as my wife was able to view me near the end of the full marathon a short walk from the hotel). I think though when we compare our time there with the time we have spent previously at the Yacht and Beach Clubs, we prefer the Yacht and Beach over the Boardwalk. With our young kids I think it would end up being a toss up between the Boardwalk and Port Orleans: French Quarter.