So to follow up on my above comment - I'm home now, some 24+ hours after checking out from the GCH (I live really far away).
I love love loved this stay at the GCH. Not my first time in a Disney deluxe-type hotel within walking distance of parks (previously stayed at WDW BC/BCV and club level at SDL DLH) but this experience was so much better.
I can't overstate how convenient the location was. In the mornings we'd head out with jackets, and as the day turned warmer I'd pop back to the room and leave jackets there. One time when I did this I felt a bit thirsty in the room so made myself a cup of tea using the coffee maker... then decided to just make a cup of coffee too and bring it into DCA for my parents who were still inside the park. I'd buy stuff in the parks/DTD and just pop back to the room to leave it there. Before every Grizzly ride I'd pop back to the room to change to flip flops and grab a poncho, then after the ride I'd squelch back to the room to change. And when it rained on my last night there, it was such a short distance to walk back to the hotel (via World of Disney for some last minute shopping). It was easy for my parents to pop back to the room for a break during the day too.
The lobby was fantastic. That smell of gingerbread just walking into it was awesome. The fireplace, the tree, the handbell choir... All super amazing.
I did the Art of the Craft tour and it was fun - the CM who ran it pointed out so many design elements in the hotel that I would have missed otherwise. So much thought went into the hotel design and architecture!
Also did the 6am power walk through DCA one day. I could easily keep the 15 minute mile pace, but will say that walking that pace is much harder than jogging at a faster pace! It was cool to be able to see the park before it opened. Only did it once though, as didn't really want to wake up so early after that.
Swimming pool - went swimming once. Somehow I wasn't a huge fan of the area - I guess because if I really wanted to go and have fun swimming or splashing around it's more fun if I just go to a proper water park (there's one near me).
We went to Storytellers for brunch once, and it was amazing. We took a later seating (around 12.45pm), and it worked out great. The restaurant was only about half full at that time, which meant the characters had more time to spend with each party and they went around and around and around. We must have seen each of them about 3-4 times! And towards the end there was a CM going around tables checking to make sure that all the characters had come around. The character interaction was so much fun. Food was decent too.
The room itself was amazing and I loved how well the entire room design was thought out. You could dim the lights at the sink area, the main room lights, and each of the 4 little lanterns by the bed, and have the room anywhere from complete darkness to super bright. So if someone was sleeping, the bed area could be dark - but the rest of the room (coffee maker area, sink area, desk area, and even the other bed areas) could be bright enough for people who were awake. Our room was particularly awesome as we happened to get a great view of the fireworks - one room down and the view would have been blocked by a tree and a hotel building.
Wow this ended up being kind of long! (At 2am in the morning local time no less...)