AKV concierge booking

[kgc07]

From everything I read, it seems people think booking concierge will be nearly impossible. So, for those that have had luck booking concierge, how far in advance did you book and is it a busy DVC time you are going?

[mouse4ever]

I got a concierge studio for a week - Dec. 6th thur Dec. 13th. I called daily at the 11 month mark the second MS opened. There were 3 days where I got a little nervous when the guide told me the room was open, took my info., and for some reason the room would "disappear"!!!!:scared1: They would go "see what they could do" and each time I somehow lucked out and got the room. There is a thread here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1680715

about the problems people were having getting their rooms for that week. It's possible if you diligently call every morning as soon as they open!

Good Luck:wizard:

[Inkmahm]

I have a concierge studio for April 16-21. I booked at less than the 11 month window, all at once. I just checked, I booked it August 24th so that was at 8 months.

[dianeschlicht]

We booked our 1 bedroom concierge the 1st day all AKV owners were able to book. It was less than 11 months, but no one else had a chance to book prior to that. It was May, and we booked for March. BTW, we just got back from that stay and loved it!

[LisaS]

I booked my reservation day by day 11 months out but then had to cancel and rebook! :scared1: I managed to get my new dates 10 months out. Those of us who booked during this first year have probably had a slightly easier time because there were fewer AKV owners competing with us for that reservation. That was one of the reasons I opted to book Concierge as my very first AKV reservation. I figured as time goes on and the number of AKV owners increases, the competition for those 5 2BR lockoffs will get worse.

[wildernessDad]

I would not leave it up to chance and even booking day-by-day at 11 months out is iffy. Definitely book day-by-day at the 11-month point.

[drag n' fly]

We booked concierge for 2 nights before we cruise at Christmas. We booked at exactly the 11th month mark day by day:worship:

[disneynutz]

We just gave up a 1 bedroom concierge next month due to our travel plans changing.

It can happen. :banana: :dance3: :yay: :dance3: :banana:

[realfam]

We tried to book concierge for the Aug 24 week and there was nothing available. We were lucky to get sav. view. That was booking 7 months out.
We did put our name on the wait list for concierge, so were sitting with our fingers crossed.....

[RobPickles]

We also booked 11 months out.

I just got off the phone with a DVC CM and they said that there would be NO conceirge rooms added to Kidani Village. They would only be in the Jamba House.

Rob :)

[BCV23]

Too bad about Kidani if that's accurate.

I booked our two club level stays at 7 and 10 months out but agree that it's only going to get harder to book.

[pouncingpluto]

I booked a five-night stay in a concierge studio sometime last summer for this February. So I think more than seven months, but definitely less than eleven.

[maciec]

I booked Dec. 7-12 for a 1 bedroom day by day at the 11month mark. I got it, thank goodness!

[kimberh]

I booked my May 4-9th stay the first day that Concierge was available to book at MS opening... day by day. I believe the next one will be harder.

[huey578]

We got a concierge 2 bdr for a week at AKL- 3rd week of October. I did a day by day reservation at the 11 month mark.
:thumbsup2

[Poohs Pal]

11 month window day by day for Novemer 9th-14th. 1 bedroom. Susan

[dianeschlicht]

Too bad about Kidani if that's accurate.

I booked our two club level stays at 7 and 10 months out but agree that it's only going to get harder to book.

It is accurate. We were told right from the start that the only CC rooms would be those in Jambo.

[BCV23]

It is accurate. We were told right from the start that the only CC rooms would be those in Jambo.

Sorry but I put no credence in what anyone was "told." Way to much conflicting information about a wide variety of subjects.

As Lisa pointed out, the DVC FAQ does state no concierge villas in Kidani Village.
That means much more to me but still it is not as if DVC has never changed plans before.

Nonetheless, it does seem unlikely to me for practical reasons. Where would the lounge be, how would food be delivered to it, etc..

[dianeschlicht]

Sorry but I put no credence in what anyone was "told." Way to much conflicting information about a wide variety of subjects.

As Lisa pointed out, the DVC FAQ does state no concierge villas in Kidani Village.
That means much more to me but still it is not as if DVC has never changed plans before.

Nonetheless, it does seem unlikely to me for practical reasons. Where would the lounge be, how would food be delivered to it, etc..

Well, by "told", I mean what was in our contract info. They can't change what they have already sold.

[BCV23]

Well, by "told", I mean what was in our contract info. They can't change what they have already sold.

Didn't know it was in the contract. That is different.

Nonetheless, aren't they still selling Jambo? If indeed they wanted to add concierge to Kidani, I wonder if those contracts could be different? I remember people posting that they had been "told" that it was being considered.

[marvali]

Can someone please clearly explain to a newbie all of the additional benefits you get when booking concierge at AKV? :confused: :worship: :surfweb:

[drag n' fly]

Didn't know it was in the contract. That is different.

Nonetheless, aren't they still selling Jambo? If indeed they wanted to add concierge to Kidani, I wonder if those contracts could be different? I remember people posting that they had been "told" that it was being considered.

If anyone has been "told" about Kidani concierge possibilities they were ill informed. It is a well known fact by anyone who owns at AKV that their will be no concierge at Kidani.

[BCV23]

If anyone has been "told" about Kidani concierge possibilities they were ill informed. It is a well known fact by anyone who owns at AKV that their will be no concierge at Kidani.


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Well, we own at AKV and didn't know that for a fact. Things do change. We were "told" there would be no 2 BRs with 2 Qs at BCV (to our disappointment) and that did change.

Still as I said earlier, it does seem unlikely to me.

[JESW]

I tried to book a 2 bedroom concierge room at 7 months for each of the 3 trips we planned this year with no luck. AKV is our home resort but we couldn't book 11 months out since we are using our incentive points. That's ok since now we get to try 3 different DVC resorts "free" and we will get to our home resort some day... :)

Jill

[LisaS]

Nonetheless, aren't they still selling Jambo? If indeed they wanted to add concierge to Kidani, I wonder if those contracts could be different? I remember people posting that they had been "told" that it was being considered.I remember those posts, too. With so many owners and so few Concierge rooms, it would be nice if they could increase the number of rooms.

From a practical standpoint, it seems like it would be easier to expand the number of Concierge rooms in Jambo House rather than add a Concierge option to Kidani. The lounge is already there and the staff is in place so provided they could accommodate more guests maybe they could just add more rooms to the Concierge category. It would require reallocating points since changing a Savanna View room to a Concierge room increases the number of points required. Maybe they could offer a Concierge upgrade for the Savanna View rooms in Jambo House where you pay for the room with points and pay for Concierge access with cash. I don't understand the rules well enough to know if that is something they can offer or not. Having Concierge in Jambo only also gives Jambo House something that makes those rooms more attractive than they might otherwise be once the larger Kidani rooms become available.

Adding Concierge rooms to Kidani would require adding a lounge and allocating (and filling) enough Concierge rooms to cover all of the costs of the lounge and the staff whereas the cost of Jambo's lounge and staff is shared between AKV and AKL. It seems to me to be a riskier option. But who knows -- maybe the demand is there and maybe they cannot accommodate any additional guests in the lounge in Jambo House.

[BCV23]

Thanks, Lisa. Glad I'm not the only one.

[LisaS]

Thanks, Lisa. Glad I'm not the only one.I hope SuzanneSLO weighs in on this. I remember she has posted in the past that there is a reason why they cannot expand Concierge in Jambo House. I don't know whether she was referring to the point allocation issue (which probably could be addressed) or if there are other things spelled out in the legal documents that limit Concierge in Jambo House to just the 6th floor.

[SuzanneSLO]

The original documents recorded for AKV provided that concierge was a designated real estate interest and that it was not an option to "upgrade" other rooms for cash or otherwise. I would have to go back and check my copies to see the exact language. Not sure under what circumstances they could modify those rules, but I would think it would be easier to add more Club rooms to Jambo before they sell out Jambo.

It always struck me as odd the way they dealt with concierge: calling the services provided part of a real estate interest so that DVD would receive a higher sales price for the room. I always wondered if DVD pays for the concierge operational costs so that those costs don't get incorporated into the general AKV operating budget for which all members pay. Otherwise it truly is a sweet deal for DVD: DVD keeeps the additional sales price and all members pay a portion of the cost of the services needed to justify that price.

-- Suzanne

[garytam]

We were staying at the AKV CL prior to the Magic cruise, the lounge area is not very big, it has about 5-6 tables in total. One morning we had to bring breakfast back to our room.

[SuzanneSLO]

Looking back at the Declaration of Condominium for AKV recorded in January, 2007, it is an occupancy issue. The lounge (which is 1,350 sf) is designed to hold only up to 45 guests from DVC based on the maximum occupancy of the concierge rooms. Under Section 2.5 of the Declaration, the remaining occupancy is available to the AKL until they formally terminate use of the lounge. So as long as their are concierge hotel rooms, no further DVC rooms can bedesignated as concierge rooms which share the Jambo lounge.

The concierge rooms are set and the rights to use the lounge are available only to those who occupy that real estate interest because the use of the lounge is "appurtenant to specific Accommodations (condominium units) within the Residential Master Property (the "Concierge Accommodations")."

As to building another lounge in Kidani and adding more concierge rooms with access to that lounge, this would require an amendment to the Declaration.

The consent of the Owners would NOT be required to amend the Declaration if "such amendment is necessary to allow the development or expansion of the Condominium Property or Timeshare Plan . . .; provided, however, that such amendment does not prejudice or impair to any material extent the rights of the Owners as a whole." This is in Section 9.1.

-- Suzanne

[dianeschlicht]

Looking back at the Declaration of Condominium for AKV recorded in January, 2007, it is an occupancy issue. The lounge (which is 1,350 sf) is designed to hold only up to 45 guests from DVC based on the maximum occupancy of the concierge rooms. Under Section 2.5 of the Declaration, the remaining occupancy is available to the AKL until they formally terminate use of the lounge. So as long as their are concierge hotel rooms, no further DVC rooms can bedesignated as concierge rooms which share the Jambo lounge.

The concierge rooms are set and the rights to use the lounge are available only to those who occupy that real estate interest because the use of the lounge is "appurtenant to specific Accommodations (condominium units) within the Residential Master Property (the "Concierge Accommodations")."

As to building another lounge in Kidani and adding more concierge rooms with access to that lounge, this would require an amendment to the Declaration.

The consent of the Owners would NOT be required to amend the Declaration if "such amendment is necessary to allow the development or expansion of the Condominium Property or Timeshare Plan . . .; provided, however, that such amendment does not prejudice or impair to any material extent the rights of the Owners as a whole." This is in Section 9.1.

-- Suzanne

Thanks for the legal clarification.

[BCV23]

Adding my thanks, Suzanne.

[LisaS]

Thanks Suzanne. I'm going to save this page in my "favorites" so that I can refer back to your explanation the next time this comes up!

[Iggipolka]

We booked June 10-20th AKV CL 1bedroom using Incentive Points at the 7th month window. I was able to get all 10 days at one call. :cool1:

We also have a 1 bedroom January 12-15th 2009. I'm trying to get January 7-12th as well, or at least as many days as possible. The January dates are more difficult to get than the June ones were! Go figure!

[2Princes2Princesses]

I booked a week in a 2BR in October 2008 by calling day by day at 11 months. I did day by day because I needed the 2 BR and in essence, I was trying for 20% of the total units available. :)

We are staying in a studio AKV CL for 3 nights in July. Those nights I booked in December, just before the 7 month window.

[LisaS]

I booked a week in a 2BR in October 2008 by calling day by day at 11 months. I did day by day because I needed the 2 BR and in essence, I was trying for 20% of the total units available. :) It was more likely 33% or even 50% of the total units available. They break up some of the 2BR lockoffs to rent out as 1BRs and studios. I don't know the actual numbers but would guess that they keep two to rent out as 2BRs and lock off three to rent as 1BRs and studios.