AKL Concierge

[ang38]

Hi,
I was recently booked a room at AKL concierge level. I was told that deluxe rooms weren't available yet, so they reserved a Standard club level room. What the heck is that? It's around $110 a night less than a deluxe club level! Is it the size of the room or the view? The room for May comes to $380 a night instead of $490. Anyone know so my mind can rest?
Thanks!!

 

[SharonLowe]

Size of the room

 

[ang38]

Wow!! So it's $110 more just for a bigger room?
That's crazy!!

 

[WendyisDarling]

Hi,
I was recently booked a room at AKL concierge level. I was told that deluxe rooms weren't available yet, so they reserved a Standard club level room. What the heck is that? It's around $110 a night less than a deluxe club level! Is it the size of the room or the view? The room for May comes to $380 a night instead of $490. Anyone know so my mind can rest?
Thanks!!

So, the implication is that eventually there will be deluxe rooms for AKL CL? I'm trying to figure this out.
I thought the deluxe sized room was a good fit for our family. How much smaller is the standard?

 

[ang38]

I'm going to answer my own thread....I called AKL and they spoke to concierge for me and get this...Standard club level rooms are located on the 4th floor!!! The concierge is on the 6th floor!! Who wants to stay 2 levels down from the concierge? I guess with the building of the DVC units, they're cutting down on Deluxe rooms for concierge. Nice way to ruin a great hotel!!

 

[WendyisDarling]

I'm going to answer my own thread....I called AKL and they spoke to concierge for me and get this...Standard club level rooms are located on the 4th floor!!! The concierge is on the 6th floor!! Who wants to stay 2 levels down from the concierge? I guess with the building of the DVC units, they're cutting down on Deluxe rooms for concierge. Nice way to ruin a great hotel!!

ITA! I asked about this on another thread and was given the same info. about the 4th floor. I can't understand it. If all the 6th floor rooms (and 5th floor???--unsure) will be DVC and only a handful of those will be CL, how is that going to work? LY we were on the 5th floor and walking through the halls and then going to the 6th floor was not very convenient for grabbing a coffee or whatever and we didn't use it much. IPO was great though.
We are in beginning stage of planning a trip. Everyone wants AKL CL deluxe room. The idea of standard size room on 4th floor has us reconsidering the resort.

 

[ang38]

The woman at AKL said that right now there are no rates given for deluxe concierge...she said that most likely it's just do to them not being released yet. My travel agent feels that it will be a matter of time and they will be released. I could only guess that if they took a whole wing of deluxe from the 5th and 6th floor then they are trying to make up for it by opening up 4th floor standard rooms to concierge. But..who wants to go up 2 floors to the lounge? Almost not worth the extra money $110 to do so and there's no guarantee of a savanna view room either!

This also happened to us for Cont.. but they opened up w/i a week of trying. So lets just wait and see what happens.

The size of the room .....a deluxe offers 2 queens and a daybed / one queen a bunk and a daybed./ a king and a daybed (sleeps 5)
A standard is 2 queens/ 1 king and a daybed / 1 queen and a bunk..I think (sleps 4)

That's all I have for now. If I get mine I will post as soon as it happens. I was told that last year rates for May didn't come out till May of the year before...

 

[ang38]

This just in:

DVC has taken over the entire 5th floor, and will also get the 6th, where there are currently only Deluxe rooms. The Concierge rooms are called "Standard Concierge" but I have an email from Juanita at AKL guaranteeing me that all of the Concierge rooms are Savannah view. They are scattered through the resort, and not located in any particular area. These rooms are NOT on the 5th or 6th floor though; up there they only had the Deluxe rooms.





So it looks like once the DVC bookings open up(first travel dates in September of 2007), there will no longer be the option to book concierge rooms on the 6th floor unless you are a DVC member.


NICE HUH!!!!

 

[MagicFam5]

We're heading to AKL tomorrow. I have two deluxe rooms on CL booked. I requested Arusha Savanna, Kudu or Zebra Trail. My rooms are guaranteed connecting cause my 6 kids outnumber me! We'll see how all this goes. We'll be checking in around 11:00am.
I have been assigned the 6th floor rooms before and turned them down because the view was not very good. The rooms looked out on the Sunset Savanna side and the overhang really obstructed the view. Walking down Kudu Trail, up the elevator to the 6th might not have been convienient...but the view from our room was what we were there for.
The IPO has really helped me out a lot. We are part of a Grand Gathering and the GG office has made so many mistakes I haven't used them in months! Yeah Dan and Juanita!!!
And no, I'm not happy with the loss of the deluxe rooms because we are normally a family of five and book deluxe every time. We'll see how things go...

 

[ang38]

When I go online I can get a deluxe cl room up till Sept..but after that I can only book a suite! I can't understand how they can take over an entire floor or floors..doesn't make much sense.
I'm leaving my reservations for now.I have a whole year to see what happens.
When you get there, maybe you can check it out in person and see where the DVC units are being built. Can't see why they would ruin the Arusha savanna and have construction going on there.Please get back to us. I think there is a lot of misinformation going around also. When something doesn't make sense..it's usually wrong!!!
Thanks!! and

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!!

 

[MagicFam5]

Thanks! We're soooo excited to be going! I'll post when we get back about anything I find out while we're there. Gotta pack...

 

[ang38]

That'll be great!!! Have fun!!

 

[wasabi girl]

Has anyone been to the "standard club level rooms" or whatever the heck they are calling it....I was thinking of doing concierge with DH on a quick trip for a few days this fall but if the lounge is inconvenient, rooms are small, I'm not sure it is worth it...except that I really want to do the sunrise safari. I'm sure theAKL DVC thing is probably a good idea, it is certainly the only one that I'd consder buying into...but...I think it isn't so good for the hotel at the same time. Thanks in advance for any experiences!

 

[SharonLowe]

Has anyone been to the "standard club level rooms" or whatever the heck they are calling it....I was thinking of doing concierge with DH on a quick trip for a few days this fall but if the lounge is inconvenient, rooms are small, I'm not sure it is worth it...except that I really want to do the sunrise safari. I'm sure theAKL DVC thing is probably a good idea, it is certainly the only one that I'd consder buying into...but...I think it isn't so good for the hotel at the same time. Thanks in advance for any experiences!

They are standard sized rooms but they aren't tiny. They just aren't designed to hold more than 4 adults. Since it is just 2 of you, you should be fine. As for the lounge being "inconvenient" it isn't moving from where it is and it is only a click on the elevator button to get from 4 to 6. No different than being on the 5th floor and having to use the elevator (or stairs) to get there. The view from the 6th floor rooms is awful so good for them to sell them to DVC members - almost nobody who booked CL wanted those rooms (and there were only a handful of rooms up there anyway). Seriously, I don't understand all the whining about "inconvenient." If you want to walk out of your room in your robe (and I really wish people wouldn't do that!) to get your coffee at the CL, then AKL has never been the place for you. (Oh, and they have coffee makers in the rooms so you don't need to do that)

While I am not thrilled that we are losing our deluxe rooms, remember that ordinary mortals can also rent DVC units if they are available.

 

[wasabi girl]

Thank you!

 

[ang38]

It's not really whining about the inconvenience..it is inconvenient! You could be walking miles to get from your room to the lounge at AKL! When you stay concierge it's usually a key card access to your floor. Meaning no-one who isn't concierge can access your floor and when you're on it, you can walk from your room to the lounge w/o having to deal with the general public. I wouldn't , by the way, walk to the lounge in my robe! Also, anyone who is on your floor is also a concierge guest paying what you are paying. They way they are setting up AKL concierge cheapens the meaning of concierge service! Your concierge cast members are NOT down the hall from you, but up 2 floors, the lounge is up 2 floors, the rooms are smaller. It's not the same experience as the other deluxe hotels concierge service. I feel they are taking away from the concierge guest the true feeling of a concierge service stay! " down from soapbox now"

 

[d-hlaw]

I dont feel bad about saying this..... the whole plan sucks!!! I stay at AKL about 3 times per year and have been having a hard time booking lately for upcoming trips. This explains alot. My favorite rooms are on the 6th floor, specifically the end unit 1 and 2 br suites with thatch roofs. Now I have to buy DVC to get those rooms??? I dont think so. The frustrating part is that many of us dont want to have to commit to DVC, and I certainly dont want to have to walk up 2 floors to get to the concierge lounge. I am not happy about this whole plan. And then they get a whole other building that is larger than the original too???? What the heck? Disney must be killing it with DVC sales............

 

[pilferk]

The woman at AKL said that right now there are no rates given for deluxe concierge...she said that most likely it's just do to them not being released yet. My travel agent feels that it will be a matter of time and they will be released. I could only guess that if they took a whole wing of deluxe from the 5th and 6th floor then they are trying to make up for it by opening up 4th floor standard rooms to concierge. But..who wants to go up 2 floors to the lounge? Almost not worth the extra money $110 to do so and there's no guarantee of a savanna view room either!

This also happened to us for Cont.. but they opened up w/i a week of trying. So lets just wait and see what happens.

The size of the room .....a deluxe offers 2 queens and a daybed / one queen a bunk and a daybed./ a king and a daybed (sleeps 5)
A standard is 2 queens/ 1 king and a daybed / 1 queen and a bunk..I think (sleps 4)

That's all I have for now. If I get mine I will post as soon as it happens. I was told that last year rates for May didn't come out till May of the year before...

Just by way of info: Almost ALL the 5th (and all the 6th) floor rooms have been turned over to DVC for conversion. The site plans show VERY small areas of the 5th floor not turned over and I THINK they're all standard sized rooms (not deluxe).

Edit: Oh, it appears you got that info already.

 

[pilferk]

When I go online I can get a deluxe cl room up till Sept..but after that I can only book a suite! I can't understand how they can take over an entire floor or floors..doesn't make much sense.
I'm leaving my reservations for now.I have a whole year to see what happens.
When you get there, maybe you can check it out in person and see where the DVC units are being built. Can't see why they would ruin the Arusha savanna and have construction going on there.Please get back to us. I think there is a lot of misinformation going around also. When something doesn't make sense..it's usually wrong!!!
Thanks!! and

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!!

OK, there won't be any exterior construction for the conversion....so no need to worry about the Arusha savannah (or ruining the view). About all you may see is plastic sheeting covering the sliding glass doors or balconies (as 2 balconies get merged into one on the 1 BR units) on the rooms being converted.

The NEW building will actually be built over on the Sunset Savannah side of AKL, and a fair bit out from the lodge (you'll see it's vertical construction, but it's probably not close enough to most of the resort to HEAR it). You might hear interior construction, FYI, depending on where they're working and where your room is.

There IS some other construction (exterior) going on right now, at the end of Kudo trail. They're building a new animal barn. The small subset of rooms out there can both SEE and HEAR construction and, by all reports, it does compromise the view.

The conversion simply consists of a massive remodel of the most of the 5th floor rooms and all the 6th floor rooms. Sept sees the rooms on Zebra trail open, December sees the Kudo trail rooms open. Also keep in mind that DVC will start running the Concierge lounge around that time (and AKL will be paying them a fee for AKL concierge guests to continue to use it).

 

[pilferk]

)

While I am not thrilled that we are losing our deluxe rooms, remember that ordinary mortals can also rent DVC units if they are available.

Or rent DVC AKV points and pay probably less then they are now. (And no, I don't rent my points.)