AKV Concierge

[Nikisha421]

I I know this one has been asked before but I am very sure I just have never really been able to fully understand d the answers so I will ask one more time for my own understanding....
I own at AKV and love concierge so why is it that DVC can't add more concierge room in the newer villas?

 

[Deb & Bill]

I I know this one has been asked before but I am very sure I just have never really been able to fully understand d the answers so I will ask one more time for my own understanding....
I own at AKV and love concierge so why is it that DVC can't add more concierge room in the newer villas?

When DVC took over the fifth floor of AKL, they were also asked to take the sixth floor. The sixth floor just happens to be the floor where the Concierge lounge is located. You can't get to the sixth floor room unless you go through the lounge area (these rooms used to be the old smoking rooms and have a terrible view of the savanna and the pool). DVC is not going to create a separate concierge area for members in the other resorts. they just got stuck with the sixth floor at Jambo House.

 

[disneynutz]

As a AKV owner I would really be upset if they expanded Club Level. It's that AKV owners that pay for the Club Level benefits for point users at AKV Club Level. The cost is added to our dues.

Bill

 

[drusba]

I assume there is a barrier due to cost. AKV was unique in that DVC took over portions of the building that were already concierge with lounge and decided to adopt it into the system while maintaining concierge for the hotel side of the operation. Nevertheless from the aspect of a timeshare, it is hard to justify concierge. After the sale of the points at the resort, the main thing concierge does is just add operational costs payable by the members for its stocked lounge, daily cleaning and turn-down service, and acces to concierge employees. Asking why doesn't the system have concierge everywhere is like asking why doesn't it have daily cleaning service for all rooms. It is simply an additonal cost that would be charged to vast majority of members who don't use it.

 

[disneynutz]

I assume there is a barrier due to cost. AKV was unique in that DVC took over portions of the building that were already concierge with lounge and decided to adopt it into the system while maintaining concierge for the hotel side of the operation. Nevertheless from the aspect of a timeshare, it is hard to justify concierge. After the sale of the points at the resort, the main thing concierge does is just add operational costs payable by the members for its stocked lounge, daily cleaning and turn-down service, and acces to concierge employees. Asking why doesn't the system have concierge everywhere is like asking why doesn't it have daily cleaning service for all rooms. It is simply an additonal cost that would be charged to vast majority of members who don't use it.

But the cost is unfair. Yes Club Level costs more points for a stay but the owners at AKV don't receive any compensation from the points but they do fund Club Level operations with their dues.

I guess you could say that this is true of any special amenity. Storm-A-Long Bay at BCV costs more to operate than the Luna Park Pool at BWV and the owners pay for both.

Bill

 

[Chuck S]

I own at AKV and love concierge so why is it that DVC can't add more concierge room in the newer villas?

They can add a concierge level to new constructions, but would the number of points needed to stay in concierge villas as well as the resort-wide increase in dues to pay for the concierge staff, food and drinks...and the added taxes added to dues for the lounge area hinder sales? Perhaps.

Also, many folks don't see the value in concierge...I mean, a few snacks and coffee, and some help with dining reservations certainly wouldn't warrant staying in concierge for those increased points for me. Nor would the option of paying $ for the available concierge level safaris.

 

[tjkraz]

But the cost is unfair. Yes Club Level costs more points for a stay but the owners at AKV don't receive any compensation from the points but they do fund Club Level operations with their dues.

Agree. Operating costs for the lounge are bundled in the dues charged to ALL OWNERS at AKV. There are AKV owners who will never stay concierge over their 50 years of ownership, but will pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to help fund lounge operations.

I guess you could say that this is true of any special amenity. Storm-A-Long Bay at BCV costs more to operate than the Luna Park Pool at BWV and the owners pay for both.

True but the distinction I would make is that all BCV owners (when staying there) have the opportunity to use Stormalong Bay.

AKV concierge facilities and services are only available to 1% of AKV guests on any given day yet everyone is paying for it.

As for expanding AKV concierge access, there is actually a passage in the POS which states that DVC is prohibited from granting concierge access to anyone but the guests in those five villas. Presumably the language was added to keep DVC from packing the lounge with members, negatively impacting the cash guests who pay handsomely for club level services.

DVC could have added concierge to Bay Lake Tower but chose not to do so. We'll know soon enough it it's in the plans for Grand Floridian (but I doubt it.) It's looking more and more like AKV concierge was simply a byproduct of DVC taking over those top two floors where the lounge was already located.

 

[NicoleLarson]

. We'll know soon enough it it's in the plans for Grand Floridian (but I doubt it.) It's looking more and more like AKV concierge was simply a byproduct of DVC taking over those top two floors where the lounge was already located.

Yes, this is exactly what I was told by a CM working on CL when we were there in Sept. I believe he said something along the lines of, "Do you know why AKL is the only DVC resort with CL rooms?" When I said no. He replied with that since DVC took over the 6th floor rooms and that's were the lounge is located it only made sense to make those rooms CL.

 

[disneynutz]

Agree. Operating costs for the lounge are bundled in the dues charged to ALL OWNERS at AKV. There are AKV owners who will never stay concierge over their 50 years of ownership, but will pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to help fund lounge operations.



True but the distinction I would make is that all BCV owners (when staying there) have the opportunity to use Stormalong Bay.

AKV concierge facilities and services are only available to 1% of AKV guests on any given day yet everyone is paying for it.

As for expanding AKV concierge access, there is actually a passage in the POS which states that DVC is prohibited from granting concierge access to anyone but the guests in those five villas. Presumably the language was added to keep DVC from packing the lounge with members, negatively impacting the cash guests who pay handsomely for club level services.

DVC could have added concierge to Bay Lake Tower but chose not to do so. We'll know soon enough it it's in the plans for Grand Floridian (but I doubt it.) It's looking more and more like AKV concierge was simply a byproduct of DVC taking over those top two floors where the lounge was already located.

Do you think that the rooms on the 6th floor were made into DVC rooms due to the crappy views that cash paying Guests would object to? As DVC if you want Club Level you have to accept the views where cash Guests would request a different CL room on the 4th floor.

Bill

 

[Nikisha421]

Thanks for all of the reaponses

 

[Simba's Mom]

When DVC took over the fifth floor of AKL, they were also asked to take the sixth floor. The sixth floor just happens to be the floor where the Concierge lounge is located. You can't get to the sixth floor room unless you go through the lounge area (these rooms used to be the old smoking rooms and have a terrible view of the savanna and the pool). DVC is not going to create a separate concierge area for members in the other resorts. they just got stuck with the sixth floor at Jambo House.

So are you saying that the concierge rooms there for DVC don't have good views? I did consider staying concierge, but I've gotta admit that I'm all about the views of the animals at AKV. If concierge rooms have poor views, I may not do concierge.

 

[MrShiny]

So are you saying that the concierge rooms there for DVC don't have good views? I did consider staying concierge, but I've gotta admit that I'm all about the views of the animals at AKV. If concierge rooms have poor views, I may not do concierge.

They do not all have pool views - in fact every time we've stayed there, we've gotten savanna views. However, due to the sloping roof, these are not the best savanna views - your window is essentially made smaller by the room framing it.

 

[dvcterry]

So are you saying that the concierge rooms there for DVC don't have good views? I did consider staying concierge, but I've gotta admit that I'm all about the views of the animals at AKV. If concierge rooms have poor views, I may not do concierge.

There really is no way to guarantee you will get a good view. When we booked CL we were not able to put any requests in over the phone. Tried via email and received a response that although my request was noted, it could not be guaranteed. CL is not about the views.

 

[erionm]

So are you saying that the concierge rooms there for DVC don't have good views? I did consider staying concierge, but I've gotta admit that I'm all about the views of the animals at AKV. If concierge rooms have poor views, I may not do concierge.

There are only 5 2-bedroom lock-offs that make up the DVC Portion of the Concierge Level rooms at AKV Jambo House. Two of those 2-bedroom lock-offs face the Uzima Pool and the other three face the Sunset Savanna.

 

[Deb & Bill]

So are you saying that the concierge rooms there for DVC don't have good views? I did consider staying concierge, but I've gotta admit that I'm all about the views of the animals at AKV. If concierge rooms have poor views, I may not do concierge.

The best reason to stay concierge is to do the Sunrise Safari.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

There are only 5 2-bedroom lock-offs that make up the DVC Portion of the Concierge Level rooms at AKV Jambo House. Two of those 2-bedroom lock-offs face the Uzima Pool and the other three face the Sunset Savanna.

Where are the CL Studios located for DVC? We are booked in one for June. Should we expect 6th floor?

 

[MrShiny]

Yes. On the 6th floor of AKV Jambo over the atrium looking down to the lobby, the lounge is in the middle and there are 3 2br on one side and 2 2br (and a bathroom) on the other.

We did stay once and got bumped to the 5th floor (I assume they over booked). Our keys still got us into the lounge, although we had to remind them that we were supposed to get daily mousekeeping as CL guests.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Yes. On the 6th floor of AKV Jambo over the atrium looking down to the lobby, the lounge is in the middle and there are 3 2br on one side and 2 2br (and a bathroom) on the other.

We did stay once and got bumped to the 5th floor (I assume they over booked). Our keys still got us into the lounge, although we had to remind them that we were supposed to get daily mousekeeping as CL guests.

This happened to us once too! We had a savannah view on the 5th floor.

 

[Dean]

But the cost is unfair. Yes Club Level costs more points for a stay but the owners at AKV don't receive any compensation from the points but they do fund Club Level operations with their dues.

I guess you could say that this is true of any special amenity. Storm-A-Long Bay at BCV costs more to operate than the Luna Park Pool at BWV and the owners pay for both.

Bill

It's actually true of any amenity that not every guest uses (pool, fitness, etc) though some are more out there than others. The actual cost for this items should be fairly small (haven't looked at the numbers) and those that use points for this should generally be AKV guests due to the difficulty booking later and as noted, they will use more points and pay more dues on that number of points. I wouldn't call it unfair though no more than you would any other amenity charge that a given person doesn't use or doesn't use consistently. Plus every one who bought there knew or should have known up front about this issue and imbedded cost (resale assumes the same risks and commitments). The option would likely have been not to have a DVC option there at AK. To me it's similar to the valet parking issue had DVC decided to pass those costs along to owners at each respective resort, the only difference is there wasn't a choice like there was with the valet parking issue.

As I've posted before on other but similar topics, one has to consider the costs, economy of scale and whether an item is essential to a resort (pool). In a way the concierge rooms fit none of those other than it was a condition of the resort and a known situation prior to anyone buying in.

 

[Kidanifan08]

It's actually true of any amenity that not every guest uses (pool, fitness, etc) though some are more out there than others. The actual cost for this items should be fairly small (haven't looked at the numbers) and those that use points for this should generally be AKV guests due to the difficulty booking later and as noted, they will use more points and pay more dues on that number of points.

(Snip)

As I've posted before on other but similar topics, one has to consider the costs, economy of scale and whether an item is essential to a resort (pool). In a way the concierge rooms fit none of those other than it was a condition of the resort and a known situation prior to anyone buying in.

I agree with this. These five 2BR's with daily housekeeping and free food/drink have to make up such a small component of the overall AKV budget . . . perhaps negligible. And most of the time, the CL rooms are being used by AKV owners, so it is being utilized by people responsible for the MF's almost all of the time.

You have to wonder if this is something that DVC could turn back over to AKL. Not that I am advocating that option . . . we happened to enjoy our 4 nights on the CL. If it is only going to cost me $0.01 per point per year to keep CL, I would be willing to keep it.