Live from the HRH Club Level right now!

[HollyHolly]

Hello all ....

First, let me say that I'm going to have a great trip report when we return in a few days - I've done Disney ones for the "other" board and I love doing them ... it's a great momento for our family to keep as well.

Second, although I was supossedly *banned* by my DH from bringing my laptop - he brought his instead. So here I sit at 7:30am while the girls eat their breakfast and watch t.v. with DH. It's going to be a high of 97 degrees here today and I'm ready to get the heck over to the parks before we melt away later.

And third, though we stayed here 3 years ago, the past few months of people posting not so glowing comments about HRH had me a bit worried. But IMHO it's still as awesome as I remember it - we've got a Queen Deluxe on the 7th Club Level floor, it's clean (no mold, no carpet stains), and the staff is friendly. The Club conceirge leave a bit to be desired compared to our WDW Contemporary conceirge, but then again, it was about $100 bucks more a night to do Tower Club over there.

The short cut through the Beach Club bar and through the parking lot is officially closed. Bummer. It was much quicker than going the other way. But we'll live.

If you have any questions about HRH and/or Club Level post 'em ... I'd love to answer them.

 

[DrewAlmighty]

That sucks about the path. That one was my favorite.

Thanks for the update, and have a great trip.

 

[disneyhottie]

How are the club offerings?We arrive at club on the 22nd What room # and how is your view?Have a great time

 

[HollyHolly]

How are the club offerings?We arrive at club on the 22nd What room # and how is your view?Have a great time

The view? Ehh. It's of the entranceway to the hotel. One of the pool and the parks in the distance would be better but I think I've looked out of the window about twice since Monday anyway. It's room 7019.

Snacks are good - IMHO you can definitely make a meal out of it. Unless you're the kind of person who wants steak & potatoes at every meal. Let''s see, last night was spinich stuffed mushrooms, pigs in a blanket (hot dog cooked in a roll), rosemary chicken skewers, cheese, crackers and a vegie tray. A few nights ago it was egg rolls, pan fried noodles and some other stuff. I'm kicking myself for not taking a pic of the "menu" for each evening.

Two nights ago for dessert it was cookies, brownies, blondies and cannoli's. Last night was ice cream and toppings from Emack & Bolios.

The concierge staff itself leaves a lot to be desired. And I can completely see where someone who is used to concierge ALL the time can really have a problem with Club 7. Two examples: a few days ago my DH asked one of the staff about some kind of cream. The guy said you can find it at Walgreens down the block. Uh, okay, we were asking you to track it down and get it here. Whatever. (We actually found it at Citiwalk.) And then yesterday late afternoon I asked them to do boarding passes - since we're flying Southwest it's a first come first served thing for the A group. Now, I'm not a hag, I swear. I ask nicely, I always thank profusely, and I made it clear how important it was to have this done at 9:15pm (24 hrs. before.) We got back to the HRH around 10pm, the one guy who said he would be there till 11pm is gone and NO ONE is in the concierge room. Finally, the new guy shows up but knows nothing about my boarding passes. He FINALLY found the note, and we did get A boarding passes but geez.

Oh, one more thing. I asked a lady concierge (okay girl - the concierge staff seems REALLY young) to make reservations for us at Mythos. Honestly, in the end we didn't need them but I've heard such great things about the place I didn't want to not try it. She said she'd call my cell or room that night or first thing in the morning to confirm the time. You got it! No phone call, no reservations made ... until I asked the new morning girl to do it.

And what the heck, since I'm on a complaining spree ... smokng in the parks drives me up a frickin' wall. I quit a 20 year habit 11 months ago but when I did smoke in the theme parks I wouldn't until I found a designated smoking area. I NEVER walked around with a cigarette in my hand. And I sure as heck didn't go to the kids water playground in Universal with a cig in my hand. Last night this idiot woman was standing there smoking a cigarette - then walked INTO the target shooting area with it and the kids tried to shoot her with water rifles - and then she yelled at them like a shrew to stop it. Personally, DH and I wanted to offer the kids $10 for a direct hit but whatever. I couldn't believe she was there in the kids area with a cigarette, yelled at the kids for shooting water guns at her when um, you IDIOT, that's the whole purpose of the playland and not a single staff member said anything.

So anywhoo ... even though it's sounds like I'm a HUGE complainer, the the large scheme of things this stuff was like a pimple on a donkeys butt. Overall, I'd definitely come back and stay HRH Club Level.

I'll be doing the trip report over the next week complete with the bazillion pics we took too.

 

[Candice30]

glad you can shrug it off and keep trucking. you are making me home sick. i leave in a week and switched my ressies for the third time over to PBH. now i'm missing HRH. enjoy the rest of your stay.

 

[psar]

How crowded does the club floor seem to be right now? There have been times when it has been like a zoo.

 

[HollyHolly]

glad you can shrug it off and keep trucking. you are making me home sick. i leave in a week and switched my ressies for the third time over to PBH. now i'm missing HRH. enjoy the rest of your stay.

You know, anything is better than being at home. I don't have to cook, I don't have to clean and I'm removed from reality. I love vacations.

 

[HollyHolly]

How crowded does the club floor seem to be right now? There have been times when it has been like a zoo.

I don't have anything to compare it to since we've never done HRH Club before ... but anytime we went for breakfast or snack or desserts, we've always been able to find a place to sit. Maybe not at a table (actually, never at a table since there's only like 4) but in the t.v. room with chairs like high school desks we've always found a seat.

They've never been low on food or not replenish - not that I've seen anyway.

BTW, there's oreo cookies in the train cookie jar on the concierge desk.

 

[psar]

Thanks

 

[juliebill]

Holly, you sound like a real trip!! Did the kids nail the shrew smoking?? I hope so!! I look forward to the rest of your report!

 

[HollyHolly]

Holly, you sound like a real trip!! Did the kids nail the shrew smoking?? I hope so!! I look forward to the rest of your report!

Unfortunately, no.

People are so unbelievable at times. Unfrickinbeliveable.

Anyhow, I've started my trip report on the Universal Trip Report board ... complete w/ links to some pics.

 

[Sleepy]

Our 4 night stay on Club level ended 2 weeks ago. This was our second stay on club level. Last one was 5 years ago. Back then, the food offerings for breakfast was greater, but dinner offerings lacked hot options. However, they did have a serve yourself bar. Now, breakfast offerings are slim and I like the dinner options more. I see now the alcohol in the evenings are served by a member of the staff.

Speaking of club staff. I too noticed they seemed less than helpful or friendly. Although, I did notice a VIP entered the lounge and the staff practically hopped on the VIPs like lice from a toilet seat. The best response we or anyone else could get before the arrival of VIPs was a female member of lounge staff who continually flipped her head to the side and played with her almost waist length hair. If she had spat the wad of gum from her mouth, maybe she could have communicated with guests. I never saw such active chewing.

The lounge was......dirty. What brought it to my attention was the fruit loop under the leg of the couch near the first tv. It was 2pm. Breakfast had ended several hours before. Upon further inspection, all the chair frames were cruddy with gunk from food and dust. It would not hurt housekeeping (or whomever cleans the lounge) to wipe down the framework once in a while. All the time the lounge staff spends sitting behind the desk chatting with themselves, while ignoring us regular guests, I don't think it would hurt them to tidy the lounge up a bit by picking up a stray fruit loop from the floor.

My room was 7109. Had an excellent view of the water taxi dock, garden as well as Portofino in the background. We could also see distant fireworks in the background. It was lovely. The room was clean. Linens and bathroom clean and bed just as soft as ever. The couch showed alot of wear, but was super comfortable and I had a wonderful nap on it. The seat cusions were out of shape due to overuse. It was obviously in need of replacement long ago. The sleeper sofa mattress was the best wuality I have ever experienced. At first, we were aprehensive about taking a King room due to other fold out mattresses having that horrible metal bar cutting your back in half, but we felt no bar and the mattress was very comfortable. Wish I had a sofa like this in my rec room. The carpet should have been changed long ago. There were less stains in the hallways. Several huge dark stains in the main walkway and a large spot by the bed that appeared to be a result of bleach. Just not what I would expect on club level. Not what I would expect at HRH on any level. I know they are in the process of replacing all furniture and carpets, but their timing should have been sooner.

Housekeeping was excellent and room service was superb. I have to say our room service breakfast was far better than the one we had at The Kitchen. That place was truly a disappointment to us. I would recommend a quick croissant breakfast sandwich in the parks before paying the price for The Kitchen. The room service staff was very friendly each time we had ordered.

I have to say our overall stay at HRH this time was wonderful. All because of the check-in staff, housekeeping, room service staff, management and most of all the guys who handle the luggage. My husband is a smoker and they always kept him in conversation when he ventured down to the lobby for a cigarette.