AKL Concierge Multiple Rooms or Grand Villa

[Meerkat504]

Wanted to get all the veterans' opinion about a family vacation we are very early in planning. We are looking to host a large family gathering in the future and have been contemplating two scenarios - either using points for a Grand Villa or using a similar amount or even less points for either a two-bedroom concierge villa & a one-bedroom concierge villa or a two-bedroom concierge village & a concierge studio.

Questions:
1. Is there a personal opinion of folks who have stayed in both types of accomodations?

2. It is my understanding that there are only 5 one-bedroom concierge villas available for DVC members. Does anyone know about numbers of concierge studios available for DVC members?

3. What ware the chances of booking the concierge accomodations at my 11-month booking window for a vacation next July?

4. When it comes go booking a grand villa, has anyone had any issues booking at their 11-month window if they call in early exactly on their check-in date's 11-month window.

5. We have a little flexibility on dates if we were to have to wait for availability. Leads me to my final question. Can member services clue you in on when there could be availability if not on your desired check-in date?

Look forward to and welcome your opinions & answers.

 

[Deb & Bill]

There are five two bedroom lockoff villas on the sixth floor of Jambo House (Concierge Lounge level). Three are on the sunset savanna (not a great view, though, it's partially blocked by the roof overhang). Two are pool view. At least one is handicapped accessible. You must own AKV points and call exactly at 11 months out to get these. Even then it doesn't guarantee you will get them because someone may have booked a week a few days before.

All five might be available two days from now, but when you call, they were booked the day before. With members able to book up to seven night from the day of check in, it can block a member from booking the next seven nights because their first night isn't available. Members used to book from check out date and it evened the playing field a bit.

 

[DebbieB]

Wanted to get all the veterans' opinion about a family vacation we are very early in planning. We are looking to host a large family gathering in the future and have been contemplating two scenarios - either using points for a Grand Villa or using a similar amount or even less points for either a two-bedroom concierge villa & a one-bedroom concierge villa or a two-bedroom concierge village & a concierge studio.

Questions:
1. Is there a personal opinion of folks who have stayed in both types of accomodations?

2. It is my understanding that there are only 5 one-bedroom concierge villas available for DVC members. Does anyone know about numbers of concierge studios available for DVC members?

3. What ware the chances of booking the concierge accomodations at my 11-month booking window for a vacation next July?

4. When it comes go booking a grand villa, has anyone had any issues booking at their 11-month window if they call in early exactly on their check-in date's 11-month window.

5. We have a little flexibility on dates if we were to have to wait for availability. Leads me to my final question. Can member services clue you in on when there could be availability if not on your desired check-in date?

Look forward to and welcome your opinions & answers.

There are 5 two bedroom lockoffs in concierge. Which means those lockoffs can be split into a 1 bedroom and studio. So the max # of 1 bedrooms and studios is 5 each. If someone books a 2 bedroom, that takes both a 1 bedroom and studio out of inventory, leaving 4 of each.

If you are looking for good views, don't book concierge. 3 of the lockoffs are savannah view, 2 are pool view. The ones that are savannah view, it's not the best, I stayed in one and saw few animals.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Concierge is nice for the tours and the snacks but for a group I'd go the GV. We had a family gathering and booked a Jambo GV this past May. It is an amazing accommodation. I don't think you'll have a problem booking at 11 months. I first checked at 7 months and had the choice of Kidani and Jambo but didn't actually book the Jambo GV until 4 months out.

 

[Donald is #1]

I haven't stayed in a grand villa yet, but my sisters and I considered it for a family trip next year. For that trip that could be 5, 6, or 8 of us. Now, for us, the 8 person group would not work well in a 2 BR because of the way we would like to allocate beds. So we looked at the GV. However, the points value of the GV just seemed to be too high to justify for us. It seemed to make more sense to book 2 rooms to us.

It ends up that there will probably only be 6 of us so I will be booking a 2 BR when our window opens. Then if my nephew changes his mind, I will book a 1 BR at 7 months.

 

[Meerkat504]

Thanks to everyone for their insight. It is certainly apprecitated.