AKL Concierge Room Views?

[lookingforward]

I know that they cannot guarantee you a savannah view (but if you want non-smoking you should be okay)...BUT..I spoke with someone who just stayed at the AKL and she claims we won't see much on the fifth or sixth floors. Can anyone reassure me? She claims that the rooms all have obstructed views. I am so looking forward to our stay that I won't cancel either way, but I just want to be prepared. Thanks!

 

[Richyams]

That doesn't sound too good. I am really splurging on this. I could get a three bedroom Grand Villa at OKW for the points that the concierge level room is costing me. Its only going to be a three night stay, but I really want to have a decent view. I understand that simply the floor we are on will make the animals farther away. I just really don't want to be handicapped further by obstructed views.

I won't be switching either way, either.

 

[gepetto]

The views are not obstructed.

I think there are only 5-6 concierge rooms that are not savannah view.

 

[Minybear]

Prob some of the rooms on the 5 & 6th floors are obstructed. I know our room was obstructed and we were doing concierge. It also depends on what direction your looking.

 

[gepetto]

I guess I should have said the views from our 5th floor concierge room weren't obstructed.

 

[Ricola]

There were a couple small trees near our 5th floor room, and I guess you could say that they "obstructed" a small area of the Arusha savannah, but I wouldn't say they detracted from our enjoyment of the view at all. Certainly much better than not having any trees at all.

I liked being on the higher floors because I think it afforded a more expansive view of the savannah, making it easier to see the animals all over. We could even see well on the other side of the Arusha Rock Viewing area, which certainly would "obstruct" the view from a lower-level room.

As far as seing the animals on their own level, make sure to spend some time at the various observation areas throughout the hotel and grounds. You'll certainly see much more than you would from any particular room.

We brought binoculars and spent at least 15 or 20 minutes any time we were in the room just looking around at the animals. What a gorgeous resort!

I guess what I'm saying is that, while room views differ, and some might have a preference one way or another, I think they will all have wonderful views and you will enjoy them no matter which you end up with!

 

[kbeverina]

We were on the fifth floor and thought the view was wonderful. Like the above, we could see the expanse of Arusha Rock Savannah. I had to unhook my inkjet printer that has my scanner to use my laser printer, but when I get it hooked back up again, I'll scan some pictures for you so you can see for yourself. I got the kids some inexpensive, but nice binoculars at Target before we left and they had a blast using them from the balcony.

 

[kbeverina]

Another thing--we did spend time sitting on the benches at Arusha Rock and looking at the animals. It was very peaceful and not at all crowded.

 

[mouseclick1]

We had a beautiful view from our fifth floor concierge room. Nothing obstructed our view. We were on the Zebra trail in room 5511. Like you, Richyams, we splurged and used points, but only for 1 night. It may have been an expensive use of points, but I felt it was well worth it!

 

[Captain Crook]

Those who claim obstruction, please share what those obstructions are...Are they trees in the Savannah?

We've been 4 times. 3 times Zebra trail (floors 3, 4 and 5) & Kudu trail once (floor 3). The best sightings were at Kudu (3) & Zebra (5). It's all luck of the draw...

I will admit that the views from the upper floors aren't as up close and personal as the lower floors can be...But I wouldn't say they were worse (just a different perspective).

 

[Mary Ellen]

We have some of our pictures of the Arusha savannah taken from our 5th floor concierge room last December. We didn't find our view to be at all obstructed, but you can judge for yourselves. I don't know if the trees would be in fuller 'leaf' in warmer months. That could have some effect on the view.

I'm sorry but I didn't take any pictures from the 2nd floor public viewing areas because I thought we had better views from our room. A disadvantage with the public viewing areas is that they are recessed a bit from where the room balconies are - thus narrowing one's field of view.

We also felt that the standard savannah view rooms, being smaller and their balconies being a little further back than the deluxe balconies, had potential obstructions from the 'log' posts that were flush with our balcony but several feet out from the lower balconies. We didn't ask anyone if we could go in their room to check out if this is true, but just what we observed from the 2nd floor platforms.

We enjoyed being more 'up close and personal' with the animals while at Arusha Rock, we didn't get the same feeling of all the animals out on the savannah. We agree that one needs to explore the different views.

We are booked at AKL for our next trip, using a years+ worth of DVC points for our concierge room. Hopefully this time we'll be able to take the sunrise safari. Last time we paid $$ for a deluxe and paid to upgrade at check in to concierge - but the SS was already fully booked.

Here is the link to our AKL pictures . Please keep in mind that this is the first time I've done this - don't blame DH, he just uploaded what I created. There are things I'd do differently next time. This was created just for you DISers.

 

[Richyams]

Uhhhh, we're waiting...........

 

[Richyams]

Thank you very much

Great pics

And this needed to be bumped so that more people could see them.

 

[Richyams]

I notice that you are way off to the right side of the resort. Are all the concierge room over on that side?

 

[kbeverina]

Great pictures! Your room seems to be about where ours was(I think we were 5501)or maybe a little to the right of it. If that's the case, these pictures were taken from rooms that are actually a little left of the center of Zebra Trail--the map makes the resort look much bigger than it is.

 

[Mary Ellen]

Thanks for the good comments on my grainy pictures.

We were in room 5513, about half way down Zebra Trail. This was a great location for us. Some may find it too far from the lobby and 6th floor concierge lounge, but we liked that we were just past the end of Arusha rock. We had great views of the feeding stations on the other side of the savannah and in the middle.

I figured I needed the exercise walking to the concierge lounge for my snacks.

Rich - I assume the left wing was also concierge/deluxe - maybe smoking?? I think all the rooms we walked past on Zebra Trail had no smoking symbols on the doors.

 

[Richyams]

There are five or six rooms that overlook the pool. These are the only concierge rooms without a Savannah view. These are smoking rooms. I am not sure if they are the only smoking rooms or not.

Does anyone know how much of the fifth and sixth floors are concierge rooms?