AKL Kidiani 1 brd villa questions

[Heart82381]

We rented a DVC for this trip and I have a few questions. Please help!!!!

1. Can we get upgraded to savannah view if we booked standard through Davids Vacation rentals?
2. Should we do online check in, or should we wait to check in when we get there? I am not sure what the best way to request upgrade/location is...
   1. We have 2 year old and almost 8 month old, where us the best room location we should suggest??? We don't want to walk forever with the kids to/from room.
   2. Will my 2year old be ok to sleep on pull out chair, or will it be too small? He sleeps in a full size bed now.
   3. what kind of coffee should we bring? Loose coffee with filters? Will the room have dish soap and sponges? other tips or suggestions for our trip are welcome!!!!

 

[skier_pete]

I don't know this for sure, but we rented DVC points before, and I was under the impression that you need to have the extra points to book a Savannah view...they are very unlikely with DVC to "upgrade" you for free.

Room location - check here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/Kindani_Village_Map.jpg
Central is better. Do you want to be closer to buses or the pool? Remember pool view is extra too! (I have no idea why, I hate room overlooking the pool.)
When requesting, ask for a range of rooms. If you do get a Savannah View, lower floors are better.

As far as room request, I can't tell you whether on-line check in is better than checking in at the resort. I will tell you that they set your room about 5 days in advance, so either way you are unlikely to get your room choice by asking when you check in. I usually do this:
1) Put in the request when making the reservation with the CRO CM, make sure to tell him/her the reason. (We would like a central room because we have small children that will have problems with the long walks.)
2) Check-in online, but make sure not to put a request inwhen they ask here - because if you do it will override the original request.
3) About 2 days before you check in, call the resort DIRECTLY, and repeat the request. Sometimes they will check and make sure you have your requested location.

If you are not happy with your room location when all is said and done, they will almost always allow you to move your room location the next day. This is a pain I know, but is a last ditch effort.

We honestly had our worst ever room location at AKL when we rented DVC points. Top floor, far corner of the building. Actually, the room views were great, just a long ways to the room. This was at Jambo House though, and the # of rooms available for DVC were limited. Next time if I ever did it again I would rent at Kidani, because all the rooms are DVC.

 

[Pakey]

I am a long time DVC member.

The only time an upgrade happens on a points reservation would be if there are maintenance issues. You will not be allowed to pay cash for the difference to upgrade on a points reservation. You don't generally get to move rooms because you don't like location; again, it's only if there are maintenance issues in your room.

You cannot call and talk to member services about anything regarding your reservation; only the point owner can do that. So there's no point in calling to put in requests yourself.

You will need to bring basket style coffee filters and loose coffee. There will be enough provided for one, maybe 2 pots. That is all.

You will have dish soap and a sponge.

The sleeper chair is large enough to sleep an adult.

If you do not want to walk down long hallways, request close to the lobby. If they still allow it. So many members were requesting this that I believe I read that they were not allowing it anymore. We have stayed on 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor and had amazing savannah views from each of these.

 

[skier_pete]

You cannot call and talk to member services about anything regarding your reservation; only the point owner can do that. So there's no point in calling to put in requests yourself.

I'm sorry, you are correct. The method I described is with a regular reservation. I suspect the main reason I didn't get my request here versus all the other times we were able to get our requests.

I didn't know about that you can't move rooms though...for us we didn't bother trying even though we didn't much care for the location.

 

[Lynne M]

Just seconding what Pakey said. If you want to add requests to your reservation on a DVC points reservations you have the following options:

1. Have the member you rented from call DVC Member Services.

2. Select from the options that are available during online check-in (note: this does not override any previous requests)

3. Wait till you arrive at the resort, and discuss your requests with the front desk CM.

Calling the resort won't help you; all calls to the resorts go to a call center, and I'm not sure they would even have access to DVC reservations.

You will not be able to pay to upgrade to savannah view at check-in. Even members can't upgrade for cash at check-in, they must use additional points.Complimentary upgrades are extremely rare on DVC bookings; you'd likely only get a free upgrade to savannah view if a maintenance emergency took the last non-savannah view 1 bedroom villa out of service right before you arrived.

If it's really important that you have savannah view, get in touch with David's and see if they can rebook the reservation for you. That's really your only option.

 

[DebbieB]

We rented a DVC for this trip and I have a few questions. Please help!!!!

1. Can we get upgraded to savannah view if we booked standard through Davids Vacation rentals?
2. Should we do online check in, or should we wait to check in when we get there? I am not sure what the best way to request upgrade/location is...
   1. We have 2 year old and almost 8 month old, where us the best room location we should suggest??? We don't want to walk forever with the kids to/from room.
   2. Will my 2year old be ok to sleep on pull out chair, or will it be too small? He sleeps in a full size bed now.
   3. what kind of coffee should we bring? Loose coffee with filters? Will the room have dish soap and sponges? other tips or suggestions for our trip are welcome!!!!

I don't know this for sure, but we rented DVC points before, and I was under the impression that you need to have the extra points to book a Savannah view...they are very unlikely with DVC to "upgrade" you for free.

Room location - check here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/Kindani_Village_Map.jpg
Central is better. Do you want to be closer to buses or the pool? Remember pool view is extra too! (I have no idea why, I hate room overlooking the pool.)When requesting, ask for a range of rooms. If you do get a Savannah View, lower floors are better.

As far as room request, I can't tell you whether on-line check in is better than checking in at the resort. I will tell you that they set your room about 5 days in advance, so either way you are unlikely to get your room choice by asking when you check in. I usually do this:
1) Put in the request when making the reservation with the CRO CM, make sure to tell him/her the reason. (We would like a central room because we have small children that will have problems with the long walks.)
2) Check-in online, but make sure not to put a request inwhen they ask here - because if you do it will override the original request.
3) About 2 days before you check in, call the resort DIRECTLY, and repeat the request. Sometimes they will check and make sure you have your requested location.

If you are not happy with your room location when all is said and done, they will almost always allow you to move your room location the next day. This is a pain I know, but is a last ditch effort.

We honestly had our worst ever room location at AKL when we rented DVC points. Top floor, far corner of the building. Actually, the room views were great, just a long ways to the room. This was at Jambo House though, and the # of rooms available for DVC were limited. Next time if I ever did it again I would rent at Kidani, because all the rooms are DVC.

DVC does not have a pool view category, it's considered part of standard.

I'm sorry, you are correct. The method I described is with a regular reservation. I suspect the main reason I didn't get my request here versus all the other times we were able to get our requests.

I didn't know about that you can't move rooms though...for us we didn't bother trying even though we didn't much care for the location.

DVC has a rule that if you enter the room and don't like the location, you must pay the cleaning fee to change, based on size of room ($30/$45/$60/$75).

 

[chalee94]

[*]Can we get upgraded to savannah view if we booked standard through Davids Vacation rentals?

not an option.