We had a wonderful time, but I have alot of misgivings about our stay at AKV Concierge 1 bedroom. I know I am one of the firsts, so please take my report with a grain of salt.
So with that, here it is...........
We arrived around 11 am. I asked the greeter where do Concierge guests check in and she walked me over to the Bell desk. A nice man then took over, printed out a few things and then personally escorted me to the elevator, told me about using the key to access the 6th floor and showed me to the Conc. check in desk.
It was nice to sit down and check in and she was very thorough. I added on the Saturday night of our stay because it was Christmas and I wanted to set up our tree and be ready for the holiday. We originally had a 1 bed standard room booked but I upped the points so that we would not have to change rooms.
All went well with checkin and my reservation was linked thru our 6 night stay. I requested Savannah view and was told that DVC didnt really have clear views of the Savannahs, but we would be on the Kudu Trail side. Our room was not ready til around 3 pm, so we hung out in the lounge, which is very nice. They were having snacks, so there was cookies, yogurt, goldfish and trail mixes out.
We walk into the villa and I was taken aback at how small and dark it was. Our unit is the first set of lockoffs on the hall. There is a large grass roof arch that spans the entire balcony, so most natural light to the unit is cut off.
This is where I lost it. Our 1 bedroom was an accessible unit. The layout is completely different than the models and though I had mentally prepared myself to have the shower/tub combined, I was NOT prepared to be completely tubless!
The bathroom was divided by 2 sliding doors. The first slider off the hall was the sink (not dual sinks) mirror and closet that held all the ironing board, pak n play, and high chair, and safe. No rod in this closet to hang anything, no shelf, and no floor space to put anything. The next slider was the toilet and roll-in shower. Not a hook or towel bar to be had. I just knew that there had to be a tub somewhere so I go across the hall to the Master bedroom and that was it. There is a wardrobe in the Master, but because it is an accessible unit the rod is in the bottom half. Again Im freaking out because I dont have anywhere to put our stuff and we are staying for 2 weeks split between AKV and SSR.
The living room is combined with the dining bench and table which makes it look even smaller. I understand they have to have accessible units, but I just feel that this one was poorly done and DVC could have made it more functional for all uses. The entertainment unit was missing the entire bottom doors which normally would hold the pak n play, but because it needed to sit lower that portion was missing. We had the exact same entertainment unit in the Master. 4 drawers. So we had the 4 half drawers in the entertainment unit for storage and that was it for the entire living area. there was no trunk or storage furniture or a hook in the entire unit.
There was a pull out chair, but because the living area was combined with the dining, it was up against the sliders and facing the sofa. So if you were sitting in the chair, you were not looking at the TV you were looking at the couch.
I did not feel this unit was worth 56 points at all. I was upset and I called MS. I was too upset to go back out into the lounge and deal with it. Basically, as we all know, there are 10 rooms total in AKV Concierge for DVC. So if you get a room you dont like, your pretty much stuck with it. They could move me the next day but its the basic do-over. Check out by 11am wait for room to be ready and move back in. Nothing was available for that evening so that was my option. I felt to move the next day would have been a total waste of my points since the reason I upgraded to Conc. on a Saturday night was to use our travel day to get moved in and settled and not use 2 days to do it. My mind does not rest until I am unpacked and settled, so we stayed.
We moved the furniture around to give us more useable space. The couch needed to be pushed down and the big chair was moved to the opposite wall next to the couch with the small round coffee table that was in the corner placed in between. At least now we could all sit and watch TV and not have to move around the chair to get out to the balcony. The pictures were no longer centered over the sofa, but a small price to pay for functionality.
Our view. We did see animals. They seemed to come out in the early evening but they didnt stay long. I could tell the Kudu Trail was not their normal hangout. The ostriches were what we saw the most of and they have some interesting digestive functions!
The Kudu Trail view is mostly dirt road with a patch of grass and pond in the middle. Across the way, you have a full view of the Kidani Construction, which is coming along quite nicely. No complaints about the construction view, that was expected. The construction started before sunrise and they worked well after sundown, using bright lights. It was not too noisy or distracting. And the quicker they finish, the quicker I can have a 1 bedroom with a separate tub!
So it took me a couple of days to warm up to AKV Concierge. The lounge was nice and we were 1 door away so that was nice. The boys enjoyed their chocolate milk and cookies and Dh and I enjoyed our evening appetizers and wine. The first night they served ribs and an african stew.
We normally bring an extra DVD player for the bedroom, but this time we forgot all the cords so I called concierge to see if they maybe had an extra DVD player or set of cords for the DVD player in our unit we could move it to the bedroom. Not being familiar with DVC (which I understand) he tells me that only the suites have DVD players and that there is a Wal-Mart close by if we wanted to purchase one. I was not impressed. I did call maintenance to see if they had a cord and she said she would put the order in, but I never heard back from them. As a polar opposite, when we got to SSR, I had Dh call for a cord (thinking maybe I wasnt asking for the right thing, being a girl and all) and within the hour, they sent someone over to move the DVD player into the bedroom.
We did do the dining plan, and as others have said, the lounge offerings do not replace meals, they are nice to have and could replace snacks. I enjoyed the Cappucino machine, but I fear it breaks down alot. It was running 3 of the 6 days we were there.
I did use IP (Itinerary Planning) to book some of our ADR's, but be aware that if you use Dining and IP, that Dining will not be able to view your IP reservations because their systems are not compatible. I had booked with both.
I also went on the Sunrise Safari which was very nice, met some nice people, learned alot and the breakfast buffet afterwards was one of the best on Disney. Dh and the boys decided not to go (plus that early with 1 sink and 1 shower would have been more than I could handle at 5 am) so I cancelled them and went solo.
We really needed the daily maid service and I was happy to have it, because that shower leaked water into both areas of the bathroom and the new luxurious towels are extremely heavy when soaking wet, so I was glad to not have to do laundry everyday
Turn down service was nice also. The master bed was turned down nightly, but only twice were the pull outs turned down. They also pull the shades and leave chocolates. Turn down was normally around 5pm so a little early to have the living area made into a bedroom, so I didnt complain.
Thank goodness we dined out every night, because everything in the kitchen was low. We did have a nice big fridge with the bottom pull out freezer and the dishwasher was the double dish drawer style. We pretty much had breakfast and snacks in the lounge so we didnt use the kitchen at all.
So with no kitchen use and no tub, I felt a studio would have been a better use of points while staying concierge. Matter of fact, I feel like DVC would have done better to turn those units into all studios and maybe have some connecting. There would be more units and the size issue that they have with the 1 beds would be minimized. Right now, I can say that if you are used to staying at the other DVC 1 bed or larger units, I dont see how you will not be disappointed in these concierge units. My next door neighbor lady only had 3 in her party and she was not happy with her room size either and said they will go less and stay in a 2 bedroom. She had a tub!
And forget about the 50/50 chance of getting a Savannah view. The connecting studio to our unit is in the corner of the building and its balcony faces the green wall of the adjacent wing. Im sure if they stepped out on their balcony and looked right they could see the Trail, but it is definitely an obstructed view. So more like a 60/40 chance of savannah view. And if you want a tub, your odds just got even lower.
I was told by 1 Conc. staff member that those 6 floor units received many complaints from the cash club level guests because they were small and guests didnt like the views. I cant help but think this is why they were given to DVC, they could charge us premium points, our dues maintain those floors where cash guests would not. She said they would offer the lounge proximity as a consolation to cash guests when they complained. She thought it was a win-win situation for DVC and I could see that, if I were not already accustomed to other DVC accomodations. What we got was small DVC units with bad views that are close to the lounge.
Sorry to sound like sour grapes and we did enjoy our stay and the lounge and being at AKV for Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve meal at Boma, we decorated little trees outside the arcade, DS decorated an ornament with ostrich egg shells and Angelique from Concierge is my new BFF for showing me how to work that cappucino machine.
We will stay again, but it will be a studio and it will not be for more than 3 nights. The good news is that with 10 units, AKV Concierge will always be full and I probably wont be able to book it again if I tried. So at least we had the opportunity to try it and we will appreciate our Kidani units even more.
I was so upset and disappointed, I didnt even take pictures of the room, which is so unlike me! I felt like I had traded out of DVC to a nice place, but just different than DVC. I really wanted to love it, but I didnt. It was just too big of an adjustment and compromise.
I remember another man posting that his wife was so upset with their AKV room but they didnt want to move to SSR. I wish I could find that thread. Because I think I had the same uncontrollable reaction as his wife when i walked into our 1 bedroom.
After we left, my eyes had to adjust to the light. All the lighting in the unit is amber. You turn it on and you have to look at the bulb to know if the light is on or not. The light over the vanity sink is a small recessed spotlight. There's another light behind it. No full length mirror either so I looked a hot mess the whole week! LOL!!
We did move over to SSR for 9 nights after our stay and the first thing I did was take a long hot bath!
I will be happy to answer any questions. Please dont shoot the messenger! I agonized over posting my experience and waited 10 days to start this TR, but I still feel the same way, so I decided to post it since there is so little experiences right now.
So with that, here it is...........
We arrived around 11 am. I asked the greeter where do Concierge guests check in and she walked me over to the Bell desk. A nice man then took over, printed out a few things and then personally escorted me to the elevator, told me about using the key to access the 6th floor and showed me to the Conc. check in desk.
It was nice to sit down and check in and she was very thorough. I added on the Saturday night of our stay because it was Christmas and I wanted to set up our tree and be ready for the holiday. We originally had a 1 bed standard room booked but I upped the points so that we would not have to change rooms.
All went well with checkin and my reservation was linked thru our 6 night stay. I requested Savannah view and was told that DVC didnt really have clear views of the Savannahs, but we would be on the Kudu Trail side. Our room was not ready til around 3 pm, so we hung out in the lounge, which is very nice. They were having snacks, so there was cookies, yogurt, goldfish and trail mixes out.
We walk into the villa and I was taken aback at how small and dark it was. Our unit is the first set of lockoffs on the hall. There is a large grass roof arch that spans the entire balcony, so most natural light to the unit is cut off.
This is where I lost it. Our 1 bedroom was an accessible unit. The layout is completely different than the models and though I had mentally prepared myself to have the shower/tub combined, I was NOT prepared to be completely tubless!
The bathroom was divided by 2 sliding doors. The first slider off the hall was the sink (not dual sinks) mirror and closet that held all the ironing board, pak n play, and high chair, and safe. No rod in this closet to hang anything, no shelf, and no floor space to put anything. The next slider was the toilet and roll-in shower. Not a hook or towel bar to be had. I just knew that there had to be a tub somewhere so I go across the hall to the Master bedroom and that was it. There is a wardrobe in the Master, but because it is an accessible unit the rod is in the bottom half. Again Im freaking out because I dont have anywhere to put our stuff and we are staying for 2 weeks split between AKV and SSR.The living room is combined with the dining bench and table which makes it look even smaller. I understand they have to have accessible units, but I just feel that this one was poorly done and DVC could have made it more functional for all uses. The entertainment unit was missing the entire bottom doors which normally would hold the pak n play, but because it needed to sit lower that portion was missing. We had the exact same entertainment unit in the Master. 4 drawers. So we had the 4 half drawers in the entertainment unit for storage and that was it for the entire living area. there was no trunk or storage furniture or a hook in the entire unit.
There was a pull out chair, but because the living area was combined with the dining, it was up against the sliders and facing the sofa. So if you were sitting in the chair, you were not looking at the TV you were looking at the couch.
I did not feel this unit was worth 56 points at all. I was upset and I called MS. I was too upset to go back out into the lounge and deal with it. Basically, as we all know, there are 10 rooms total in AKV Concierge for DVC. So if you get a room you dont like, your pretty much stuck with it. They could move me the next day but its the basic do-over. Check out by 11am wait for room to be ready and move back in. Nothing was available for that evening so that was my option. I felt to move the next day would have been a total waste of my points since the reason I upgraded to Conc. on a Saturday night was to use our travel day to get moved in and settled and not use 2 days to do it. My mind does not rest until I am unpacked and settled, so we stayed.
We moved the furniture around to give us more useable space. The couch needed to be pushed down and the big chair was moved to the opposite wall next to the couch with the small round coffee table that was in the corner placed in between. At least now we could all sit and watch TV and not have to move around the chair to get out to the balcony. The pictures were no longer centered over the sofa, but a small price to pay for functionality.
Our view. We did see animals. They seemed to come out in the early evening but they didnt stay long. I could tell the Kudu Trail was not their normal hangout. The ostriches were what we saw the most of and they have some interesting digestive functions!
The Kudu Trail view is mostly dirt road with a patch of grass and pond in the middle. Across the way, you have a full view of the Kidani Construction, which is coming along quite nicely. No complaints about the construction view, that was expected. The construction started before sunrise and they worked well after sundown, using bright lights. It was not too noisy or distracting. And the quicker they finish, the quicker I can have a 1 bedroom with a separate tub!
So it took me a couple of days to warm up to AKV Concierge. The lounge was nice and we were 1 door away so that was nice. The boys enjoyed their chocolate milk and cookies and Dh and I enjoyed our evening appetizers and wine. The first night they served ribs and an african stew.
We normally bring an extra DVD player for the bedroom, but this time we forgot all the cords so I called concierge to see if they maybe had an extra DVD player or set of cords for the DVD player in our unit we could move it to the bedroom. Not being familiar with DVC (which I understand) he tells me that only the suites have DVD players and that there is a Wal-Mart close by if we wanted to purchase one. I was not impressed. I did call maintenance to see if they had a cord and she said she would put the order in, but I never heard back from them. As a polar opposite, when we got to SSR, I had Dh call for a cord (thinking maybe I wasnt asking for the right thing, being a girl and all) and within the hour, they sent someone over to move the DVD player into the bedroom.
We did do the dining plan, and as others have said, the lounge offerings do not replace meals, they are nice to have and could replace snacks. I enjoyed the Cappucino machine, but I fear it breaks down alot. It was running 3 of the 6 days we were there.
I did use IP (Itinerary Planning) to book some of our ADR's, but be aware that if you use Dining and IP, that Dining will not be able to view your IP reservations because their systems are not compatible. I had booked with both.
I also went on the Sunrise Safari which was very nice, met some nice people, learned alot and the breakfast buffet afterwards was one of the best on Disney. Dh and the boys decided not to go (plus that early with 1 sink and 1 shower would have been more than I could handle at 5 am) so I cancelled them and went solo.
We really needed the daily maid service and I was happy to have it, because that shower leaked water into both areas of the bathroom and the new luxurious towels are extremely heavy when soaking wet, so I was glad to not have to do laundry everyday
Turn down service was nice also. The master bed was turned down nightly, but only twice were the pull outs turned down. They also pull the shades and leave chocolates. Turn down was normally around 5pm so a little early to have the living area made into a bedroom, so I didnt complain.
Thank goodness we dined out every night, because everything in the kitchen was low. We did have a nice big fridge with the bottom pull out freezer and the dishwasher was the double dish drawer style. We pretty much had breakfast and snacks in the lounge so we didnt use the kitchen at all.
So with no kitchen use and no tub, I felt a studio would have been a better use of points while staying concierge. Matter of fact, I feel like DVC would have done better to turn those units into all studios and maybe have some connecting. There would be more units and the size issue that they have with the 1 beds would be minimized. Right now, I can say that if you are used to staying at the other DVC 1 bed or larger units, I dont see how you will not be disappointed in these concierge units. My next door neighbor lady only had 3 in her party and she was not happy with her room size either and said they will go less and stay in a 2 bedroom. She had a tub!
And forget about the 50/50 chance of getting a Savannah view. The connecting studio to our unit is in the corner of the building and its balcony faces the green wall of the adjacent wing. Im sure if they stepped out on their balcony and looked right they could see the Trail, but it is definitely an obstructed view. So more like a 60/40 chance of savannah view. And if you want a tub, your odds just got even lower.
I was told by 1 Conc. staff member that those 6 floor units received many complaints from the cash club level guests because they were small and guests didnt like the views. I cant help but think this is why they were given to DVC, they could charge us premium points, our dues maintain those floors where cash guests would not. She said they would offer the lounge proximity as a consolation to cash guests when they complained. She thought it was a win-win situation for DVC and I could see that, if I were not already accustomed to other DVC accomodations. What we got was small DVC units with bad views that are close to the lounge.
Sorry to sound like sour grapes and we did enjoy our stay and the lounge and being at AKV for Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve meal at Boma, we decorated little trees outside the arcade, DS decorated an ornament with ostrich egg shells and Angelique from Concierge is my new BFF for showing me how to work that cappucino machine.
We will stay again, but it will be a studio and it will not be for more than 3 nights. The good news is that with 10 units, AKV Concierge will always be full and I probably wont be able to book it again if I tried. So at least we had the opportunity to try it and we will appreciate our Kidani units even more.
I was so upset and disappointed, I didnt even take pictures of the room, which is so unlike me! I felt like I had traded out of DVC to a nice place, but just different than DVC. I really wanted to love it, but I didnt. It was just too big of an adjustment and compromise.
I remember another man posting that his wife was so upset with their AKV room but they didnt want to move to SSR. I wish I could find that thread. Because I think I had the same uncontrollable reaction as his wife when i walked into our 1 bedroom.
After we left, my eyes had to adjust to the light. All the lighting in the unit is amber. You turn it on and you have to look at the bulb to know if the light is on or not. The light over the vanity sink is a small recessed spotlight. There's another light behind it. No full length mirror either so I looked a hot mess the whole week! LOL!!
We did move over to SSR for 9 nights after our stay and the first thing I did was take a long hot bath!
I will be happy to answer any questions. Please dont shoot the messenger! I agonized over posting my experience and waited 10 days to start this TR, but I still feel the same way, so I decided to post it since there is so little experiences right now.
