AKV concierge level - what do you get?

[meg8182000]

Hey guys, going over points for the upcoming year and trying to decide if we should put out the extra points to go for the club level if it is available at AKV.

Can anyone who has stayed on the concierge level let me know your thoughts? What extras did you get? Did you do the private safari? Any input and comments are welcome.

Thanks,
Meg

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hey guys, going over points for the upcoming year and trying to decide if we should put out the extra points to go for the club level if it is available at AKV.

Can anyone who has stayed on the concierge level let me know your thoughts? What extras did you get? Did you do the private safari? Any input and comments are welcome.

Thanks,
Meg

We did AKL Concierge several years ago before they converted the fifth and sixth floors to DVC. We did do the Sunrise Safari and really enjoyed it. The access to the lounge was nice.

With the DVC Concierge villas, they are all located on the sixth floor - five two bedroom lockoffs (three savanna - partially blocked - and two pool). If you don't own at AKV, it's difficult to get the Concierge villas. You get daily housekeeping and turndown service as well.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed there about 3 1/2 years ago with friends (late June). My friend got it at 7 months, 1 bedroom, it was a milestone birthday for her. We did the Sunrise Safari, it was great! They have a continental breakfast and then appetizers, drinks, desserts at night. Snacks during the day.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We have our first concierge level stay coming up in June, and can't wait! We are hoping to spend more time at the resort than we usually do so we can take utilize the concierge lounge.

One thing that we have really enjoyed so far is the itinerary planning office (IPO) . We have been in communication with them since just before 180 days of our arrival and they took care of our ADR's, Sunrise Safari reservation, and Pirates and Pals reservation. It was nice to not have to deal with those over the phone. The ADR's were especially helpful, since the on-line reservation system did not work with our resort confirmation number

We are doing a split stay between AKV-concierge and BLT and the IPO even did the ADR's for the BLT part of the trip, which was a pleasant surprise!

 

[bookwormde]

For a studio for a few points per night it is neat since it is like having a king size living room with snack and drinks. I am not sure I would pay the premium for a 1 or 2 bedroom though. We are staying a second time this June and got a Wedneday so we can do the sunrise safari

bookwormde

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have done 2 DVC CL stays. Both times we ended up in a pool view villa - the SAME villa both times. I have decided I don't like looking at the pool for 2 solid weeks.

The daily housekeeping and turn-down service are fabulous. They also double sheet the beds, which I love.

The IPO staff are great at helping to secure the reservations for dining and recreation.

We did the Sunrise safari and it was fun. My only complaint is that we were really crammed into the safari vehicle. When you ride the safari during the day they specifically tell you DO NOT enter a row with another party, yet for the Sunrise Safari our party of 3 was shoved into a row with another party of 2 so it was REALLY difficult to manuever around enough to take photos. If it had been our first time on the safari I would have been mad.

The offerings in the lounge have declined over the past couple of years. There are enough things to make a decent breakfast, but in terms of evening appetizers etc. it is pretty meager. We were usually headed to dinner when they were putting out the evening snacks so we didn't care, but we did notice an overall decline in the amount of food. We also noticed A LOT of people who were not CL guests coming in and taking as much as they could carry. I reported it to the lounge staff, hotel management, and Member Services but I doubt anything has been done to curtail the problem.

I guess you have to look at the CL package as a whole and determine which factors are most important to you. It is enjoyable, but I don't think we'll be booking another CL stay anytime soon. This year we are doing a 1 bedroom at Kidani.

 

[Deb & Bill]

.... We also noticed A LOT of people who were not CL guests coming in and taking as much as they could carry. I reported it to the lounge staff, hotel management, and Member Services but I doubt anything has been done to curtail the problem.....

They weren't the AKL Concierge guests from the 4th floor, perhaps? All the concierge rooms used to be on the sixth and fifth floors before they renovated those floors for the villas.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

They weren't the AKL Concierge guests from the 4th floor, perhaps? All the concierge rooms used to be on the sixth and fifth floors before they renovated those floors for the villas.

No, these people weren't coming from the 4th floor.

 

[AnimalKingdomDVC]

I was there for Christmas in a one bedroom, three doors down from where the lounge is. The CM's where excellent, they would go above and beyond, I was not that impressed with my room. I was given the HP accessible, which I did not like the layout.Loved the Sunrise Safari, great ride and breakfast, but you can do that with ANY Club Level.

That all being said, I will not waste my points again, You have to be RIGHT there is you want any beers at evening time, people came and scooped things up and you just would not get them, the food would be replaced, but most of the stuff I could not eat...or there just was not that much!
save your points, I would have rather have just done a studio in Jambo pool view!

 

[thepops]

We really enjoyed the Sunrise Safari. We didn't have any problems with crowding (but we were there in early December) and they actually had 2 safari trucks for the Sunrise trip. The food was good (not an overwhelming amount, but it's not supposed to be a meal). Beverages were always available. If you didn't see nay, a quick check with the staff got you a cold beverage very quickly. We'd do it again.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Enjoying these tips. We just booked a club level room for next Christmas! I'm very excited about the Sunrise Safari and club offerings.

Any other thoughts or tips would be appreciated.

 

[Deb & Bill]

No, these people weren't coming from the 4th floor.

And from what you have told me, what they were doing was awful. And they were probably DVC members from the 5th floor. Makes me embarrassed to be DVC. I hope it gets corrected very soon.

 

[asouthernbelle]

we are also planning on staying more in the resort this time... can we specifically request whichever appetizers/ food findings that ran out that we would like some of from the cm? hoping to avoid the big rush to the table. never stayed cl before but am on wait list for march. . . i just dont want to be a part of a stampede, but would also like to enjoy the perks that come from the extra points!

 

[Deb & Bill]

we are also planning on staying more in the resort this time... can we specifically request whichever appetizers/ food findings that ran out that we would like some of from the cm? hoping to avoid the big rush to the table. never stayed cl before but am on wait list for march. . . i just dont want to be a part of a stampede, but would also like to enjoy the perks that come from the extra points!

They might not have anymore. Especially if some guests forget their manners and take a lot of one thing instead of sharing.

 

[quirty30]

Just out of curiosity, how would one even get into the CL lounge without the special key? You need a coded key card to get access to the lounge, either through the elevator, or the gated entrance by the stairs. I have read of some incidents of overbooking of DVC CL villas, where guests have been assigned villas on the 5th floor, and still given access to the lounge. We once were assigned the HC 1 BR villa on the 6th floor - but in order to get the bathtub I needed, they did move us to a 5th floor villa, and we still got lounge access. And anyone staying regular CL for AKV would also have to come up the stairs or the elevator to access the lounge. So how would anyone know that people using the lounge and taking food back to their room weren't legitimately entitled to do so?

 

[Guzzi]

opps

 

[Guzzi]

love the info on this post, although i guess i am a little concerned about non cl guests accessing the lounge, since im paying for it and they are not, but not sure if it is key access how that can happen.

Love the reservation help the concierge folks have given us, we let them know what adrs we wanted and they made the reservations and the reservation for the sunrise safari too thats a nice service. They contact you by email before the 180 mark and ask you to supply them with the adrs and reservations you want. You can do this by email, fax or phone. My wife called and gave them the info, they made the ressies on the 180 day mark.

this will be our fist CL trip. My wife has a co worker who did CL recently and she says that is all she will ever do again with her DVC

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The people we saw taking large quantities of food and drink from the lounge were NOT CL level guests. I am well aware of the procedures in place for accessing the lounge. We were in a CL villa for 15 nights last year, and 9 nights in 2009.

The food is prepared and sent up from one of the restaurants downstairs, so when it is gone, it is gone. They don't put it all out at once, but there is a finite amount. They can refill the platters a few times and then the food is gone. I have read (and it makes sense) that they base the amount of food they send up on the number of registered CL guests. When guests from other floors, or other resorts, or whatever, show up and take entire platters of food then things don't last very long.

 

[Guzzi]

How do you know they weren't club level guests? Were they bragging about stealing the food while in the lounge, did they pick the door lock to get in?, just kinda curious

 

[Disbug1]

How do you know they weren't club level guests? Were they bragging about stealing the food while in the lounge, did they pick the door lock to get in?, just kinda curious

Or perhaps they were asked if they were "CL Guests" I am curious too