AKV Concierge Reservation Question

[wildernessDad]

I want to make a reservation at AKV in May of 2008 for 5 nights in a 1-br at the concierge level.

The question is, when can I call MS to make the reservation? Has anyone heard when people can make concierge-level reservations?

Thanks

 

[the who #3]

it is my understanding that any reservations for akv can not be made until may 16 or after.

my problem is that concierge level at akv seems to have been removed from the offered room accommodations. it was on the points charts at dvcmember.com, but now is not there. what happened. that is one of the main reasons i purchased at akv.

 

[drusba]

By May 2008 all or almost all of the conversions at the existing lodge should be done. In mid-May, AKV owners can start calling to make ressies for Sep 07 to April 08. For a May 2008 ressie, you will not be able to call until June if AKV owner (11 months out) or October if not (7 months out).

Be aware that there are going to be a small number of concierge rooms. Thus, it is likely those will go to persons who call 11 months out day-to-day and make that call when MS opens each day.

As to who#3's post, not clear what you mean by its not being there -- the point chart on the site still shows concierge point level.

 

[LisaS]

my problem is that concierge level at akv seems to have been removed from the offered room accommodations. it was on the points charts at dvcmember.com, but now is not there.

I just looked at the AKV point chart and concierge is still listed: http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/common/blankPage?id=PointsChartDAKV07Page

wildernessDad: AKV owners can make reservations 11 months prior to checkout, so a reservation for May 2008 could be made in June 2007. Having said that, there has been no official word on exactly when in May '08 the first concierge level villas will be available (early May? mid May?). I think it's going to be extremely difficult to book concierge villas so it will be interesting to see if they come up with some sort of lottery to address the huge imbalance of supply and demand for those villas. It's going to be interesting!

 

[DVC Grammy]

LisaS, if they don't have a lottery, wouldn't concierge be booked on a first-come/first-served basis (much like BWV standard and BW views)?
IMO, by 10 and 3/4 months out, they'll always be completely booked (unless TPTB increase the numbers.............do you hear me DVD? )

(I used to wish for a "tag" from the Tag Fairy, now I wish for an AKV concierge vacation instead!)

 

[LisaS]

LisaS, if they don't have a lottery, wouldn't concierge be booked on a first-come/first-served basis (much like BWV standard and BW views)?

My concern is that with everyone calling day by day and so few rooms, it's going to take a miracle to get all of the nights of your stay, or even two consecutive nights. You could end up getting only every other night or every 3rd night of the trip. It's not only a hassle for members to be moving rooms multiple times during a trip, it will be more work for mousekeeping to have to clean those rooms every night if hardly anybody manages to get two consecutive nights in a CL villa. On the bright side, those will probably be the cleanest villas in the resort since they will be getting more full cleanings per year than any other villas.

ETA: Another option would be for MS to not allow day by day booking for those rooms. You have to book 11 months from your real check-out date. And once booked, you can only drop days from your stay. Adding days would require cancelling the original reservation and rebooking it subject to availability.

 

[Slakk]

LisaS, if they don't have a lottery, wouldn't concierge be booked on a first-come/first-served basis (much like BWV standard and BW views)?
IMO, by 10 and 3/4 months out, they'll always be completely booked (unless TPTB increase the numbers.............do you hear me DVD? )

(I used to wish for a "tag" from the Tag Fairy, now I wish for an AKV concierge vacation instead!)

I don't think they will be available after 10 am 11 months out.

 

[LisaS]

I don't think they will be available after 10 am 11 months out.

I was thinking 9:01 am. OK, maybe 9:05.

 

[DVC Grammy]

My concern is that with everyone calling day by day and so few rooms, it's going to take a miracle to get all of the nights of your stay, or even two consecutive nights. You could end up getting only every other night or every 3rd night of the trip. It's not only a hassle for members to be moving rooms multiple times during a trip, it will be more work for mousekeeping to have to clean those rooms every night if hardly anybody manages to get two consecutive nights in a CL villa. On the bright side, those will probably be the cleanest villas in the resort since they will be getting more full cleanings per year than any other villas.

ETA: Another option would be for MS to not allow day by day booking for those rooms. You have to book 11 months from your real check-out date. And once booked, you can only drop days from your stay. Adding days would require cancelling the original reservation and rebooking it subject to availability.

ITA that AKV concierge will be one of THE most popular and hardest to book categories in the DVC !
Wouldn't it be great if it was expanded, not only at AKV, but into all or most of the DVCs? I understand it could be a problem retro-fitting it into some (OKW and SSR), but the WL and the BWI and YC/BC must have some available rooms to remodel........ . And future DVCs could offer them ,too. (Are you listening TPTB? )

 

[MissMet]

Confused...

I'm think about TRYING (keyword) to book a concierge room at AKV in Nov. 07. Are concierge rooms going to be available then?

I feel so out of the loop.

 

[jbrowna]

I guess what I don't quite get is how the physical concierge rooms will be different. I've always considered that the concierge offering is a level of service, so that a concierge room and a non-concierge room could be physically the same.

DVC, however, is kind of mixing things up, it seems to me. They are designating "concierge" as a room type, when actually it is a level of service. If so, I would think they could be flexible: if the demand for concierge rooms goes up, let people stay in other rooms at the concierge rate and give them access to the concierge lounge.

One person on these boards pointed out that that probably isn't legal, however, since DVC is selling a "real estate" interest, and you can't go changing the real estate once it's sold - so once you designate certain rooms as concierge they have to stay that way. From my point of view, however, the extra points I'm spending to get the concierge service doesn't depend on the physical room location or layout -- if I want to spend my real estate interest to get service rather than some particular location, why shouldn't I?

Perhaps at other resorts, like Beach Club or Boardwalk, they could offer concierge service as a cash add-on, much like daily housekeeping: pay so much more per day and we'll give you a key to the concierge lounge. That's pretty much how it works at Grand Californian or even at the Animal Kingdom Lodge right now for regular resort guests. And, come to think of it, you can book a concierge room at those Disney resorts using DVC points, and the only thing you get for your extra points is service, not a designated room. Why not do that for regular DVC?

I'm just speculating, and utterly confused

 

[Maistre Gracey]

ETA: Another option would be for MS to not allow day by day booking for those rooms. You have to book 11 months from your real check-out date. And once booked, you can only drop days from your stay. Adding days would require cancelling the original reservation and rebooking it subject to availability.

I don't see how that would work.
First, it would penalize folks who are on longer stays.
Second, folks would still call each day, and if available just cancel the previous days. If the previous days would get taken by the waitlist, just keep the new ressie unlinked.
Also, think about the waitlist ramification nitemares while all this is happening...

MG

 

[tjkraz]

There was a discussion a few months ago that included the official language regarding the concierge lounge. If I recall correctly, DVC is taking ownership of the lounge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge will effectively pay a fee to DVC for each concierge room that will access the lounge. However, the text posted included a clause that DVC was prohibited from expanding access to the lounge beyond the DVC concierge class rooms. This makes sense from the standpoint that the Lodge has a business to protect. If DVC members were to start stuffing the concierge lounge beyond the agreed-upon levels, the quality of service received by guests paying premium rates to access the lounge would suffer.

Legally DVC cannot simply charge more points for a room and grant concierge access. And given the info above, it would also be impossible for them to offer concierge access to members on a paid basis.

 

[pogopossum]

Confused...

I'm think about TRYING (keyword) to book a concierge room at AKV in Nov. 07. Are concierge rooms going to be available then?

I feel so out of the loop.

it is my understanding that all levels of rooms in the lodge building will be available in sep 07.

i am wondering if they are going to put concierge level rooms in the new add-on villas.

 

[LisaS]

I don't see how that would work.
First, it would penalize folks who are on longer stays.
Second, folks would still call each day, and if available just cancel the previous days. If the previous days would get taken by the waitlist, just keep the new ressie unlinked.
Also, think about the waitlist ramification nitemares while all this is happening...

MG

I don't think it will be possible to book a long concierge stay unless you have a special phone line into MS that gets answered at 8:55 am before the rest of us have a chance to get through! As far as wait list nightmares, we're going to have those with the day-by-day method too. There's very little chance anyone will get all of the nights of their trip. Everyone will end up wait listed for some of their nights and we'll all be locked in a deadly embrace, each of us hoping that somebody cancels so that our wait list comes through, but unwilling to cancel any nights ourselves, even if it means having to check in and out of concierge level once or twice during our stay.

 

[jbrowna]

There was a discussion a few months ago that included the official language regarding the concierge lounge. If I recall correctly, DVC is taking ownership of the lounge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge will effectively pay a fee to DVC for each concierge room that will access the lounge. However, the text posted included a clause that DVC was prohibited from expanding access to the lounge beyond the DVC concierge class rooms. This makes sense from the standpoint that the Lodge has a business to protect. If DVC members were to start stuffing the concierge lounge beyond the agreed-upon levels, the quality of service received by guests paying premium rates to access the lounge would suffer.

Legally DVC cannot simply charge more points for a room and grant concierge access. And given the info above, it would also be impossible for them to offer concierge access to members on a paid basis.

Thanks for the clarification on that! From how it's described, I think DVC may have created a booking nightmare

 

[drusba]

"i am wondering if they are going to put concierge level rooms in the new add-on villas"

There will be no concierge rooms in the new Kidani building. Also, mention above about limitations in the official documents as to concierge is correct. There is a designated set of rooms for concierge at the Jambo building, AKL will be contributing to costs, and they will not be allowing any of the other rooms the opportunity to use it. I bought at AKV with no intent of using concierge, so at least you won't have to compete for reservations with me.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I guess what I don't quite get is how the physical concierge rooms will be different. I've always considered that the concierge offering is a level of service, so that a concierge room and a non-concierge room could be physically the same.

DVC, however, is kind of mixing things up, it seems to me. They are designating "concierge" as a room type, when actually it is a level of service. If so, I would think they could be flexible: if the demand for concierge rooms goes up, let people stay in other rooms at the concierge rate and give them access to the concierge lounge.

One person on these boards pointed out that that probably isn't legal, however, since DVC is selling a "real estate" interest, and you can't go changing the real estate once it's sold - so once you designate certain rooms as concierge they have to stay that way. From my point of view, however, the extra points I'm spending to get the concierge service doesn't depend on the physical room location or layout -- if I want to spend my real estate interest to get service rather than some particular location, why shouldn't I?

Perhaps at other resorts, like Beach Club or Boardwalk, they could offer concierge service as a cash add-on, much like daily housekeeping: pay so much more per day and we'll give you a key to the concierge lounge. That's pretty much how it works at Grand Californian or even at the Animal Kingdom Lodge right now for regular resort guests. And, come to think of it, you can book a concierge room at those Disney resorts using DVC points, and the only thing you get for your extra points is service, not a designated room. Why not do that for regular DVC?

I'm just speculating, and utterly confused

It isn't just the service that is different, but the rooms will be different also. These wont be standard "hotel" rooms, but true DVC type rooms. A definite rarity!! I can dream about them, but I'll never have enough points to stay in one unless I sell one OKW contract and purchase more AKV points.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks for the clarification on that! From how it's described, I think DVC may have created a booking nightmare

I totally agree!

 

[jejojual]

I agree that the AKV concierge reservations will be a hot ticket. Is anyone else concerned about getting a concierge level reservation on a day that offers the Sunrise Safari? I believe the SS is only offered two days a week. Reservations for AKV concierge will be extremely tough those days!