AoA suites - In need of refurb?

[Polynesian27]

Hi all, so my wife and I looking to book a trip for this coming summer and with three children we are thinking about staying at AoA. However, we stayed at AoA two years ago and thought the rooms were starting to show their age but it wasn’t anything too bad. Then we recently heard from a friend that the hallways were in need of a paint job, stained carpets, dinged up walls, and very worn furniture. If you have stayed at AoA recently, have you experienced these same things? This will really make our decision for us! Thanks so much!

 

[fab1976]

They’re just 6 years old, I don’t think they’ll be refurbished any time soon.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Not an AoA pro, but we stayed one night in a Nemo suite earlier this month. Room was in fine condition. Thought the bed was quite comfy actually. Some very minor dings - but nothing notable at all in this particular room.

I did think the carpet in the hallway needed to be replaced - several obvious former stains and showing age.

I wouldn’t not stay there because of this, but I did notice it.

 

[saraheliz]

Our room in Little Mermaid last week was showing a little bit of age, but nothing terrible or that impacted our trip. Just a couple of dings on walls, faded box spring covering, etc (not a suite, but all the same age).

 

[ladybugmommy84]

We stayed in the Little Mermaid room last yeae in May and the room showed some wear in tear. The curtain was torn but other than that the room was fine.

 

[teachmedis]

We stayed in a Nemo suite the first week of April. We loved our proximity to the pool and the themeing. Our room was great, the one sign of age I noticed was a dresser drawer that didn't pull out very smoothly. I did notice the hallway carpets. They need some love but honestly I'm not sure if I would have paid much attention to it if it weren't for reading it here.

 

[bluezy]

Not an AoA pro, but we stayed one night in a Nemo suite earlier this month. Room was in fine condition. Thought the bed was quite comfy actually. Some very minor dings - but nothing notable at all in this particular room.

I did think the carpet in the hallway needed to be replaced - several obvious former stains and showing age.

I wouldn’t not stay there because of this, but I did notice it.

I agree that the hallways desperately need to be refurbished or spruced up. We stayed in a Nemo suite in June 2016 and I thought the hallway in Nemo Building 5 was horrible (the Lion King hallways weren't as bad when we walked over there to specifically look at them). I even complained about it and got a follow-up phone call and spent 20 minutes on the phone with a Guest Relations "manager" (no idea if he really was or if he just said he was) discussing it. Our suite was fine -- maybe a few little odds and ends of wear but nothing obvious. It was just the hallways that were horrible. I told GR that if we had been at any other hotel *anywhere* and I walked down a hallway that looked like the one in the Nemo building, I would have turned around and gone back to the front desk; canceled our reservation; and left. I was worried that the room would look the same way but was pleasantly surprised that the suite was fine (it was our 3rd stay and I would say our suite on that trip looked as good as our first stay which was about 8 months after the resort opened). I cringed every time I walked down that hallway, though. However, like you said, it's not something that stopped us from staying there again....we're booked in a Lion King suite (Nemo wasn't available for our dates/promo) in June.

 

[mindeola]

The hallways really need some maintenance. Our suite was wonderful though.

 

[DLgal]

They’re just 6 years old, I don’t think they’ll be refurbished any time soon.

6 years is a long time in the hotel industry. There is some law that hotels have to refurbish rooms (at least a soft goods refurbishment) at a specific interval. I can't remember how many years it is, but I think its somewhere around 7.

 

[bluezy]

6 years is a long time in the hotel industry. There is some law that hotels have to refurbish rooms (at least a soft goods refurbishment) at a specific interval. I can't remember how many years it is, but I think its somewhere around 7.

I don't think it's a law that they have to refurbish within a certain time frame. I think it's just an industry standard of every 3-7 years. And even that timeframe will fluctuate based on how many new or newly renovated hotels are in the area.

I've read that after the All Star rooms have been refurbished that the LM rooms will be getting the same makeover as the other value resorts. I also thought I remembered reading that there were some basic soft goods replacements happening in the AoA suites in the last year or so.

 

[DLgal]

I don't think it's a law that they have to refurbish within a certain time frame. I think it's just an industry standard of every 3-7 years. And even that timeframe will fluctuate based on how many new or newly renovated hotels are in the area.

I've read that after the All Star rooms have been refurbished that the LM rooms will be getting the same makeover as the other value resorts. I also thought I remembered reading that there were some basic soft goods replacements happening in the AoA suites in the last year or so.

Okay, what I read said that "Franchise hotels are required to update their rooms every 8-10 years."

I guess Disney wouldn't want to do less than what is considered "industry standard" in this respect, and I know that they do refurbish their resort rooms around this same timeframe.

 

[Polynesian27]

Thanks for all the great conversation and it was nice to hear everyone’s experience! Thank you!