Club level at HRH--Is it worth it for a family of 5?

[momdoc]

We (husband, 7 year old, 4 1/2 yr old and 20mon) will be travelling for 2 nights to HRH. My husband was to get a club level room. I wanted to get the deluxe room (500 sq ft with 2 queen and pull out sofa). The club level includes breakfast but is $50 more a night. IMO, the kids can eat cereal in the room (much less trouble and definetly cheaper and FASTER). He suggested I post here to find out what ya'll thought. Has anyone stayed club before? How about the deluxe room? Help us decide...

 

[gopherit]

Wow - what irony, I was coming to this board to post the SAME question, but for a fam of 5 with kids aged 11,10 and 6!

I agree -- kids can do cereal for $50 with lots of moolah left over, but I understand it involves more than that (afternoon food, bottled water and pop you can take with you). I was wondering how big of a pain it is to come back to the resort just for that, though. ANd if we dine out (my boys think NASCAR cafe and NBA sound cool, lol!) well, then what's the point in the afternoon kibble anyway?

(momdoc, we'll just keep bumping this up til we get a good gathering of answers!)

 

[E&B's Mom]

But, it's not just cereal for the extra $. It's water and snacks all day, and beer & wine with appetizers in the evening, plus cookies or something before bed. You would also get 50% off a cabana rental (that is worth about $35 per day itself) and free use of the fitness center.

 

[momdoc]

I would love to know how much food? Is it enough during the day to have a lunch or is it just goldfish and bottled waters? We have stayed Club level at the Ritz and they are very generous with alcohol and food ALL day but I understand other places can have more modest food presentations and sometimes the alcohol is only limited times. I am concerned that being in the park we wouldn't really go back to enjoy the amenities. Is the breakfast cereal and danish muffins or is it a hot breakfast? And, the final question, can you stay in a room close by so you could put your kids to bed and, once they were safely asleep, go and have a drink?

 

[luvdzny]

During the day they do not have any food out, only bottled water & soda. The evening offerings were not that great when we were there. Cheese & crackers, veggies & dip. I did enjoy the Corona, but I could have bought a lot of Corona for the extra $ we spent. Breakfast was good, but it was always VERY crowded, we never found a place to sit. (We were there in June.) I am used to concierge level at WDW, HRH was OK but I prefer AKL!

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

We just came back from staying club at HRH, and I would definitely do it again. If you are planning on getting a cabana, you get it for 1/2 price (which saves you $50) and having a cabana the first day we arrived really made the trip. It was the best! We enjoyed it so much we were tempted to rent one for the next two days also. Bagels and danish in the morning are fine for us, and its the convenience that really mattered. My husband would run and get the bagels and juices while the girls and I were still getting ready and bring them back, so it didn't really matter if there were seats or not. Plus if you go buy a plain bagel in the snack shop at the HRH, I think it is $3.50 (my daughter she wanted one at noon one day). When you start adding up on what you would spend on breakfast alone, it becomes an easy decision!

I have read on these boards about how unruly and crowded the club lounge gets, but we did not see anything like that. Even when the free beer, wine and appetizers were out, the lounge was still very manageable. The appetizers were okay (first night chicken,second night meatballs (my daughter loved these, she ate about 10 of them!)) and we missed it the third night. I wouldn't come back from the parks just for the appetizers, but its nice to have when we were there at the right time. The girls went to get lemonade several times throughout the day from the lounge, and really enjoyed the sweets as well (first night cookies (big, bakery style, and then oreos and chips ahoy as well, second night huge rice krispie treats, and the third night awesome brownies).
All in all, staying club at HRH really added to our trip, and I would not hesitate to do it again. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

 

[damo]

For fifty bucks extra a night, I would probably do it. Try to get a deluxe room by faxing the hotel and asking nicely. Have the kids draw cute pictures, etc. It certainly can't hurt! I could have survived on just eating lunch outside of the hotel and eating breakfast and appetizers (as dinner) and snacks. DH, however, could not have managed on just that.

It is fun, but if money is tight, I would skip it.

 

[macraven]

i did club level before and loved it !!

we took water bottles with us to the park, would take the breakfast items back to the room and would hit either the appetizer hour or the sweets time period.

the concierge workers will do anything you need done.
i bought the meal and movie ticket on two different occassions and the worker at the desk in the lounge checked the movies and times for me.

the food was good.
if there was something i wanted that wasn't out, they would go get it from the kitchen downstairs.
very helpful staff.

since rates have increased so much, i last stayed on the 7th floor oct 03.
i stick with the lower floors now.

 

[momdoc]

I appreciate everyone's input. I would be happy to stay in a regular room but I seem to be married to a hotel snob who wants club level. Sometimes it is worth it, sometimes not. Thanks for all the info--if anyone out there has any more to offer, I'm still watching....

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

If my husband insisted on staying club level, I certainly wouldn't argue. That being said, we stayed club a couple years ago when hotel kingdom was offering it for $220/night.

I really did not think it was worth the extra money now, but I would pay that price again, lol. The morning offerings are ok, the waters and soda out all day are nice, but they are not cold unfortunately. They just sit on the counter warm. The evening offerings are kind of yucky to me, I'm not a big meatball, wings, cheese kind of person. The beer is nice, but I would rather kick back at Margaritaville and have a few in a great atmosphere. The lounge was always crowded, and the staff was not all that helpful.

So, all in all, I would accept a free upgrade to club, but wouldn't pay for it.

 

[robvia]

I think it's a convience thing.
I've stayed at the Club level of the Renaissance and being able to walk down the hall for breakfast, then spinach rolls and other snacks in the afternoon were nice. In our case, we only paid about $20 more a night for our stay.

Otherwise, you have to spend the time to visit Publix, stock a cooler, and take it up to the room. It's a lot of work, I usually have to make two trips to the car. But once done, having a cooler in the room really pays off.
It really comes down to whether you want to do the extra work to save some money. $50 a night is kinda expensive, but if the hubby wants to pay for it, then I'd say go for it and enjoy.

 

[lookingforward]

I would only do it if I was going to spend a lot of time at the hotel. The free water and drinks during the day are only good if you are around the hotel or willing to tote them around. I have stayed on the concierge level a few times and found the lounge VERY crowded during breakfast hours. You can still have a nice continental breakfast, but it will be fairly packed in the small lounge. The evening offerings have ranged from veggies and dip one time to a few hot appetizers on another night. They used to have cookies and milk at night but I am not sure if that is still in effect.

For $50 I would most likely go for it, but if I could get a really low special rate for a regular room I would choose that. EIther way, enjoy your trip!

 

[Mickey&Co]

Where are the HRH club rooms located? Do any of the rooms face US or IOA?


M&Co

 

[macraven]

club level is the 7th floor, which is the top floor of hrh.

you must insert your room key in the elevator or it will not go to the 7th floor.

room views can face universal or water taxis. if you are in the inside rooms facing the pool it will be the theme park.
if you are on the outside corridor, it is limited for most for the park view.

 

[4greatboys]

We have not stayed HRH club but did stay RPR club. We snagged it on a APH rate and got a decent deal on it June 2004. We really like the club level. Yes you can get a regular room and eat ceral cheaper but they have drinks in there, water, soda, OJ, milk. They have appetizers in the late afternoon. They had cookie and fruit for snacks. And traveling many times with little ones its just so convenient to pop over to the lounge for whatever you need.
We woud def stay club level again.

 

[DW mouser]

Do they have the large rooms, I think they are called deluxe, on the club level? We would need a deluxe room for a family of 5 but are thinking club.