We were at AKL in the middle of August. Really enjoyed the lounge and the club level CMs were fantastic.
We were there for seven days and were in the lounge at all times of the day. It was never crowded. There was always a place to sit down.
They continued stocking the food for each session right up until they began breaking it down. If they ran out of something, they'd replenish it. Before we left for our trip, I read several posts from people at various resorts complaining that if you weren't there right at the start of the presentation, all the food would be gone. That wasn't our experience at all.
Also, everyone came dressed. No pajamas. No barefeet.
Breakfast was bagels, croissants, cereal, oatmeal, quinoa (which I never tried but my wife enjoyed), fruit and slap yo' mamma good pastries. The cinnamon rolls and chocolate croissants were outstanding. They also have an expresso machine and coffee. And yes, they have to-go cups with lids. They also have juice (including my new favorite, mango juice) and water.
I can't remember what mid-morning/afternoon snacks were, I think goldfish, kettle chips, yogurt preztels and gummy bears.
For tea they had scones.
Appetizers were surprisingly good. They had two hot options, usually food I couldn't immediately identify (in other words, it wasn't meatballs or shrimp) but I tried everything and it was always good. One night they had a cold tomato bisque which even my 4 year old thought was the bomb diggity. They'd also have veggies, cheese, humus and ham and cheese deals.
Desserts were nondescript brownies, rice crispie deals, cookies and some tart looking things.
But the club lounge is worth the cost for the African Smoothie. Good night nurse! They start serving it after breakfast and it stays out until they close. Unbelievably good! Even better mixed with some Sprite.
On our arrival day, as we were settling into our room, a club level cm came to bring us a gift for our anniversary (two wooden giraffes), some Happy Anniversary badges and some chocolate animal lollipops for all of us. Really nice and unexpected.
We had requested a bunk bed room and received one. The room was pretty much like anyother room I reckon. But it was spotlessly clean. It also seemed like we received additional bath products. We received toothbrushes, after-sun gel and mouthwash (or was that a hint?).
The lounge CMs were very attentive and even learned our names (which was impressive in that I don't recall ever identifying myself specifically), but sure enough I was addressed as Mr. ZZUB and welcomed a handful of times.
All club level rooms are on the 4th floor with an Arusha Savannah view but we didn't find the schlep to the lounge to be overly annoying. Yes, it would be ideal if our room was only a few feet away, but it wasn't
that far that it ever prevented us from visiting the lounge. It probably helped, however, that we weren't at the end of one of those massively long AKL corridors.
Only complaint about club level: no one met us at check in. I told the bellman we were staying club level but he was unable to find a CM, so he directed us to the desk in the lobby. There wasn't much of a line, so I didn't mind, but in a perfect world, a CM would have been there to greet us. Since that is the only negative comment, I think the AKL club level was worth the money.
I'll answer any questions y'all have.
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) There was also a small variety of cordials out at this time (I remember amaretto for sure, and I think a Kahula type option, but I don't think it was Kahula)
The evening offerings are from Kouzzina. They had some sort of greek salad everynight-olives/tomatoes/cukes, orzo salad, or some other greek type offering. They had hummus nearly every night that also varied. They had an assortment of cheese and crackers and fresh veggies. They also had pb&j pinwheels and apples and carmel sauce every night. The pbj's were MUCH better than the Smuckers uncrustables-they were very thin bread with thin layers of pb and raspberry jam that were rolled up and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. The hot appetizers also varied. I remember stuffed grape leaves, crab cakes, phyllo with spinach, phyllo with goat cheese, pork in bbq sauce, pot stickers, spring rolls, duck quesadillas...
CR is a nice alternative, adult for sure with nice gift shops and viewing of Wishes.
