Concierge Collection--The American Club--brief trip report

[Doctor P]

We took a trip to The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin on Sunday December 29th under the Concierge Collection option. The $75 exchange fee and 26 points got us a standard room and breakfast for the first two persons in the room (there were three of us, DW, myself, and DSD [13 yo]). The trip to Kohler can be made from our house in approximately 2 hours 45 minutes with no stops and the most direct route. We left our house at 9:35 am and used the less direct, but much more interesting and amenity filled route. At about 11:15 am we stopped just over the Wisconsin border in Pleasant Prairie at the Jelly Belly factory outlet store. DW and DSD had been there before, but this was a new experience for me. They had lots of different candies they make besides the Jelly Bellys. The christmas candy was all 50% off. I decided to buy Jelly Belly seconds ("Belly Flops") and bought 4 bags (two pounds each) for a total of $10.00--what a deal!!!!! (That is $1.25 per pound for Jelly Bellys--a really good price!)

We then drove down the road and had lunch at a Culver's (home of the Butter Burger and great frozen custard). The food was great, as usual, and the respite was nice. We got back on the road and headed for Kohler about 12:30 pm. We arrived in Kohler at the American Club about 2:00 pm and checked in. Our room was not ready (check in is officially 4:00 pm--remind you of the drill anywhere else we know??), but the front desk staff was very friendly. We then headed down the street to the Kohler Design Center which houses a museum that outlines the history of home plumbing Kohler style and of the Kohler family, as well as a showcase of Kohler products for the home (mostly bathroom). My favorite parts were the working models of their premium whirlpools and shower environment systems (the home shower waterfall systems were awesome), as well as the designer bathrooms and kitchens (about thirty in all) that showcased the different uses of design elements. Very interesting to me, but just above totally boring for the rest of the family.

We went back to the hotel and waited until 4:10 for our room to be ready--we played checkers, had the complimentary afternoon tea, and read in the library and fireplace lounge (Lincoln Room) of the hotel. After moving our stuff into our room (nice, but small and dark--basic one person whirlpool bath in the bathroom), we headed off about 4:45 pm for dinner in the Horse and Plow which was the casual restaurant. Most things on the menu were under $10.00 and the atmosphere was very pleasant--old pub type atmosphere but pretty airy and quite comfortable. DW had the Sheboygan bratwurst and I had the Sheboygan Sausage Sampler with Wisconsin three cheese soup. The food was very good!

Sunday evening we explored the hotel a bit and had a drink in the fireplace room (almost as much as dinner for two drinks--but the atmosphere was great and there were no regrets). DSD had a hot chocolate at the renovated turn of the century Greenhouse which dominates one of the hotel's courtyards. As an aside, as I ordered our drinks in the fireplace area, I ran into someone that I knew (I think it drives DW crazy that everywhere we go all over the country I seem to run into someone I know). A really small world!

We went back to the room and chilled out before going to sleep in wonderfully comfortable beds. We all took individual whirlpool baths either before we went to bed or right when we got up on Monday morning.

I had to call for our summer HH reservation on Monday morning, so I went to a pay phone early Monday to do that. It only took a few minutes to get through and to get the reservation, so then it was time for breakfast. We all had the breakfast buffet (14.50 per person. The DVC package includes the buffet, tax, and gratuity for two people OR anything you want off the menu). The food was awesome--freshly smoked salmon, citrus cardoman french toast, honey pecan pancakes, breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs with Wiconsin Cheddar Cheese to sprinkle, lots of fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, and pastries. All very tasty and high quality. DW then went off to the spa to be pampered for a while, and DSD and I ended up exploring Kohler, Wisconsin and Whistling Straits golf course (home of the 2004 PGA championship tournament).

All in all we had a great time and at very nice hotel. FYI, the rate was listed as $167.24 on the bill slip I signed--thus, about $6-7 per point (excluding tax) was the probable valuation. We used most of our remaining 2001 points which we had banked and which would have expired by May 31 had we not used them up. Since I had always dreamed of going to the American Club, it was a nice use of points for us.

If anyone has any questions, I will try to answer them.

 

[Bigcat]

Just a little nit-picky note.... When you determined the cost per point of the trade you forgot to include the $75 trade fee. The total cost would have been $167.24+$75.00=$242.24 which divided by 26 points equals $9.32 per point.

But it sounds like you had a nice time and that is what really matters!!!

 

[Doctor P]

I realized that BigCat, and you are correct that that should be figured in to be faithful in making a comparison. On the other hand, I didn't add in the tax or gratuities that were included or the value of the breakfast (the price quoted is comparable to their value room only rate).

However, I think that the $75 fee should actually be subtracted off as what we are calculating is the dollar value per point. In which case, the value straight up might have been reduced by about $3 per point.

On the other hand, if I walked in off the street, I would have paid the discounted room rate of $149 plus $15 for an extra person, plus 10% room tax. That equals $180. Add in the value of breakfast at 14.50 per person, plus 5% tax, plus 15% gratuity--that adds on another $34.80 in value. Take the $214.50 in value, add about $5 for the Christmas season gift (ornament) we were given, and the $10 savings in spa access. We got $229.50 in value. If we subtract the $75 from this value figure, we got a net $154.50 in value for our 26 points, or just about $6.00 per point. This is pretty close (even a little over) what DVC has typically valued our points at. Not a great value, but not an extreme ripoff either, especially considering that our transportation costs were a lot less than going to WDW (120 gallons of gas and 2 nights in a hotel and meals at minimum--even for our last 133 point OKW vacation our out of pocket to get to WDW was more than $3 per point used). Just trying to make a little lemonade here Happy New Year!

 

[Bigcat]

On the other hand.... You could have rented your points out at $10 per point, not paid the $75 exchange fee, and still had cash left over.

 

[Sue's Mum]

Well Doctor P, I enjoyed reading your mini-report. Thanks for that.

 

[WDWLVR]

Thanks for the great report. I have the American Club in my list of "try it some day" for DVC points. Sounds like something DH and I would like.

Definately would have to stop by the Jelly Belly factory and you also mentioned one of our favorite places - Culvers!

Once again thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

[sloneta]

Doctor P -

do you think this would be a nice place to spend the actual Christmas holiday (say the 24th through 28th)? We don't want to stay home for x-mas 2003 and this is one of our options.

 

[December99]

sloneta - I am Doctor P's DW so I can answer this question for you. If you are not a golfing family and don't expect to do alot in the area, then yes, it would be a very nice place to stay for the holiday. There is a small shopping center just down the road that does not have "name brand" shops but looked nice. There is not a pool in the actual American Club but there is one down at the Sportscore that you can access. If there is snow there would be plenty of things that I think you could find to do in the area and in the surrounding towns. About 20 minutes away there are some towns that have great things to do. It looked like Sheboygan (about 2 miles away) and Kohler had things going on around the Christmas holiday but were not going on when we were there.

I do have to say the spa was very nice. Since this was the first time that I had been to an actual spa I had no clue of what to do or even what to wear. There is a pool at the spa for adults - the access fee if you are staying at the American Club is $20 and if you are staying at the Carriage House it is included in your stay. There was a small workout room just off the entrance to the spa.

If you'd like to get information on pricing, etc. regarding the spa go to http://www.destinationkohler.com/kws/kws.html

One thing...during the spring and fall I think the place would be beautiful to stay at - even if you aren't a golfer. The courtyard looked like it would be beautiful with budding flowers and when the leaves begin to change in the fall. Nice quiet areas to sit.

 

[sloneta]

Thanks December99!!

I completely agree that Kohler looks like it would be awesome in the spring or fall. We are already going to Disney this spring, though, and want to make our next vacation a holiday one.