Concierge....Not all it is cracked up to be....

[tiffsix]

Just back from POLY Concierge and in my opinion, it is not all that great. I would have no problem going back to a regular room. The staff was not that friendly and the housekeeping was awful. The trip planning staff was wonderful though. They accomodated us beatifully! If you don't have time to plan a WDW vacation then staying Concierge would be perfect for you. Otherwise, it is a waste of $$$. The food in the lounge was convienant as well but we only ever ate breakfast there. We were never around for the dinner hour so we were unable to benefit from the services. Maybe I was expecting too much or something...

Our vacation was wonderful though. We had the best time. A little bummed b/c we had to cut it short due to Hurricane Jeanne. We were scheduled to leave this evening & we were lucky to have our flight changed to yesterday morning @ 6:30am. Hope everyone in Florida is staying safe!

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

The food in the lounge was convienant as well but we only ever ate breakfast there. We were never around for the dinner hour so we were unable to benefit from the services.

That has always been my dilemma with the added cost of concierge -- will I be able to take advantage of all that it encompasses? We eat so much at the Disney restaurants, that I am not sure that I would ever pay for concierge unless I was planning on spending the majority of my time at the resort.

 

[tiffsix]

yes that was our problem. We were barely ever around to eat the food in the lounge b/w 5pm-7pm. It would probably be more convienant if you were traveling w/young children & you hung out @ the resort more than normal.

But there are MANY people who will disagree w/me. I would like to know what staying Concierge @ a different resort other than the POLY would get you.. Like i said, they helped w/PS's & we got free breakfast pretty much every morning but in my opinion that does not compensate for all the extra $$$ we paid to stay Concierge.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Tiffsix, I don't think that anyone would disagree with you about the concierge expense being "justified". Especially if you are figuring that the food savings will make it up. Even if you were to spend your entire vacation at the resort and eating in the lounge, the only serving you can make a meal out of is breakfast. You'd still need to pay for lunch and dinner somewhere.

You're paying for a convenience and a service. For many that don't have the time to plan their own trip or enjoy placing it all in the hands of a pre-planner, that makes it worthwhile to them. They offer shopping services so that gifts are available when you check in, they can help plan very special celebrations and usually have some pull for getting those hard to get reservations. Not many people actually take advantage of all the amenities that are offered and you're right, it probably does make more sense to only pay for it when you can spend more time at the resort and use the services that are offered.

I'm definitely not making excuses for anyone's attitude at Disney, but perhaps the stress of preparing for their 4th hurricane in two months has weighed heavily on these folks.

It sounds like you didn't let this put a damper on your vacation though and enjoyed the rest of it. Sorry that it had to be cut short.

Tammi

 

[ducklite]

I've stayed concierge at the Polynesian twice, and think it was absolutely wonderful. The CM's went out of their way for us, and other than missing us during turndown once the first time we stayed there, we never had a housekeeping issue.

Concierge isn't for everyone. We don't use it as a meal plan, and we don't expect to save money on food while eating there. We usually have breakfast in the lounge. Also we prefer to return our room in the late afternoon to shower and change before dinner, so we always stop for appetizers and wine to have while getting changed. Stopping in again for dessert depends on where we eat or end up after dinner. Some restaurants have just too wonderful of a desert menu to skip

At any rate, it's not for everyone, and if you're going to be in the parks all day and night, and expect to say on food, it's probably not for you.

In our case we like it for other reasons. The lounge is a comfortable place to sit and relax in the afternoon. Private check-in. Extra amenities like robes in the rooms and automatic turndown service.

Sorry it wasn't all you expected, but it sounds like part of the problem was not really to be blamed on the concierge, not really their fault you weren't there in the evenings.

Anne

 

[VAgal76]

Folks, I'm not here to blast anyone & you're right - not everyone is going to like concierge. However, like you said - you can't beat the pre-arrival planning & sometimes the convenience of the lounge. Sometimes you get to know the folks at IPO and the CMs in the lounge and you end up establishing friendships with them, which will make the return trip even more pleasant IMO. Our family did take advantage of the services they offered since we came back each day to nap and hangout at the resort.

tiffsix - The same concierge services are offered throughout the deluxe resorts. One notable difference is the GF has the Sugarloaf Building and the CR has 12th floor concierge that does not offer evening wine/desserts. It is also cost less than full service concierge at those resorts since it's consider "light concierge." Just something to consider if you ever want to give concierge another try. You made the comment you weren't there in the evening so this may be for you if you want to go down that road again. I really haven't checked to see what the pricing is at the CR 12th floor or GF SL versus the Poly CL so you may want to check it out to see if the cost is justifiable to you.

I'm sorry to hear about your overall experience at the Poly. I've not stayed at that resort so I can't comment on service. FYI - I didn't have such a pleasant experience at WL CL, but I feel timing, expectations and the CMs that are on staff have everything to do with the experience you have. My motto is that there are just too many options to choose from down there! I'll probably give WL another shot in the future, but there are more resorts that I have on my to do list.

I hope your next trip is much more pleasant than the last!!!

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by ducklite

Sorry it wasn't all you expected, but it sounds like part of the problem was not really to be blamed on the concierge, not really their fault you weren't there in the evenings.

There is no excuse for unfriendly staff and bad housekeeping.

We have found the concierge service at Polynesian to be hit and miss. We had so many problems last time we stayed there, I wouldn't spend the extra money again.

 

[lts862]

We also just returned from conceirge at the Poly. We were thinking that it really wasn't worth the cost. It was convenient to have breakfast available, but other than that, we didn't have a chance to use the lounge. They changed a PS for us, also. Turndown service is nice, I guess, but we are able to take a bedspread off of our bed ourselves. Mostly, though, I was disappointed in housekeeping as well. Crumbs remained on our floor for almost 2 days and there was a room service tray that sat on the floor outside of a room 2 doors down for 3 days. I expected so much better service, and was disappointed.

We would definitely consider the Polynesian, again, but would not spend extra for the Hawaii building.

 

[Daryl]

In 1998 I arrived late at the GF (Midnight) and got a wonderful surprise. The woman I was traveling with had arrived a few hours before me and for some reason we were upgraded to the main building concierge. If I were going to pay for concierge, this would be the one. The convienance of stepping off the monorail after a long day and heading right to the elevator to your room is just great. You are also a few steps away from Citricos and Victoria and Alberts, two of the best restaurants in Florida. The Character Breakfast at 1900 park fare is my favorite, and its right downstairs from your room. The snacks are nice too, but the best thing about this concierge is the atmosphere. The main building is one of the most beautiful places in WDW. Is it worth the cost? NO WAY. However, If I were taking a special trip, and wanted to have a little extra air of romance, Like the ad says, Its priceless.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Bojangles
There is no excuse for unfriendly staff and bad housekeeping.

We have found the concierge service at Polynesian to be hit and miss. We had so many problems last time we stayed there, I wouldn't spend the extra money again.

I agree that there is no excuse for those problems, my response was in regards to the OP saying it wasn't worth the money because they weren't in the lounge enough to use the offerings. IMHO (and NOT a flame) that's something they might have wanted to think about in advance.

Anne

 

[Traveliz]

I think expectations have a lot to do with this...I am never sure what people expect when they list alot of postives yet say its not that great.

I have stayed at the Poly Concierge twice and have two more trips planned. For me I love the LOCATION...the view is wonderful and honestly I am willing to pay for that view. Next up is the private check in...soooo convenient....and then the lounge. I found it very convienient on my last trip when I took my daughter (17) and niece and nephew (4&6). We did not use it as a meal plan but it really supplemented what we were doing well.

If you are looking at dollars and cents then no I cannot ever think it is cost effect. The tangibles won't add up that way, but when I take into the intangibles it is worth it for me.

Liz

 

[lainie25]

i also stayed at the poly concierge last week and i was around in the evening and thought that the snacks they provided were great but the service was lousy and considering none of the parks really opened until 9 i was a little annoyed that the house keeping came in at 8 am without even knocking and the first night we were there the turn down service women came at 9:30 and we were allready back in our room. All and all the food was great as snacks and the ps's that we asked them to take care of a month before our trip was fantastic but the service and the attitudes of the people in the building were lousy once we got there.

 

[MLAinVA]

We stayed at the BC concierge a couple of summers ago. It was nice and we may do it again, but I'm not in any hurry. I think we felt like we were missing something when we weren't there for the various refreshments offered throughout the day, but we didn't want to miss the parks either!

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by lainie25
i also stayed at the poly concierge last week and i was around in the evening and thought that the snacks they provided were great but the service was lousy and considering none of the parks really opened until 9 i was a little annoyed that the house keeping came in at 8 am without even knocking and the first night we were there the turn down service women came at 9:30 and we were allready back in our room. All and all the food was great as snacks and the ps's that we asked them to take care of a month before our trip was fantastic but the service and the attitudes of the people in the building were lousy once we got there.

How does Housekeeping get in if your door is locked? I can understand they might not knock, but they can't get in with your interior locks on.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Turndown service hours are between 5:15 and 9:45. If you have a particular time that you'd like them to come, all you need to do is to call housekeeping and inform them. Unfortunately, this information doesn't do you much good now, but hopefully others will be made aware that there are options.

Tammi

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by TammiMcMan
Turndown service hours are between 5:15 and 9:45.

Yep...last time we stayed there, turndown service showed up about an hour after housekeeping made up our room.

 

[ppony]

I had made extensive pre-trip planning plans. Nothing complicated but I ahd put a lot of thought into it. I wanted to have a few things in our room when we got there and all of my info was made quite clear and Tara had no problems with any of it. they were just to have a couple dozen balloons and a giant stuffed Stitch in our room when we got there. If GIANT Stitch wasn't available, then a Mickey would be fine. Well not only was our room not ready until 5pm (they kept putting us off and off as we were returning every half hour to check in)!!!! But there was NOTHING in our room!!! I was SO disappointed. It wasn't a HUGE surprise but it was a special one for 2 people that had never been to WDW and my hubby and I that were celebrating our 11 year anniversary (a little late). Obviously they weren't disappointed but I was! And then they were sad because I was sad. All those month and months of planning and for what? I ended up calling the front desk and didn't get any apology or anything. IN fact I got a big fat "so what"! So I went in tears with my hubby to the front desk of the resort itself and the CM that helped us was SOOO gracious and wonderful. He had to have spoken to the manager about it and when we got back there were a few balloons, a chocolate Mickey and Minney (because it was an anniversary celebration) and a small stuffed Stitch. Nice try but NOT even close what I had asked for. Itw as like they didn't evcen had any record of it after tons of e-mails! I but they sure as heck had record we had PAID for our stay! So what aout the other info!?!?! So I'm not impressed by the pre-planning. Tara made it sound like what i asked for happened all the time. She even said to me one day that she was going shopping for our stuff and other's that day and she wanted to confirm what I wanted. So much for that!
Sorry to sound bitter but I am. It was a big let down for me. I tried to surprise my family and the big nothin.
the GF was wonderful! loved it! So we at least had something to compare it to. The food in the Poly lounge was good though. I'll definately say thumbs up there!

Hope for better at the AKL!!!

 

[tiffsix]

PPony, so sorry to hear about that big letdown. I too would be sooooooo upset if that happened to me. Hope AKL is better to you. We are thinking of trying the BW CL next time.

 

[pearlieq]

DH and I were just discussing this the other day. We've stayed concierge twice, once at WL and most recently at the Contemporary (12th floor).

I've never booked concierge outright, but have always upgraded once we got there. It was an extra $40/night at WL and $50/night at the Contemporary. Even at that low of a price, I don't know if it was worth it. It seemed more worth it at WL, because they offered a fuller concierge experience, and because the base rate is much lower.

Either way, the best thing about both rooms was the view. Otherwise, there was just a monotonous-after-three-days buffet, a CM to tell you that there are no tables at whatever restaurant you want to dine at (I've heard that the concierge can perform "miracles". I've yet to see this.), and another CM to say "hi" and "goodbye" as you enter an exit. I've never really felt anything "above and beyond" from the CMs--it's no different than regular rooms. Some are good and some aren't.

After this past experience, I don't think I'd go out of my way to stay concierge again.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Oh Stephanie, that is so unfortunate. I'm a huge pre-planner also. I've never asked that the concierge staff do any shopping for me, but I have used some of the park shopping services that you see mentioned on these boards. They have been terrific and we always have had our items waiting for us when we arrived and because we were staying in concierge, a CM delivered them to our room within an hour of us checking in. I am arranging a few gifts through the concierge staff for this trip, so I hope it all works okay.

I don't think that I've seen anyone who did my pre-planning actually working in the concierge lounge. Were you able to find and speak with Tara in regards to what happened with your gifts? Also, if she had already shopped for them prior to your arrival, wouldn't you have seen the charge on your credit card? I had to give my pre-planners that information and I know they have made some purchases for me already because of that. When the front desk CM was able to make some arrangements for you, were you billed for them? Just a thought that you might want to check and make sure that you weren't double billed.

I do hope you have a better experience at the AKL.