Just returned last night from four wonderful nights at the Polyneisan. Perhaps we were lucky, or perhaps it was that Poly magic, but I could hardly have imagined a more perfect or enjoyable stay!
We were booked in a Studio Villa, standard view. While on the Magical Express at around 11:00 am Thursday, we got the text that our room was ready, yay! So we proceeded quickly to Pago Pago to find a lovely room, but with a stunning view of ... the parking lot, lol! Even though we had requested a garden view if possible, our early arrival probably meant we were assigned a previously vacant room. That was okay, but after a moment of deliberation and plucking up my courage, I picked up the phone and dialed the front desk, and asked if we could be reassigned if we were willing to wait. (In my sixteen trips to the World I had never done that, and I still felt a little sheepish about asking!). But ask nicely and *maybe* you shall receive! The wonderful resort CM was able to switch us into Moorea! This little glitch, which was not really a glitch at all, but an example of the resort going above and beyond, was the beginning of an amazing long weekend at the Poly!
Highlights included:
- Being seated at Kona Cafe in just five minutes and enjoying delicious sushi and cocktails while we were waiting for the new room to be ready. So much fun!
- Supper the first night at 'Ohana. We were seated again in five minutes, ten minutes before our ADR time of 9:20. Not the greatest table, though. There were two views, one looking into the dining room and the side/back of the barbecue grill (very nice view really), and another view of the overflowing trash can at the entrance to the kitchen (not so nice). Luckily we were able to turn our chairs and enjoy the dining room view! The restaurant was full and we were starved at that point, so we were just glad to be inside. Our server was friendly and attentive, and we were not rushed. The drinks and apps came out quickly, yay! The server asked before bringing the meats, and held off until we were ready. The food was all tasty and satisfying. We don't expect 'Ohana to be super fine dining; we go for the atmosphere and the fun, and again it did not disappoint. I only wish I could have eaten more of the delicious bread pudding!
- Moorea room 1008, with a lovely view of the tropical greenery from our patio. And at night, a nearby tiki torch cast an atmospheric flickering light into the room if we left the drapes open just a bit. What a wonderful way to drift off to sleep.
- The Studio Villa shower. Yes, it is everything it's cracked up to be -- Where has it been all my life? No problems with drainage for us.
- The very short walk to the TTC Monorails. And the Monorail service itself was excellent this weekend. In five days, we didn't experience any outages, delays or stoppages. Just the usual slight occasional slowdown to wait for traffic clearance at the station. We were able to go from being inside our room to being inside Epcot in less than half an hour total. Magic Kingdom was even quicker. The monorail really made it easy to go to our events at Food and Wine every day.
- Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace. We visited Friday night at around 9:00. It was a little busy, however we got a table near the water feature. Our service was pretty decent, but we weren't in any hurry. Enjoyed the singer and the fruity drinks. Glad we made it there for one night. Love my souvenir Uh-Oah bowl -- It is a work of art! Got a peek inside the Grog Grotto when picking up our mugs. Looked fun and there were some empty seats at about 10:15 pm. YMMV.
- Walking the resort grounds day and night. Very beautiful and relaxing. We were able to avoid the construction for the most part by skirting along the beach path. Not too fond of the bungalows, but it is what it is. I still think the landscaping is the best on property. Also enjoyed resting on the beach swings a couple of times, so glad they are still there!
- We never used the pool, but it didn't look overly crowded whenever we walked by. The one day we visited the pool bar, our Magic Bands worked just fine on the back gate. We may have looked like pool-hoppers because we had already checked out and were each carrying very full day packs. There were a few open umbrella tables at 3:00 pm, so we enjoyed a cocktail during our last hour before Magical Express.
- Booked a bounceback for next December, to help take the sting out of leaving ths lovely place. Looking forward to seeing the resort when the construction is done.
To everyone visiting soon, ENJOY!!! Hope you have a fantastic time!!!
