Explain Concierge Level please?

[DianneMcLean]

We've never upgraded to this - can someone explain what it is? If we are staying at the GCH, what makes it worth an extra $300 a night? I hate to sound dumb, but I've just never done it, and want to.

Thanks!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Concierge can be best explained by those hotel scenes in the movies where a hotel employee whisks in and gets you things, takes your dry cleaning, gets you into the best restaurants, gets you tickets to broadway shows and gives you all the little pampering you want.... That's pretty much it.

In reality, at the GCH, there is a lounge and you go to that person's desk and let them know what you want. On the other side of the lounge, which has counches, games, etc, there is a constant little buffet of snacks - which vary depending on the time of day (breakfast pastries, fruit, cheese trays, hot hors d'ouvres, wine, beer, sodas, water, etc.). You can snack all day and never buy much food to supplement.

There is a DVD library for the kids, a balcony with a great fireworks view and piped in music, etc.

Hope that gives you a taste of the "good life"!

 

[labattblue]

To me it is pretty cut and dry(I have never stayed concierge and more than likely never will).

Unless you have an unlimited travel budget and tons of disposable income, concierge is a waste of money. I could never be convinced that a few cheese and crackers, some liquid refreshments and a staffer to answer my questions is worth that much money per night.

 

[boiseflyfisher]

For an extra $300, it isn't worth it for our family, but if they offer it for $169(including room) again for AP holders, I'll be all over it!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

To me it is pretty cut and dry(I have never stayed concierge and more than likely never will).

Unless you have an unlimited travel budget and tons of disposable income, concierge is a waste of money. I could never be convinced that a few cheese and crackers, some liquid refreshments and a staffer to answer my questions is worth that much money per night.

For an extra $300, it isn't worth it for our family, but if they offer it for $169(including room) again for AP holders, I'll be all over it!

Ditto to both posts!

 

[bumbershoot]

To me it is pretty cut and dry(I have never stayed concierge and more than likely never will).

Unless you have an unlimited travel budget and tons of disposable income, concierge is a waste of money. I could never be convinced that a few cheese and crackers, some liquid refreshments and a staffer to answer my questions is worth that much money per night.

Totally my opinion as well, and then I joined DVC and got "free" (ha ha ha) points as an "incentive", they expire before we could get out to WDW, and we can't take a long trip...so here I am, about to stay DLH concierge.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Totally my opinion as well, and then I joined DVC and got "free" (ha ha ha) points as an "incentive", they expire before we could get out to WDW, and we can't take a long trip...so here I am, about to stay DLH concierge.

I didn't know if it was worth it either because it was so spendy...but we tried it once. And now we are disappointed when we aren't able to. So just becareful...you may like it too much

Where is your home resort?

 

[DianneMcLean]

Concierge can be best explained by those hotel scenes in the movies where a hotel employee whisks in and gets you things, takes your dry cleaning, gets you into the best restaurants, gets you tickets to broadway shows and gives you all the little pampering you want.... That's pretty much it.

In reality, at the GCH, there is a lounge and you go to that person's desk and let them know what you want. On the other side of the lounge, which has counches, games, etc, there is a constant little buffet of snacks - which vary depending on the time of day (breakfast pastries, fruit, cheese trays, hot hors d'ouvres, wine, beer, sodas, water, etc.). You can snack all day and never buy much food to supplement.

There is a DVD library for the kids, a balcony with a great fireworks view and piped in music, etc.

Hope that gives you a taste of the "good life"!

What do you mean by "let them know what you want"? Are there free services for concierge? If I want a pair of flip flops, do they charge a fee to go and get them for me? I understand I would have to pay for the flops, but is there a fetching fee? Or do they just fetch?

 

[DianneMcLean]

Concierge can be best explained by those hotel scenes in the movies where a hotel employee ..... gets you into the best restaurants, .....

Does this supercede priority seating?

 

[DianneMcLean]

I just heard back - and the concierge level upgrade is not $300 a night, the group's *entire room rate at concierge level* is $355 per night. So the regular rate is $195, and to upgrade to concierge it's an additional $160. The committee did decide that at the end of the month, they are going to cut their losses - and all unsold rooms are going back to DLR. So if anyone is interested in this deal in September, get your rooms booked now to lock in your rate.

Call the DLR at the number on the booking page if you want to upgrade to concierge - I think I'm going to do this, the food alone seems worth it - I saw someone's photos on another thread, yum! Thanks for the replies - I wasn't sure what this was.

Here's the link to book:
https://resweb.passkey.com/go/swhe09

 

[bumbershoot]

I didn't know if it was worth it either because it was so spendy...but we tried it once. And now we are disappointed when we aren't able to. So just becareful...you may like it too much

Where is your home resort?

blt. I guess legally it's hubby's but he's being kind enough to bring me along.

It's funny, before, I hadn't seen these pictures of the lounges, and I truly thought it was jsut Uncrustables and water and maybe a marshmallow treat (2/3 are things we don't eat). It's already looking better to us.


Of course, there's also been time passing...a few times at non-Disney, fancy, hotels I've stayed Concierge, where you have a keycard to get to your the floor that your room is on, you are pampered, etc...very different from Disney concierge, ya know? But time goes on, those memories start to fade...

 

[boiseflyfisher]

What do you mean by "let them know what you want"? Are there free services for concierge? If I want a pair of flip flops, do they charge a fee to go and get them for me? I understand I would have to pay for the flops, but is there a fetching fee? Or do they just fetch?

We never asked them, but I don't believe they do any fetching at all. They can sometimes get you a PS when DisneyDining shows being fully booked. We have found all of the staff in the lounge to be really great. We tipped the evening staff when they brought us tips. It seemed to help with getting extra chocolate dipped strawberries!

I'm not sure which thread it was posted on, but we really like Jerry at the PP, too. His great attitude makes it pretty obvious why he was chosen as a Dream Squad member.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I belive they will get things for you. When I stayed there, I didn't need anything special. BTW - being extra nice to the folks that work in the lounge - including tips - does seem to go a long way in getting extra special snackies! I loved the tidbits they brought us!

I do know that there are guest services folks that will do personal shopping and such for VIPs and since they do this for all the celebrities that stay concierge - why not normal folks paying that money?

 

[Disney Dreams]

Granted, I am going to share my experience at WDW, not DLR, but....

We stayed Concierge Level at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I could not imagine staying there without it now.

Let's start at Check-in. Someone from the Concierge Level Lounge came downstairs to meet us. Our bags were taken, we were escorted up to the Lounge, offered a beverage, and were checked in with no lines, no wait, no fuss.

Food and Drink:
Every morning there was breakfast (fruit, muffins, bagels, oatmeal, juice, coffee, an amazing cappuccino machine that made everything you could imagine - oh, I miss that machine)! Every afternoon (if we were at the hotel) there were snacks (and beverages), and every evening there were appetizers and drinks. Every night, desserts and drinks. The food was convenient, nice to have, wonderful not to have to worry about waiting at the restaurant downstairs, available to go if we wanted it, and just great to have available. My DH drinks Coke like it is falling off the planet. We had an unlimited supply of Coke at the lounge.

Planning:
Questions, show times, "how to?" questions, reservations, you name it...the concierge staff helped us morning, noon, and night, literally. They would sit with us in the morning and help us plan out our day so we could get the most of out it based on what we wanted.

They also helped with bookings. One day, we wanted to try to change a difficult to get ADR (like PS's at DLR). Instead of calling 10x a day while we were trying to enjoy the Parks, we mentioned it to the concierge staff in the morning. That afternoon we received a call on our cell phone that the reservation had been changed and that a confirmation print out would be in our room when we returned. (And it was!)

We were unable to get a seat at a very popular dinner show at WDW. The concierge team tried to get us in and could not. In the end, they gave us a seat at "their table" which is 10 seats that they have only for concierge level guests, should they be needed. So cool!

Felt Like Home...
Although not necessary at all, but the 2nd day, every time we entered the Lounge we were greeted by name, the staff quickly learned little things about us (like my DH's love for Coke), and would ask/comment/joke about various things with us that just made us feel like we were at home, not strangers in a giant hotel for a few nights. One morning we slept in and knew we were on the edge of missing breakfast. We called the lounge to find out exactly what time it would be pulled. They told us.

We arrived at the Lounge (knowingly) 10 minutes too late, deciding we would just get something to drink and skip breakfast that day. We waked in teh Lounge and one of the CMs we had come to know over the last few days said, "We've got you all set over there." She pointed to a coffee table filled with plates and bowls of food. They had pulled an assortment of items from the breakfast spread before the kitchen CMs cleared everything because, "we didn't want you 2 to miss breakfast!" Unbelievable.

For 5 days, every single thing we wanted to do or needed to figure out was soooo simple due to the concierge staff. Just incredible.

Is concierge worth it? I have no clue, but I would have a really hard time staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge ever again without it.

If the concierge level services at DLH or GCH are remotely similar, the ease and enjoyment they add to your vacation is just fantastic.

- Dreams

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I've heard from many people that the CL at WDW is way more worth it than the CL at DLR.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

blt. I guess legally it's hubby's but he's being kind enough to bring me along.

Which one is blt? Is it at WDW?
Sorry I can't think of the name for the life of me...

 

[boiseflyfisher]

I've heard from many people that the CL at WDW is way more worth it than the CL at DLR.

Wow, based on that description, I would say that CL at Disneyland pales in comparison!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Molly - bay lake towers how exciting! I think the rooms are bit contemporary for my taste...but they are at that hotel so it fits When will you be making your first trip home? We are at AKV and will make our first trip home this dec

I have stayed concierge at GF and GCH and they were both excellent. I liked the food selection at GF much better but the staff at both were great and very helpful! They really do make an effort to learn your names and your likes. It was nice to be greated by the person at the desk every day on our way back to our room Just those little extra disney touches!

 

[nunzia]

Totally my opinion as well, and then I joined DVC and got "free" (ha ha ha) points as an "incentive", they expire before we could get out to WDW, and we can't take a long trip...so here I am, about to stay DLH concierge.

Me too! You have to love those 'free' points.
We'll be there September 6-9 (my birthday is on the 7th so have to work in that free BD card thing too) I am thinking we will spend all our time in the lounge eating to save on food prices...

 

[SeansMom]

For 5 days, every single thing we wanted to do or needed to figure out was soooo simple due to the concierge staff. Just incredible.

Is concierge worth it? I have no clue, but I would have a really hard time staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge ever again without it.

If the concierge level services at DLH or GCH are remotely similar, the ease and enjoyment they add to your vacation is just fantastic.

- Dreams

I've heard from many people that the CL at WDW is way more worth it than the CL at DLR.

It sounds like there is a HUGE difference between DLR and WDW. For our family, I can't see it being worth it to spend an extra $160 a day; for one thing, we're in the parks every second we can be there so we'd be paying for a service we wouldn't even use. But at WDW it sounds like it'd be a wonderful addition, not only because it seems you spend a bit more time in your hotel, but to help with all the ADR's and shows.

The one thing I noticed about just staying at GCH is that their regular concierge staff desk was able to help us with some switching around of ADR's and a few other things, all without the price of the concierge level room charge.