GF concierge service--what is your theory on why it is lacking???

[Janet2k]

Micmacmissy, what you described happened to me at the BoardWalk Villas a few years ago. I had a two-bedroom villa booked and it was to be my very first BoardWalk stay. We arrived very early in the morning, and, of course, our villa wasn't ready. No problem, we spent the day doing other things. However, when it came time for the official check-in, we were told that the prior guests had trashed the place and someone from Management had to okay the villa before we could occupy it. We eventually got to check into our villa hours after the standard check-in time. It was tough on everyone involved since we had literally been up for almost 48 hours straight by that point in time (red-eye flight from the West Coast, turbulence, lightening storms, a daughter who was just a couple years old, etc.). I have never forgotten what happened to us at the BoardWalk, but my family (and our guests) went on to have a wonderful vacation. I hope the rest of your vacation was wonderful and that you have many happy memories of it.

My last three Grand Floridian stays have been wonderful (two concierge, one non-concierge). On my most recent stay (October), on the day of my Fairy Tale Weddings vow renewal, something happened that threw me for a loop. I wound up at the RPC concierge desk in a very frazzled state. The concierge Cast Member who dealt with me was nothing but professional and kind. A real professional in the face of a woman whose world was on the verge of falling apart. I never got the chance to thank him for his help before my vacation had ended. However, upon my return home, I sent him a letter telling him that I hoped that if our paths crossed again in the future, I could thank him in person for helping save my day. I truly appreciated his kind and professional treatment of me even though I'm sure he didn't know it at the time.

I hope that if you choose to stay at the Grand Floridian at some point in the future, you have a wonderful stay.

 

[ducklite]

I had a similar issue with the GF CL, when we checked in our room wasn't ready (We were a little early) but it was after 5:30 before it was. We inquired a couple times and were treated rudely by the staff who were very curt with "We told you we'll let you know when it's ready" type of replies. When we were finally taken to the room it was a handicapped room. I guess I could have lived with it if there was some sort of "compensation" like having a king bed for example, but it had two queens. The hang rod in the closet was too low--my clothes all dragged on tehg round, and instead of a tub there was a roll in shower--every time we showered the bathroom ended up soaked.

We asked if they could help us with a PS and they had a rude comment about that as well.

Additionally there were tons of really out of control kids running all over the place in the lounge area and throwing food, and the CM;s did nothing about it. I'm not saying they should have done something, but they should have called security. It was a zoo.

There was a large high profile party staying there at the same time, and the CM's were bending over backwards to accomodate them--and treating "common folk" like DH and I like we were a bother.

Never again.

We had other issues as well, and left after one night and went to the BW.

Anne

 

[micmacmissy]

I guess I should follow up with the fact that despite the problems, we did go on to have a great vacation. The suite itself was really nice, and immaculately clean. Housekeeping staff was wonderful. The next day, the manager left a signed Mickey photo for each kid, which was a nice touch.

We also enjoyed the concierge offerings and snacked on that food every day...but it did strike me as odd that the concierge people were nonchalant, in contrast to almost every other Disney employee that we encountered.

I agree with Beca, I also found the lobby overrun with kids (we were there 12/10-12/15), it was extremely noisy. We've been to a lot to first class hotels, and this lobby was very pretty, but not anything special compared to some other places we've been (Ritz, Grand Hyatt, etc). We were SO glad our suite was not in the main building.

I WOULD go back to the GF again--but there are other options we will probably try first. Maybe the Poly, and maybe Shades of Green (suites there are a steal--but we'd miss the monorail!), but luckily our bad experiences at the GF were offset by the great time we had overall.

 

[Cinderella37]

As for having a bad day at work, smile and deal with it. I'm a first grade teacher and I leave my problems at the door when I walk in. Just as it's not my students' fault that I'm mad at my fiance (not like that ever happens...) or I don't feel well, it's not a guest's fault that someone isn't enjoying his job today. When one works in the service industry, one needs to adopt this same attitude (one that I must say is apparent at the BWI - shameless plug for my favorite resort). If someone cannot put personal problems on the back burner, then he/she needs to find another line of work. It's bad enough that someone like this would work at the Front Desk, let alone in concierge when the whole point of concierge is highly personalized, impeccable service.

As former repeat guests of the GF concierge, I can tell you that we have witnessed that some of the CMs in concierge have mastered the art of non-verbal cues that scream loud and clear "You're bothering me." The CMs do not discriminate though - we are always dressed extremely well and treat the CMs with the utmost respect and we've been treated like dirt by the CMs. We've seen people who were dressed sloppily being treated rudely. We've seen old, young, male, female, etc being treated poorly. We just wonder why it took so long for us to get the hint and move over to the BWI.

 

[Cass]

Well this is an interesting thread...

Anne didn't the GF staff leave you out in the rain in a golf cart at one point I seem to recall something like that happening or maybe that was Poly?

I will try the GF RPC at one point if only to satisfy my curiosity in regards to quality of service there.

 

[TammiMcMan]

I can't say that we've ever had a big problem at the GF. In fact, our one issue came when we were staying in a standard room. I even tried upgrading to concierge at that point, but they were full. We've had 6 visits there in the past 7 years and it continues to remain our favorite. I think it's interesting that one person can describe it as feeling snobby, while others have seen children running all around the lobby. I've always been fascinated with seeing people in obvious park attire sitting on couches next to a wedding guest in a designer dress. Must be the people watcher in me. I haven't experienced a situation where the noise level in the main lobby ever bothered me. I especially enjoyed sitting in the concierge lounge, sipping on a glass of wine or cordial and listening to the beautiful piano or orchestra play. In dealing with the staff, I have found that they lack a certain warm fuzziness we tend to expect from Disney, but my description would be cool professionals. The lounge staff appeared to be the same way, they would tend to meld into the background. That was until we engaged them in conversation and then we would always get a warm welcome.

One thing that I definitely agree with is the comment about customer service. When you eat in a Disney restaurant, you are given a comment card, when you take a Disney tour, you receive a survey at the end. Why isn't that same standard used at the resorts? In the past, I think they've done random surveys after your trip is over, but I don't know if they still continue that practice. Even then, it doesn't give a clear indication. No matter where we stay, or what we do, I always fill out a comment card if it's available. I mentioned having a minor issue at the GF this past May. It wasn't anything that I would call management on, but I thought it important to notate. I searched the room for a comment card and even went up to the guest services desk. They informed me that they didn't use them. Instead, they gave me a blank piece of paper, an envelope and told me to address it to the manager. My guess is that it went right into the circular file next to his/her desk.

Right now our plans are to return to the GF in July of 2006. It seems like this resort runs in cycles, so hopefully we catch them at a good time.

Tammi

 

[ducklite]

Well this is an interesting thread...

Anne didn't the GF staff leave you out in the rain in a golf cart at one point I seem to recall something like that happening or maybe that was Poly?

I will try the GF RPC at one point if only to satisfy my curiosity in regards to quality of service there.

Hi cass--that wasn't us--that was someone else. I remember the post, but can't recall who posted it. We've never had anything but great times at the polynesian, except the one night the kids were screaming up and down the halls at midnight--my DH went into the hall and told them in no uncertain terms to be quiet and get in their room, NOW. They did.

Anne

 

[Misti]

We had a less than memorable stay at the RPC back in 2003. I guess we had very high expectations to start with, however. We expected it to be the "cream of the crop" of concierge service and found that wasn't the case. There lies the disappointment I guess. When we passed by the concierge desk, the CM rarely looked up or greeted you with a smile. We don't like or expect "small talk" but a friendly smile would be nice.

The other issue I had was with priority seating. We aren't picky and I don't demand too much but it seemed the service was lacking. I went to the concierge desk during our stay for a PS for dinner at 1900 Park Fare. This was long before it was a Princess venue so it certainly wasn't one of those "hard to get" PS. And, it was just the two of us so I wasn't looking for a last minute table for 20. Basically, I was told it was not available and that I could keep calling from the resort phone in my room to check for cancellations. I was surprised that the concierge didn't have a little "pull" over restaurants in its own resort. Plus, I thought that maybe they could check for cancellations for me.

The postives outway the negatives for me though and I just booked a stay at the RPC for December 2005. I still think the lounge itself is great. We enjoy the food offerings and the ambience at night with the orchestra. I guess I'll have to wait and see what I find this time around.

 

[Cass]

Hi cass--that wasn't us--that was someone else. I remember the post, but can't recall who posted it.

Hi Anne... well I know it as someone! They arrived at GF for 1 night in - it was pouring rain and they had to wait for their room forever and ended up getting totally soaked (luggage as well) on a golf cart out to their building.

 

[Bella2000]

Anne,

I totally agree with you about the management. I am a former WDWCP who worked at the GF. In my opinion, the management at the GF did "just enough." I'm sure this isn't true of all of the GF management, but it was my experience....

I have also heard this from former GF CM's. A lot of turnover in this resort. I think because it is the "flagship" resort it comes under considerable scrutiny. This is an interesting thread to me because after experiencing the service between AKL CL and GF Main Building I found them vastly different. Let me first say that we had a wonderful stay Dec 2003 at GF Main Building. I don't find the hotel snobby or stuffy at all. Without question, we would stay again at GF however we would not pay to stay in Main Building unless I got an incredible deal. Although it was very convenient, I'd say the rooms were by far the noisest of our resort stays and the service was "Disney ok" which translates to real world "fine" but at those prices I expected at least "Disney Good" aka real world "Great". The exception would be the CM's on CL who set up the food/beverage. They were lovely. I also found the first floor guest services CM's to be more helpful. Conversely we stayed Sept 2004 at AKL CL and we cannot wait to return.

Regarding concierge service, I travel for work and stay at the Grand Hyatt type hotels etc. at Gold/Plat. level. I'd compare the concierge desk service at the GF to that service. They are there at the desk to assist however it felt like nothing more nothing less type of service - sort of going through the motions. They are not engaging at all. I did not expect them to be my friend but I do expect that when I come to your station I am invited to sit down OR when I sit down there is eye contact and active engagement vs. let me get this over with... (No it wasn't busy at the time). These are all little things but LOS observations - when we arrived there were plates outside the door in the room next door (probably from the buffet), two days later those same plates was still there. Since this is a CL level REGARDLESS of hotel I would have expected that this would have been cleared. Honestly this wasn't a horrible thing but something I noticed frequently and it surprised me. One of those put that under your hat for later items. It didn't ruin my trip or upset me terribly I just thought hmmm. This is like business travel - not what I expected. Again, we had a great trip but not because of the concierge level of service. LOS is a huge criteria for a flagship hotel or multiple star hotels so I'm surprised that this has not been addressed.

I do appreciate good service. That is why WDW gets our repeat business. Their quality and attention to detail is very important to me. We laugh at our Disney rating vs. real world rating but it is a different expectation and one Disney itself has cultivated. I don't believe that WDW has been worrying excessively that people are not going to stay at GF. I've heard so many people say they would like to stay at GF at least once. I do however wonder whether at times GF may rest on it's past laurels, name and location. Where the AKL, for example needs to always step it up because of their remote location and some of their room challenges (they weren't planned to be a deluxe/cl resort when it was designed was it?).

On the flip side you have to hand it to the CL staff for handling "delicate" situations. Some of the GUESTS in CL were a hoot. Some of the demands that I heard and the attire. Hello?! What is up with the robes, underwear and lingere to breakfast? We are not talking about children or even Calvin Klein or Victorias Secret models shooting an ad. Uncle Frank, Aunt Edna or Cousin Petey should not come to breakfast in their shorties. Dealing with that I just cut them a bit more slack.

 

[ducklite]

Hi Anne... well I know it as someone! They arrived at GF for 1 night in - it was pouring rain and they had to wait for their room forever and ended up getting totally soaked (luggage as well) on a golf cart out to their building.

Oh! I misunderstoof you!

yes, we arrived at the GF in the pouring rain one afternoon, and there was no one to take us to the concierge building for checkin. We were told to drag our own bags there, through the pouring rain. When we got there our room wasn't ready and we were told if we wanted to check our bags, we'd have to drag them back through the rain ourselves to the main building.

Not at all a good start!

Anne