Grand Floridian Concierge

[donrulz]

We just got back from staying at the GF concierge. Let me tell you I will never stay there again and I do not recomend the concierge level. The hotel itself was fantastic. We had a lagoon view and could see Fantasy in The Sky from our balcony. Our room # was 4416 and from the first day things went wrong. The toilet would not flush and it took two phone calls and two days for them to fix it and on there second visit they broke the toilet seat and then just left it for us to discover. My wife almost fell off the thing!! Also they lost My son's and my golf clubs for two days and I had to call them to see if they had found them yet. The evening snacks that they say are there till 10:00pm were gone by 9:30. They also had turn down service which was a nice touch. I don't really care about that but the kids got a kick out of the chocolats and the arrangment of their animals. The first night they turned down all three beds the next two nights they only turned down one bed. Why would anybody do that? If you are going to offer the service then do it right. For the money I paid for the concierge level I just didn't see the service and as far as I'm concerned it is not worth it. I did complain to the concierge manager and she cut my bill in half but I would rather have paid the full amount and had no problems.

 

[ducklite]

I also had my share of problems with the GF concierge, including them never contacting us in advance, telling us over and over it would only be a couple more minutes for our room to be ready and not getting us in it until around 5:00pm, losing our luggage, etc.

We've had a great non-concierge stay since then, but I'll never spend the money on GF concierge again. Ont he other hand the BWI and AKL concierge were great!

Anne

 

[bellisima2002]

I just booked our first concierge room at disney at the Grand Floridian since we have been going in 84'. We have always stayed at the Polynesian and Contemporary.

Which concierge did both of you stay at (main bldg. or sugar loaf)??

What was the food layout (I do understand these are not meals, but quick bites) for breakfast, lunch, dinner and so on Please???

I was really hoping they would be contacting me well in advance to make all my ps's ahead of time instead of me making them every year.

Please reply.
Thanks.
Mary

 

[donrulz]

We stayed in the main building and were never contacted in advance. The food layout was sweet rolls and several different kinds of bread, fruit, cereal, and two kinds of juice, and of course coffee and tea. That was breakfast. Starting at about 11:00am they would put out lemonade and water and some days there would be tuna sandwiches and PP&J sandwiches along with different kinds of fruit. Other days there would be chips and several kinds of dip along with several kinds of fresh veggies. At around dinner times they would put out trays of really good sliced roast beef and ham, with different kinds of bread for sandwiches. They would also have veggies and juices and very good brownies and cookies. At night I thinks starting at around 7:00pm they would have treats mostly little cakes and tarts, along with and assortment of wines and liquers. None of the offerings are ment to be full meals but there is usually enough for everyone to eat all they want. One night, however everything was gone by 9:30 and it is supposed to be there till 10:00.

 

[cinmell]

Thank you for posting about your experience with GF concierge. We had considered changing our reservation from LV to Concierge and we did not because we heard several bad stories about them. We thought maybe just a couple of people had bad experiences w/ GF concierge but I haven't heard anything good about them which is surprising to me. Your post made me feel better about our choice to stick with LV rather than going to concierge, although, I am very sorry you didn't have good luck with them.

 

[JKW]

Sad....very sad....We just changed our Sugar Loaf Concierge to the Poly LV Concierge. We were a little shaky with the recent evaluations of the GF Concierge. I LOVE the GF don't get me wrong we will stay there again but in a standard GV or LV. With all the discounts available we thought that we would try something new.....

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Room 4416 at the GF ~ how well did you see the MK and fireworks from this room? Since it doesn't have a lagoon view, did you still get a decent view from it?

Sorry about your experience at the GF. I just got back two weeks ago, and we had a problem with our bathtub drain that took 3 days of calls to be fixed. Drapes were broken, stain bedspreads/bedskirts, the list goes on. Housekeeping staff could care less. We also only got 2 beds turndown on some nights, and then some nights the 3rd one was done as well. I wish they'd be consistant on it, and give the little card w/ saying every night (we got it a little over half of the nights).

 

[donrulz]

Our view was of the quiet pool, and straight in front of us was Space Mountain. The castle was just out of sight but you could still see the fireworks very easily. We could see the lagoon to one side of the balcony and Bay Lake to the other, it was really quite nice. Again I was very dissapointed in the concierge service and we never got the little cards you mentioned.

 

[Mickymark]

Well, Iv'e resisted weighiing in on the GF Concierge until now. I leave for Florida tomorrow. I stayed there in '89 and I had the most magical stay imaginable, really. The only real reason I'm going back to RPC concierge is that I'm getting a CM discount of 50%. I figure that even if it doesn't live up to expectations, Im paying just over what I paid last year at the WL. So, Im getting GF RPC this year at $400.00 more than courtyard view WL last year. Im sure Ill enjoy it! I will post when i get back.

 

[TammiMcMan]

donrulz,

We were in the main building back in May of 1999 and had the most amazing experience. However, our trip back to the GF in July of 2000 was a completely different story. You sound just as angry as I was back then. We got stuck in Sugar Loaf concierge because of the main building renovation and we had nothing but problems. It started with communication problems before we even began our vacation and continued with housekeeping and room issues throughout the week. I know that you spoke to the concierge manager, but you may want to follow up with a letter to Al Weiss. He is the president of Disney resorts and maybe he should be brought up to date on these housekeeping and room issues that I've been reading so much about on these boards.

This year, we let the kids choose the vacation and sure enough, the vote was for GF again. I guess our previous problems didn't bother them as much as it did me. I took a deep breath and booked the main building again. So far, I've been in contact with the pre-planning staff and even received a phone call from them the other day, just making sure I was all set. As to the lack of night time desserts that you mentioned, my guess is that you probably just missed a family taking plates full of them back to their room. It still amazes me how many times I saw that happen.

Well, I have my fingers crossed that everything will go okay this time. And if I happen to end up with room 4416, at least I know the toilet will be in good working order!

Tammi

 

[MJS]

Your stay sounds like our visit to the RPC in May. Ugh! We loved our room, but the service was poor. The thermostat in our room did not work properly, and it was very hot both inside and out. It was also a problem because a member of our party has asthma.

I spoke to one of the GF/RPC CMs to get help, and he told me that if they fixed it, I would probably whine that it was too cold! (YES, he said "whine!"). I explained to him that we are from Minnesota, and he doesn't know what cold is. We battled with the thermostat for nearly 2 weeks. The resort did nothing, and the concierge manager did not return our messages, and the GM's office couldn't have cared less. We will not stay there again.

 

[mrsapalm]

I posted on another GF Sugar Loaf thread, but I feel I should weigh in on this one as well. I had a truly magical stay in Sugar Loaf for 8 wonderful days in 2000. Everything was in working order, nothing was stained, we received plenty of chocolates and good-night cards every night, and when I mistakenly mixed up our dinner PSs - the concierge staff practically hopped around to help me fix my mistake, even though nobody was obligated to, since it was MY error.
We found the food layout to be quite nourishing, plentiful, and a nice added benefit to our stay. When I got very ill the last two days of our trip, housekeeping was generous in providing extra boxes of tissues (I got a serious sinus infection).
Although everyone's experience is different, I always believe that you can't knock it until you try it out for yourself. You might be pleasantly surprised!
-MrsAPalm