Have you been "Bitten" by the Concierge "Bug"? aka The LIZARD LOUNGE!

[#1hockeymom]

YEAH WOODY!
Oh it is good to see your name, and with such good news!

Welcome to the lounge, Shalida!

 

[John's Mom]

VAgal76,

What I was trying to say is "What happens between the different food servings?" Sometimes there is an hour or an hour and a half between the food servings. I assume that you can still visit the lounge and use the services of the staff.

Thanks, again.

Kathy

 

[TammiMcMan]

I've only heard that the BeachClub and Yacht Club close the lounge doors in between their food offerings. At all the other lounges, you can still go in, relax, have a cool drink and you'll always have the staff available during their regular hours.

Tammi

 

[John's Mom]

Tammi, thanks!

One other thing: I know the concierge staff can't accept monetary gifts, so I need some suggestions as to a gift I could give them?

I'm sorry if this question has been asked earlier on this thread.

Kathy

 

[storybookmum]

It wasn't Disney, but it was a nice getaway, with the women's group of my church. First time I've ever left my kids overnight except for work (6 years!!). Really nice weekend at a pretty hotel.

So glad to see things are going well for folks, and welcome to the newcomers.

I am definitely sharing in prayers for the passing without incident of this latest hurricane. I can't believe, either, how badly Florida has been hammered this year.

Woody, I'm particularly happy to hear how well things are going with the baby, hon!

God bless,

Kris

 

[TammiMcMan]

Kathy,
Normally, your pre-planning staff is different than those who are on the desks at the resorts. If you've had someone who has made a great impression on you, then I'd definitely suggest sending a letter of compliment. This will go into their file and hopefully get them the recognition that they deserve. I've used the mailing address for guest communications and also e-mail. There's a website called Tagrel that has some really cute CM appreciation cards. You can download them onto your computer and personalize them. As for gifts, others have mentioned doing up a basket from their home state.

Tammi

 

[VAgal76]

WoodyRU - Hello to you - . I'm so glad to hear the wonderful news!

Kathy - Sorry I was long winded and still didn't answer your question. They don't close the lounge so you can enjoy it at any time.

CM gifts: Like TammiMcMan said - you can take some goodies from your local area which they like. I did a mix of things and depended on the situation for what I did. For instance, Don at AKL IPO loves Jiko's so I got disney dollars that would cover him for a nice everning out. Sue at AKL IPO was having surgery within days of us arriving so I made a little gift bag with some goodies geared towards her for the upcoming recovery period. For CM's I took a wad of gift cards from Wal-mart with me to have on hand. Our eyes were opened because of this board that CM's really don't make a lot of money. Many have done gift cards to Wal-mart/Target/Restaurants and they were greatly appreciated. Since some really have gone out of their way to help us enjoy our stay I try to take care of them. The best suggestion I can give is pry a little to see what their interests are and what they like. The gift giving is much more sweeter when you know its something they will enjoy.

 

[ead79]

Hi Woody!!!!! It's so wonderful to see you here in the lounge again. Your family has been in my prayers, and it's so wonderful to hear good news for your little one! I hope your little ones are feeling much better now--high fevers just make you feel so crummy.

 

[samnbilly]

Woody-So great to see you back and you're off bedrest-woohoo I PM'd you a while ago-I knew you were busy taking care of that precious cargo!
Hope everyone is okay after Jeanne. My GM house survived!
Just got back from my NY trip in a 3 bdrm suite at the Waldorf-wow. It was gorgeous. Now all I need is one of these in Disney-Hehe Feel like I'm slacking again with these Disney plans. I haven't even booked my transfers. Any one of you LL with a good town car experience, please let me know.
My counter is getting close. I can't believe how fast that went. Have a great day everyone. Any of you LL going to be there when I'm there?

 

[QJ411]

Hi SamnBilly,

Although I visit this thread quite often, and posted a few times, I can't call myself a LL yet... (my first Conceirge exprierence won't be so until Dec. )

But I can share my transfer experience w/ ya. Of all the times we've been to WDW, we always used Tiffany Towncars...we've had no problem w/ them (but when you call to make the ressies or to confirm, the lady who answers the phone isn't all too pleasant), their limo was clean and the driver was very professional and nice. Their towncars are ok too, but I'm starting to think they dispatch these trips to outside drivers...When we took their towncar, the driver would hand us a business card w/ his name and number on it. But we had no problems w/ them, they met us at the luggage claim, and picked us up at the resorts on time.

For our upcoming trip, we've decided to try the limo service w/ FL Tours...(they gave us a discount b/c of the Dis sponsorship). So we're hopeful that they'll be wonderful!

I hope this helped a bit!

 

[VAgal76]

Originally posted by samnbilly
Just got back from my NY trip in a 3 bdrm suite at the Waldorf-wow.

Any one of you LL with a good town car experience, please let me know.

First of all, you have very good taste - Waldorf Astoria in NYC!!! I almost stayed there one time, but was switched to the Denver, CO convention instead of the NY city one. Oh, pooh!

Second, I used Quicksilver last time we visited and was pleased with their service. Would I use them again? The answer would be yes.

I'm glad QJ411 has had good experience with Tiffany. They've had mixed reviews on the boards.

I believe some have used Happy Limo as well with pretty good service. Yet again, mixed reviews with them as well.

I was actually going to try another transportation service on our next trip, but Quicksilver has a Cadillac Limo I've been eyeballing since we did the stretch Lincoln last time. Plus, they gave us good service last time and I'm one not to mess with a good thing.

Looks like I've got to make a decision on where to do the suite - AKL or GF. I'm leaning towards GF to get a great view of MK. I really like where my room was last time at AKL and unless something spectacular happens - I don't think the VP at AKL is going to be in the cards. I like the look of the 2 bdrm suites at AKL, but I like my secret location that I can not disclose since it will be pounced on as soon as I post it - LOL! It's not in the vicinity of the 2 bdrm suite though.

You all have blessed day!

 

[KerryCM]

Woody So glad to hear things are going better for you. My thoughts have been with you. Please keep us posted on things.

samnbilly Alana at the BWI IPO booked our towncar for us. It is Trio Trans Limo service. Alana said she has used them fo all of the guest she books for. My son and his family also booked through them for their trip. I figured if they are booked by concierge they must be reliable.

lovesdumbo How are things with all of your children? You must be getting excited about your trip. I can't wait for mine!!


. mmausse How are you doing? You have had a rough few weeks. Just want you to know I am thinking of you.

Ok, one more quick surgery to go through this Thursday and I am forgetting about what will be next until my return! I want to go and forget about everything else except having fun with my husband, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter! I am excited about the Illuminations cruise. My husband doesn't know about it and I know he will love it. I am still trying for a suite, but also want a BW view, so I may have to just stay with a deluxe room.

Got an e-mail from Jackie and she rode out Jeanne at the BW. She did say they lost some shingles there, but her house is fine. Of course they don't have power again at home, but they are all safe and sound. Can't wait to see her and give her a big hug!!!

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

John's mom

A couple of weeks ago I asked the tipping question in a thread in this resort forum called, "Anyone know for certain if you can tip concierge?" You can run a search for it as I don't know how to post a link. But this was the answer as it came from conceirge via "Tikiman":

09-14-2004 05:37 PM

Tikiman
DIS Veteran

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: California
Posts: 2303

There has been much discussion on other boards about tipping concierge or giving them gifts. For those of you who think leaving a tip for concierge is a good idea you might want to read what the concierge policy is. I don’t want to sound like they don’t deserve a tip, gift, etc because they have made my vacations some of the best vacations I have ever had but the last thing I ever want to do is cause problems for them which you may be doing if you are giving them things. I would give them everything I could if I did not think it may be a problem. They have been so good to Tara and I even before they ever knew our names and way before I ever had a web page. The problem is they are always going to be gracious and polite when receiving gifts and are not going to tell you that you may be causing them to get in trouble in some cases.

Here is the response from the concierge staff on how tips are handled.

“Officially we are not on a tip status and should not be receiving tips of any kind, especially cash and we should try to decline it. We are told if a guest is insistent on tipping and giving cash and it seems we will offend them if we don't take it, we can accept it but we are to turn it in to our manager. It then goes into a 'tip fund' that in the past, we used for parties or dinners for our entire staff to be able to attend and enjoy. Unfortunately, company policy states we are not to have this 'tip fund' and therefore it is very difficult for us to use any money that is turned in to the fund these days. Sometimes, cast members keep the cash that is given them thus subjecting themselves to possible termination if they are caught. (This has happened recently at another resort.) Also, sometimes a guest may leave something for another cast member in good faith that it will be given to the cast member but the intended cast member does not receive it.
As far as gifts go, some guests will give gifts for the entire staff to enjoy, (usually food of some kind). While we are technically not supposed to accept these either, management usually looks the other way as they feel if a guest went through the trouble of shopping and bringing or shipping a gift, and it is for all to enjoy, that we can accept it with gratitude for their thoughtfulness and appreciation. If a guest leaves a specific gift for a cast member and it is of value, we have to advise our managers of the gift and value and then it is up to the manager to decide if we are able to keep it or not. According to our company policy, we are only able to accept 1 gift of value a year and it cannot be over a particular amount. (If they say we can't keep it, I don't know where it would go or what would happen to it.) In the past when I received a gift of value, it was approved for me to have it and I had to receive a release paper from my manager to take it home.
We work as a team and while it may seem to someone that one concierge person is doing all the work, it is usually more than one person. It's just the one concierge person ends up being the one that coordinates all the requests and bookings, makes sure it is completed and replies back to the guest. It's great when we are recognized as individuals as sometimes the one concierge person may be the only one working on a particular guest and no one else needed to assist. It can also be disappointing when another cast member is recognized for all the hard work one cast member or the team did together, but we also understand that maybe the guest did not see or understand that there is a team working together, not usually just one individual. I can tell you, a concierge that works at night is not the one in the computer at 7am in the morning making all the special priority seating bookings like Cinderella's Breakfast etc. They may place the request on the list for the am crew but unless they normally work in the IPO or are doing a turnaround shift, they will not be the one booking the request. This is where the teamwork comes in play.
When guests state in their emails or conversations they wish to bring us something to thank us for our service and assistance, We always state that gifts are not necessary as our assistance is part of their reservation booking. We also let them know how much we appreciate their thoughtfulness. We have to be careful in receiving gifts as management has brought it up in the past that we are not here to do things for guests in expectation of a gift or tip and we should make sure that we do not convey to guests that tips and gifts will give them better service. We are subject to discipline, not excluding termination, if management believes that we are giving guests extra gifts and room deliveries etc just because they gave us a tip or gift. Room deliveries for welcome, birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions are now monitored more closely as well as more standardized to make sure all guests are getting the same type of amenity and that the amenity is appropriate to their occasion.
Things like towel animals etc in the room are done by housekeeping and it depends on the housekeeper as to whether or not they do these things for their guests. Not all the housekeepers have the time or skill to do the towel animals. The housekeepers work very hard and when guests leave them a tip with their name on it, their management looks the other way as they feel if a guest appreciated the housekeeper so much as to leave them something, the housekeeper must deserve it and it also promotes moral and the housekeepers take more pride in their job. A win, win situation as some say. As you stated, it is not done because they gave gifts, it is done out of the kindness of our hearts and our wish to make their stay Magical.
We don't do things for guests and expect a tip or gift. Knowing we made a guest's vacation special makes us feel good and that is why we are here. There are times when we wish could do more for our guests because we know how special their occasion is or they are repeat guests.
Guests who stay on a Concierge level outside of WDW know that if they are big tippers, they are going to get whatever they want, especially if the tip is big enough. This is not the case at WDW. Concierge is a level of service they are already paying for by the higher price of our rooms and having a private building. The food in our amenity lounge is not what they are paying for either, it is an amenity that is offered since they are staying in the building.
The Concierge staff, are paid an hourly rate to do our job, we are not on a tip status. When we go out of our way, it is because we want to, not because we are paid more or expect or know we are going to get a big tip or gift. The cast members that are on a tip status are the bellmen, the valet, the bartenders and the restaurant servers. They are paid on a tip wage which is low and they work for their tips with the service they provide. This is industry standard.”

________________
Disneyland 1975, 78, 93, 94, 95, 97, 99, 2000

WDW 1983 Off site
WDW 1984 Off site
WDW 1996 Polynesian Tahiti Lagoon view
WDW 1998 Polynesian Tuvalu Lagoon view
WDW 2000 Polynesian Hawaii Lagoon view Concierge
WDW 2001 Yacht Club
WDW2001 Polynesian Hawaii Lagoon view Concierge
WDW2002 Animal Kingdom Lodge Concierge Suite Savannah View
WDW2002 Polynesian Hawaii Lagoon View Concierge
WDW2004 Dolphin
WDW2004 Polynesian Hawaii Lagoon View Conceirge

Polynesian pages tikiman2001.homestead.com/index.html
********************
Back to Cal Dreamer here, I typically tip concierge well at normal hotels but I can see that the situation is quite different at WDW. The followup letters in the thread concluded that the best thank you "gift" was a letter to management commending the concierge members who helped you.

 

[samnbilly]

Thanks everyone for your help. I am so dense sometimes-I think its motherhood-I was much smarter before I had children. I am going to e-mail IPO at GF and ask if they can book the transfers for me. Duh-it never occurred to me, I don't know why.
I have to activate my AP's also. I'll have to do this before I check in. Will I be able to get to the hotel and leave my luggage and go do that? I've never done this before.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Queenie, don't feel bad. I think that is one of the problems that I have with the GF concierge, their lack of a pre-planning questionnaire. In all the years that we've been there, never once were we asked about transfers and I didn't even know what was available. Lo and behold though, I got a wonderful questionnaire from the Yacht Club IPO department and right on it is information regarding transfers. It was still listed as being Trio Trans and I'm going to spring for the limo as an added surprise for the family. We're flying in late the night before and staying at a hotel near the airport, so IPO made arrangements for them to pick us up right at that hotel in the morning.

Tammi

 

[ead79]

CaliforniaDreamer, thank you for posting the information about tipping concierge. I was planning to make homemade chocolate chip cookies to take for both the IPO and lounge staff. That way it won't be a highly valued gift--I wouldn't want to get them in trouble. Plus, I make a mean chocolate chip cookie!

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

Hello again!
If you have a reservation for a concierge room, you can definitely request that the IPO book airport-resort transfers.

We received a form from the IPO for YC/BC/BWI guests asking if we would like them to arrange a town car or limo to and from the airport.

Once we sent in our request, we have since been corresponding by email to finalize our PS's and transportation. I was told they use a company called Trio Trans, through which they can book a limousine for $110 plus gratuity ($132 each way).

They can also book a van for $85 plus gratuity ($102 each way).

I'm pretty sure we paid $75 each way for Tiffany's on our last trip three years ago, for a towncar, but four of us squished in the back. So I think these quotes seem fair.

Do these rates seem about right compared to other companies?

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Elizabeth! That sounds wonderful.
Leave some out on the lounge table tonight, would you please?

 

[Angel16]

First, Hello to everyone. I have been very busy at work, at home I have been trying to get things organized for our trip and cleaning out my fathers house after his death. I have serious ostoarthritis in both knees, and I had injections in both knees today. Which has had me down with my feet up for the day. I really feel we both need a vacation, but.....

Here's my problem: DH feels that we should seriously consider cancelling our WDW trip due to all the hurricains this year. He keeps repeating "maybe God doesn't want us in Florda for some reason." So I really need your thoughts and any help you can offer. We are leaving on Oct 8th.



Angel

 

[tammy]

Hey Lizards,

Where's steveanddonna? I have not seen her since I've been back from Disney.