We're just back from a 5 night stay at AKL followed by 3 nights at All Star Sports. We had not stayed at a value resort before so weren't sure what to expect. We thought it was just fine!
Here's a quick review of our experiences at the two resorts:
I had reserved a pool view room at AKL and requested bunk beds for my 2 DS, ages 6 and 7. I made the reservations probably 6 months ago and all that time had been trying to convince myself to upgrade to savannah view. I had decided when we got there I'd ask how much more it would cost and if it wasn't too much, I'd go for it. I mean, you can get a pool view at just about any hotel, but not a savannah view, right?!?
At check-in, the CM was rather abrupt and unfriendly. I asked if we'd gotten the bunk beds and he said no. Then I asked how much more it would cost to upgrade to savannah view. He heaved a heavy sigh and looked it up and told me (I had just overhead the CM checking in the lady next to me tell her that she'd gotten a FREE upgrade to savannah view - lucky, lucky!). He said he didn't know if there were any savannah view rooms with bunk beds available though. I asked if he could check. Another heavy sigh. He looked it up and said there was only one and it was a smoking room. Didn't want that one! So, we decided to stay with what we had.
We went to the room and it was the very first one off the lobby (number 3006, I think). I was kind of disappointed by that because it seemed sort of hectic being right by the lobby. Plus, I knew we wouldn't be going by any animal viewing areas on our way to/from the room.
We went to eat at Boma and during dinner I decided I'd go ahead and see if they could let us know if a non-smoking, bunk bed, savannah view room became available. So, went to the desk to do that. The CM looked at me kind of funny and said that she was pretty sure there was quite a bit of availability for that right then. Sure enough, she looked it up and said there were 6 rooms available!
So, we switched to room 3467 and were really glad we did. The kids loved the bunk beds and it was so neat waking up and checking out what animals were out there. We saw lots of kudu and a few giraffes during our stay. It cost a little more for the savannah view, but I was glad we did it.
We thought the resort was beautiful and loved the pool area. The kids had a blast on the water slide.
We were disappointed in the unfriendliness of some (not all) of the CMS there. We ate at Mara every morning (food was fine, selections were good), but they didn't even acknowledge you when you checked out. They just thrust your change and receipt at you wordlessly. One morning I thanked the man when he shoved my change at me. He didn't respond so I said it again. I said thank you twice more to try and get a response but he ignored me completely. It really wasn't even that busy, so I'm not sure why all the unfriendliness? Perhaps they're all worn out from the summer busy season?
Then the second day I wasn't feeling well. Fever, chills, headache, etc. So, I went to Guest Services to ask if they knew where a PromptCare type place was. I also needed to pick up our Hoop Dee Doo tickets for that night. The lady handed me two brochures for medical places and started typing away on her computer to enter the info for the HDDR tickets. After about 10 minutes she commented that it takes a long time to get the info entered when you're going to pay for the HDDR with the dining plan. I had told them that when I made the reservation about 4 months ago.... Anyway, I was feeling very lightheaded so about 15 minutes into the process I asked if I could come back later and pick up the tickets. She snapped at me, "I'm almost done". Probably another 10 minutes of typing later, she looked up and me and saw how pale I was and said "you can leave. I'll call your room when the tickets are ready". So, I spent the afternoon at a CentraCare medical office (there's a whole nother story in the lack of customer service) where they found no cause for my ill feelings. Sigh. Anyway, the woman at Guest Services never did call my room to let me know that the tickets were ready. We stopped by later to ask and they were ready for us after a short wait.
A few days later we moved to All Star Sports. A very friendly bell man at AKL came to get our bags and had them moved for us. What a nice service not to have to drag all your stuff to the other hotel. We then went to the parks for the day and checked in that evening at All Star Sports.
I'd read that the rooms are so tiny there, but we thought the room size was just fine. Certainly not as deluxe as AKL, but of course that is to be expected. But definitely room enough for 2 adults, 2 kids, and a bunch of luggage. Speaking of luggage, ours wasn't in our room even thought it had been picked up at AKL 7 hours before. So, we called for it and it took 1 1/2 hours to come. By then, it was around midnight so we all went to sleep in the clothes we'd worn to the parks all day (yuck!) because we were exhausted.
We had breakfast at the All Star Sports food court each morning. The food was fine and selections were good. The CMs there were friendly and helpful. We were there at a very slow time though. I could imagine that during the busy season it could get pretty hectic.
I guess that's the main points. Other than we never got any towel animals. I was hoping that in 8 nights we get at least one, but we didn't. Shoot! My kids would have gotten a kick out of that.
Overall, we liked both resorts even though they are so very different. Obviously AKL is beautiful and unique. Our experience was marred a little by the unfriendliness of the CMs there though. All Star Sports was fun and upbeat and a great value. The CMs we encountered there were much friendlier however.
We were on the dining plan and I'll post my reviews on that over on the dining board.
Here's a quick review of our experiences at the two resorts:
I had reserved a pool view room at AKL and requested bunk beds for my 2 DS, ages 6 and 7. I made the reservations probably 6 months ago and all that time had been trying to convince myself to upgrade to savannah view. I had decided when we got there I'd ask how much more it would cost and if it wasn't too much, I'd go for it. I mean, you can get a pool view at just about any hotel, but not a savannah view, right?!?
At check-in, the CM was rather abrupt and unfriendly. I asked if we'd gotten the bunk beds and he said no. Then I asked how much more it would cost to upgrade to savannah view. He heaved a heavy sigh and looked it up and told me (I had just overhead the CM checking in the lady next to me tell her that she'd gotten a FREE upgrade to savannah view - lucky, lucky!). He said he didn't know if there were any savannah view rooms with bunk beds available though. I asked if he could check. Another heavy sigh. He looked it up and said there was only one and it was a smoking room. Didn't want that one! So, we decided to stay with what we had.
We went to the room and it was the very first one off the lobby (number 3006, I think). I was kind of disappointed by that because it seemed sort of hectic being right by the lobby. Plus, I knew we wouldn't be going by any animal viewing areas on our way to/from the room.
We went to eat at Boma and during dinner I decided I'd go ahead and see if they could let us know if a non-smoking, bunk bed, savannah view room became available. So, went to the desk to do that. The CM looked at me kind of funny and said that she was pretty sure there was quite a bit of availability for that right then. Sure enough, she looked it up and said there were 6 rooms available!
So, we switched to room 3467 and were really glad we did. The kids loved the bunk beds and it was so neat waking up and checking out what animals were out there. We saw lots of kudu and a few giraffes during our stay. It cost a little more for the savannah view, but I was glad we did it.
We thought the resort was beautiful and loved the pool area. The kids had a blast on the water slide.
We were disappointed in the unfriendliness of some (not all) of the CMS there. We ate at Mara every morning (food was fine, selections were good), but they didn't even acknowledge you when you checked out. They just thrust your change and receipt at you wordlessly. One morning I thanked the man when he shoved my change at me. He didn't respond so I said it again. I said thank you twice more to try and get a response but he ignored me completely. It really wasn't even that busy, so I'm not sure why all the unfriendliness? Perhaps they're all worn out from the summer busy season?
Then the second day I wasn't feeling well. Fever, chills, headache, etc. So, I went to Guest Services to ask if they knew where a PromptCare type place was. I also needed to pick up our Hoop Dee Doo tickets for that night. The lady handed me two brochures for medical places and started typing away on her computer to enter the info for the HDDR tickets. After about 10 minutes she commented that it takes a long time to get the info entered when you're going to pay for the HDDR with the dining plan. I had told them that when I made the reservation about 4 months ago.... Anyway, I was feeling very lightheaded so about 15 minutes into the process I asked if I could come back later and pick up the tickets. She snapped at me, "I'm almost done". Probably another 10 minutes of typing later, she looked up and me and saw how pale I was and said "you can leave. I'll call your room when the tickets are ready". So, I spent the afternoon at a CentraCare medical office (there's a whole nother story in the lack of customer service) where they found no cause for my ill feelings. Sigh. Anyway, the woman at Guest Services never did call my room to let me know that the tickets were ready. We stopped by later to ask and they were ready for us after a short wait.
A few days later we moved to All Star Sports. A very friendly bell man at AKL came to get our bags and had them moved for us. What a nice service not to have to drag all your stuff to the other hotel. We then went to the parks for the day and checked in that evening at All Star Sports.
I'd read that the rooms are so tiny there, but we thought the room size was just fine. Certainly not as deluxe as AKL, but of course that is to be expected. But definitely room enough for 2 adults, 2 kids, and a bunch of luggage. Speaking of luggage, ours wasn't in our room even thought it had been picked up at AKL 7 hours before. So, we called for it and it took 1 1/2 hours to come. By then, it was around midnight so we all went to sleep in the clothes we'd worn to the parks all day (yuck!) because we were exhausted.
We had breakfast at the All Star Sports food court each morning. The food was fine and selections were good. The CMs there were friendly and helpful. We were there at a very slow time though. I could imagine that during the busy season it could get pretty hectic.
I guess that's the main points. Other than we never got any towel animals. I was hoping that in 8 nights we get at least one, but we didn't. Shoot! My kids would have gotten a kick out of that.
Overall, we liked both resorts even though they are so very different. Obviously AKL is beautiful and unique. Our experience was marred a little by the unfriendliness of the CMs there though. All Star Sports was fun and upbeat and a great value. The CMs we encountered there were much friendlier however.
We were on the dining plan and I'll post my reviews on that over on the dining board.
