rotlex
Is it summer yet?
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2007
Returned just this past Friday from a fantastic 10 night stay at AKL, and wanted to post our likes, dislikes, and thoughts!
We booked a pool view room, and were very happy with the location. We had room number 4456, 4th floor, right near the elevators. Very, very easy and quick access to Mara as well as the pool.
Firstly, checkin was painless. We used online, and it took maybe 5 minutes to actually check in, and get everything together. We arrived at Jambo House around 11am, and our room was ready by noon. We spent most of that first day swimming, and exploring the Lodge.
Positives:
Gorgeous resort with a LOT to do. Nice size room with a great view and a very friendly staff. The pool was fantastic, and we visited Kidani on Saturday to take advantage of their pool. Really fun day, and the kids enjoyed the slide and play area there quite a bit.
Other positives. Boma; staying at the hotel that houses one of our favorite restaurants was GREAT! Our kids also took advantage of the many activities they offered, including the cookie decorating, sand art, drawing, night vision views etc. Overall, we probably did more at this resort than on any other stay we have done in the past 5 years.
Negatives:
Housekeeping. The room was not "dirty" per say, but considering this is a deluxe resort, the room could have been a bit cleaner. Nothing bad, but dust on top of the entertainment unit, around the toilet and other minor places was still disturbing for this level of hotel. I have had cleaner rooms at POP.
The Mara. IMO, the worst food court we have ever had. Service was SLOW, and the selections very limited. Again, being regulars at POP, CBR and the like, I was expecting more from a deluxe food court. (What is up with using a pager at a food court anyway)?
Bus service. I realize we probably got unlucky, but it was horrendous going and coming from the parks. On two occasions, while going to MK, we had to wait for two buses to go before being able to board, due to the number of people on the bus. The wait between was also nearly 30 minutes in most cases; again, to and from most parks. This was not acceptable at ALL. Again, I realize this is a roll of the dice, but I expected more for what we were paying. (We had a car, and wound up driving almost exclusively the last half of our trip).
Overall? We enjoyed the resort, and had a fantastic trip. With that said, I don't think we will be staying deluxe again for quite some time. Even with as much fun as we had, I can't help but think that for the extra money we spent, we could have brought home a LOT of souvenirs, or even stayed a number of extra days mod or value.
We are now booked for next year, and Riverside, and are looking forward to that as well.
Oh, for reference. There were no bounce back offers in the room. I asked at the front desk, and was told to call reservations. I did, and nothing was available. The day we got home, I got a 40-45% off offer for dates ending this year. Not good to us, as we are not going again until next year anyway, and were already home when we received it!
We booked a pool view room, and were very happy with the location. We had room number 4456, 4th floor, right near the elevators. Very, very easy and quick access to Mara as well as the pool.
Firstly, checkin was painless. We used online, and it took maybe 5 minutes to actually check in, and get everything together. We arrived at Jambo House around 11am, and our room was ready by noon. We spent most of that first day swimming, and exploring the Lodge.
Positives:
Gorgeous resort with a LOT to do. Nice size room with a great view and a very friendly staff. The pool was fantastic, and we visited Kidani on Saturday to take advantage of their pool. Really fun day, and the kids enjoyed the slide and play area there quite a bit.
Other positives. Boma; staying at the hotel that houses one of our favorite restaurants was GREAT! Our kids also took advantage of the many activities they offered, including the cookie decorating, sand art, drawing, night vision views etc. Overall, we probably did more at this resort than on any other stay we have done in the past 5 years.
Negatives:
Housekeeping. The room was not "dirty" per say, but considering this is a deluxe resort, the room could have been a bit cleaner. Nothing bad, but dust on top of the entertainment unit, around the toilet and other minor places was still disturbing for this level of hotel. I have had cleaner rooms at POP.
The Mara. IMO, the worst food court we have ever had. Service was SLOW, and the selections very limited. Again, being regulars at POP, CBR and the like, I was expecting more from a deluxe food court. (What is up with using a pager at a food court anyway)?
Bus service. I realize we probably got unlucky, but it was horrendous going and coming from the parks. On two occasions, while going to MK, we had to wait for two buses to go before being able to board, due to the number of people on the bus. The wait between was also nearly 30 minutes in most cases; again, to and from most parks. This was not acceptable at ALL. Again, I realize this is a roll of the dice, but I expected more for what we were paying. (We had a car, and wound up driving almost exclusively the last half of our trip).
Overall? We enjoyed the resort, and had a fantastic trip. With that said, I don't think we will be staying deluxe again for quite some time. Even with as much fun as we had, I can't help but think that for the extra money we spent, we could have brought home a LOT of souvenirs, or even stayed a number of extra days mod or value.
We are now booked for next year, and Riverside, and are looking forward to that as well.
Oh, for reference. There were no bounce back offers in the room. I asked at the front desk, and was told to call reservations. I did, and nothing was available. The day we got home, I got a 40-45% off offer for dates ending this year. Not good to us, as we are not going again until next year anyway, and were already home when we received it!