Just back from Boardwalk Concierge and Poly conceirge the goods and bads

[PolyGirl]

Wow, what a great vacation!!!! For all you thinking about staying at the Boardwalk Concierge (especially if you have kids) think about it again. Not kid friendly at all!!!! The pool there is nice but again not for kids. The lifeguard told my 4-year old she was not allowed to yell or scream coming down the slide because they would think she was in distress and we were standing right there at the slide. Talked to many parents about the pool situation and many were dissatisfied. You are not allowed to get out of the pool unless you use the stairs or they will remove you from the pool. The concierge staff was not accomodating. Soda is not out in the open and they make you feel like you are putting them out of their way when you ask for it. Food offerings are slim. My big problem was also room location. You have to walk the entire resort to get to the pool or lobby. You need to be fully dressed when walking around the resort also. So all in all a big thumbs down for the Boardwalk. Now onto to the Polynesian.

WOW, what a great resort. The concierge staff is AWESOME!!!! They go out of your way to accomodate you. Food offerings are incredible. My 4 year old had the flu their and they could not do enough to help her out!!

Any questions just ask.

 

[ez]

I have also done both of those, and while I really liked BW concierge, I agree that with young kids, poly is the way to go, the concierge lounge is full of kids running all over the place, and the Hawaii building is right by the pool. Also proximity to the mk can't be beat. I have never had that kind of problem at the bw pool, and we have stayed many times. Sounds like an overzealous lifeguard was on duty!

 

[kmermaid]

Hi Polygirl:

Is the BW concerige rooms far from the Lobby? We are staying at the BW and trying to figure out where to request our location. We have Standardview right now but I think I would like to be close to the Lobby. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[highflyer747b]

I have to agree with your comments about the Boardwalk Concierge. Although one of our favourite resorts and we will be returning in March we have no intention of trying Conceirge again.
We stayed last September during a very quiet period ( one night there were only 10 rooms occupied on the Concierge level ) but found the staff to be extremely unattentive and not in the least bit welcoming. On our first visit there we were given no welcome at all (check in is at the front desk), no one approached us to explain anything with regards to timings and offerings and it's not as if the three cast members there were very busy, we were the only guests in the lounge!!!!
Each time we entered the lounge we felt like we were intruding - the cast members were always deep in conversation or sitting on the sofas watching TV and as soon as we would arrive they would all go outside the lounge and continue their chats . If you needed anything like sodas or water you had to go outside and interrupt their conversation. This was the same each time we visited (at least they were consistent ) except for one evening when the two castmembers on duty were exceptional, extremely friendly and couldn't do enough for us,insisting we return later to watch the fireworks from the balcony. (we later found out that they both normally worked at the front desk and were only covering in the lounge )
That said the lounge itself is very pleasant and the offerings adequate. Not very child friendly I agree but under the right circumstances it could be a very relaxing place to escape to.

 

[cynbrown]

Hey Polygirl,

Glad to hear your experience with the Poly concierge was good. We leave one week from today for Poly concierge and had been a little bit concerned about some negative experiences we had read about. Were the CMs friendly and helpful for you? Was the lounge comfortable and the food good? Which floor were you on and was your room clean and comfortable?

I'd love to hear any more details about your experiences there. We've never stayed concierge before and have been really excited about it!

cynbrown

 

[cottontail]

Hi Polygirl:

Did you get to meet Scott in the poly concierge lounge, he used to work afternoons, he was so helpful and friendly to us. We loved it there, when we tried it for the first time last april.

Deb.

 

[PolyGirl]

As for the Poly Concierge we have stayed there many times and everytime it seems to get better and better.

We always stay on the first floor. This year we had room 1523. We feel first floor is the best because the kids like to see the ducks and it's nice to jus to open up the patio door and the kids can play right outside the room. The second floor does not have balconies and the third floor allows smoking so the first first is perfect.

The CMs as I stated before are OUTSTANDING!!!! They brought my daughter crackers to the room to make her feel better and even called the room the following morning to see how she was doing and if there was anything she needed. Also, when we checked in our room was not ready and would not be until later on in the day. When they saw that my daughter was ill they said just go upstairs to the lounge and we will do whatever it takes to have you in a room in the next half hour and they DID!!!!


The food offerings are great and you could make a meal out of them every night. As for the room it was spotless. You have turn down service also every night and I think they must vacuum the room in the morning as well as at night .I just can't say enough about the Polynesian. It's a wonderful resort and the staff is outstanding. We will never stray again. The Boardwalk was just such a disappointment.

Just another interesting fact. When we checked in we told the CMs at the Poly that we had just come over from the Boardwalk. When I told her how much we disliked the concierge service she was not surprised. The Boardwalk is a beautiful resort but lacks greatly in their service and should take some lessons from the Poly.

 

[welovedis]

PolyGirl-
Thanks so much for your post. My DH & I are in the midst of planning a trip for next january and were considering booking BWI Concierge. After reading your post and others I am rethinking our decision. It will be our first trip using concierge at WDW and we will be staying at AKL concierge first. We certainly don't want to be disappointed!

My biggest reason for wanting to stay at BWI was its proximity to Epcot and MGM along with wanting to explore the BW area. Now I need to convince DH that he might actually enjoy the Poly or some other resort.

Thanks again!

 

[cynbrown]

PolyGirl, thanks so much for all the info. I feel much more comfortable about our poly plans now. I had read on another site's message board that some recent visitors had felt the CMs were not friendly or helpful and that they also had some problems with their rooms. Glad your experience was so great.

Less than one week til we'll be there!

 

[GlennandAnn]

PolyGirl,
Can you please give some details about the food that is offered at the Poly conc? We have a 4 year old DD and a (will be at the time of the trip) 7 month old DD- what types of things for kids are offered at Poly conc that are not offered at BW conc? We are on the fence between the 2 resorts. Thanks for any info you can give.

Ann

 

[cottontail]

Hi Glen and Ann:

I just wanted to jump in and add about the poly lounge there is a big tv for the children to sit and watch. The best part of the poly lounge is the view with huge windows facing the magic kingdom castle and grand fl. and contemp. Best view anywhere.

Therefore the children can watch the castle, the monorail at the contemp or just watch the boats going back and forth, and they have the nighttime show on the water you can watch from the beach or inside the lounge if you wish

For breakfast what I remember is oatmeal, small boxes of cereals, juice, coffee, a huge bowl of fruit salad,( cut up cantelope, watermelon, pinapple) they have a toaster with english muffins, bread for toasting, cream cheese, jams, etc. Small muffins.

Dinner on the childrens table were always a big bowl of strawberries, either tuna, turkey, or these uncrustable peanut butter and jam sandwiches a bowl of pudding, but they can get food from the adult area.

To me there was something for everyone, wings one night, penne another, chicken breasts a chinese dish like fried rice/chicken and along with all of these each night a fruit salad, vege platter with dips, crackers and cheese and a romaine lettuce salad.

At 8 they put out deserts, about 4 different things, and wine and juice.

During the afternoon there is always fruit to come in and grab, bananas, apples, oranges, pears, big homebaked cookies and juice, bottled water and soda in cans.

Hope this helps. I cannot comment on any of the other resorts for concierge service, but we loved it at the poly. We used this service for the meals and snacks, not for access to dinner reservations as we usually hit the casual places.

Deb.

 

[vicb]

PolyGirl,

I can not comment on concierge at either place as we haven't done that but we have stayed at both resorts. We really liked both resorts but actually felt more comfortable and welcomed at the BWI... even our kids! We didn't encounter any of the pool issues you mentioned, as a matter of fact we found the lifeguard staff to be so friendly. They learned our kids names and greeted them by name all week. They organized pool games and one guard gave my DD a splash ball to keep. I hope that the guard staff hasn't changed so much as to make the pool atmosphere un-fun!

 

[GlennandAnn]

Hi Cottontail-

Thanks soo much for the great details. I just noticed I said we have 2 DDs- we really have 2 DSs!! Do you (or does anyone else) know anything about the renovations that are happening at the Poly concierge? Will the conc be moved to another building, and if so, how are the accommodations there? Is it near the pool?

Ann

 

[Tikiman]

Aloha and welcome back. Thanks for the report. I am not sure where the negative reports on the Polynesian concierge are coming from. It sounds like it is as great as when we were there.

Steve

 

[sixcats]

I sorry that you didn't enjoy your stay at BWI concierge. We've stayed on the concierge level at the Yacht Club, the BWI, the Poly,AKL and the GF. The only one probably will not return to is the YC.

I had my three kids at the BWI in August/Sept and we had no problems. The kids love the main pool with the slide and playground. We had no issues with having to be dressed up at the resort at all. Shoes and coverups in the lounge were the only restrictions. The kids loved hanging out at Community Hall during the rainy parts of our stay.

I do agree with the long walk to the lobby. No matter how often we stay at at the BW we always get lost in those hallways!

The Poly and AKL concierge levels are probably my favorites.