Just back from Poly and Concierge experience

[chamonix]

muffycat wrote:

I did find out since last summer they cut out some breakfast offerings. The mini blueberry muffins, english muffins and boxed cereal all have been stopped. The muffins were the only thing my 10 DD would eat!

I love those muffins too! I eat them every morning at WDW! So, let me get this straight--no blueberry muffins, no english muffins, no more oatmeal--what is left for breakfast? Some fruit: melons, apples and bananas and bulk cereal....what else? Toast? That is just crazy. I hope this report was wrong!

(edited to add, I was there in October 2004 and they still had muffins.)

 

[mycropht]

DH and I had our first Concierge experience (WL) in September of 04. By and large I felt it was well worth it. We did have the boxed cereals, but no individual serving plastic bottles of water. That didn't really bother me.

By and large we were VERY happy with the service. CMs were cordial and when they made our PS, we wouldn't have to wait. That in and of itself was worth the extra $$$$ to me.

What did bother me was:

1. Food offerings would NOT be restocked. I.E. The cheese plate was put out at 5:00, and some other family on the floor would eat all of a certain type of (cheddar) cheese. If you got there after 5:15, you were outta luck, babee!!!! My personal opinion is that if they offer a certain item between say, 5:00 and 7:00, they should keep that item stocked until close to 7:00.

2. Sodas were not restocked either. Same family (my "enemy") would come and take all of the Sprite cans as soon as they were put out. I'd have to request a can, and then I'd get just one.

3. CMs were kind of snippity when it came to requesting things from the food service. In the aforementioned instance, for example, when I requested a can of Sprite the CM was very rude and then came and handed me 1 warm can. I thought if she was going to take issue with the soda abuse she maybe could have talked to the family of (seemingly) 4 who felt the need to take all 12 cans she put out EVERY TIME SHE PUT THEM OUT. It ended up being far easier to buy a refillable mug, take the elevator down 7 flights, walk across the courtyard and down the hall to Roaring Forks, refill the mug whenever I wanted a soda.

Other than that, which wasn't the beallendall by any means, it was terrific.

 

[DisneyFans4]

Mycropht-
My feelings exactly and that is why I feel someone should be in the lounge at all times to see what is going on. I had that happen during our last stay at the Poly and the food ran out well before the service time for it had run and they didn't replenish it or I was told they ran out because I guess someone else took all of it.
When we are told that certain food items will be served during certain hours, enough should be there during those times.
I remember during our very first stay at the Poly they had different sandwiches for the kids each day., i.e, pb&j one day, bologna and cheese another. During our last stay the only thing they gave out were Uncrustables and I have a son who has a severe peanut allergy so he could never have it.
It's just a real shame what it's come down too and you spend all that extra $$$ for it.
I absolutely love the concierge service at the Swan and the people who run it are in there constantly and you have to sign in to confirm your a concierge guest. That's the way it should be. The food was wonderful and there was always plenty and the coffee was fresh.

 

[tinknsnow]

3. CMs were kind of snippity when it came to requesting things from the food service. In the aforementioned instance, for example, when I requested a can of Sprite the CM was very rude and then came and handed me 1 warm can.

I think we had the same snippity CM when we stayed WLC earlier this month!

I asked for *one* container of yogurt for my son (the only thing I requested all week) and let her know the milk was totally empty (at 8 AM) and she was really unpleasant about it! Like, "OK, fine. I'll get it for you but I won't be happy about it!" The year before, everyone was *awesome* there. PS We decided to try the Poly next time (not really because of that one instance but it didn't help matters!)

 

[DisneyFans4]

That's exactly how it was for us. Our first year at Poly concierge was absolutely wonderful and the CM's were all nice and we had a great time so when I planned our vacation the following year we wanted to go again and it was awful. I won't go back there because of the way we were treated and management didn't even care. I never got an apology.

 

[disneyworld!]

That is why I didn't go with concierge this upcomming trip. I figured for a extra 100.00 a day it wasn't worth it for the food they put out. Plus I made all of PS seatings and have all of the meals planned out. I didn't see the need for this service when I barely had the money to go regular GV Room. I've read a lot of bad reviews of the service and I hope it improves. It's all up to someones personal tastes I guess.

It's all up to someones personal tastes.......yes THAT is right! hummmm.
so much for ....hum, class

 

[Suzanne74]

We booked a last minute trip to the Poly and this posting has made me REALLY nervous. We leave on Friday for 5 nights. I will be posting back a report around May5th. Hopefully they have fixed a lot of the service problems. This is our first stay at the Poly but after reading so many positive posts here and on other websites, I felt the Poly concierge was best suited for us. I hope the breakfast is a little better than what others stated. I would also think if they had someone restocking the food, there wouldn't be people looking to "grab" everything when the service starts. I would hate to come back from the park at 6pm to find everything empty that should be there from 5-7pm. So there is really no one in the lounge , how do you request things like a soda or yogurt? I am starting to think I should downgrade.

If anyone has any suggestions for me, I am all ears!!

 

[DisneyFans4]

If you have special needs for food or drinks just ask one of the CM's and they will go in the back and get it for you.
During our last trip the line started for the evening service before 5:00 and everyone was lined up all the way down the hall and the food was gone within half an hour. They replenish only what they have and if that is also gone then service won't even make it to 7:00 because everything is gone. I also think our last trip was not a good one because this was during construction of the Hawaii building and the Tahiti at that time had no cooking facilities so they made everything ahead of time and had to bring the food to that building. I also think during our last trip alot of people that were not concierge guests were getting into the building.
The Poly is truly a beautiful hotel and I guess there are always those few guests that unfortunately have a bad experience but I would hope that the hotel learns from those bad experiences and makes the improvement.
Have a great trip!!

 

[Tikiman]

Sorry I did not read all of these so I might be repeating what others said but I will start by saying that not getting a ride over was unacceptable and I even sent the Polynesian a message to see what is up with that. The food offerings cannot be blamed on the Polynesian. The resort management is trying to make all concierge offerings the same at all resorts witch means limiting things at the Polynesian since they use to offer more than other resorts. The water went away a long time ago because of abuse and so did some of the offerings so blame the other guests for that. Yes Dick is still there and he does get days off so there would not be any carved fruit. I also must agree that expecting all the free stuff seems a little much. I have gotten tons of stuff in our rooms for my birthday and our Anniversary but than other years we have gotten nothing and I never thought twice about it being an issue. I never expect them to go out of their way to give me stuff for free but when they do I am very appreciative since I know they do it on their own.

I will say that just this morning I got a few emails from first time guests to the Polynesian concierge that returned from last week and they loved every minute so maybe those of us who have been there before are expecting too much from Disney who seems to be cutting back. Maybe there are some staff issues also but the other cutbacks can only be blamed on Disney management not the Polynesian staff or management since they have no control over it.

I would still write and voice your opinion but I don’t’ think others who are planning on going need to change their reservations since it seems others have just come back from there and loved it.

Sorry again for your bad experience.

Aloha

Steve

 

[Tikiman]

Just an observation that is not against the OP but has anyone ever noticed that the good reports get 2 or 3 responses and than get buried but the bad ones get 6 pages in a day?

 

[BCV23]

Just an observation that is not against the OP but has anyone ever noticed that the good reports get 2 or 3 responses and than get buried but the bad ones get 6 pages in a day?

I completely agree, Tikiman.

Not only that but this thread was dredged up from back pages somewhere....it is two months old! Not flaming the OP or the person who brought it back either.

Suzanne, don't worry. Polynesian concierge is wonderful. We're going back in less than a month and I can't wait. It isn't nirvana but it is a very pleasant experience at a fantastic resort. Hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[DisneyFans4]

I totally agree that Poly was one of the last few resorts to have such great offerings and it is unfortunate that some of the guests have now been the cause of those changes.
During our last trip Dick is the one that told me he was preparing the food elsewhere and carting everything over to the Tahiti building. It was also during our last trip that I had posted way back that guests were coming in with grocery bags and taking the food without thought to the other guests which was terrible. Someone should have been in there monitoring so that first off, those guests could have first of all been checked to see if they were concierge guests and then to ask that they not do that.
The other issue was also the overcrowding of the pool because I don't think they were Poly or DVC guests either. I had overheard many people saying they were coming in from the outside.
During our stay at the Swan last year when you enter the concierge lounge you have to sign in. I think Poly should start the same thing. There were also 2 CM's at all times in the room monitoring what was going on.
The reason I was very upset is because I had a bad experience and it was my second stay with them and I received no apology which I felt was very wrong.

 

[DisneyFans4]

I just wanted to add that regardless of my trip a couple of years back I would still recommend the Poly as it is a beautiful resort. I hope to get back there one day because the ambience there does make you feel you are away from it all.
There was nothing like laying on the beach and seeing the castle and watching the electric water parade and the fireworks from the beach.
Of course you'll read good and bad posts about the Poly, but then you'll read about them for just about every resort because it's just the way is. We don't live in a perfect world and there will be guests that have a bad experience, but that's the way life just is. Of course you don't want to have it happen when your on vacation and you have spent all that money but you cannot read all these posts and make your decision based on that. You have to go to experience it yourself.

 

[Tikiman]

I did not realize this was an old posting. I guess I decided to stay out of it back when it first posted. I was just surprised to see that report since just this morning I got emails about great stays at the Polynesian Concierge.

 

[DisneyFans4]

Yes, this is an old posting and I was surprised to see recent responses. I wish it would just end already.

 

[Suzanne74]

Sorry the last posting was a month ago when I responded to it. I did I search on Poly concierge and didn't realize how old this post was. I won't respond again so it goes to the back again.

 

[DisneyFans4]

Suzanne-
Hey, don't worry about it. It's just some posters get out of hand and we didn't want it to start again.
Have a great time!!!!

 

[gepetto]

The reason I was very upset is because I had a bad experience and it was my second stay with them and I received no apology which I felt was very wrong.

we had the same bad experience when concierge was in the Tahiti building. Lack of food, drinks, wine and surly staff. When we get to the lounge an hour before the service ends, I do expect for something to be left. I wouldn't spend the extra money ever again.