Just back from Poly and Concierge experience

[LinnieMinnie2]

I just returned home from the Polynesian and we had a Garden View Concierge Room. We have stayed at the Polynesian Concierge room at least ten times over the last eight years and we're excited about our stay. However, we were extremely dissappointed with our trip this time. We arrived on Monday morning around 10:00 am and informed the staff that we were Conciege guests. The CM immediately excused himself so that he could contact the Concierge Desk to see if the room was ready. Unfortunately when he returned he said that no one was answering the phone and for us to walk over there directly to check ourselves in. I have to say that the kids were dissappointed that they could not ride in the golf cart as in past years. Upon arrival at the Concierge building there was only one CM working and there was a line of at least six in front of us. The CM did not even acknowledge us or even apologize for the HOUR AND A HALF wait. We also did not receive our Polynesian lays as in past years. I was dissappointed and felt that we had lost half of our day in the park just waiting to check in.

As for the amenties that the Concierge offers I found it lacking as in past years. The Continental breakfast was missing many of the usual offerings (ie croscants, danish assortmant (only cheese was available), donuts and oatmeal were not there. As for the evening offerings it too had dwindeled down to a minimum and the pastries in the evening were the same each night. My son always looks forward to the fruit cutout displays each evening and this year there was none. Also, the soda is now left out on a table and it is not cold with no ice available unless you ask for it. Water bottles are not offered as well and the coffee now comes from a machine. However, they do offer hot cocoa (from the same coffee machine) and the kids liked that.

We also informed the concierge that we were celebrating my son's birthday as usual. In the past, we have received balloons, a cake and in some years even a gift. This year, after contacting them twice the day of his birthday we were finally given just a card that evening stating happy birthday.

We have found in the past that even though the concierge room is expensive the amenties are worth the money and the staff are truly exceptional. However, after this year I do not know if we will stay there again. My goal of this post is to inform past guests of the lower quality that is being given there so that they are not disspointed as we were with our stay.

 

[fam4jc]

Oh my I'm so sorry to hear about your trip! I hope you still enjoyed the rest of your visist. But I know how that can dampen your entire trip. WE stayed Poly concierge last summer and I wasn't allthat impressed. The service was only okay but the lounge offerings were still quite wonderful. It really is a shame to spend that kind of money and come away not feeling the magic.

 

[Threehearts]

I don't know if it is a recent thing or not but we have stayed Poly LVC >15 times at this point and the last time we did it did not live up to reasonable expectations either. With the change in coffee service, food offerings(we really only use breakfast) and service, I'm not sure that we will do it again soon. Sorry you were disappointed. We used to love it there and considered it our home-away-from-home. It sounds like they need more CM help over there. Threehearts

 

[fam4jc]

FLAsomeday -

this is a family friendly site

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

. . .My goal of this post is to inform past guests of the lower quality that is being given there so that they are not disspointed as we were with our stay.

Thanks for the information, but did you happen to give any of this constructive feedback to the Poly. staff or notify WDW? If you didn't give feeedback when you were there, can you give them some input now -- via e-mail, letter, feedback card, etc? That would be a valuable service to future Poly. concierge visitors. We'd sure appreciate it! Thanks!

P.S. Love that lay v. lei joke! (Go banana, go banana!)

 

[T&G1994]

Has this been happening at poly conc alot lately. We have a trip nov,
should i swcith to YC conc. I heard all good things until now.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Wow, good to know! Thanks for the information.

 

[TheRobbs]

I really hope this was an isolated event. We are going in July(LVC). When we were there last July, it was wonderful. Is Chef Dick still there? I can't imagine that the fruit decorations would not be there with Dick on Duty.

TheRobbs

 

[YCFAN]

This sounds like an exact replica of our last stay! We were even directed through the doors to walk over ourselves too. Also no leis, long check in, everything!! I won't plan to go back either.

 

[LinnieMinnie2]

As for Chef Dick I am assuming he was not there as I did not see him at all during our stay. My son used to go up early every afternoon to watch him create these animals and designs out of fruits and vegetables and to have that not occur was sadly missed this year.

As stated before, we were not "new" guests to the Concierge experience and have always thought of the Polynesian as our home away from home. The kids as well as us were used to the many "extras" that the Concierge offers and unfortunately we just did not receive them this time. Even the pool slide was closed at 7:00 PM and the resort was at full capacity. I am assuming with the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras going on that maybe the Poly just did not have the staff. However, waiting an hour an a half to check in was not acceptable. I felt bad for the CM but thought she should have at least acknowledged our presence and answered the phone that was continuously ringing. Again, for those that are new to the Poly Concierge you will not know what you are missing but for those that have stayed there before the lack of amenities is very noticable.

Yes, I am planning on emailing the Poly to question the lack of things that occurred this year. Hopefully, it was just a bad week with a lack of CMs.

 

[TheRobbs]

LinnieMinnie,

Please let us all know if you get a reply.

Thanks,
TheRobbs

 

[Philly81]

I am SO sorry to hear this. Poly concierge used to be top notch.

 

[luvmk]

We will staying at the Poly for the first time in May. Unfortunately, because of this board, I'm afraid we will know what we are missing. The information is so thorough, I feel like I know what to expect.


Rachel

 

[disneyfan67]

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.

 

[thelees385]

We had the same disappointment about not getting to ride in the golf cart when we arrived at the Poly (GVC) last July. It was our first stay there and I had "talked up" getting to ride the cart to our building. The CM out front also instructed us to walk to our building because she couldn't get an answer at the Concierge desk. The walk to the building was a little disappointing,especially since we didn't really know where it was.

HOWEVER, I must say that once we arrived at the Hawaii Building and checked in, everything was exceptional. The CM was very nice and apologized for how busy they were. She explained what a huge amount of "check-outs' they had that day (We checked in on July 5th). She was very pleaseant to my DH and made a special effort to talk with our 2-DD's. The food offerings were great all day every day. I especially enjoyed the pineapple bread. The children enjoyed meeting other children every morning and eating breakfast with them. My husband, who I was afraid would think concierge wasn't worth the money, was totally impressed by the lounge offerings and service. Chef Dick was there and we loved his vegetable carvings.

I was a little concered about the warm sodas sitting out on a table that the OP mentioned. I hope they still have them in the iced containers as they did last year. They were a lifesaver when we came in from the hot July sun. My dd loved the oatmeal, so we'll miss that also.

We have plans to return this July (7/2 - 7/9) for Poly GVC. I am hoping that the Conceirge experience will be as great as it was last time.

We love the Poly.

 

[TheRobbs]

The Lees385,

We'll see you there. We check in July 8th. LVC.

TheRobbs

 

[Sammie]

Just some general information, not directed to the OP. Sorry your stay was a disappointment, but I can share some reasons and might help some in the future avoid these disappointments.

If you want the cart ride, check in with the bell captain outside, do not go to the Front Desk. Food offerings have changed due to the abuse of guests. There is no excuse for the CM being less than polite, but check in is 4 pm and I never complain about any wait until after 4.m Checkout is 11am and they are busy with this during the mornings. I would always wait until at least 1 pm. Knowing this we always go to the park and come back later in the afternoon, works great.

 

[TheIncredibles]

Hmmmm.....this doesn't sound right (or acceptable). Hope this isolated - March Spring Break season approaching.

I'd be interested in more recent reviews which compares past years quality difference. March 2004 was just fine, but that was 11 months ago.

 

[Disfreek]

I will be there very soon. I hope that I have a great time!!

The CM's from Concierge have already contacted me several times since I had upgraded last week to concierge.

I can't wait to get there!!!

 

[CaipiraBob]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy yourself as much as you hoped.

We had a visit there recently around mid December and felt that the service had improved. The only thing I had to complain about was the initial room assignment after several requests for an unobstructed view. When we got there, there was a Palm tree directly in front of the balcony. We may as well have asked for garden view. that's when the staff kicked in and a lovely young lady at the desk put us in 3505..."The Tikiman Suite" as it were. We were estatic and the view was pefect.

During our stay we had excellent maid service and the children enjoyed 3 evenings at the Neverland club - they didn't want to leave. On Sunday night I ordered Chocolate Strawberries for my wife and they arrived as planned the next day exactly at the requested time 8:00PM...not 8:01...8:00PM. I was impressed, perfect timing. I scored some points for that one.

We've been so many times that we use all of the amenities of the resorts as we now spend as much time there as in the parks. It's very relaxing to take our time and enjoy the grounds.

All the more reason why the experience is so important. I felt that in prior years that the service had started to go down hill but that they made a nice recovery. Perhaps it was the absence of Chef Dick that made the difference?

Well, either way, it's no small chuck-o-change to stay on Disney grounds. It's truly dissappointing to see the number of "bad reports" for Disney resorts. Whatever the reason you typically would think that paying $400+ a night for a room would get you some decent, consistent service. My experience wasn't bad, but I expect more from Disney than to read about these "let downs". You have my sympathy, it could have easily been any of us.