carriep1657
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2001
- Messages
- 365
We returned home the 23rd after a long vacation. We stayed at AKL the 10th - 18th.
We were in a two bedroom suite, room 3481, on the Zebra trail. If you look at a map of the resort, it's at the very end of the first pod that comes off of the horseshoe.
One room had a king sized bed. It felt quite spacious. There was a parlor room with a half bath. The 2nd bedroom had a queen bed and bunk bed. This room did feel a bit small but it was not a problem. I also found the rooms to be a bit dark upon our arrival but, after the first evening there, I came to like the lighting. I thought it really added to the warm feel of the lodge.
The AKL is truly beautiful and I found it particularly so at night.
The bedroom with the bunk beds, had a very nice view of the savannah. The parlor and king bed room didn't unless you looked off of the side of the balcony at one end. The view was blocked fairly well by trees. I still liked this balcony though. It was twice as long as the other and when you sat out, you could hear the music that the AKL plays plus people having fun at the pool. I would have much preferred to be a floor or two up where the trees weren't blocking the view though.
Some days, we saw very few animals but on at least 3 days we saw giraffes fairly close by. One day, after a big rain, DH and I went out on the balcony and heard an unusual noise. When we looked in it's direction, we saw three giraffes running around on the savannah. It was an amazing sight.
It seemed to me that the giraffes spent quite a bit of time at the end of the 2nd pod coming off of the Zebra trail. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just a case of the grass always being greener but I would like to stay down there some day.
DD (4 1/2) tried Simba's Cubhouse and thought it was great. Her favorite day of the trip was the day we swam in the pool. It was a lot of fun and it wasn't crowded at all.
DS(22 months) and I went for walk and happened upon the storytelling at the fire pit. DS didn't understand everything but the other kids were having so much fun that he was laughing right along with him. The storyteller was quite animated and fun to watch.
We found the bus service at the AKL to be excellent. We waited about 10 minutes on two occasions. Other than that, we always walked right on and the bus left within a minute or so.
I wish that I had noticed that the coffee maker in the concierge lounge dispensed hot frothy milk earlier in the trip. I didn't notice until the last night. I made the yummiest hot chocolate that night.
I loved the lemonade in the lounge. I wish I had some right now. Also, it was great having the fridge with milk cartons and juice boxes. DS and DD loved that.
The lounge did get quite crowded towards the weekend. It was packed at breakfast on Friday and a lot of food had run out. We got the last open table and it was down towards the stairs. People were working on replenishing items but there definitely were limited choices for breakfast that day.
The staff in the lounge were very helpful and friendly. They had made an error with regards to our CRT PS. We showed up at the time we were told but CRT told us we were 3 days late. I showed the people at CRT what concierge had given us. They told us, not to worry, they would get us in but we'd have to wait a while. When I went back to the concierge and mentioned the problem, they apologized and explained what had happened. Concierge dealt with it exactly how I had hoped they would. They apologized for the mix up, refunded the money I was charged for the no show, and they figured out what had happened so that they could take measures for it not to happen again.
DH, my mom and I all loved the smell of the lodge. My stepdad enjoyed just sitting up in the lounge, reading the paper, and drinking the smoothie drink. He and I particularly loved the music playing all over the resort.
As for housekeeping, we were a bit disappointed. I'm not sure who's fault this would be. On 3 days, we asked at the front desk that our rooms be made up by the evening housekeeping staff. We were told it would be no problem. On only one of those nights did our room get cleaned. The other two nights, we got back to the room and nobody had come. It was time for bed for the kids so we couldn't have anyone come in at that point.
One other disappointment came when we took DD to the cookie decorating at Boma. It was listed on the back of the map with no mention that you had to sign up ahead of time. When DD got there, DH found that we had to sign up in advance. Apparently, things got a bit ugly and parents were demanding that their kids be let in. I think AKL should put a notation on the back of the map that says something about having to sign up in advance for this.
We truly had a wonderful trip. All 6 of us (ranging in age from 70 to 1) loved the AKL. I would definitely recommend it. It's a beautiful place. The attention to detail is amazing. I would love to go back.
We were in a two bedroom suite, room 3481, on the Zebra trail. If you look at a map of the resort, it's at the very end of the first pod that comes off of the horseshoe.
One room had a king sized bed. It felt quite spacious. There was a parlor room with a half bath. The 2nd bedroom had a queen bed and bunk bed. This room did feel a bit small but it was not a problem. I also found the rooms to be a bit dark upon our arrival but, after the first evening there, I came to like the lighting. I thought it really added to the warm feel of the lodge.
The AKL is truly beautiful and I found it particularly so at night.
The bedroom with the bunk beds, had a very nice view of the savannah. The parlor and king bed room didn't unless you looked off of the side of the balcony at one end. The view was blocked fairly well by trees. I still liked this balcony though. It was twice as long as the other and when you sat out, you could hear the music that the AKL plays plus people having fun at the pool. I would have much preferred to be a floor or two up where the trees weren't blocking the view though.
Some days, we saw very few animals but on at least 3 days we saw giraffes fairly close by. One day, after a big rain, DH and I went out on the balcony and heard an unusual noise. When we looked in it's direction, we saw three giraffes running around on the savannah. It was an amazing sight.
It seemed to me that the giraffes spent quite a bit of time at the end of the 2nd pod coming off of the Zebra trail. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just a case of the grass always being greener but I would like to stay down there some day.
DD (4 1/2) tried Simba's Cubhouse and thought it was great. Her favorite day of the trip was the day we swam in the pool. It was a lot of fun and it wasn't crowded at all.
DS(22 months) and I went for walk and happened upon the storytelling at the fire pit. DS didn't understand everything but the other kids were having so much fun that he was laughing right along with him. The storyteller was quite animated and fun to watch.
We found the bus service at the AKL to be excellent. We waited about 10 minutes on two occasions. Other than that, we always walked right on and the bus left within a minute or so.
I wish that I had noticed that the coffee maker in the concierge lounge dispensed hot frothy milk earlier in the trip. I didn't notice until the last night. I made the yummiest hot chocolate that night.
I loved the lemonade in the lounge. I wish I had some right now. Also, it was great having the fridge with milk cartons and juice boxes. DS and DD loved that.
The lounge did get quite crowded towards the weekend. It was packed at breakfast on Friday and a lot of food had run out. We got the last open table and it was down towards the stairs. People were working on replenishing items but there definitely were limited choices for breakfast that day.
The staff in the lounge were very helpful and friendly. They had made an error with regards to our CRT PS. We showed up at the time we were told but CRT told us we were 3 days late. I showed the people at CRT what concierge had given us. They told us, not to worry, they would get us in but we'd have to wait a while. When I went back to the concierge and mentioned the problem, they apologized and explained what had happened. Concierge dealt with it exactly how I had hoped they would. They apologized for the mix up, refunded the money I was charged for the no show, and they figured out what had happened so that they could take measures for it not to happen again.
DH, my mom and I all loved the smell of the lodge. My stepdad enjoyed just sitting up in the lounge, reading the paper, and drinking the smoothie drink. He and I particularly loved the music playing all over the resort.
As for housekeeping, we were a bit disappointed. I'm not sure who's fault this would be. On 3 days, we asked at the front desk that our rooms be made up by the evening housekeeping staff. We were told it would be no problem. On only one of those nights did our room get cleaned. The other two nights, we got back to the room and nobody had come. It was time for bed for the kids so we couldn't have anyone come in at that point.
One other disappointment came when we took DD to the cookie decorating at Boma. It was listed on the back of the map with no mention that you had to sign up ahead of time. When DD got there, DH found that we had to sign up in advance. Apparently, things got a bit ugly and parents were demanding that their kids be let in. I think AKL should put a notation on the back of the map that says something about having to sign up in advance for this.
We truly had a wonderful trip. All 6 of us (ranging in age from 70 to 1) loved the AKL. I would definitely recommend it. It's a beautiful place. The attention to detail is amazing. I would love to go back.
