Not very happy with HoJo right now!

[dizneedoll]

OP: thanks of updating us on the outcome. Glad you got compensated and were happy with your stay. My experience with management wasn't so great. But I still like staying there and in fact we'll be there in about 2 weeks.

Alls well that ends well.

 

[Hojoanaheim]

Hi Everybody!

I am just now seeing this thread, but I felt it was really important to address the things that were being commented on.

We did close Castaway Cove on Saturday, May 1st for another event that was taking place that day. Usually we try to give as much notice as possible, and our Management Team did know about the closure well in advance, so I'm not sure why they waited until the day before the event to let our guests know. I will definitely follow up with our Management Team to make sure that we are always posting these closures well in advance, and communicating these planned closures to the Front Desk Team so that they can communicate to guests checking in!

I also want to apologize for not posting notice of the closures on our Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages. Those pages are entirely my responsibility, and I like to try to disseminate as much information as possible through them, and I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me until after the fact to use them to convey information about scheduled closures.

I would like to apologize on behalf of the hotel to everyone whose vacations were inconvenienced as a result of this closure, and to promise to work more efficiently in the future to give as much advance notice as is possible should something like this happen again.

We don't have any future closures of Castaway Cove planned at the moment- but if that changes, I will make sure to make that information available as soon as I can. :]

Thank you all so much for your patience and your feedback!
Lorealle

 

[reynmagsmom]

Hi Everybody!

I am just now seeing this thread, but I felt it was really important to address the things that were being commented on.

We did close Castaway Cove on Saturday, May 1st for another event that was taking place that day. Usually we try to give as much notice as possible, and our Management Team did know about the closure well in advance, so I'm not sure why they waited until the day before the event to let our guests know. I will definitely follow up with our Management Team to make sure that we are always posting these closures well in advance, and communicating these planned closures to the Front Desk Team so that they can communicate to guests checking in!

I also want to apologize for not posting notice of the closures on our Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages. Those pages are entirely my

responsibility, and I like to try to disseminate as much information as possible through them, and I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me until after the fact to use them to convey information about scheduled closures.

I would like to apologize on behalf of the hotel to everyone whose vacations were inconvenienced as a result of this closure, and to promise to work more efficiently in the future to give as much advance notice as is possible should something like this happen again.

We don't have any future closures of Castaway Cove planned at the moment- but if that changes, I will make sure to make that information available as soon as I can. :]

Thank you all so much for your patience and your feedback!
Lorealle

Thanks for that Lorealle, I love Hojo's but have yet had the oppurtunity to stay since Castaway Cove opened, You will be hearing from me soon reguarding my Aug. trip for daughter's Graduation and my 41rst birthday!!!!

 

[Eeee-va]

tlovesdis, I'm glad things were resolved to your satisfaction! And I'm glad Hojo will do a better job getting the word out on closures in the future. I know everyone makes mistakes sometimes and really, all you can do is try to make the situation right and prevent the problem from occurring in the future. Sounds like Lorealle and Hojo have done their best on all of that.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hi Everybody!

I am just now seeing this thread, but I felt it was really important to address the things that were being commented on.

We did close Castaway Cove on Saturday, May 1st for another event that was taking place that day. Usually we try to give as much notice as possible, and our Management Team did know about the closure well in advance, so I'm not sure why they waited until the day before the event to let our guests know. I will definitely follow up with our Management Team to make sure that we are always posting these closures well in advance, and communicating these planned closures to the Front Desk Team so that they can communicate to guests checking in!

I also want to apologize for not posting notice of the closures on our Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages. Those pages are entirely my responsibility, and I like to try to disseminate as much information as possible through them, and I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me until after the fact to use them to convey information about scheduled closures.

I would like to apologize on behalf of the hotel to everyone whose vacations were inconvenienced as a result of this closure, and to promise to work more efficiently in the future to give as much advance notice as is possible should something like this happen again.

We don't have any future closures of Castaway Cove planned at the moment- but if that changes, I will make sure to make that information available as soon as I can. :]

Thank you all so much for your patience and your feedback!
Lorealle

On a side note, my family has been wondering if there is a set time or times of day when Castaway Cove is closed for employee break(s). If the schedule is regular, this would be really helpful to know. During our stay last month, my husband and sons apparently happened to get there just after the employee went on break. Not that big a deal, certainly didn't spoil our vacation, day, or even afternoon. It just would have been nice to know about in advance because then my family could have stayed up in our room relaxing out of the sun until Castaway Cove was open rather than my husband stuck waiting around with two eager boys unwilling to leave because someone might come back at any minute. The slides were closed and all the water was turned off, so there wasn't much to do when they waited and not knowing if the employee might be right back or not, the boys were reluctant to leave since they were in their swimsuits ready to play. Even if break time does not occur at the same time every day, it would be really nice if there was some sort of sign posted with an expected return time, so people would know if they're waiting 5 minutes or 45.

 

[pixiewings71]

They don't close the whole area, they just close the slides until the lifeguard can take her break. Ask in the front lobby for a schedule, I'm sure they will be accommodating to your request.

 

[haydeecm]

Thank you for posting Lorealle. Glad to hear that future closures will be posted on facebook and such, that is a great idea. The more information the better.

Regarding the question about the lifeguard breaks, it would be nice if it was posted. I also got the feeling that the break wasnt at a specific time, maybe I am wrong. I also kept getting there when they were on a break, and it would be nice to know how long to wait. However, that didnt bother me, theres the shallow wading pool and the turtle/squirting area, that kept my son entertained while I hung out at the hot tub. Its not like the whole place is shut down.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

They don't close the whole area, they just close the slides until the lifeguard can take her break. Ask in the front lobby for a schedule, I'm sure they will be accommodating to your request.

Yeah, that had been our previous experience as well, slides closed, water running. Not so last time. They turned the water off too, so there was nothing for anyone to do except sit in the hot tub or kiddie pool! DH says lots of other people were just milling around not sure whether to go or stay. We were too busy with Disney the rest of the time so didn't ask any questions at the front desk while we were there. We will ask what the schedule is next time, but I figured it didn't hurt to say something about it here. It would be nice to just have a sign posted saying something like "lifeguard will return at 3:30 PM", especially if breaks don't occur at exactly regular times.

 

[GrandBob]

Yeah, that had been our previous experience as well, slides closed, water running. Not so last time. They turned the water off too, so there was nothing for anyone to do except sit in the hot tub or kiddie pool! DH says lots of other people were just milling around not sure whether to go or stay. We were too busy with Disney the rest of the time so didn't ask any questions at the front desk while we were there. We will ask what the schedule is next time, but I figured it didn't hurt to say something about it here. It would be nice to just have a sign posted saying something like "lifeguard will return at 3:30 PM", especially if breaks don't occur at exactly regular times.

That's terrible! Last time we were there, they only closed the slides but left the water running. Lorealle, why did management decide to shut off the water during breaks?

And I agree, more information is called for here, too. If the break schedule is regular, please post it. If not, a sign with a return time is a great idea!

Don't get me wrong - I love HoJo's. But like any other business, there are a few little things that they could do better.

-Bob

 

[mareed]

That's terrible! Last time we were there, they only closed the slides but left the water running. Lorealle, why did management decide to shut off the water during breaks?

And I agree, more information is called for here, too. If the break schedule is regular, please post it. If not, a sign with a return time is a great idea!

Don't get me wrong - I love HoJo's. But like any other business, there are a few little things that they could do better.

-Bob

We were also impacted by the attendant being on break on our New Year and Spring Break trips! And when we asked the front desk about it, they didn't seem to have any specific information to provide. It seemed to be at the peak park-break time too, so it was pretty inconvenient! So very frustrating to come back for a break (short one for us) and find the water play area closed and not know when it was opening back up.

 

[rentayenta]

We are planning to possibly stay there 6/12 so I am hoping the pirate pool area will be open otherwise I will be canceling.

 

[pixiewings71]

The pirate play area will be open, what we are talking about now is that they need to take breaks, just like any other employee. there is only 1 lifeguard on duty at any given time, that person helps to monitor the way the kids go down the slides. When we were last there they kept the area open but closed off the slides, the bucket still filled up with water and dumped, the fountains outside the slides still worked and the slides still had water at the bottom, you just couldn't slide down them. The baby pool and hot tub are still open and if you're upset about no slides you can always walk to the garden pool which is a regular pool (not a play are, no slides etc) and has no lifeguard on duty. Of course longtimedisneylurker is saying that they shut off all the water in the pirate area when the lifeguard went on break, which is not what we experienced but it's been a while since we were there so that might have changed.

 

[cinderella_mom]

I took my Girl Scout troop to stay on Sat 5/1 and were given two different stories about the closure. The young man at the desk told me they had just found out the day before. I asked to speak to a manager and was told the manager wasn't there at that time. Another mom went straight to Pirate's Cove and the Hojo employee there told her that emails were sent out to guests the week before. We got busy and did make a phone call since then to the hotel and haven't gotten a call back. When I made the reservation in April, I was very clear that I was bringing my troop. They were great about my request for our accomodations, but I am very disappointed that we weren't told about the closure. The hotel did have my email address and I called two days before to confirm our room request. We have three girls in our troop who can't swim and they ended up sitting on the steps of the pool while the other girls were having fun. I felt really bad since I was the one who arranged this trip. We weren't offered any discount or other compensation, even though I asked. To hear that others got compensation makes me a bit angry. I will call the hotel again, but the customer service is definately not cutting it this time.

 

[Hojoanaheim]

Hi again!

I've been trying to work with management to get signs posted when the Castaway Attendants go on break, and they said that they did order signage, but I haven't seen anything go up yet.

I also requested that they get one of those clocks where you can show what time someone is due back by moving the hands around, and although they agreed that that was a good idea [so that guests can know exactly when the Attendant is due to come back from their lunch break], they still have not made any move to purchase one, as far as I know.

I will send another follow up email to our General Manager inquiring about the status on these two things!

Lorealle

 

[Hojoanaheim]

I took my Girl Scout troop to stay on Sat 5/1 and were given two different stories about the closure. The young man at the desk told me they had just found out the day before. I asked to speak to a manager and was told the manager wasn't there at that time. Another mom went straight to Pirate's Cove and the Hojo employee there told her that emails were sent out to guests the week before. We got busy and did make a phone call since then to the hotel and haven't gotten a call back. When I made the reservation in April, I was very clear that I was bringing my troop. They were great about my request for our accomodations, but I am very disappointed that we weren't told about the closure. The hotel did have my email address and I called two days before to confirm our room request. We have three girls in our troop who can't swim and they ended up sitting on the steps of the pool while the other girls were having fun. I felt really bad since I was the one who arranged this trip. We weren't offered any discount or other compensation, even though I asked. To hear that others got compensation makes me a bit angry. I will call the hotel again, but the customer service is definately not cutting it this time.

I am so sorry to hear that you were not offered anything at all for your inconvenience, and apologize on behalf of everyone at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Anaheim. I am very sad to read this, and would encourage you to email our General Manager at Jonathan.Whitehead@hojoanaheim.com directly. I'm sure that he would be happy to do anything that he can to try to remedy this situation!

If you don't hear back from him within 2 business days of sending your email, please let me know. My email address is Lorealle.Bishop@hojoanaheim.com. I will take it upon myself at that point to follow up with both he and our Director of Sales on your behalf.

Lorealle

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hi again!

I've been trying to work with management to get signs posted when the Castaway Attendants go on break, and they said that they did order signage, but I haven't seen anything go up yet.

I also requested that they get one of those clocks where you can show what time someone is due back by moving the hands around, and although they agreed that that was a good idea [so that guests can know exactly when the Attendant is due to come back from their lunch break], they still have not made any move to purchase one, as far as I know.

I will send another follow up email to our General Manager inquiring about the status on these two things!

Lorealle

Thank you. Some helpful signage was all I was trying to suggest. I'm glad to hear you are working toward this.

Of course longtimedisneylurker is saying that they shut off all the water in the pirate area when the lifeguard went on break, which is not what we experienced but it's been a while since we were there so that might have changed.

Yes, this was our experience last month. My family only went over that one day, so we don't know if this was anomalous to have all the water shut down when the attendant was away or if it is current regular practice. I know that during all of our previous visits, the water stayed on while the attendant was away even though the slides were blocked off for safety. So is current practice to have the bucket, squirters, etc. shut down while the attendant is away, or was that an unusual occurrence?

 

[Shimmer]

We've been at HOJO since 4/29 and have loved our stay. (And can't wait to come back!)

We were disappointed to receive the notice under our door the night before the 1st for the closure. Luckily for us, we were planning on being in DL the whole day and not using the park. But, we commented to each other that it would have been a huge bummer if it was another day we had planned as down time (we took 2 of them this week). I would have liked an email or notice at check in so I could change plans if needed. (Again, I didn't need to this time.)

As for breaks, there are large sandwich board signs at the front entrance and inside the castaway area. It says the hours: 10 am-10 pm for the entire area. It also says the pirate ship closes from 2:30-3:00 and 7:30-8:00 and then for the night at 9:00. Every time we were there (which was a lot!) those times held true. The water was always left running, just the waterslides were closed for break. My kids (3, 4, and 10) understood the employee needed her lunch, etc. It seemed like plenty of signage to me.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We've been at HOJO since 4/29 and have loved our stay. (And can't wait to come back!)

As for breaks, there are large sandwich board signs at the front entrance and inside the castaway area. It says the hours: 10 am-10 pm for the entire area. It also says the pirate ship closes from 2:30-3:00 and 7:30-8:00 and then for the night at 9:00. Every time we were there (which was a lot!) those times held true. The water was always left running, just the waterslides were closed for break. My kids (3, 4, and 10) understood the employee needed her lunch, etc. It seemed like plenty of signage to me.

This is great! The sandwich board when DH went simply said that the attendant was on break and would be back within half an hour but gave no indication of when the attendant had left. He did not see any sandwich boards such as you described. I'm glad that these are prominently displayed now and can help people plan. I'm also glad that the water all being turned off the day my family went was an unusual experience. We were concerned it had become some sort of new policy.

 

[mareed]

We've been at HOJO since 4/29 and have loved our stay. (And can't wait to come back!)

As for breaks, there are large sandwich board signs at the front entrance and inside the castaway area. It says the hours: 10 am-10 pm for the entire area. It also says the pirate ship closes from 2:30-3:00 and 7:30-8:00 and then for the night at 9:00. Every time we were there (which was a lot!) those times held true. The water was always left running, just the waterslides were closed for break. My kids (3, 4, and 10) understood the employee needed her lunch, etc. It seemed like plenty of signage to me.

That's definitely a new sign since we were there mid-March, so it sounds like an improvement, and something that people can know about and plan around!

 

[Hojoanaheim]

Thank you. Some helpful signage was all I was trying to suggest. I'm glad to hear you are working toward this.



Yes, this was our experience last month. My family only went over that one day, so we don't know if this was anomalous to have all the water shut down when the attendant was away or if it is current regular practice. I know that during all of our previous visits, the water stayed on while the attendant was away even though the slides were blocked off for safety. So is current practice to have the bucket, squirters, etc. shut down while the attendant is away, or was that an unusual occurrence?

Hi Everyone!

Just got word from our General Manager today- the new signage with the operating hours including the set Attendant break time is up and being used! Here is a picture:

I also checked in with him to try to find out what features were turned off during the breaks- and here is what he said:

'The entire Waterpark is shut down during break times for safety
reasons because we are not able to shut down specific sections [like the
slides]. Keeping any of the facility open without supervision has proven to be
too problematic.'

Hope this helps!
Lorealle