Sog 6/19 - 27

[smhogar]

Hello All,

Got back from SOG on Sunday. Stayed 6/19 - 27
Had a wonderful time.

Stayed in the new section with a connecting room for my sister's family. Nice big rooms. Hotel lobby and waterfalls were beautiful.
View of golf course was gorgeous.

Problems:
Connecting door did not close correctly.
Sister's freezer did not work - Was told to defrost it - It was filled at that time - Sis told them that she does not defrost on vacation - Got a new refrigerator.
Did not have shampoo in bathroom - no dispensers
Ran out of towels, etc
There were 5 people in my sister's room, they never left 5 towels - she had to call housekeeping every day
Staff not knowledgeable
Automated Parking garage doors did not work on the 4th floor and there were no doorknobs - Sharp metal
Bus B did not run on time
Was told that one night would be charged to credit card at check-in. Actually a hold was put on the card for the entire stay plus an extra $25.00 a day. Was not informed of the hold on the credit card and the extra $25.00 a day was not mentioned.
Internet service in room – the keyboard and mouse were very hard to work.

Overall, we had a great time!!!
The hotel and the rooms were very clean and spacious.
I think that the main problem is the staff.
Talked to a waitress whose father used to work at SOG. Before the remodel, all of the employees were federal employees. They are all contractors now. She stated that there has been is a large turnover of employees since SOG has reopened.
The guest services seemed the most knowledgeable.

Does anyone have any questions?

Sharon

 

[*Flower*]

Thanks for the information!!

Was the new restaurant open yet?

Thanks

 

[HappyMommy2]

Thanks for the great info! I'm glad you had a good trip overall. Sounds like there are still lots of bugs that need to be worked out at SOG; thanks for the heads-up!

 

[FirstNo]

Originally posted by smhogar
Hello All,

<snip>
Talked to a waitress whose father used to work at SOG. Before the remodel, all of the employees were federal employees. They are all contractors now. She stated that there has been is a large turnover of employees since SOG has reopened.
The guest services seemed the most knowledgeable.

Does anyone have any questions?

Sharon

Unless things have changed in the past few months (and they may have), all of the SoG employees are not contractors; just most are. The same people that were working while the hotel was closed should be the only ones, with the exception of security, who are still federal employees (that leaves reservations, tickets and some uppper management in different divisions). Supposedly, it was cheaper to do things that way. The only surprise I had over the whole thing was the gov't ok'ing contracted security for its employees (i.e. the military).

 

[MikeL1515]

According to the SOG website, They are hiring for NAF (non-appropriated fund) federal employees. So it looks like they are not changing over to contractors anytime soon.

 

[smhogar]

The new restaurant was not open.

Regarding the employees, I was just stating what was told to me by an employee.

Like I stated before, the staff was not very knowledgable.
Ex: We were at Animal Kingdom and couldn't find the bus. Called SOG, no one could tell us where the bus picked guests.

 

[SeeDisney]

HI SmHOgar


Would you mind clarifing to me the $25.00 extra a night charge of the credit card? What's with that?

Our rate we were told would be $95 a night. Hope that it is.

Thanks.

 

[Lil1062]

smhogar - Glad to hear you had a great time even with the problems -
I'm headed to SOG Sat - I have mixed emotions
I hear everyone says they had a great time, but it seems housekeeping and buses put a damper on the excitement..

Any additional advice on buses - did you end up doing any thing different to compensate - I read some walked to Poly to catch monorail

THanks
Lil

 

[smhogar]

Hi,

I had a car, so I took that to the parks.
By the way, I did not have to pay parking.

My sister didn't have a car.
There were no problems with Bus A to the TTC.
So she took that and then transferred at the TTC.

The manager on duty explained to me that the additional $25.00 hold on the credit card is for any additional charges to your room, meals, movies, etc... Since we didn't know about this hold until the card was declined, I told the manager that it would be nice if you were informed of this charge at check-in. She stated that she will make sure that the staff will inform all guests. Let me know if you informed.

Any other questions??

Sharon

 

[jbsprout]

Internet service in room – the keyboard and mouse were very hard to work.

Was this a free service? Also, is this like WebTv, or is there an actual PC in the room? We were planning on bringing a laptop, but if there is already Internet in the room we can leave it at home! We leave in 21 days!!

 

[FirstNo]

Originally posted by jbsprout
Internet service in room – the keyboard and mouse were very hard to work.

Was this a free service? Also, is this like WebTv, or is there an actual PC in the room? We were planning on bringing a laptop, but if there is already Internet in the room we can leave it at home! We leave in 21 days!!

It isn't free. I forget how much I've read here on the boards it was, but it was something in the range of $6.95-8.95/day. It is like WebTV.

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by jbsprout
Internet service in room – the keyboard and mouse were very hard to work.

Was this a free service? Also, is this like WebTv, or is there an actual PC in the room? We were planning on bringing a laptop, but if there is already Internet in the room we can leave it at home! We leave in 21 days!!

When we were there in May, I believe the price was now $9.95 for each 24 hour period.

Re: contracted employees

Security is contracted out. IMO, it's not well-done and needs to be addressed. Nuff said.

The buses are run by Fleetwood Limousine service. Service depends on your driver. We took the bus four times.: three times had good service, once bad. Bad service was a driver who didn't know about road closings for a well-publicized event, then didn't know any back roads to get around the closures....and it ended up taking 1 hour to get to the AK when it should have been 15 minutes! PLUS, she was rude and surly!

The rest of the time we walked to the Poly, monorailed to MK or monorailed to TTC and transferred to the Epcot monorail. We had a full double stroller and avoid having to fold and carry it at all costs! Getting to MK via Poly and monorail take about the same amount of time as bussing to TTC then monorail or ferry over to MK. You just do more walking to get to the Poly....but it was well worth it to us!

 

[smhogar]

Internet service is like WebTV.
If I remember correctly, it is 4.95 for 30 mins or 10.00 for 24 hrs.

Bus Service:
We didn't have any problems with Bus A to the TTC.
All problems were with Bus B.

 

[MLAinVA]

My friends and I arrive at SOG on July 11 for girls' week. Has the Italian restaurant opened yet?

 

[smhogar]

The Italian restaurant was not open when I left on 27 June.

 

[MLAinVA]

Thanks, I'll post status when I return on July 17; maybe it will be open by then!