When are rooms assigned

[Princess Erin]

When do they assign room numbers at the AKL? Thank you,

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

Most hotels do not pre-assign rooms anymore. The only things that are generally pre-assigned are reservations that have guarantees for medical needs and/or reservations that have more than one room (or the request to be near another party). Basic requests are not usually pre-assigned, they are first come first serve at check in. There are of course some other circumstances that would call for pre-assigning, but that is on a case by case basis. If the reservation fits into the pre-assign critieria it is usually done 3 days prior to arrival...all other rooms are assigned by the CM that is checking you in, the room will be assigned at check in based on availability at the time.

 

[typhoonlagooner]

I spoke to a CM over the phone about this similar topic 2 nights ago...

I was told this:
-The resort itself doesn't "see" your reservation untill the day before your arrival
- They do not make exact room assignments at that time but make themselves aware of "needs" such as crib and fridge rentals, medical requests/requirements and that type thing

I was told that when it comes to making general room requests such as view, location, floor etc... its better to wait till check in and see whats available at that time... but that guests are more then welcome to make requests ahead of time. Then he gave me the speil about how they are requests and the resort may not be able to grant them.

 

[disney momma]

for our end of august trip to WL thyis year, I called 2 days prior just to confirm our reservation and request a pack and play, etc. as soon as I gave the CM my res. #, she pulled it up and said "it looks like you are staying a courtyard view room" keep in mind that i had no special requests other than non-smoking and i had booked a standard view room. she said i must have received a free upgrade. when i asked her which room, she said she couldn't release that info but that it was already assigned.

also, when i checked into ASMovies last weekend, when i arrived they said that my room wasn;t ready but that they could re-assign my room so i may check in early.

not sure if this helps at all...but it was just my experience. enjoy your trip!

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

Rooms are downloaded to the resort from the central reservation system about 7 days prior to arrival, but as I mentioned any assignment is not made until 3 days prior to your arrival, if at all.

Also, there are other circumstances where a room will be pre-assigned which seems to be what happened to the poster above. In the case where she was upgraded, in my expereince (as a room assigner) if there is a medical need (or a reservation traveling with more than one room) coming in later in the week and you need to pre-assign it, but there are no rooms that will fit the need checking out that day you will block it with any room that works and then go back and find someone to "fill the hole" that you just created (medical needs are assigned by the special needs department, not the hotel, so they can leave "holes" in the room rack where for example one reservation checks out say on Tuesday, but the medical need is not checking into that room until Sunday, you would need to find someone that is checking in on Tues and checking out on Sunday to fill the gap). If there is no one that fits the gap already booked in the categorey you upgrade someone that does.

All Stars and Pop have a different blocking method (from what I understand) because they are such large resorts and do tend to pre-assign a little bit more than the other hotels.

 

[Tara8595]

...at check-in, they can move you later. I very rarely stay in the room that they assign me. I always tend to be put, initially, in a room that overlooks a parking lot, a garbage bin, utility pipes, etc... It's like they try to put someone in that room and whomever doesn't complain is stuck with it. Always ask them to show you the resort map with the room location and make specific requests if you know where you want to be. Even though they sometimes can't tell you the room number, they usually will tell you the general location of the room.

And if you get in there and hate it, call back down to the front desk and ask to be moved - if they have something available, they'll almost always offer it if it's the same price as what you have. And even if they say they are full and can't move you at all, you can ask if someone's checking out tomorrow, and if they are, they will often times move your stuff while you're out and you can just check into your 'new' room the next day. They can even do this between resorts, within reason I have heard (though I have no personal experience with that last tidbit).