Would love to hear your opinions on AKV Concierge

[Bertie131]

Let me know what you think about it and please tell me anything you can about it. I have never done it--of stayed at AKV as of yet--and need your input to help with my decision. TIA!

 

[disneynutz]

Not worth it IMO but you should try it once for yourself. The tasting offerings in the lounge are really not to our liking, drinks are OK but are not always restocked.

The rooms have the worst views at Jambo and I don't enjoy daily room cleaning because we don't dirty the room.

Bill

 

[chalee94]

worth it if you want access to the sunrise safari.

otherwise, no.

 

[Bertie131]

Do you think you save any money by supplementing meals with the concierge offerings?

 

[disneynutz]

Do you think you save any money by supplementing meals with the concierge offerings?

Not in our case. It's not a meal, just finger food and things like cheese, olives, mashed fig on toast points etc. They do have cold cereal in the morning and fruit.

To me it gives the illusion of being something special while keeping the costs down. I guess that's a good thing because as a owner at AKV, our dues are paying for people who use Club Level.

As I said everyone should give it a try at least once.

Bill

 

[chalee94]

if daily housekeeping is a big deal to you, there is also that with club level/concierge...but i prefer not having housekeeping in the room.

 

[DiznyDi]

We thoroughly enjoyed our experience in May!
Pros: We took advantage of both the Sunrise and Sunset Safari's. No, the food offerings can't replace a meal. The breakfast items were fine and all that DH and I needed to begin our day. We did enjoy the afternoon cheese - the blue cheese was out of this world - and wine. I ate way too many of the house-made potato chips. Sometimes they would sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar, also wonderful. I appreciated having never-ending ice water available. DH was elated to have chocolate milk every day! The staff was extremely courteous and addressed us by name.

Cons: The biggest is certainly the view or really the lack of view. We stayed 6 days - this was about 2 or 3 days too long. Our balcony wasn't conducive for relaxing. The balcony was partially 'hidden' by the above roofline. Even though we enjoyed the club experience, we also tired quickly of the same thing day after day.

We will stay club level again. We purchased our AKL points specifically for use in concierge.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We did our first AKV-CL stay in May/June and enjoyed it. We were a party of 8 in a 2BR. We did the Sunrise Safari, which was great. We enjoyed the AM offerings and were "home" for the evening outlay as well. We missed most of the mid-day servings. It was nice to be able to get a beer without having to buy it at the gift shop or have it delivered. We enjoyed all of the food that was put out. It does not replace a meal (other than perhaps breakfast), but it does make you less hungry at mealtime.

The 2BR felt considerably smaller than the 2BR at Kidani that we are used to staying in. I didn't really like the layout with the lock-off. As others have said, the savanna view was terrible and the balconies are not as nice as the ones at Kidani. I also was expecting to have a more personal experience, with the CM's greeting us by name, but that did not happen. The daily housekeeping was a little annoying, as it always seemed like they were in our room in the late of the afternoon, right when we were returning from the parks for a break.

Despite the shortcomings, we would definitely do it again!

 

[com_op_2000]

DW and I have done two two-nite studio stays with one more booked for next May.
We found that the food offerings were enough to replace 90% of our food. We will be booking the sunset savanna tour. As PP say the views are not the reason for booking CL.

 

[WAWDWLUVER]

I just returned from a two night stay AKL Club and loved it! I purposely chose it to coincide with my two non-park days so was able to easily partake of all the offerings. I never saw anything not replenished and the fridge was always well stocked. I did not eat out for any meals and enjoyed not feeling "stuffed like I usually do when dining in Disney restaurants. Two days was plenty, tho', and I was happy to be back in the parks and dining at all of Disney's fine restaurants!

 

[cwdefouw]

We stayed there in early April this year in a one bedroom for four nights, we enjoyed it a lot. I see a lot of complaints about the views from the balcony. We had a savannah view and the only time there were no animals right below our balcony was during the few hours in the morning when they go into the barns. The view is from a higher vantage point and is partially blocked by the roof details, but this does not mean you will not see animals from the balcony. Disney makes efforts to bring animals into that end of the Sunset Savannah by putting browse out for the animals to eat right there at the closed off end of the savannah. The food offerings were great for breakfast, and as an appetizer before dinner and maybe a dessert or snack at other times. It would be difficult and inconsiderate to use them as all of your meals. Having the cooler in the lounge stocked with drinks was especially nice and the juices were great. The highlights of the trip were the Sunrise and Sunset Safari's, these were well worth the cost. On the Sunrise, seeing the back stage areas was neat and we really felt like we got more of a true african style safari instead of the often rushed trip through on the standard ride and the breakfast was magnifico. We only went to the parks one day, (the day we did the Sunrise Safari) so we stayed in the room and enjoyed it and the rest of the resort extensively. We would stay in club level again, but I don't think we would do it on a trip when we are doing the parks and dining warrior thing. It was really nice for a relaxing trip to the resort.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I've gotten it 3-4 times for DH and myself and we enjoyed it. I also had gotten it as a surprise for DSis and that was the one time we had a savannah view on the 6th floor and we saw many many animals on that trip. The best view was 11:30 one night, when 6-8 zebras gathered outside and it just seemed like a magical convention of zebras, a gift to watch them interact. OF course anyone on the sunset savannah at Jambo would have seen them, there were many outside watching them, so it had nothing to do with Concierge.

I especially like the breakfast offerings, the yougurt, fruit that seemed to be available most of the day. They have the best potato chips! Some of us don't drink alcohol, so I cannot comment on those offerings.

I would try again for it, but I promised DSis she could use our AKV points in 2014 for a rather large party, so my AKV points are pretty much use up for ' 13, '14 and '15, and I've never gotten concierge at 7 months.

Bobbi

 

[jekjones1558]

Being able to do the special safaris is great. The rest of the perks are fine but I disliked the fact that some people seemed to be "jockeying for position" when some food/drink offerings were put out.

 

[Greatfalls]

We did it two years ago for 2 nights, and then moved to a savanna view GV. The Sunrise Safari was the main reason we did concierge level, and we loved it. The food and beverage in the lounge is fun, but it would not be the main reason. We had the pool view room. In addition to no savanna view, it was under the rooftop air conditioning, so it was noisy to sit on the balcony. We requested savanna view, but they made clear at the time of reservation that they can't guarantee it. One of our favorite things about AKL and AKV is the savanna view, and we all like sitting out on the balconies to watch the animals. If we had done just concierge level, we would have been disappointed by not having a savanna view. So I would recommend doing concierge for one or two nights to get the safari, and then transfer.

 

[twinklebug]

Thanks for posting this question - I've almost booked concierge a few times now but keep going for the kidani views we adore.

I never understood Disney's definition of "concierge" and the complaints here about the food offerings reinforce the fact that it's not what I'd consider to be concierge as one might find in the city. There we typically have staff on hand available to help us with the little stuff, be it pressing a jacket, calling a car or even just being there to have someone to talk to. To me concierge is not about the food, but clearly Disney's sent the message that it is. I get the distinct feeling that Disney's taken the small personal touches away because it's easier and probably less expensive to keep people feeling like they're catered to if you keep food in their hands over adding enough staff to cover the needs of the guests.

 

[dsneygirl]

We did it 1 night before a cruise and it was perfect. The sunrise safari was amazing and totally worth it. We did enjoy breakfast and the drinks but at night we got back at like 10:01 (or maybe 9:01) and the CMs had already cleaned up all late night snacks within 1 min of the posted time.

 

[kendzee94]

We just got back from 7nights in a 1br savanna view concierge. Breakfast offerings we used as a meal. If there were certain items gone, you asked and the replenished. We went into it fully knowing the savanna rooms aren't the best rooms. Honestly, our partial savanna view we had before that had more animals. My biggest couple pros- we were in 6208? 4 or5 rooms down the hall from concierge lounge ( above suspension bridge in lobby). It was nice not having to walk too far back to the room. With housekeeping 2x per day, it made us feel like we were on DCL again. Loved being able to grab a snack and drink and not have to pay more out of pocket for it.

If you must have a savanna View or a good savanna view, concierge is not your booking choice.

Personally, I could stay club level every other or third year, until my contract ends!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Being able to do the special safaris is great. The rest of the perks are fine but I disliked the fact that some people seemed to be "jockeying for position" when some food/drink offerings were put out.

I couldn't agree more, and we found some people to be incredibly "hogish" when it came to the food offerings. We found we only took advantage of the breakfasts and ignored the rest of the food offerings unless we just happened to be there when they were brought out. We did witness people "hanging around" waiting for the desserts etc. My time is too precious when I'm on vacation to worry about if I'm getting a little free food or not.

Do I think CL is "worth it"? Yes, for the sunrise safari, and maybe yes for a one time trip. We've done 3 there, and I don't plan on another CL trip unless there are new touring options like Sunrise Safari that I might want to try.

 

[disneynutz]

The food isn't "free" AKV owners pay for the food through their dues even if they never stay club level. I would hope that we are only paying for the DVC point users and not the cash guests even though the lounge is part of the DVC real estate.

I requested info on the issue a couple of years ago and never received a response.

Bill

 

[dianeschlicht]

The food isn't "free" AKV owners pay for the food through their dues even if they never stay club level. I would hope that we are only paying for the DVC point users and not the cash guests even though the lounge is part of the DVC real estate.

I requested info on the issue a couple of years ago and never received a response.

Bill

The reality is that DVC pays for ALL of the operation of the concierge lounge. At least that's what I remember someone in sales telling me back when we bought our AKV points.