just back from 10 nights at AKL - mixed reviews :/

[2ndstar to the right]

Hi All,
Just back from 10 nights at AKL - Jambo House, pool view room (3452 to be exact!). While we still love AKL and will likely return, we were a bit disappointed in a few things this time around. Number 1 was the poor housekeeping we had during our stay. I can say with certainty that our sheets were never changed once in the 10 nights we were there. The reason I know for sure was my daughter had a bit of bloody nose the first morning we woke up. There was a tiny little drop of blood (which I spot cleaned with detergent and water) but it left a tiny stain on the sheet. It was still there on our last night so I know they never changed the sheets. We had a party of FOUR staying in the room and each day they would leave 3 facecloths and 2 hand towels. Don't they know how many people are staying in a room?? Then we ran out of toilet paper on two separate occasions. This should never happen as they should always replace the extra roll so people never run out. Also, they frequently did not replace coffee cups of glasses with clean ones every day.
And not that I'm expecting towel animals or anything, but when I pay for a deluxe resort experience, I do expect impeccable housekeeping. I've had much better in cheaper chain hotels. This was really disappointing and hopefully it was just a housekeeper who was new.
Number 2 was the valet services at the front entrance. I remember when the AKL first opened, the valet staff were fabulous and I don't think I had to open a car door once during those early trips. This time, we would frequently pull up and there were no valet staff in site. When they were there, they were very nice and helpful but they simply were not around a lot of the times. Again, I feel that in a deluxe resort, the valet staff should have a constant presence when you pull up in your car. Contrast this to the Grand Floridian where we went for dinner one night and there were valet staff immediately there to welcome you and open the door. It's a little thing but it did use to be much better.
Finally, I was a little disappointed in the noises around the resort that detracted from the illusion of being out in an African Savanna. I frequently heard leaf blowers, the "beep, beep, beep" of trucks backing up somewhere at the resort, saw small trucks riding through the savannah. While I realize that maintenance has to happen around the resort, it just seemed more noticeable and frequent this trip.
Here's hoping this was just one of those trips and that next time it will be much better. I will be very sad to see AKL slip to sub par guest services. I am interested to know if anyone else has had similar experiences at AKL recently.

 

[oceanmarina]

We stayed at Kidani 4 years ago and the housekeeping was terrible. When we checked in there were short black hairs in the tub. Yuk. I called housekeeping , telling them to please come up and clean it. We left for dinner - yup the hairs were still there when we returned. There were areas in the bedroom that were dusty. I would day that kidani and beach club were tied for worst cleaning/ housekeeping in all of our trips.

 

[Shanti]

We stayed in a standard 3rd floor room at AKL last month and the experience was stellar. Stateroom & bathroom always pristine. It's now one of our favorite Disney resorts. I'm sorry everything didn't go as well for you.

My experience with all of the Disney resorts is that cleanliness & service can be inconsistent, so I wouldn't describe this as an AKL problem as much as a Disney resort problem.

 

[Elle23]

And yet we had terrific housekeeping the week we stayed at Pop. We never came back to our room and had it be anything other than pristine.

I agree with the OP. If I pay 3-5 times more for a deluxe resort, I would expect a far superior experience. And I have read far too many posts lately about issues like these at deluxe resorts. It makes no sense (and makes me happy to keep staying at values...)

 

[eastendlights]

We had less than deluxe housekeeping during our stay there Feb/Mar in a 4th floor CL savanna view room. It was probably the worst we have experienced in 17 trips, TBH. I tipped $5 every day for the first 5 or so days and they kept forgetting to leave coffee cups, stirrers and toiletries and missed clean the counter and sinks. I left notes with the tips and then finally just the note and then they took care of everything. I did resume tipping the day after they complied with my requests. I don't think it should fall upon the guests to tell them what they should be doing.

As a side note, we stayed at an inn in Coronado last year, the 1906 Lodge, that was so clean you could have performed open heart surgery on the bathroom floor-Lol. I have never seen such immaculate housekeeping, and we have stayed in a lot of top tier places. This for about $400 a night in high season-that included a gourmet hot breakfast with homemade baked goods, afternoon wine and apps, freshly baked cookies all day, bottled water, coffee, etc-so like CL at WDW but better. The service was world class-what you would expect from the very best, most expensive resorts. For the prices Disney charges, we should expect a similar level of service.

 

[wilkeliza]

I'd write Disney and let them know about the housekeeping issues. They can't know people need better training or to be let go unless you speak up. Same goes for valet.

Now to the final issue the trucks and noises are going to happen. They have to keep the grounds clean and take care of the animals so yes you'll see vehicles around the savannah and hear noises.

 

[Sue M]

I would expect equally good housekeeping from any resort level. If you experience poor housekeeping I hope you delt with it while you were there. I'd be going down to the front desk and asking to speak with a manager. No way would I put up with it for 10 days. As for the maintainence issues, there is no good time for leaf blowers, and can't be done at night! We have always seen small trucks in savanas. Sometimes it's bringing feed out to the animals, which is my fav to watch. The animals know, and it's fun to watch them chasing after the truck! Can't comment on valet, not something I notice as we never rent a car in WDW. I had a rental car once at a AKL because my stay was mid trip between going to other destinations, and car remained parked in AKL lot until we left.

 

[mb187143]

Hi All,
Just back from 10 nights at AKL - Jambo House, pool view room (3452 to be exact!). While we still love AKL and will likely return, we were a bit disappointed in a few things this time around. Number 1 was the poor housekeeping we had during our stay. I can say with certainty that our sheets were never changed once in the 10 nights we were there. The reason I know for sure was my daughter had a bit of bloody nose the first morning we woke up. There was a tiny little drop of blood (which I spot cleaned with detergent and water) but it left a tiny stain on the sheet. It was still there on our last night so I know they never changed the sheets. We had a party of FOUR staying in the room and each day they would leave 3 facecloths and 2 hand towels. Don't they know how many people are staying in a room?? Then we ran out of toilet paper on two separate occasions. This should never happen as they should always replace the extra roll so people never run out. Also, they frequently did not replace coffee cups of glasses with clean ones every day.
And not that I'm expecting towel animals or anything, but when I pay for a deluxe resort experience, I do expect impeccable housekeeping. I've had much better in cheaper chain hotels. This was really disappointing and hopefully it was just a housekeeper who was new.
Number 2 was the valet services at the front entrance. I remember when the AKL first opened, the valet staff were fabulous and I don't think I had to open a car door once during those early trips. This time, we would frequently pull up and there were no valet staff in site. When they were there, they were very nice and helpful but they simply were not around a lot of the times. Again, I feel that in a deluxe resort, the valet staff should have a constant presence when you pull up in your car. Contrast this to the Grand Floridian where we went for dinner one night and there were valet staff immediately there to welcome you and open the door. It's a little thing but it did use to be much better.
Finally, I was a little disappointed in the noises around the resort that detracted from the illusion of being out in an African Savanna. I frequently heard leaf blowers, the "beep, beep, beep" of trucks backing up somewhere at the resort, saw small trucks riding through the savannah. While I realize that maintenance has to happen around the resort, it just seemed more noticeable and frequent this trip.
Here's hoping this was just one of those trips and that next time it will be much better. I will be very sad to see AKL slip to sub par guest services. I am interested to know if anyone else has had similar experiences at AKL recently.

We were in room 3486 at Jambo house from 4/30-5/6 and we also had major housekeeping issues. This is probably our 7th or 8th time staying there and it has never been a problem before. I don't know if they had a new crew in that area. We made our feedback known because they definitely need retraining.

 

[Nancyg56]

About ten years ago the Poly had a reputation of poor housekeeping services. Food left in hallways, rooms barely cleaned, etc. I had been reading about it before we checked in and was a bit concerned, but felt that I could address it if we had an issue. Well, not only were there no issues, but on our arrival day we were visited by the Poly manager, accompanied by the manager of housekeeping. It seems that guests had made their feelings known in a variety of ways, at the resort level, on travel sites, and on forums such as the DIS, and the resort responded.

I cannot know the root cause of any ongoing service concern, but given a guess, I would guess the problem stemmed from cutbacks in staffing and increased pressure to accomplish more work in less time, with fewer resources. The only way to see this roll back is to make it clear that this is not an area you will accept cutbacks in. I would never accept ten days without a change of sheets. I would expect that our linens woudl be sufficient to th number of people in my room. This is for any level of resort. I cannot say that a value stay deserves a lesser standard of cleanliness than a deluxe stay, and would make my concerns known not only during my stay but after if the situation was not properly addressed.

 

[dkrauss]

I'm curious if you knew the sheets weren't being changed why you didn't take it to the front desk right away?

Doug

 

[Anniefrances]

I'm curious if you knew the sheets weren't being changed why you didn't take it to the front desk right away?

Doug

I had the same thought - if something is not right, why not stop by the front desk and let someone know?

 

[Sue M]

I'm curious if you knew the sheets weren't being changed why you didn't take it to the front desk right away?

Doug

Exactly! Housekeeping problems should be delt with while there, right away so they can be rectified. Does no good to complain after the fact, putting up with dirty room for entire trip.

 

[BearInWoods]

usually poor housekeeping need to be reflected immediately. if the sheet has not been changed, it may be the housekeeper making a call (possibly bad), and same for the next shift. i sometimes make it clear i want it changed, or just rip the sheet out (not so subtle hint). but accomplished with a decent tip.

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

Sorry to hear your housekeeping was not up to the usual Disney standards. I agree with the poster above who suggested you contact Disney with your concerns and be sure to include your reservation information including your room number...you should also get an online survey request from Disney shortly after your trip and there is opportunity in that survey to let them know about your experience.
We have found that stopping by the front desk with a concern or calling housekeeping had been helpful in promptly solving any issues with our resort stay.

 

[Minnesota!]

As far as the sheet, I would not expect that my sheets are changed during my stay. If I needed them changed (and I have...my son leaked through his diaper a few times when young), I just pulled it off the bed and left it in a ball on top of the bed. For everything else, that sucks . I think you should have gone to management while you were there, though..

 

[Best Aunt]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the valet parking people are not Disney employees. I think an outside company provides them.

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm curious if you knew the sheets weren't being changed why you didn't take it to the front desk right away?

Doug

I had the same thought - if something is not right, why not stop by the front desk and let someone know?

Exactly! Housekeeping problems should be delt with while there, right away so they can be rectified. Does no good to complain after the fact, putting up with dirty room for entire trip.

While yes it is better to deal with it then and there even if you mention it to management at the hotel it is also good to follow up when you get home. If you deal with 1 manager at the hotel it is easy for them to not report issues to where they should go. Once you email Guest Relations then you have made it have a paper trail.

 

[maryj11]

I cant believe they did not change your sheets in 10 days ! That is something I would complain about.

 

[mjtatman]

I'd write Disney and let them know about the housekeeping issues. They can't know people need better training or to be let go unless you speak up. Same goes for valet.

Now to the final issue the trucks and noises are going to happen. They have to keep the grounds clean and take care of the animals so yes you'll see vehicles around the savannah and hear noises.

Totally agree! They can't fix what they aren't aware of! We did 8 nights at Kidani five years ago and it was fabulous....but we've always had fabulous Housekeeping! We just got back from Fort Wilderness in March and I didn't realize that they don't do bath gel or lotion at a moderate, and of course, I didn't pack any. So anyway, I left a note asking Mousekeeping if they could possibly get me any, each day, they made sure I had a refill of all of the toiletries INCLUDING lotion and bath gel - which isn't the standard at a moderate! I'm never sure if this is because we always leave a nice tip each day or because all things are magical at Disney

 

[mjtatman]

As far as the sheet, I would not expect that my sheets are changed during my stay. If I needed them changed (and I have...my son leaked through his diaper a few times when young), I just pulled it off the bed and left it in a ball on top of the bed. For everything else, that sucks . I think you should have gone to management while you were there, though..

We change our sheets at home weekly, so sorry, I have to agree because, I do think they should be changed at least once during that stay.....especially at the nightly rate that AKL charges