Reviews of Disney’s Polynesian Resort Concierge Level
Reviewed by Dreamer Review Date: 02/14/2013
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
The best aspect of Polynesian club is the location. The lounge has a fabulous view of water and the castle. We enjoyed watching the MK fireworks from the comfort of the lounge. Unfortunately the staff was not that friendly and seemed annoyed by questions/requests. The food was ok--very standard breakfast choices and snacks. Some evening food options were pretty good. Desserts weren't that exciting. The rooms in the club building need some desperate remodeling and aren't as nice as rooms in some of the other buildings.
Pros:
Beautiful viewCons:
Staff, food selectionReviewed by dsnymom14 Review Date: 05/23/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We visited May 4-11 2013 in celebration of our anniversary. We found the cast members to be very welcoming and hospitable, always greeting us when we entered or exited the building. When cast member Holli discovered we had not been given real flower leis for our anniversary, she had two custom-made for us and personally delivered them.
The new room decor is lighter and more contemporary. The beds are very comfortable! The bathroom has been reconfigured and now has two sinks and illuminated mirrors. The bath tile is beige(no more dark green)and the soap does not stick to it (definite improvement!)
Our mousekeeper kept us well stocked with towels and amenities. We received four different towel animals during our stay. Nightly turn-down service always included plenty of chocolates.
Continental breakfast offerings were very similar each morning as were the afternoon snacks. Evening appetizers changed daily and there was a nice variety of beers, wine and cordials.
The two-story lounge has stellar views of the beach, Magic Kingdom, fireworks and Electrical Water Pageant.
Our club level experience would have been a perfect 10 if not for the behavior of unsupervised or undisciplined children running and yelling in the halls and on the stairs; touching the food with their hands and taking more than they could possibly eat; intentionally messing up the tables; and being rude to the food servers. I had read similar complaints before of unruly children in the Poly lounge, but didn't believe it until we experienced it.
Since we are WDW vets and do our own trip planning, we did not utilize the concierge services available to us. The upcharge for staying club level is worth it for a special occasion, but we will go back to being "regular" Poly guests.
Pros:
Newly refurbished rooms; location and viewsCons:
undisciplined children in the lounge areaReviewed by Trishadono Review Date: 06/05/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Took my daughter for mom and me trip for her 18th bday. So fun to be met outside and walked to the Hawaii building to check in. Our request for 3rd floor balcony was met too!
We loved the new rooms. Fresh looking! The new brown sheers on the sliders are a nice relaxing touch. The new bathrooms have lots of counter space.
The lounge was just so beautiful I would sit there and just look out the windows at that fantastic view of the castle and seven seas lagoon area. The staff was great, the food tasty and there was always plenty of seating.
I made a special request which was honored too 🙂
All in all, the birthday was so special in such a great place!
Pros:
Newly remodeled lounge and roomsCons:
some construction going onReviewed by EleanorofAquitaine Review Date: 07/07/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed at the Poly on June 6 through 9th. We got a tremendous surprise when we arrived-- we had been upgraded to club level! As many times as I have stayed at the Poly (about a dozen over the last 5 years), that has never happened before, although we did stay at club level once before and paid dearly for the privilege. This time was much nicer, especially because I wasn't paying concierge level prices. I was grinning from ear to ear as they drove us in one of those little carts from valet parking back to the Hawaii building. How comfy! I felt special right off the bat. That's how Disney does it.
The newly remodeled rooms are lovely They updated them without losing the Polynesian feel. The bathroom is gorgeous, although I could live without the mirrors going all the way across the one wall, which meant not only did I have plenty of mirror when i was getting ready in the morning, which is great, but that I was staring at myself when I sat on the toilet, which was not great. Also, the towel rack is directly under the sink, so it poked my hubby as he was brushing his teeth. There isn't a towel hook next to the gorgeous shower. Still, the room was great, and we were right next door to the lounge, which meant we could go by and pour ourselves some lovely cordials in the evening and take them back to our room to view the fireworks. And the view is amazing. We had the perfect castle view. Wish there was a balcony, but we were on the second floor. 🙁
Service was excellent. Mercy was particularly nice in the lounge, as well as one of the young men whose name has escaped me. The snacks were nice, but not as abundant or as special as last time we stayed at club level. I have to wonder if that may be because some people just pounced on every plate of food that came out. Kids would appear out of nowhere, elbow me out of the way, and fill entire plates with all the pigs in blankets or skewers of beef or whatever they could fit on there. It was like watching locust descend. And it wasn't just children, although they were the most frequent offenders. Grownups too rushed to snap up mass quantities of food and were not friendly or polite to their fellow guests.
The club level was lovely and I am extremely grateful for the upgrade. But I do not think I would spend the money to stay there again any time soon. As nice as it was, it is still very expensive, even by Polynesian standards, and I don't want to have to pay that much just to have fruit trays and beer close at hand, since we had to battle our fellow guests to get our share.
Pros:
convenience, spacious rooms, nice remodelingCons:
families running wild in loungeReviewed by Rosebud Review Date: 10/15/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We visited the Polynesian in later August. It is a beautiful property - stayed there before. We had two adjoining rooms (party of 9), 3rd floor, view of MK. This was a first visit for my son-in-law and my 4 grandchildren (ages 4-9). Despite the construction and pool closure, we were more than happy with the quality of our stay. Lounge food (and drinks) very good, staff very accommodating. The concierge was cooperative and informative. Housekeeping spot on, everyone very friendly. Finally, Kona and Ohana better than ever!
Pros:
Location, view of castle, lounge, conciergeCons:
NoneReviewed by jayro Review Date: 10/30/2014
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
Husband and I visited from 10/26-10/28. We have stayed here many times over the years, but were disappointed at the extent of the construction (about which WDW was far from full disclosure, IMO); it was not only disruptive, but very unsightly despite all of the screening. Most of the lobby (Great Ceremonial House) was closed off due to remodeling--as were the water features at the front entrance. The entire area around Volcano Pool also was closed off, which meant you couldn't walk along the beach from the concierge building to the launch, had to walk through a couple of other buildings (or go way around) to get from the concierge building to the lobby, etc. As for the accommodations...the remodeled bathrooms are great, but the beds and bedding (comfort) are a step down, and the food offerings in the lounge (early evening service, especially) have really gone downhill (mini corn dogs? two nights in a row?! REALLY??!?), as have the quick service offerings at Captain Cooks compared to years past (although this seems to be the case for the quick service venues in other resorts, as well, based on this and a previous trip this year). We still love the resort and will return--but not until the construction is completed.
Pros:
beautiful theming, convenient location, staffCons:
extensive construction, food quality in loungeReviewed by Dispro Review Date: 11/08/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed a couple of days at the Poly before checking into Grand Floridian. We had not stayed at the Poly since the rooms were updated, and we were really impressed! We had avoided the Poly because the rooms used to be very dark and only had one sink in the bathroom. Now the rooms have been brightened up without losing the Hawaiian vibe, and the bathroom has been completely redone!
The view from the club lounge is one of the best on property (really nice for fireworks viewing). I will admit that the construction is annoying and takes away from the beauty of the resort, but this will not last forever. We were able to go to Blizzard Beach free of charge since the volcano pool is under construction, but there was a warm front when we were there a few weeks ago, so it was 90 degrees outside. With cooler temps coming, swimming May not matter to you. If you want a magic kingdom view room, request one closer to the lounge to avoid views of the construction. But if you want to sleep in, request a room on the garden side at the opposite end from the lounge. I based my rating on the club level alone, and tried not to let the construction influence the club level rating too much. The club level itself was good. When there was a problem with our room ( I have older kids that like to sleep in and were disturbed by morning construction) they quickly moved us to another room. The staff was very nice and the food offerings were ok. The mid-day snacks were extremely slim compared to other club levels on property. They had goldfish crackers and wasabi snack mix. However, my husband liked their selection of beer, and I loved the Tropical/island sangria. You can't get the sangria anywhere else. I will say that we would try to avoid the resort until after the construction, but because of the construction, it seems a little easier to get a room there.... Rooms in the monorail loop book up fast.
Pros:
Location, view from the loungeCons:
Disappointing mid-day offerings/snacksReviewed by TRAVELPOP99 Review Date: 12/19/2015
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
THE ROOMS AND VIEW WAS GREAT.....STAFF WONDERFUL..THIS WAS OUR 13TH VISIT HERE AND WAS OUR WORST.....THE LOUNGE WAS ALWAYS SO CROWDED AND KIDS WERE RUNNING AROUND UNATTENDED,,,,PICKING AT FOOD WITH THEIR HANDS AND TOUCHING EVERYTHING......THE OFFERINGS WERE SLIM AND NOT VERY GOOD.....VERY DISAPPOINTED AND WILL NOT RETURN TO THIS HOTEL AGAIN...
Pros:
VIEW,ROOM,STAFFCons:
CLUB LEVEL OFFERINGSReviewed by EleanorofAquitaine Review Date: 12/27/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
We visited the Poly on Dec. 13-15 for our annual WDW Christmas visit and were blown away. We have stayed at the Polynesian many times, but this was the first time we have stayed at the Tonga building, the concierge level suites in the building right next door to the Great Ceremonial House. We stayed in a Princess Suite.
Wow, that was amazing. The view is spectacular. We watched the fireworks from our patio each evening and it was truly magical. The rooms were gorgeously appointed and there was plenty of room in the two bedrooms and sitting area for the four adults in our party. We could have brought more people and still been comfortable.
The contrast between the concierge level here and in the main concierge building, Hawaii, was striking. There are only something like seven or eight suites in the building, so it was QUIET and tranquil. The location was so convenient to everything--- from the pool bar (yum!) to the monorail to the boats across to the MK to Kona. Heavenly!
There were no hot snacks, but the lounge was seldom busy and we got lots of cold snacks, just like at the Hawaii building and had access to that main lounge in Hawaii if we had wanted to go get some hot foods at any point. Why would we? As others have said, there you have to battle noisy, rude children and guests strolling in to snatch up all the snacks in sight to cart bac to their rooms. At the Tonga house, there was none of that. We had great fruit platters and delicious cheese, the wine and punch was out where it was easily accessible in the evening, and the morning spread was plentiful and yummy. We toasted bagels each morning and slathered them with cream cheese or peanut butter and there were croissants, fruit, and cereal in abundance. Why walk over for hot oatmeal?
Because of the smaller number of guests, the fridge was always stocked with bottled water, soft drinks, and beer, and we could help ourselves all day. They couldn't make it that accessible at Hawaii or the kids we have encountered on previous visits would pick them clean. And since we had TWO mini-fridges in our suite, which housekeeping kept stocked as well, we were never far from a cool beverage.
This experience has spoiled me. thank you, Polynesian, for a magical visit.
Pros:
great view, beautiful rooms, convenienceCons:
costReviewed by ajrob Review Date: 01/20/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
My daughter and I visited 1/9/17-1/16/17. A cast member from the Front Desk at the Ceremonial house led us on the very short walk to the Hawaii building to meet with the Club Level concierge.
The Hawaii building is located in the center of the Poly resort. About a 2 minute walk to Ceremonial House, about 30 second walk for the boats to MK, and an 8 minute walk to TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot. It is also situated between both the lava pool and quiet pool.
We met a super friendly and informative concierge who then showed us the way to our room and the Club. I had made a request not to be on the ground floor and I was given first floor? After a quick phone call I was switched to a second floor room. I just don't understand that, I booked my room the very first day the 2017 schedule for Disney packages was available, I think it was June, was asked about requests and the only one I had was not to be on the first floor???
The rooms are a bit dated...I don't understand why as the resort underwent a massive reno in 2014? Maybe the light colors show too much dirt and stains. The room was clean, bright, spacious and the resort overall was very quiet.
The Club food was good and plentiful. The room is very pretty with massive windows to watch Wishes at night. Some issues with parents not watching or reprimanding their children while in the club. WE ALL SPENT MONEY TO BE THERE!!!
Mousekeeping did a superb job each and every day. We did get a towel creation one day. Turndown service was nice too.
Captain Cook's the QS restaurant had good food, and it was always clean with plenty of tables available. O'Hana was awesome as usual, and we ate breakfast at Kona which was delicious as well.
Overall we loved the Poly! The concierge was always helpful, whether I needed something picked up from a park or printing out my boarding passes. Food in the club was plentiful and always tasty. The room was always clean.
Only reason for a 9, was the room looked a bit worn and the supervision of children on the club level. There is always a cast member in the Club, yet nothing was ever said to the young children(or their parents) who were running up and down the hallway all hours of the day/night and taking food from the buffet, with their hands.
Would stay again!
