The room at HRH was very clean and housekeeping did a great job. However if you don't want to be disturbed at 8am, put out the do not distrub sign. Every day they knocked on the door at 8:00 am. Finally the last day, I used the DND sign and it wasn't a problem. I hate feeling rushed by housekeeping.
Here are some of my issues.
When I checked in, I asked about upgrading my 2 day pass to a three day pass. The staff member at the desk told me that the concierge could take care of that for me. When I went to the concierge desk, (at which there was no line) the concierge looked up at me and said (and I'm quoting) "What?" Not, 'what can I do for you' or 'what can I help you with', just a plain old "What?" Trying to explain what I wanted in a brief and concise manner, he simply said "You have to do that at the parks" I explained it again, thinking maybe he didn't understand and again, he said "You have to do that at the parks" I told him that the front desk told me that I should come over here and that as a point of trying to help them get their line of communications together, that maybe they should inform the front desk what they can and can not do. The response I got was "Is that all, I'm busy"
Okay, so not the best start to my stay. IT wasn't about who was right or wrong or what the right procedure to use for my situation. It was simply about how to greet a GUEST and make them feel welcome ... this was not the way to do it.
I found the club lounge staff to be just as in-different. On one occasion stepping in to grab a couple bottles of water after returning from IOA they had decided to post a staff member at the door asking for room keys and names. This was after a full weekend of coming and going as we pleased. Without any explaination as to why, the person at the door simply stopped me going in and asked "Room number?" and then "Your name?" That was all, no explaination or thank you or excuse me. He could have at least said "hello"
Now, maybe I'm being nit-picky, but when I was at the Wilderness Lodge, I felt like a GUEST. At the HRH, I felt like I was imposing on these people who were trying to do their job. It's the same kind of response I get when I go to any number of stores at the mall and the teenagers working at the store are two busy conversing amongst themselves to help the customers.
The BIGGEST complaint I had about the HRH staff was overhearing two housekeepers complaining about their job while walking down the hallway. I heard one say to the other "I'm serious if he asks me to work another weekend I'm giving my two weeks notice, I don' t have to put up with this S#!%" I couldn't believe it! Not only were they discussing something that should not have been discussed in front of the guest, they were using inappropriate language.
Finally, I found the food service and wait staff to be sub-par at best.
We decided to grab a burger our second night and went out by the pool. We went to the bar at the pool and found a table. After 20 minutes a server finally came over to us and said "If you want a drink you'll have to go to the bar" I asked him if they were still serving food and he said "No" This was after he walked by our table no less than three times delivering food to other tables. He could have mentioned this EARLIER!?!?!? Another night we decided to try again, this time we went earlier. Still it took 10 minutes before someone came over and gave us menus, another 5 before a server showed up, another 10 to get our drinks and then another 20 before we got our food. All in all it took 90 minutes to get 2 drinks and a couple of burgers. I know it's supposed to be a "casual" place, but this was a little ridiculous.
We also ate at the Sunset grill a couple times. We did the breakfast buffet and with the exception of the hot food, it was the same food offered at the club lounge. The hot food was okay, but certainly not nearly as good as the breakfast buffets' I've had at Disney or Ponderosa for that matter. For dinner, again the food was okay, but the service was TERRIBLE. I asked for a glass of water and after asking me if I wanted carbonated or non-carbonated water, the waiter still brought me the wrong kind of water. It seemed to take forever to get waited on - or even get an acknowlegement that we were there. It was like we were the invisible guests. When the food arrived it was cold and I shouldn't have to ask 3 times for a cup of coffee. We had three different servers and they were all just as confused.
However, the dinner we had at Mama Della's at PBH was Suberb. The service was GREAT, they made us feel right at home. The food was superb and the attention to details was fantastic.
Having said all of that, I don't want to give the wrong impression, the HRH is clean, well decorated, a beautiful hotel. The rooms are clean and spacious and the public areas and the pool are very nice. But the service (which in my mind is 90% of the reason to choose a hotel) was just sub-standard. It did not rise to the level of expectation that they had set for themselves, much less to compare to that at the WL at Disney. It's not that I want people to wait on me hand and foot, but I do want people to make me feel welcome. From day 1 at the HRH, I just didn't feel like they really cared one way or another if I was there or not. They were just there to do their job and that was all. To me, that's sub-par service. I don't pay upwards of $250 a night for the room, I pay the extra money for the service and I felt that I might as well be staying at Motel 6 for the quality of service I received.
), there will always be those few who do not completely follow the corporate program. Of course this is still NO EXCUSE for the problems you encountered.
