Hi everyone, firstly, thanks heaps for all the info and reviews posted in this thread to date! It was very helpful when we were initially deciding where to stay and then after booking too.
We stayed at AKL CL from Sunday, 15th - 29th and were in room 4427. Overall, we had a fantastic experience after always wanting to stay at AKL! Positive, neutral and negative thoughts -
Positives
- All CM's were brilliant, very friendly and greeted you all the time.
- For us, CL was worth the additional cost and provided a much needed afternoon break from the parks each day. We didn't make use of the concierge services (except to forward our touring plans room request before our arrival), but we enjoyed the food and drink options whenever we returned from the parks or for breakfast before heading out for the day.
- The design and theming throughout was exceptional and it was always breathtaking walking into the lobby each day!
- Room design and theming was great, and the room was comfortable and well-equipped, but for a shortie like me, the bed was a bit high! The safe had a key though, which was a bit old-school.
- The savannah view was beautiful and our room request was spot on! We saw lots of animals each day, especially around 5.00 pm, when the Ranger would be out with hay and vegetables.
- We ate at The Mara (peanut butter brownie OMG), Boma and Sanaa during our stay and all were great, especially Sanaa, which was only a 5-minute walk from Jambo to Kidani Village.
Neutral
- Room size, especially the bathroom, was on the small side, but we already knew this.
- Soundproofing from the room above us was quite poor.
- Transportation could be very hit and miss - sometimes the bus was right there and other times we waited 25-minutes for a bus at AKL or at the parks. The transportation ETA boards (new to us) at the AKL bus shelter were very helpful and were 99% accurate. A few times we opted to walk down to Jambo from Kidani Village, as Kidani was 9/10 the first drop-off stop, and it proved to be quicker to walk if a wheelchair/Electric Mobility
Scooter was being loaded/unloaded.
- Distance from the parks was ok, and we enjoyed the close proximity to DAK because of Pandora and riding FOP at DAK closing. The furthest bus journey was to DS and MK, which would take 20-25-minutes.
Negatives
- Issues with Mousekeeping - coffee/tea/sugar, glasses and mugs in the room were not restocked upon request via a written note to the maid, although the tip hand been taken. Hand towel with red lipstick (neither of us wear lipstick!) on our towel rack after the room had been 'serviced', room became quite dusty during the whole stay. Room service/food trays left outside in the hallways for 24-hrs or more.
We did complain about the above issues during our stay, but these issues happened in the last four nights of our stay and unfortunately were not resolved, except for the informed CM apologising.
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We would absolutely stay at AKL again, but we look forward to trying other on-site resorts before we do. Overall, a brilliant stay, just a shame about the issues with Mousekeeping. Photos attached below -
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