How ugly will the AKL refurb be?

[Philo]

I'm going to stay at the AKL next April for 6 days before going to the WL. I knew there were some refurbs going on till next year but my Travel Agent said that theire will be work going on till 2009.

If they are doing a refurb on the lobby or in another public area, how bad will it look? I'm not too fussed about the noise levels but I would like the place to look nice at least.

I'm not too worried about it if its just the new building (as long as that isn't part of my savannah view!). If I were to get a bad view, do you think I could get the room changed? It's my honeymoon :sohappy: so I hope they will be nice!

 

[Philo]

What about the noise? I have been reading a few scary reviews on tripadvisor.com..."If any of you are used to a 5 star resort, this will not fit the bill. Currently there is construction going on just outside the hotel and the noise is constant from 7am to 5pm. The rooms are very small and very dark. I had read other reviews and I felt the people were overreacting, but it is true, small and dark."
And one more..."What did let us down? Well, as others have said, our room was booked and then a couple of months down the road we received a letter explaining there would be construction going on. Well let me say it wasn't the easiest getting the toddler to nap with impact drills and pounding going on. And they were quite loud going on between 9am and 6pm."

I myself have a 2 year old and worry about getting her to take a nap :snore:. Anyone else have similar stories.

I've read a few reports on tripadvisor.com too but I have to say that most of the bad reviews seem silly. Complaints about not having LCD TV's and Sewing kits seem pretty laughable.

As for the noise; I don't think its going to cause a problem for me as we will probably be at the parks all day. I guess it could be a problem for a 2 year old.

I'm far more worried about the view. Having paid for a savannah view I want to make sure that we don't end up seeing a load of construction work out the window. Looks like that could be the case for anything on the left side of the lodge.

 

[COProgressFan]

I wouldn't say that AKL isn't impressive. It is. But nothing on property is a five star resort. You can make the argument that GF can be a four star, but nothing is five. AKL is a solid three star performer, and it pulls off its theme well.

Not to drag this out, but folks on these boards always seem to talk about the "star" ratings of AAA, Mobil, or whoever else. Everyone can certainly have their preferences for hotels. You can have a "5 star" stay at a Value or a poor stay at a deluxe. It really is about what makes you the happiest.

But to me, whatever star you call it, the AKL is one of the most impressive hotels I've ever been to....Your typical "3 star" as you would refer to it is a generic plain box chain hotel in a city or suburb. Maybe clean, staff may be decent, and heck they may even have a pool, but to me there is no comparison to something like the AKL. But maybe architecture, design, and all those little rich details mean more to me than others.

CoP