Am I missing something?

jwblane

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
My wife and I arrived on-site today for a 3 night stay at the Grand Californian to celebrate our first anniversary. She knew we were coming to DLR, but had no clue where we were staying. I booked a premium park view and requested a king bed. When I booked the room, I expressed how important it is that we have a king bed. I explained that I am six and a half feet tall and my wife and I needed a king bed in order to both fit on it comfortably.

We checked in at about 11:30am and didn’t expect to have our room ready immediately. They stated that we had 2 queen beds and that was all they had unless we wanted a standard view handicapped accessible room. I let them know this was unacceptable. They also let us know that the room would not be available until 3:30 or 4:00pm. Then they “gave” us a couple of buttons for our anniversary saying sorry for the inconvenience and hopes these make up for it.

They texted us at 3:54pm letting us know that our room was available. When we finally get to our room (there are only 8 that are further away from the parks than ours) we find that our “premium view” that was paid extra for, is blocked by trees.

So far I am not impressed with this “deluxe” resort. Am I missing something? Where is the hospitality?Where is the value of this resort? Is it because I booked thru Costco? Is it because I took advantage of their 25% off room rate? Or am I just having bad luck on my first trip to DLR?

I will try to update this thread and see if the trip gets better.
 
I have no idea, but when I have stayed at GCH and GCV, and paid for premium rooms, I have always:

o Requested room numbers on high floors (4th and 5th and 6th)
o Arrived early and repeated my request

and that has always worked for me. If I were in your shoes I would go find a manager and explain to them why you are unhappy. They may bump you to concierge for your troubles.

Sorry to hear that but I have had good success with GCH. But I may have just been lucky.

:wizard:
 
Here is my take. DONT LET IT RUIN your trip. I would be disappointed with the bed, BUT it is only a request- they dont gtd bed type.

As for the view I would more upset, and I would voice my concern on that. If I'm paying for a view I want the view. I dont care if its on the right side of the building if I cant see .

I might email and or stop by the Front Desk ask for a manager and voice my concern not only with the 2 issues but also the lack of hospitality. I would probably tell them they need to get their S*** together, hopefully the mgr will make some type of accommodation for you, at a minimum I would want credit, even if it was just resort credit for the cost difference in the room.

The room location/bed size is NOT based on how you booked, it is the luck of the draw.

Enjoy!
 
The value is in the location of the resort itself.

You need to talk to a manager for sure and tell them that you’re very dissatisfied with the room view, but I would let the bed go because they can’t guarantee that.
 


I've worked in a 4 diamond hotel before and I suspect you booking through Costco and the discount you got played a part in not getting the room you wanted. We would always give people the crappy rooms whenever they booked through a reseller. But with that said, I would ask to speak with the GM asap and politely tell him/her how you would really like to sleep in the same bed with your spouse on your first anniversary and ask them if there is anyway they can make that happen for you. Be polite, tell them your name while asking for their's, smile while maintaining eye contact. I'd say that is your best shot at getting it at this point.

But I would still complain to Costco. They don't like it when their customers get the shaft and your feelings really matter to Costco. Probably much more so then Disney. Also, I personally would leave a negative review on every single website I could find if I had to sleep like Ward and June Cleaver on my anniversary night. And that would be the last time I ever spent the night at a Disney resort again. In early May on a weekday your request should have been met in some shape or form whether in an upgrade or a downgrade to lesser view with the king and some meal vouchers. Just blowing you off like that was really poor form without doing something for you. Buttons were an insult at that point.

Can I ask you did you protest the room when you were told they would not accommodate your request? Did you ask to speak with the shift supervisor or the GM?

In the future always immediately complain to management. Be as sweet as strawberry pie while being as persistent as a pit bull. Wear them down with kindness so they will do the right thing just to get you to go away.
 
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I know that GCH has a private entrance into DCA - but what is access like to the other park? How does the walk from GCH to Disneyland Park compare to say Disneyland Hotel and PP?
 
I have no idea, but when I have stayed at GCH and GCV, and paid for premium rooms, I have always:

o Requested room numbers on high floors (4th and 5th and 6th)
o Arrived early and repeated my request

and that has always worked for me. If I were in your shoes I would go find a manager and explain to them why you are unhappy. They may bump you to concierge for your troubles.

Sorry to hear that but I have had good success with GCH. But I may have just been lucky.

:wizard:
We have always used a travel agent and have had them request where we want, I am doing this trip all on my own do I call the hotel directly to put in my request for room area? Or do I email?
 


We have always used a travel agent and have had them request where we want, I am doing this trip all on my own do I call the hotel directly to put in my request for room area? Or do I email?
I have always done it on the reservation. But as I understand it, your chances are greatly improved if you show up early to check-in and reaffirm your request. That is what I do when I can.

:wizard:
 
Thanks for the advice of talking with the manager.

I went down to the front desk after posting this and asked to speak to the manager. I was told that they were all in a meeting so another gentleman wanted to try and help me out. His name is Tony. I explained the predicament and then showed him a picture of the view (tried to post it here but the server can’t handle the file size. Somebody help me with it and I will post it). I told him my disappointment and let them know that I was even willing to move to another hotel since there weren’t any other king beds available here. Tony found us a king bed with a park view and explained that, it too, had trees that would obstruct the view. He offered to show me the room so we went to check it out. Nice room, but the view is a large part of what we are paying for, and he completely understood. Then Tony asked me to have a seat in the lobby and allow him a few minutes to check the other hotels.

After, a little while, Tony returned with good news and bad news. The bad news is that the other properties had no availability, but the good news is that they just had a suite open up with a king bed in it. Tony wanted to show it to me, so off we went. Turns out, it had an amazing view of the pool and that made up for the loss of the park view.

Tony went above and beyond to make sure that my wife and I have an amazing room to spend our anniversary in. I never demanded anything, got upset, or used inappropriate language. I simply explained my frustration and disappointment, and boy did they come thru more than the front desk did at check in.

Again, thanks for the words of advice and encouragement.
 
How frustrating! I would be far more upset that your premium view, that you paid for, isn’t honored.

Although, there was a post here where someone had a friend on the same floor booked at different categories but practically the same view. I think if the stood on a chair on their balcony they could see the park. The room designation is all over the place. I’ve had completely different sized rooms in GCH and DLH under the same category.
 
Thanks for the advice of talking with the manager.

I went down to the front desk after posting this and asked to speak to the manager. I was told that they were all in a meeting so another gentleman wanted to try and help me out. His name is Tony. I explained the predicament and then showed him a picture of the view (tried to post it here but the server can’t handle the file size. Somebody help me with it and I will post it). I told him my disappointment and let them know that I was even willing to move to another hotel since there weren’t any other king beds available here. Tony found us a king bed with a park view and explained that, it too, had trees that would obstruct the view. He offered to show me the room so we went to check it out. Nice room, but the view is a large part of what we are paying for, and he completely understood. Then Tony asked me to have a seat in the lobby and allow him a few minutes to check the other hotels.

After, a little while, Tony returned with good news and bad news. The bad news is that the other properties had no availability, but the good news is that they just had a suite open up with a king bed in it. Tony wanted to show it to me, so off we went. Turns out, it had an amazing view of the pool and that made up for the loss of the park view.

Tony went above and beyond to make sure that my wife and I have an amazing room to spend our anniversary in. I never demanded anything, got upset, or used inappropriate language. I simply explained my frustration and disappointment, and boy did they come thru more than the front desk did at check in.

Again, thanks for the words of advice and encouragement.
That’s amazing! Glad it worked out! Congratulations on your anniversary, as well!!
 
I know that GCH has a private entrance into DCA - but what is access like to the other park? How does the walk from GCH to Disneyland Park compare to say Disneyland Hotel and PP?
The walk between DL & GCH is roughly half that of DL. If you cut through GCH to get to PP, it’s about the same. But you can only do that going back to PP from the parks. You can not enter GCH through the main entrance to cut through heading toward the parks, unless you are a guest there. Which makes the walk from PP to the parks way longer. Far too long for my taste. We used to stay at PPH if we were trying to be more budget conscious, but we don’t now that you have to walk around.
 
Its great to hear things worked out for you. The squeaky wheel gets the oil in life. After your trip is done I suggest you email guest.services@disneyland.com and tell them about your experience. The good and the bad. Be sure to tell them about how Tony helped you with your predicament. But for now put this behind you and have a wonderful time. Congratulations on your anniversary.
 
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I have no idea, but when I have stayed at GCH and GCV, and paid for premium rooms, I have always:

o Requested room numbers on high floors (4th and 5th and 6th)
o Arrived early and repeated my request

and that has always worked for me. If I were in your shoes I would go find a manager and explain to them why you are unhappy. They may bump you to concierge for your troubles.

Sorry to hear that but I have had good success with GCH. But I may have just been lucky.

:wizard:

The last time I stayed at GCH, I booked 2 Premium View rooms and my only request was to be near the Napa Rose elevators, due to health issues that lead to exhaustion & pain and the need to rest. We were given 2 rooms about as far from DCA as you could be. There were only 3 rooms that could be further away. The CM was actually rather snotty and my sister was quite upset about it. That was almost 2 years ago and we haven't stayed at GCH since. We've stayed at PPH & DLH and had very friendly CMs and room requests met. I can't see myself going back to GCH any time soon.

ETA: We checked in at 7:45 am and still didn't have our requests met.
 
The last time I stayed at GCH, I booked 2 Premium View rooms and my only request was to be near the Napa Rose elevators, due to health issues that lead to exhaustion & pain and the need to rest. We were given 2 rooms about as far from DCA as you could be. There were only 3 rooms that could be further away. The CM was actually rather snotty and my sister was quite upset about it. That was almost 2 years ago and we haven't stayed at GCH since. We've stayed at PPH & DLH and had very friendly CMs and room requests met. I can't see myself going back to GCH any time soon.

ETA: We checked in at 7:45 am and still didn't have our requests met.
Thanks for the feedback. I was not trying to say that somehow I did it the "right way" and others not. I am just saying what I did do that I think increased the chances. I can understand why you would not want to go back because of how that CM treated you. Not cool at all. :sad2:

:wizard:
 
Thanks for the advice of talking with the manager.

I went down to the front desk after posting this and asked to speak to the manager. I was told that they were all in a meeting so another gentleman wanted to try and help me out. His name is Tony. I explained the predicament and then showed him a picture of the view (tried to post it here but the server can’t handle the file size. Somebody help me with it and I will post it). I told him my disappointment and let them know that I was even willing to move to another hotel since there weren’t any other king beds available here. Tony found us a king bed with a park view and explained that, it too, had trees that would obstruct the view. He offered to show me the room so we went to check it out. Nice room, but the view is a large part of what we are paying for, and he completely understood. Then Tony asked me to have a seat in the lobby and allow him a few minutes to check the other hotels.

After, a little while, Tony returned with good news and bad news. The bad news is that the other properties had no availability, but the good news is that they just had a suite open up with a king bed in it. Tony wanted to show it to me, so off we went. Turns out, it had an amazing view of the pool and that made up for the loss of the park view.

Tony went above and beyond to make sure that my wife and I have an amazing room to spend our anniversary in. I never demanded anything, got upset, or used inappropriate language. I simply explained my frustration and disappointment, and boy did they come thru more than the front desk did at check in.

Again, thanks for the words of advice and encouragement.
:banana:
 
Glad to hear it was resolved. One thing I have learned about Disney (through my experiences at WDW), is that whatever they consider a view can be questionable. "Water view" might be a view of a fountain that you have to stick your head out and turn 90 degrees to see. "Courtyard view" might actually be a parking lot view that happens to have a fountain and some landscaping along the sidewalk. I don't put much stock into their "views" anymore and tend to book the cheapest option.
 
I'm so glad it worked out for you!! I've always found that if you go back and request a manager, the CMs will really work hard to see that you're happy.

Now here is my take on park view rooms at GCH: there aren't many. They're almost all blocked by trees, or the view is from one side of the balcony. Honestly, I don't care much about the view, though. I am much more interested in my room and where it is located within the hotel. I want to be close to elevators and not down a hallway that's down a hallway that's down a hallway. I do as another poster mentioned and request the area around the Napa Rose elevators.

Once my sister and I were given a park view room. It was way over in the DVC wing and our view was looking directly at Goofy's Sky School. Honestly, I really didn't like it because there was this light thing that swung back and forth right outside our window. As I said, I am much more interested in my location within the hotel than the view I get.
 
Then they “gave” us a couple of buttons for our anniversary saying sorry for the inconvenience and hopes these make up for it.

Not meaning to fuel this with any more negative thoughts, but buttons are standard for ANY type of occasion. I typically just let them know at the desk we are there for our anniversary. in the past I have had them ask if we are there for any special occasion (at Animal Kingdom Lodge) and they bring out the buttons. So to indicate that this was some sort of special thing to make up for the inconvenience was pretty weak on their part.

But anyway, have a great anniversary.
 
I think there were probably more "view" rooms in earlier GCH years before the trees -- as they are prone to do -- grew. GCH either needs to stop selling view rooms that are not, or trim the vegetation more aggressively.

We also wanted a king room and ended up with 2 queens for an anniversary trip. I was disappointed, but we did get the room category we wanted -- courtyard with a view of the monorail -- and it was right near an elevator and the lobby. I think a lot of couples book GCH for a romantic splurge and families book the "fun" DLH or PPH, so I bet king rooms are always hard to get.

PHXscuba
 

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