Complaint

jplusm

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Hi there. My wife and I have been here at Aulani for the past week and are leaving tomorrow. With this being our last full day here we were looking to spend the day relaxing on the beach.

Well come to find out, Oracle is holding a special event and has reserved 2/3 of the beach (tables and concert stage), the main pool area, adult jacuzzi, the bar area by the main pool, and the veranda below Ama Ama. All of this has been unusable the entire day. Additionally they have been sound testing off and on all day (including the last hour straight...think concert levels). What would be the best way to get a hold of somebody to express how disappointed we are with our experience? We never got an email warning us of the interruption otherwise we could of planned around it. We are DVC members staying on points if that matters.
 
I would do two things...
1. Complain at the front desk. The hotel should know that you're impacted. As some consolation, they can/should compensate you.
2. When you get back from vacation, call Member Services and complain there also. That way you can ensure someone in the corporate office hears your complaint as well.
 
So we ended up going up to the front desk and speaking to a manager. They are supposed to be refunding us the cost of the casabella we rented as we were told it was until 5 and they came by at 4:30 and said they were closing the beach and everybody had to leave. So the whole beach in front of Aulani is currently closed until 10pm. Pretty disappointing. Additionally the manager said she would see if she could get us a late check out tomorrow.
 
Also at aulani and also frustrated. I don't understand why there wasn't any communication about this event. We had to go to the front desk to ask what was happening. That's when we were given a list of closures. Complaining was useless. I guess money talks! The beach disruption has been ridiculous.
 


When we were at Aulani several years ago there were two different events going on. The first was a radio station that took over the seating area by the snorkeling pool. They had their camp setup for three days.

The second was for a Disney show. I forgot the name, but it was with Debbie Ryan. They took over the whole beach for one afternoon and evening. It was quite annoying.
 
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That is so not cool. We will be there in 11 days. We can only afford to stay 3 nights and I would be LIVID if the pool was closed one of our days. That is one of the main draws to the resort! We are planning most of our sightseeing on the days we are in Waikiki so that we can stay put during our Aulani days. I will now have to call to make sure no events like this are happening while we're there. So sorry you had to deal with this, OP!
 
Agree with the PP's that complaints should be made both to the local management and to DVC stateside. You were denied access to a significant part of the resort's facilities.
 


We saw the workers setting the stage, etc., up on Monday and Tuesday, and it was loud even then. I thought it was odd that the hotel didn’t inform guests about what was going on and at least apologize for the inconvenience. I’d have been very angry if it had interrupted my beach/pool activities, especially at the room rates they’re charging.
 
The hotel doesn't own the beach. The stage is on state property. Aulani staff were moving chairs and equipment around the best they could each day to provide as much beach access as possible. They didn't know how much beach would be affected each day as they were not informed by the state, and the stage company weren't very communicative either. Why they set up the stage so far away from the power source (the Four Seasons) still escapes me... but there was always plenty of beach access, even if it was limited or slightly farther away some days. Some of the pools were closed but the lazy river, Rainbow Reef, main pool, and a hot tub (plus maybe the adult pool?) were all open during the private event on Thursday afternoon. (We left before the Friday event.) With 1500 guests from Oracle, closing down a large area for their private event sort of makes sense. They didn't close everything, and there were additional events offered during that time (movie night, extra events in pau hana room). Inconvenient, certainly, but it didn't ruin our vacation; we adapted and changed our plans accordingly to make the most of our stay.

Just offering another perspective.
 
We had a villa on the short wing of the EWA building a year and a half ago. The LPGA had a golf event during the week and into the weekend. Every evening we could not sit out on our balcony because they had dinner music parties etc. Going on all the time. Japanese music opera, etc. You get the picture. You could even hear the loud music with the doors closed. If we had been informed on check in, we would have refused the room.
 
That is so not cool. We will be there in 11 days. We can only afford to stay 3 nights and I would be LIVID if the pool was closed one of our days. That is one of the main draws to the resort! We are planning most of our sightseeing on the days we are in Waikiki so that we can stay put during our Aulani days. I will now have to call to make sure no events like this are happening while we're there. So sorry you had to deal with this, OP!

I agree! I think you absolutely should have been notified. If I were you I would email the Disney guest communication for Aulisni (I only know the email for WDW). I would complain via email and ask them to call you back so you can discuss how it impacted your trip. Also, I think they should do more for you than just a late check out. I would go back to the frobt desk and maybe speak to a higher level manager.
Good luck!
 
So we ended up going up to the front desk and speaking to a manager. They are supposed to be refunding us the cost of the casabella we rented as we were told it was until 5 and they came by at 4:30 and said they were closing the beach and everybody had to leave. So the whole beach in front of Aulani is currently closed until 10pm. Pretty disappointing. Additionally the manager said she would see if she could get us a late check out tomorrow.

Was all of those things closed with no access during the day or was it for an evening event, if they kicked you out at 4:30? If the beach, main pool, veranda in front of Ama Ama, etc. were all closed during the daytime, that would be unacceptable. But if its for an evening event, then it's still annoying but a little more understandable. I imagine the pool closes earlier this time of year anyhow, and there is a public beach just up the street that they wouldn't be able to close off.

All that said, I totally understand the irritation. I would be too. This isn't like being at WDW and them closing DHS at 5pm for a private event, where there is other things you can do. Many people visit and pay to stay at Aulani JUST for Aulani and it's amenities.
 
The same thing happened in Sept. It was some lind of kids event. We couldn't even drive up to the front door. There was an employee in the driveway sending cars into the parking garage. We had to haul all our luggage to the front desk to check in. It would have been nice to have a heads up ahead of time, Sunday we could not get a chair or a tube. It was insane.
 
The hotel doesn't own the beach. The stage is on state property. Aulani staff were moving chairs and equipment around the best they could each day to provide as much beach access as possible. They didn't know how much beach would be affected each day as they were not informed by the state, and the stage company weren't very communicative either. Why they set up the stage so far away from the power source (the Four Seasons) still escapes me... but there was always plenty of beach access, even if it was limited or slightly farther away some days. Some of the pools were closed but the lazy river, Rainbow Reef, main pool, and a hot tub (plus maybe the adult pool?) were all open during the private event on Thursday afternoon. (We left before the Friday event.) With 1500 guests from Oracle, closing down a large area for their private event sort of makes sense. They didn't close everything, and there were additional events offered during that time (movie night, extra events in pau hana room). Inconvenient, certainly, but it didn't ruin our vacation; we adapted and changed our plans accordingly to make the most of our stay.

Just offering another perspective.
Its a resort. It would cost even more to stay there if it weren’t for events that pay through the nose. If you want a private villa, rent one. Its not as though the resort came to a grinding halt. I was there one visit when there was a huge event from Asia that filled every cranny and I never thought to complain. Had to sit next to a guy on DME who was crowing about the $200 he got for a bellman delivering groceries to his room that belonged to a neighbor. I guess I’m doing it wrong!
 
I visited the day Oaracle had half the beach. Talking with a guy from Oracle who said it was the top sales people. They got to chose either 3 days Aulani or 5 at 4 Seasons next door.
 

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