DLH Room Assignment

[smsles]

We arrive next Saturday 9/9 for a week stay at the DLH YEAH! Do they assign the room before you actually check-in. I am very anxious to find out which tower we will be in. We requested the Sierra Tower. My travel agent advised not paying for the view because she said you have a good chance of getting it without the expense. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this?

Thanks
Sue

 

[my3kids]

We didn't pay for a view and requested Sierra tower. We didn't get Sierra and we got the city view we had reserve. You might have a different experience though.

 

[abby]

We reserved a regular room, and I called a week before and requested a "large room" with two queen beds and a day bed. (Only two of us, but I like a large room). When we checked in we were upgraded to a Pool view in the Marina tower.
Also, if you have kids, call and ask for "special delivery" at check in, they will have an envelop with an autographed pic of characters for the kids, my dd loved the princess picture.

 

[abby]

Another tip, if you are coffee drinkers, they will bring you a coffee pot and coffee to the room, if asked. I have asked at check in and it is always delivered promptly.

 

[fidoprincess]

I am pretty sure the rooms are assigned before you get there. In Jan, we had a standard room reserved (at the great AP rate of $89!). When we got there, we were assigned a city view in the Marina tower on a low floor so I smiled and practically begged for an upgrade cause it was my bday-lol. She did switch us to a room in Bonita on the 2nd floor overlooking the waterfall. I loved the room but later found out that it too was considered a "standard" room. There are several standard view rooms that look into the pool area but they are on low floors/blocked views. Even Sierra Tower has some "standard" views that look out at the pool or DTD but low floor/blocked view.

The next time, we went in March and paid for the view. I did not want to actually have to beg ever again-lol. From reading all of these boards, it seemed as though "free" upgrades were hard to come by, especially with all the 50th happenings and there were almost never any vacancies at the DLH. We had to book months in advance to even get into DLH! So that trip, we arrived a day early and ended up in a beautiful room on the 14th floor of PPH for the one night. I loved the room, the view was just spectacular so in the morning I called the desk and asked if we could arrange to stay and transfer our reservation over. It was about 8 am and the CM at PPH said it could possibly be worked out but we were already assigned a SUITE!! at DLH! OMG! (The CM was so cute and excited for us too and said she was sure we would want to keep our reservation at the DLH.) We were so excited and it was wonderful to actually get an upgrade free! We had booked with Expedia that time too because we got the $150 gift card deal.
We always tried to check in as early as possible believing that you would get a better room that way but after March, I am sure they are already assigned at least by 8am! . If you are checking in and it is early, they probably have more flexibility moving you because others haven't checked in yet. But if they are full, they are never going to move you to a "view" if someone else has already paid for the view.
FWIW, it drives me crazy to pay for and "request" a certain view and not get it. It seems as though everyone wants the Sierra Tower DTD view but I've read that room type "view" only makes up 20% of all the view room so not everyone that wants it will get it. I think DLH should have 3 tiers of "views" and charge accordingly-no view(city view) and pool view and resort (DTD) view. I just hate paying for the view and playing the room lottery to get the DTD view but love seeing the fireworks from the room. My kids nod off early so we spend a lot of time in the room and I love to people watch so I really want that view-lol. In June, we actually finally got the view and guess what, it was so darn noisy from ESPN Zone going all night long!! The music stopped at around 10 or 11 but the sports announcer noise went all night and woke me up at all different hours, one night 3 another night 5 am-ugh. Our door did not close tightly so that probably made a big difference. We go back again in Nov and again paid for the view but I still am not sure what view I want-lol.

 

[MATTERHORN]

I am sure it's just like here in Vegas. I worked front desk for a long time and we assign rooms the night before for following day check-ins. But it was really easy to swap rooms if someone else hadn't checked in yet, not sure if they do that there.



Andrea

 

[my3kids]

I paid for the Resort View view which is supposed to be DTD & parks. I was offered either pool view concierge or resort view concierge. i thought it was guaranteed since I selected it from options they provided. I'll be pretty upset to arrive and find out I didn't get the view I reserved. It didn't seem to be a request since they offered it on the screen to make your selections.

 

[fidoprincess]

smsles, It is NOT guaranteed, sorry to say. When you reserve and they ask you what your preference is, hopefully they note it but the only "guarantee" is that you will have "A "view. Only 2 room types-city/standard view OR pool/resort view-that's it!

That is why I was saying I wish DLH just charged extra for the DTD/resort view and those who really wanted it could just pay for it and be "guaranteed" that view and when that view is sold out, it's sold out and you know you aren't going to get it. I think it is worth the money to have the resort view but still can't decide it it is worth paying the extra to have the "pool" view-grrr. Just be prepared for either view or the odds are you will be disappointed since there are so few resort view rooms. I know that we always call a few times before we go just to make sure our "requests" are noted on our reservation. About 1/2 the time they were not even written!

When you reserve the CM sometimes says stuff like, "Do you want upper level resort view, or pool view or waterfall view" as if you really have a choice. Ask and they will tell you all of those views are the exact same price and there is no guarantee (so what is the POINT! of asking and making you feel as though you will get the room you request?!) Can you tell it drives me crazy?!

Lastly, here is my "guilty" confession. We have 2 kids, a boy and a girl who are 5 years apart. They do not want to sleep together, understandable, right? And they both want the daybed and fight about it! So a while ago, a couple of years maybe, someone told me to ALWAYS say we have 3 kids/2 adults and that will guarantee us a room with 2 queens and a daybed. Otherwise, we could end up in a room with 2 doubles and some of those rooms are tiny. Now we have a phantom "toddler"-lol.

We also request the "free" rollaway and each of us ends of with our own bed and the kids don't fight over who gets the daybed. The kids love having their own spots to rest during the day too. DLH charges per room not per person so we are not "cheating" them out of money but that is the only way I KNOW to guarantee that room type. Since DH usually does the luggage and parks the car while I check in, I guess they just think the "baby" is with him.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Just to clarify:

There are two standard room types, Standard and Standard w/View. The 'no view' room refers to a room facing the city or parking lot. The View room refers to a room facing either the pool area or the resort/DTD, and costs extra to book.

You can book a Standard room and you may luck into an upgrade to a view room. You can book a Standard View room and you are guaranteed a view of either the pool or resort. You can request one or the other view, but you are not guaranteed to get that view because many other people are requesting the same thing. (Hence fidoprincess' suggestion that the DLH break the standard room types into 3 categories, Standard, Standard w/Pool View, Standard w/Resort View, so you can guarantee a specific view.)

When you request a specific view, your request is noted on the booking, and when the DLH staff makes room assignments they will take this into account. My understanding is that room assignments are made 3 days prior to your date of arrival, so try to make sure your request is in before then.

You can also make a request at the time of check-in, but I would think your chances of getting your request would be better by giving prior notice.

I hope you all get your requested room, and that you have a wonderful stay! We'll be taking our first trip to DL in 22 days!

 

[my3kids]

I was given the differnet choices to RESERVE, not request Resort view or pool view. It was not a request.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I am basing my information on my own experience (booking first through a TA, then online via AAA) and also talking with DLH staff about the booking. Each time I called they specifically stated they could not guarantee which view I would get, only that they would try to fulfill it.

I have no experience with Concierge level if that is what you booked, so perhaps there's a way to guarantee a concierge-level view?

If the specific view is important to you, it might be worth calling the hotel directly to make sure. The number is listed under one of the stickies at the top of the DL page. I'd also hate for you to arrive and not get what you expected!

 

[smsles]

Thank you for all the responses. I have my mind set that I will not be dissapointed in any room I get. I am trying to focus my excitement on just being able to stay at the DLH fo a week. However, I will not argue if a get a room with a good view!


Thanks,

Sue

 

[fidoprincess]

^^I agree with what Alex2Kmommy says. This has been our experience as well! You should call DLH directly and make sure that your request is at least noted on your reservation (first step!) Then if they give you the speech about "no guarantees" speak very nicely but firmly say that you were given the wrong information when you made your reservation and you insist nicely they do their "best" to give you your desired view. When I "discovered" this bit of information I was so sure that I too had "reserved" a specific view, I was so disappointed to find out it was just a "request". I called several times and got a lot of different answers too until I discovered the "truth"!! I even had one CM tell me, "That is what you paid for so that is what you will get!" but he was wrong. I "only" paid for a pool/resort view, not a specific guaranteed view.

I have also heard people reserving concierge and not even getting in the Sierra Tower where the concierge lounge is located! Concierge is not a "specific" room although I believe they do their best to put people into the Sierra Tower, hopefully on the upper floors but that is not guaranteed either, sorry to say. We've met people who were in both the Marina and Bonita Towers that were "doing" concierge. Even reserving a $500 and up/night suite does not guarantee you a specific view or tower and on top of the suite cost per night, concierge is an add on at an extra $125/night.

Please don't shoot us-lol-we are just the messengers! Better that you know ahead of time then at check-in. Nothing more disappointing that finding out that day and being sad. If you do "luck out" and get the resort view, you will be really happy knowing how slim the odds are! That said, you will love your stay and at least doing concierge will get you into the lounge where you can watch the fireworks with cookies and music!!

 

[my3kids]

It must be different for concierge then. I just looked at the confirmation and it says the package includes 3 nights in a resort view concierge view room. It goes on to say I requested 2 Q beds/daybed and a room near the lounge but those are requests and are not guaranteed.

 

[my3kids]

Just looked up some mythical dates for concierge and the offerings are Standard (Pool) view or Resort view. So it must be different. I guess when I get thee i'll find out for sure! We won't even be around DLR that much so I guess it isn't the end of the world what we look out on anyway.

 

[fidoprincess]

I think you will have a wonderful time whatever view you get!! Heck, Dh and I were talking about what view is best and we still are not sure. The DTD/park view was really fun because there is a lot to watch, people coming and going and our last room, we could see all the mountain tops in DL and we were directly in front of the TOT. It was a "fun" view especially seeing the fireworks every night when the kids could not stay up late enough to see them in person. On the other hand, as I said before, it was really really noisy. The music was blaring until at least 10pm and the people were really loud but the worst was the sports announcer at ESPN Zone talked all night long and woke us us repeatedly. We were on the 7th floor so maybe the higher up you are the less noise you hear and also our door was a bit faulty and did not exactly close tightly.
The view over the waterfall was not so much fun as it was relaxing. We all loved opening the doors and hearing the rush of the water and at night the colored lights would reflect on the ceiling and it was so pretty. They turned the falls off at 11 so it did not keep anyone awake. The kids loved looking at the koi too and the whole feeling was relaxing and a nice change of pace from DL and all the activity at the park. There are beautiful pine trees in front and it really is serene.There really was no "down side" except you had to walk about 50 more steps, IMHO, not a big deal.
The view overlooking the pool was my kids favorite. Every spare minute in the room, they were checking out the pool, how many kids were in it and how many waiting for the slide-lol. We were in the Sierra Tower and we adults remember that THIS was the coveted view years ago. Before DTD everyone wanted the view looking at the dancing fountains! I personally don't enjoy the pool view although it is pretty enough, esp at night with the lights on but it seems boring. Others request it, my kids would request it.
So no matter what view you get, you will love your stay! Remember to ask for a coffee maker and a rollaway if you want them and put the Mickey toiletries in your bag each morning if you didn't use them so they will give you more-lol!