Sapphire Falls Resort

[amityboattours]

Especially if you booked online and didn't even have a clue this was the first day.

I'd imagine there is an extremely low percentage of people in that particular situation today, if any tbf.
They'll all be getting free drinks and maybe more if they decide to complain further, so I'm sure it'll all be smoothed over and forgotten about by the end of the day. The age of TripAdvisor reviews has overall benefitted customers much more than it has stressed out hotel managers in these cases!

 

[STL]

I knew you weren't going to pass up the Rum Bar.

I know we only met once, but you know me very well! :wave:

 

[Brian G.]

90 minutes?!? That is crazy. They should have anticipated this since they have opened other hotels before and had extra staff on site with laptops to get people checked in faster. I would be livid if I had to wait 90 minutes to check into a hotel. Especially if you booked online and didn't even have a clue this was the first day.

No other way to really prepare for it. I'm at hotel and there are plenty of employees as "all hands on deck". Just can only do so much to check-in all rooms at once, especially during Summer.

 

[Teebin]

I'm at hotel

Which wing is open? I assumed it was the wing next to Hollywood Way?

 

[Brian G.]

Which wing is open? I assumed it was the wing next to Hollywood Way?

From looks of it, all wings open. Convention area is still the area under work. I'll double check though.

 

[IzzyB]

No other way to really prepare for it. I'm at hotel and there are plenty of employees as "all hands on deck". Just can only do so much to check-in all rooms at once, especially during Summer.

I don't know. Maybe it is me. But I would not be a happy camper, especially with two kids. It would take more than a couple free drinks to satisfy me with a 90 minute wait. I have to imagine there are people like me. I normally wait at most 10 minutes to check into a hotel. 80% of the time I walk right up to an open person and check in. I would never expect a 90 minute wait.

Put 20 employees checking in people and it would move faster. Again, I will say, they have opened hotels before, they had to know this was coming since they know how many reservations they had. A big way to prevent this would have been up front only allow 30% of the rooms to be occupied the first night, then 60% the next, than 80%, then finally 100%. Then you don't have so many people checking in at once. So they could have done things, but they decided not to.

I realize this will fade and go away and most people won't remember outside of a couple bad reviews on trip advisor. But still I feel this should have been thought about ahead of time.

 

[Brian G.]

I don't know. Maybe it is me. But I would not be a happy camper, especially with two kids. It would take more than a couple free drinks to satisfy me with a 90 minute wait. I have to imagine there are people like me. I normally wait at most 10 minutes to check into a hotel. 80% of the time I walk right up to an open person and check in. I would never expect a 90 minute wait.

Put 20 employees checking in people and it would move faster. Again, I will say, they have opened hotels before, they had to know this was coming since they know how many reservations they had. A big way to prevent this would have been up front only allow 30% of the rooms to be occupied the first night, then 60% the next, than 80%, then finally 100%. Then you don't have so many people checking in at once. So they could have done things, but they decided not to.

I realize this will fade and go away and most people won't remember outside of a couple bad reviews on trip advisor. But still I feel this should have been thought about ahead of time.

You not familiar with how cruise ships board? Same idea today. This won't be happening again after today.

And they opened 3 since they became a Resort, but only 1 since they became "relevant" with Cabana Bay, and that opened in sections and not during the middle of Summer.

 

[Teebin]

I don't know. Maybe it is me. But I would not be a happy camper, especially with two kids.

My motto is, never go to the grand opening of ANYTHING. I didn't see Hogsmeade etc. until November of the same year and yet I lived 20 minutes away and had an AP. Krazy Krowds drive me bonkers.

 

[UNIrd]

The issue is apparently with the RFID technology and the hotel room keys is crawling and taking up to 4 minutes for one key.

I came from work so I was in a button down and slacks so I actually had to open up my suitcase in the bathroom to change. I'll just head to the parks and check in later.

 

[IzzyB]

My motto is, never go to the grand opening of ANYTHING. I didn't see Hogsmeade etc. until November of the same year and yet I lived 20 minutes away and had an AP. Krazy Krowds drive me bonkers.

Oh I agree. I would not be there. But when booking online for a vacation were people well aware this was the first day? Because I am wondering if everyone knew that is in line.

 

[Scott W.]

You not familiar with how cruise ships board? Same idea today. This won't be happening again after today.

And they opened 3 since they became a Resort, but only 1 since they became "relevant" with Cabana Bay, and that opened in sections and not during the middle of Summer.

Exactly. I don't know what the average stay is but even if we assume it's 4 days, divide the queue by 4 and even then not everybody would be showing up early like today.

Not to mention it's going to be mostly new staff and training can only do so much.

 

[ChrisFL]

Really not just trying to be a 'negative nancy' here, but whilst this place looks perfectly serviceable, I don't think it has enough of a unique/original identity compared to the other on-site's.

I agree, it looks very boring/generic overall, except for the pool area. I was expecting something that looked much more premium. The interior shots of the main lobby are also extremely bland.

 

[Teebin]

The issue is apparently with the RFID technology and the hotel room keys is crawling and taking up to 4 minutes for one key.

Goodness, this has not been a good year for Universal and RFID!

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Goodness, this has not been a good year for Universal and RFID!

RFID:
Rarely
Functioning
IDentification

 

[Kungaloosh1937]

They're having massive issues with check in and key printing.

But otherwise, it's beautiful and most certainly a deluxe resort. Every bit as much as the other three. It is the moderate because it doesn't include Express and the rooms are slightly smaller.

 

[UniversalCityFL]

I agree, it looks very boring/generic overall, except for the pool area. I was expecting something that looked much more premium. The interior shots of the main lobby are also extremely bland.

I agree. The intended theme is quite weak (where are we again, exactly?) and the interiors of the hotel feel a little sterile. Lobby feels like a convention hall.

If you compare this to, say, Royal Pacific, which hits you over the head with the South Pacific theme the moment you step into the lobby. Or CBBR. (Or HRH or PBH!). The moment you walk into those hotels it just "clicks" and you "get it". Sapphire doesn't do that for me.

 

[IzzyB]

You not familiar with how cruise ships board? Same idea today. This won't be happening again after today.

And they opened 3 since they became a Resort, but only 1 since they became "relevant" with Cabana Bay, and that opened in sections and not during the middle of Summer.

I am familiar. In the old days in your package you would get the information which it would tell you it would take long and be their early, etc. You would also be grouped and wouldn't all be in the same line. Now they do online check in which makes the actual check in process much quicker and when my mom went she said she barely waited to board the ship.

My point was they should have seen this coming and done something like limit first day reservations. They could have easily done this and prevented from the whole hotel checking in on the first day where there are bound to be issues (like the key issue).

 

[Teebin]

I would hope they are just not finished with the theming. The walls with the air vents are currently blank slates that need to be filled.

 

[UniversalCityFL]

Sorry for flipping out on this hotel but I seriously do not get the theme. Why is there a mid-century starburst lamp in a carribbean hotel? It has no business being there. Where are the wicker chairs? The pastel colors? The beachy-breezy vibe? I know I'm being a snob but from a designer's POV, this is a huge missed op.

 

[SpatulaShack]

...I forgot about that Lowes is the ones owning it..

Just to be clear, Loews does not own any of the 5 on-site hotels. They are wholly owned by Universal and are operated by Loews. At least that is what I've always been told internally. Universal writes the checks and designs the hotels and Loews operates them. Am I wrong on that?

"EDIT: I just did some digging and found this article in the Orlando Sentinel that explains the relationship in more detail. Universal Orlando's three existing hotels are owned by a joint-venture in which Loews holds a 50 percent stake and Universal has a 25 percent share. The remaining 25 percent is owned by the Seminole Tribeof Florida, which owns the Hard Rock brand. That joint venture invested more than $580 million in the first three hotels, according to regulatory filings"

So it appears they both own the hotels. Is that still the case after the full acquisition by Comcast where they purchased all controlling interest in the Universal Orlando property?