Diamond Resorts Polynesian Isles Phase I – Kissimmee

Below is my previous review. I need to explain why my old review was deleted, re-posted.

About a month after I stayed, I started getting “marketing” calls from somebody representing them. Now when they call, 1. It sounds like they are calling from a mass calling centre, there is typically a considerable amount of background noise. 2. They look seem to be using either mobile phones or VOIP to make these calls, as the number calling keeps changing. 3. The first two times they called, if you give any indication that you’re interested, they literately hand the phone to their “manager”. It’s not a “transfer”, as no disconnect occurs “even temporarily”. This leads me to believe that these calls are scams. 4. If you say “not interested” they just hang up. This prevents you from uttering the phrase “Add me to your do not call list”

Due to these reasons, and the incessant attempts at “selling” additional packages, I can no longer recommend staying there.

If you have read my reviews before, you can guess that I am a “semi-local”. What I mean by this, is that I live in West Palm, which is only a few hours from Kissimmee. Being Disney fans, we do try to get to the parks every chance we can “minus the really busy or sweltering times” Polynesian Isles is now on my list of “Stay At” hotels. When we arrived, check-in was painless, the desk attendant was cheerful and more than happy to assist!

Please beware. If you are mobility impaired, it is advisable that you call a good time ahead of your stay and request a ground floor unit. Phase 4 doesn’t have elevator’s so if you are mobility impaired, you may have issues.

We arrived in the evening, she gave us a rundown of the different facilities of the resort, from the pools, hot tubs, business centre, and the convenience store on premises. The rooms were clean, and the beds were comfy. We were upgraded to a 2 room suite, however, the second room went unused apart from storing a cooler and our luggage. The bathrooms were spacious, the shower is a nice sized walk in, with a roman sized tub. The master bathroom also had two sinks, so the wife and I had plenty of room for our toiletries. Of course, the resort provided basic toiletries “hand soap, facial soap, shampoo and conditioner” The unit has everything one would expect in a kitchen. Saute pan, saucepan, roasting pan. Plenty of dishes and cutlery. I loved the fact that it was a regularly sized coffee maker as opposed to the two cup kinds you would typically find. The kitchen had a full-size stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, and a blender “Got to have those margarita’s ;)” Unit also included a few dishwasher tabs when needed and a single use pack of laundry detergent.

The washing machine/dryer is shared with another unit, and there is one set per floor but that didn’t bother me. They are standard washer/dryer, so no coins are needed “definitely a big plus”

If you do want to stay here, let me give this word of advice. If you’re arriving from Osceola Parkway, jump to 192 “Irlo Bronson” either on Seralago Blvd, or Poinciana Blvd, then go to Scott Blvd/Polynesian Isle Blvd. Polynesian Isle Blvd doesn’t connect directly to Osceola, and you will have to go through a few parking lots to connect, so it can be a little confusing. The resort is West of the turnpike, but East of I4.

There are plenty of restaurants around the hotel, and a Sams/Walmart just a short drive away.

We stayed at Polynesian Isles previously and loved it.

This time our family traded for 5 units and were put in Polynesian Isles PHASE 4. This is definitely a major step down. 3 floors with no elevator, laundry facilities outside the unit.

You need to sort your laundry on the porch and you share the outside washer/dryer with another unit. I am 71 years old. They put me on the 3rd floor. After carrying up luggage and groceries, we found the 2nd BR only had 1 bed. Called the office, asked for another unit with enough beds, mentioned how hard it was for me on the 3rd floor.

They moved me to another building, again on the 3rd floor. had to carry everything down, then up 3 flights repeatedly with luggage and groceries.

We called prior at least 2 times and told them having outside laundry was a deal breaker. they did not care. They were more worried about booking 5 units than customer service.

Stay away from phase 4. Go someplace else. This is not the same as regular Polynesian Isles. Hard for seniors climbing 3 flights of stairs and really irritating to do laundry on the porch and share the machines. What a hassle. We never stayed at a resort that was this inferior. Grounds are a 10.

Units are small but clean, a degree of difficulty for seniors or Moms with a family is a 10. Go someplace else.

My husband and I came down to Orlando for a quick one night get away from our home in Jacksonville. We booked a night at this resort through Expedia on 7/10 to check in on 7/15.

We arrived to the resort a few hours before check in so we were not sure if we would be able to get into our room so early, but we just wanted to check and if not we would just hang by the pool until our room was ready.

We pulled up to the resort and you are treated by a security guard. He was very pleasant and asked if we were checking in and asked our name. I gave him our last name and he went into the guard station I am assuming to look for our name on a list. He came back out, got our vehicle information and said “welcome home”. This is where our pleasant experience stopped.

We went into the front desk lobby to see if we could check in and I gave them our name. Front desk associate said that he couldn’t find our reservation and that they had been fully booked for a week. He asked me to forward my confirmation email to him, which I did, so he could see if his manager could find anything. We then sat in the lobby and waited. And waited. And waited. At this point, I asked what was going on because if we didn’t have a room I did not want to waste more time sitting in a lobby when we needed to scramble to find another room for our one-night getaway.

The manager, Ricardo, said that we would need to find another room as they were booked and didn’t have our reservation. This was after us waiting 30-45 minutes in their lobby. He didn’t offer to help find us other accommodations… I had to ask him. He then disappeared in his office again and we didn’t know what he was doing. We then found our own room at another AMAZING resort – Caribe Royal – which is right down the road and I HIGHLY recommend. We left the property with no compensation or apology for our wasted time and lost reservation.

But that’s not the end of it… after we were already checked in to our new hotel, Ricardo calls my cell phone and tells me that my reservation popped up in their system and they have a room at their sister property … what?!?!

My experience was terrible and I will not be going back. The resort itself looked beautiful from what we saw of it, but in my opinion, we were not treated at the level that a resort like this should be treating their guests.

I am happy with RCI but the unit that the location placed us in seem to be the dregs of their room or condos.

Appliances do not work. Bugs.

Repeated calls to get new things fixed in the unit at the Polynesian Isles.

Just because we have not directly paid these resorts to stay there we DO PAY A LOT OF MONEY for the services.