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We are booking a 2 bedroom suite at AKL in Sept. can anyone tell me pros and cons to Jambo house or Kidani Village? Not sure if one is better or different. We've never stayed at AKL before so any info on the differences would be great!
Thanks in advance for the advice!
We have stayed at both Jambo House and Kidani Village. Here are my pros and cons:
Jambo House:
Pros: Beautiful main lobby, restaraunts, more compact floor plan to hotel layout, we had a better animal experience off our balcony but it may just have been when we happen to be looking
Cons: Second stop on the bus route, rooms don't have the "extra" bathroom (2 for a 2 bedroom as opposed to 3 at Kidani)
Kidani Village:
Pros: Beautiful, quiet resort, I thought the pool was better, Only DVC villas, first stop on the bus route so we almost never needed to stand or wait long for a bus
Cons: No quick service restaurant (but coffee and drinks available in gift shop), lobby is not as grand, we thought the animals were slightly less active (but again may have been when were looking)
Bottom line: we will be staying at Kidani Village for a week this summer and are super excited! IMHO it is a hidden gem among DVC resorts.
Two words in favor of Kidani Village:
The Pool
We tried Kidani once but prefer Jambo house. More is t Jambo. It just seems like the REAL AKL. We love Boma. We tried Sanaa and won't eat there again. Boma is great for dinner and good for breakfast. We like Mara for quick service. Yes, the bus service seems little better at Jambo. Kidani is fine, we just prefer Jambo.
Kidani is a lot quieter then Jambo. Jambo is a lot more compact. We had a room at the end of the wing at Kidani and at the end of the day it seemed like we would never get our room. The joke for that trip was that they extended the wing and renovated it while we were gone for the day. We still laugh about it. We love Kidani though!!
Stayed at both. Kidani Village is better as it is just vacation club villas. Parking is better too. The big advantage with a 1 or 2 bedroom is an extra bathroom (similar to BLT). That way if you have guests stay on the fold out in the main living area they have a bathroom to use.
The only nice thing about Jambo is the "quick service" food area and the obvious lower points for the "value" accomidations. We always try to get a value studio for my parents when they come to visit (they use magical express to go to the airport). The value studios at Jambo House are the cheapest point value accomidations available.