BLT- given wrong category room?

[deltapilotwife]

Just got back from BLT and we reserved a Lake view 1 bedroom. The room wasn't ready until 3:50 and while I understand the guarantee is 4pm we were hanging out in the community room waiting for our room. A bit difficult with the 4 year old.

We were given 7210 and since I'm planning my next trip I decided to check the map to possibly request next time. But when I look at the map here it says that's a standard room

http://www.disboards.com/threads/bl...inks-last-update-of-post-1-1-22-2015.2257082/

that's a difference of 18 points over my stay. Just wondering how accurate the map is and whether I have any recourse? The room was fine...love the view from that side, but would have wanted to be higher up.

 

[rlovew]

You can call DVC and ask about it but since the maps we have are made up by member reports and DVC has never come out and said which rooms are which view they don't have to do anything about it if there was any water visible from your room. They may or may not give you back points to use at a later date.

 

[n2mm]

I would send an email to the satisfaction team and see what they say.

 

[bumbershoot]

Definitely contact them to see what they say.

The room wasn't ready until 3:50 and while I understand the guarantee is 4pm we were hanging out in the community room waiting for our room. A bit difficult with the 4 year old.

I believe that 4 is not a guarantee, but it's a "starting at" time. I know it's not easy, but rooms have to get cleaned...

 

[bobbiwoz]

Write to DVC, member services or member satisfaction. Explain why you thought the room you had was not "lake view." We did that once and did get the difference in points back.

 

[cvjw]

I can't speak to the correct category of your villa, but I can tell you that we have stayed at BLT multiple times, and have had our villa ready before 4:00 only one time. Several times it was after 5:00 when we were finally in our villa. We just expect to have a long wait when we check into BLT.

I did reserve a lakeview studio for our family one year, and they were given a studio on the second floor. I thought only standard studios were on the lower floors, but they technically could see the lake, so I let it go.

 

[deltapilotwife]

I did reserve a lakeview studio for our family one year, and they were given a studio on the second floor. I thought only standard studios were on the lower floors, but they technically could see the lake, so I let it go.

Thanks! we could see the lake, I just thought the standard views were on the lower floors. I'll send a note to member satisfaction but not going to worry too much about it. Just thought I'd check.

 

[supersnoop]

Thanks! we could see the lake, I just thought the standard views were on the lower floors. I'll send a note to member satisfaction but not going to worry too much about it. Just thought I'd check.

We were in 7212 as a standard view. I would expect 7210 to be the same. Has Member Satisfaction gotten back to you yet?

 

[Dean]

Just got back from BLT and we reserved a Lake view 1 bedroom. The room wasn't ready until 3:50 and while I understand the guarantee is 4pm we were hanging out in the community room waiting for our room. A bit difficult with the 4 year old.

We were given 7210 and since I'm planning my next trip I decided to check the map to possibly request next time. But when I look at the map here it says that's a standard room

http://www.disboards.com/threads/bl...inks-last-update-of-post-1-1-22-2015.2257082/

that's a difference of 18 points over my stay. Just wondering how accurate the map is and whether I have any recourse? The room was fine...love the view from that side, but would have wanted to be higher up.

To correct one misperception, rooms are not guaranteed at 4 pm, ASAMOF, much of the written info over the past few years has used the wording "after 4".

 

[niroc]

To correct one misperception, rooms are not guaranteed at 4 pm, ASAMOF, much of the written info over the past few years has used the wording "after 4".

The flip side of this would be how often do they grant late check outs (after 11 am)? I personally have never requested one but I wonder what percentage of people do and if they grant that request. Obviously if this done frequently this would affect the check in time because the rooms aren't getting cleaned early enough.

 

[Dean]

The flip side of this would be how often do they grant late check outs (after 11 am)? I personally have never requested one but I wonder what percentage of people do and if they grant that request. Obviously if this done frequently this would affect the check in time because the rooms aren't getting cleaned early enough.

Basically never. In the very early years it was allowed but before too long they implemented a policy of no late checkouts. Actually 11 am is a late check out for timeshares, most are 10 am.

 

[nkereina]

The flip side of this would be how often do they grant late check outs (after 11 am)? I personally have never requested one but I wonder what percentage of people do and if they grant that request. Obviously if this done frequently this would affect the check in time because the rooms aren't getting cleaned early enough.

As PP mentions, it's rare, and when they do, it's first approved by housekeeping and only approved when the resort is not at capacity so there's fewer rooms to turnover. I don't think there's ever a time when a DVC resort isn't at least near capacity....

The reason why the villas take so long to turnover is because housekeeping has to do a full clean of a much larger space than a standard room, and that's a full clean after no cleaning at all for days (since there is not regular housekeeping when staying on points). Families also tend to spend more time in the villas and do more cooking/eating there, which means there's simply more to clean and re-stock.

 

[Dean]

The reason why the villas take so long to turnover is because housekeeping has to do a full clean of a much larger space than a standard room, and that's a full clean after no cleaning at all for days (since there is not regular housekeeping when staying on points). Families also tend to spend more time in the villas and do more cooking/eating there, which means there's simply more to clean and re-stock.

IMO there are several reasons that add up to rooms being declared as ready somewhat late. Besides just the requisite cleaning time I find DVC housekeeping generally slow and disorganized compared to other timeshares we visit. There's also often quite a delay between the room being ready and the final notification. IMO the difficulty in cleaning the units is not the main issue generally speaking. That's not to say they don't do a good job but often they don't do a great job in this area.

 

[nkereina]

IMO there are several reasons that add up to rooms being declared as ready somewhat late. Besides just the requisite cleaning time I find DVC housekeeping generally slow and disorganized compared to other timeshares we visit. There's also often quite a delay between the room being ready and the final notification. IMO the difficulty in cleaning the units is not the main issue generally speaking. That's not to say they don't do a good job but often they don't do a great job in this area.

I'm sure it's a combination of all this, but the actual cleaning does take up more time than a standard hotel room, hence the late check in time. I suspect they have less housekeepers on staff as well, since cleanings are not as frequent and there's fewer rooms. That might add to the disorganization of it too.

 

[Dean]

I'm sure it's a combination of all this, but the actual cleaning does take up more time than a standard hotel room, hence the late check in time. I suspect they have less housekeepers on staff as well, since cleanings are not as frequent and there's fewer rooms. That might add to the disorganization of it too.

Others companies manage to be more firm and do better about getting rooms ready on time so my view is Disney could if they wanted. Actually Disney's set up with points likely makes it easier, not more difficult, to get the rooms ready consistently because they can have more full time staff working daily. Thus I must conclude that the reason for rooms being ready late is not the inherent time involved in cleaning a given unit but the other controllable items such as having enough staff to do the job right, controllable efficiency issues and work effort of the staff. I suspect that the largest single holdup is actually notification when the rooms are ready rather than the act of getting them ready but I'm sure it's not one size fits all.

 

[nkereina]

Others companies manage to be more firm and do better about getting rooms ready on time so my view is Disney could if they wanted. Actually Disney's set up with points likely makes it easier, not more difficult, to get the rooms ready consistently because they can have more full time staff working daily. Thus I must conclude that the reason for rooms being ready late is not the inherent time involved in cleaning a given unit but the other controllable items such as having enough staff to do the job right, controllable efficiency issues and work effort of the staff. I suspect that the largest single holdup is actually notification when the rooms are ready rather than the act of getting them ready but I'm sure it's not one size fits all.

Well obviously their lack of staff is the main culprit. When you have a lack of staff coupled with a job that needs to be done that's a longer process, you have delays galore.

As far as notification when rooms are ready, do you mean the notification housekeeping gives to the front desk or the notification Disney gives to the guest? Because I think a lot of people who have stayed can attest to the fact they've showed up close to 4pm with the room still not ready yet per the front desk, not the notification system. When a housekeeper turns a room over, it's marked as ready instantaneously in most hotels - not sure how Disney handles it, but that's how it's been in hotels I've worked in.

 

[nalajms]

I suspect that the largest single holdup is actually notification when the rooms are ready rather than the act of getting them ready but I'm sure it's not one size fits all.

We encountered this last year at AKV-K. Checked in after DME dropped us off. Front desk said they'd text us the room number when it was ready. Waited in the lobby for about 2 hours. Went back to the check in to see if our room was ready, gave us the room number that never came as a text! We went to the room, our luggage was already delivered!

 

[disneynutz]

Mousekeeping for DVC has some major issues. Rooms not reported as cleaned, rooms cleaned on the wrong days, rooms not cleaned correctly, Mousekeepers caught watching TV, knocking on your door at 9AM on check out day even though you left the DND tag out.

All this plus they get to leave work early with pay if they report that they finished their section.

Bill

 

[Dean]

Well obviously their lack of staff is the main culprit. When you have a lack of staff coupled with a job that needs to be done that's a longer process, you have delays galore.

As far as notification when rooms are ready, do you mean the notification housekeeping gives to the front desk or the notification Disney gives to the guest? Because I think a lot of people who have stayed can attest to the fact they've showed up close to 4pm with the room still not ready yet per the front desk, not the notification system. When a housekeeper turns a room over, it's marked as ready instantaneously in most hotels - not sure how Disney handles it, but that's how it's been in hotels I've worked in.

At the end of the day all I really care about is them being ethical, efficient, getting the rooms ready and controlling costs. My observations are just that but they are based on many stays with DVC and elsewhere over the last 20 yrs. Let me be clear so as no one thinks I'm picking on any group. Overall I think DVC does an OK job in this area but I do think other companies do a consistently better job.

It seems you are assuming or believe that the housekeeping staff themselves do a top notch job and the problems are above that. I do not believe that is consistently the case, I believe there is room for improvement at all levels and at all stops along the way. Again, generally speaking. As for as notifications, I think there are often delays at all points along the way but esp at the level where the FD is notified that a given villa is ready. I still hold DVC responsible if they have a sloppy system or sloppy people because they should train people to do things correctly and eliminate those that can't get up to speed.

 

[TagsMissy]

OP I am curious what were you told by Member Services??