Am I being over critical of PBH

[psharrock]

This is now the second time we have stayed at PBH and it has always followed a stay at Disney

On our first stay we arrived at about 3pm to check and was told our room was not ready as check in starts at 4pm (fair enough I thought), however, it was 6pm before our rooms were ready.

We checked in yesterday and this time we arrived at about 4:20pm and was told our room was not ready and to come back in 10 mins. 30 mins later we were told the room has been flagged as partially clean (what a useless status this it, surely its either clean or it isn't) and it would be ready in 30 mins. 40 mins later we were told it was still not ready. They then changed our room assignment to one that was ready (why could they not have done that at the start).

Why say checkin is from 4pm, when I have never been able to get into a room until 6pm. The constant excuse being we are full, if this is the case employ more staff as this excuse is not my problem. If they cannot service all their rooms by 4pm then don't advertise checkin at 4pm.

Tonight we finally got housekeeping at 8pm when my children were getting ready for bed.

We have never been kept waiting past 4pm for a disney room, and usually we have been in by 1pm. We have stayed at Moderate and Deluxe resorts and some of these resorts have 1000's of rooms, yet they are able to get them ready in time. PBH has only approx 750 rooms.

Other things went wrong on our last stay and we would not have returned but after complaining, the manager gave us a free night towards our next reservation.

Please tell me this is not the norm.

Paul

 

[thedisneymom]

I would like to give you my opinion- Housekeeping is either really bad(which it was in my case) or really good which it was in Motherfletchers.It just depends what floor you are on. I wrote an e-mail to the hotel manager with my compliments and housekeeping complaints. I suggest you do the same.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Nope, you're not being overly critical. We had crummy housekeeping service too. I too complained, and got a free night, but we had some other lousy check-in issues as well.

 

[lookingforward]

I have stayed at all three resorts and found that the PBH was the worst as far as ho usekeeping and service. We had to wait past four o'clock too. When we got to the room it was a smoking room even though we were promised a non-smoking for health reasons. (son has horrible allergies)> The second room they assigned us was occupied. Yes, we opened the door and there were clothes, suitcases, etc. Now we are shleping down to the lobby a second time. They apologize and upgrade us to a "suite". We enter this room which is two bedrooms seperated by a living room. The first bedroom is fine, but when we enter the "living room" it is completely dirty. Used sheets on the bed(pull-out couch), dirty glasses, etc. The other room is the same. YUCK!

Now the manager comes to the room. He is not the nicest guy on the block. He calls housekeeping. They send up someone and he proceeds to yell at her. She yells back. It is now about 8 p.m. We are tired and grossed out. She cleans the room while we stand there feeling sorry for her. Not a nice way to start the day.

The manager promised us a credit on our room. It never happened. I made on half hearted attempt to inquire about it and they acted like I was crazy. I did not feel like repeating the entire story and the manager was gone, so I let it go. Give me the RPR or HRH any time.

 

[damo]

I've never stayed at PBH but have stayed at HRH and RPR. I have never had housekeeping issues at these resorts although I don't tend to like housekeeping every day but only every third day or so. I make my own beds and then just ask for clean towels as we need them. Much less hassle.

I wish that there was an optional housekeeping clause where you get a discount if you don't want housekeeping.

 

[psharrock]

thanks for the feedback

we don't like daily housekeeping either, we actually like the Disney Vaqcation Club for this reason as they leave us alone to do what we want in the room.

Thanks

Paul

 

[mouseRD]

How is it that the 5 star hotel has the worst housekeeping? Are they planning on doing something to remedy the situation?

 

[highlander447]

The money they charge even with discounts u expect and u should get better service

 

[speedi-deedi]

We are just back from a 3 night stay at PBH (our first non-Disney Orlando stay) and I wasn't impressed either. I'm a little frustrated that I paid for a bay view since my 6 yo would die to look out his window at boats, and we got the last room at the end of the east wing.....we had a garden view. Yes, if you stood at the window and looked to the right you could see water, but that's not why I paid up. In addition, the little housekeeping things bothered me....like not getting washcloths. When I asked the turndown housekeeper (5:00 ish), she told me she'd run out before she got to our room at the end (rub it in, why don't you!) but she'd go find some. So, we get back at 10:00 and still no wash cloths!! I called and had them bring me 4. I would also get a random sample of the shampoos and soaps - not one of each. I guess that's the luck for being the last room.

 

[MLindaG]

We just returned from an Orlando vacation and we stayed one night at the Portifino Resort for the first time. We arrived on July 31st at around 1 pm. My sister and her family arrived around 12 pm before me. We had asked to be close to one another. Her room was ready but mine was not (really didn't expect either one to be ready as it was early). So we took our luggage up to her place changed and hit the pool. When we got back to the room at 4pm our room was done. The housekeeping staff was in the hall and we were able to snag extra towels/washcloths as we were all taking showers to get ready for dinner and would need showers the next morning before running to the parks. We had no problems. We only stayed one night as we were off to our timeshare for the rest of the vacation. We wanted that FOTL and it was fantastic!!!!

 

[Patch'sD]

Stayed a total of 10 nights at the Portofino and never had a problem, rooms were clean and everything was as requested. House Keeping was always done prior to getting back to our rooms about 3 or 4 PM. On second trip did have to wait about 1/2 hour to get into room after 5:00 PM, no big deal checked out the Hotel and walked around. We were in the Villa wing and room service was always cleaning the rooms at about 9:00 AM. However, I am always a little suspicious when a Disney Compare is made. With more rooms there is a better chance that your room will be ready. Also did you ever think that more of the rooms are unoccupied and are sitting there empty. I have had lousy experiences with Disney House Keeping also. However it seems that Universal resorts come under additional scrutiny because they are not Disney but a competitor. Take of the Disney colored glasses and enjoy.

 

[UKDEB]

We have stayed at Portofino Bay twice and at Hard Rock Hotel twice. Our most recent stay at the PBH was a couple of weeks ago and this was the first time our room had been ready at check-in (around 2pm). Previously we have had to phone from the parks several times before our rooms have been ready and it has always been later than 5pm.

In the past we have always been pleased with our Loews stays and I've always been a huge advocate of staying onsite at Universal, but we were a little disappointed with PBH this time. We had been assigned rooms on the ground floor of the East Wing. The rooms were very tired and dirty (stained carpets, filthy windows and doors) and, due to their location, very dark and depressing. We are used to walking into deluxe resort rooms and feeling wowed, but we actually felt a bit shell-shocked. Neither room had a resort directory, there was rubbish in the bushes outside both rooms and no chairs on the patio of the Bay View room. The hotel was clearly very busy the day we checked in, but needless to say, that should be indiscernable to guests.

We tried to convince ourselves that our disappointment was due to having had a deluxe room with a balcony during our previous stay, but there were just too many niggles. The location/darkness of the room would have been a problem even if the resort was brand new, but we would have accepted that someone has to be assigned to those rooms. It was the state of the rooms we found unacceptable - both the 'fresh' dirt and the wear and tear. Dh phoned to ask if we could be moved. It wasn't possible that day as the hotel was full, but he was told we could be moved to fifth floor rooms the following day, so we were satisfied with the willingness of management to rectify the situation.

These rooms were much better as they were light, but the cleanliness and shabbiness were still unacceptable for a deluxe resort. In one room, housekeeping had clearly forgotten to vacuum. The bathroom was spotlessly clean, but there were hairs all over the floor which we found particularly unsavory.

The resort still has a very nice feel, but we felt that it is starting to look jaded. The upholstery in both the lobby and the Bar American is quite badly stained in places. We probably won't stay onsite at Universal again until either the existing hotels are refurbished (we visited the Hard Rock for a meal this time and it seemed to be in a similar state of disrepair), or a new resort is opened.

 

[psharrock]

Apart from PBH we had only ever stayed at HRH before, but on this holiday we moved from PBH to Don-Cesar (another Loews Hotel), and this place is in another world, you select a housekeeping timeslot that suites you, the place is clean and I am very very impressed with the place.

Why can't the PBH and HRH be run like the Don Cesar. A kids Suite at PBH cost more than a 1 Bedroom Suite at Don Cesar so there shouldn't be a cost reason as to why the Don Cesar is better.

Paul

 

[redfieldmjr]

I've stayed at this hotel three times and have always had some type of housekeeping issue. That being said, I love the look and feel of the place and have always voiced my concerns while on site. Actually, I like the place so much I want to see them succeed.
Because I am a recruiter and human resource person, I, at one point wrote the manager a letter and suggested they hire me in an effort to recruit para-professional staff. Nerve, huh?
Well, they didn't hire me but offered an upgrade next time I visited. We are trying it again this November with an annual pass rate of $202. I'm hoping for the best.

 

[tricia451]

Just returned home, spent 4 nights at Portofino, first time. WE loved it, were in the first floor in the West wing looking out to the pool. No noise problems at all, and it was easy to take our puppy on walks. The shuttle was almost at our door!!!

We did however encounter minor housekeeping problems as well. There was no coffee in the morning, just the sugar & whitener. They turned down the beds & left 2 mints, there were four of us. And that was the first night only, after that, there were none. On the morning of checkout, housekeeping knocked on the door and asked when we were leaving. We said "Around 11 a.m."......At 10:20 a.m. she was back knocking asking if we were leaving yet. Although these were very minor annoyances, I can see where if you stayed there for any longer it could get to you. Overall, we loved the hotel and would stay there again, but I'd love to try one of the others to compare.

Also.......is it customary to tip the maid each night or at the end of stay? We left our tip on the morning of departure & figured maybe that's why no mints??

Pat

 

[thedisneymom]

Funny you should bring that question up because we were discussing the very same thing last night. We met someone who stays there every year and leaves a tip for the housekeeper who makes the bed and a small one each day for turndown service. She mentioned that there is usually a different person each day and this works wonderfully. I think we are going to try this next year. I realize my next question is quite personal but would some of you mind letting me know what you feel is a average or good tip. Thanks ahead!

 

[tricia451]

We had no idea what to tip, so left $20 for the 4 nights.......What you said about staff changing on different days makes sense, though, and I think next time I will tip daily.....Anyone else with ideas on how much to tip?

Pat

 

[dinks]

I always tip good service. I tip daily because I've seen different housekeeping people in my room. I don't ask for turn down so that's not an issue.

Here's the but...even though I tip, it's not mandatory and shouldn't be expected. I tip WHEN I feel like I get good service. You guys shouldn't have to tip to get good service. If housekeeping treats you poorly because you didn't tip her (probably shouldn't put a gender here but I've never seen a male housekeeper before) last night then mousekeeping needs to find a new line of work.

 

[Motherfletcher]

We had to stay in a motel after the hurricane because we had no power. We had lousy housekeeping services. DW asked for dishwashing detergent for their dishwasher and was refused. We had to beg for towels. We didn't leave a tip. We got home and DW realized that she had put all of the jewelry she was wearing in one of those plastic cups and left it when we checked out. We lucked out that the housekeeper turned it in!

 

[splashfamily]

We just returned from the Portifino. (8/18 - 8/20) We had no problem with housekeeping. We did stay at club level though so I don't know if it made a differnce. The hotel was very busy (lots of hurricane families looking for shelter) We arrived early and when we returned from the parks (at 4pm ) our room was ready.

We loved the Portifino! What a beautiful hotel. I just wish it was a bit closer to US.