AT BCV's now and NOT HAPPY!!!!

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Your big error IMHO online check in at BCV

They then assign you the room and neither "hexx or high water" will move it.

At 6 PM I went to the front desk and pitched a FIT. I had been there since 10 AM an you want me to believe that NO ONE who came after me got a room??? REALLY? Turns out that "you are assigned a room and we don't look at anything else" Of course the family in my room had extended thier stay and they weren't moving!

All of a sudden when I pitched a fit there were SEVERAL rooms available.

I won't ever do online at BCV again. It works other place but there.... NO!!!!!

That said, it's my favorite place to stay and I have never had a bad room.

The dreaded view OP is complaining about... well I didn't hear noise and when I sat on my porch directly ahead I could see Illumniations. Turn my head a little and I could see Wishes Loved that!

 

[crisi]

Hi Crisi, I didn't mean to hit home with you. I guess I didn't make my point very well so I'll spell out my goals when I post to such issues since it's clear to me over the years that this distinction has often been misunderstood.

When I post about such issues I try to post to the principles involved rather than a specific circumstance unless it's a very clear and specific situation. That does two things, it avoid giving an opinion directly on a situation where I don't have the full story and likely never will have due to having only one side, it also allows me to avoid posting info directed specifically at another person. However, if I do post to a principle and someone finds themselves accused by the principle involved, so be it. In this particular case, that's why I posted that someone wanting a change for view alone should be charged rather than saying that the OP should be charged. If it ends up being one and the same, I'm OK with that.

We're good. The issue of course becomes one persons unacceptable is another's inconvienence. If you need the stove or fridge to work and it doesn't, that's unacceptable to pretty much everyone. But when it's unacceptable to have a tree blocking your view of fireworks...

And what ends up happening is that those that are willing to put up with inconvienent, end up putting up with it every trip...because someone has rejected the room with a broken draw pull or a bad view or is too far from the elevators or not close enough to the pool or because the frying pan is missing.

A stove that doesn't work because you need to plug the burners in is different than a stove that doesn't work or for which the burners have gone missing. I'm not sur which was the case here.

 

[mjc2003]

We have BLT booked for dec and wanted to switch at 7 months to BCV. Should I not bother? I am a very light sleeper, and we have a 2 yo hat goes to bed early. It we got a really noisy room, would be dissapointed in switching. What section should I request for the most quiet? Or would 4 or 5 floor suffice?

Since this is suddenly turning into an "all things bad about BCV", let me put some of this to rest. We have stayed there 4 times in the last 4 years, and bought DVC b/c of BCV. We have stayed at 3 other DVC properties and visited several others to check them out, in our opinion, none compare (though all are wonderful, this is just one persons opinion). We have stayed in a 2 BR every time. The first 2 years we were facing the dreaded "road", which does have some traffic especially now that the parks are open late. However, it was never anything more than faint, uneventful background noise. A bathroom fan would drown it out, if it even is required. We stayed twice on cash facing the road and then became members, which should tell you how terrible it is.

As for the specific issues being mentioned, they happen everywhere. This always, to me, speaks more to every owner needing to assume ownership and dealing with some of these things in a proactive manner. Don't leave the problems for the next person.

To your questions, we were on the upper floors on the road side (don't remember room numbers), and we also stayed pool side (room 268) and the last time we were in the last room near the parking lot (room 178). We have two small children, 6 and 3, and none of these locations resulted in any sort of sleeping issues. Room 268 was the best (if you can request a specific room) I have NOT stayed on the lowest floors on the road side, this could be a factor--can't speak to that. I would request poolside if you want to be totally safe, it's december and I doubt anybody will be in the pool (maybe a few in the hot tub) much after 9 at night.

As to whether or not you should switch, I would say go for it if you've never been to BCV and want to check out a really cool resort. Of course being that close to MK at BLT with a 2 year old would be tempting. Whatever you do, I would not make the decision based on fears of noise.

 

[SecretPoohLove]

Thank you so much for easing my fears...I will go for it and hope for the best!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have BLT booked for dec and wanted to switch at 7 months to BCV. Should I not bother? I am a very light sleeper, and we have a 2 yo hat goes to bed early. It we got a really noisy room, would be dissapointed in switching. What section should I request for the most quiet? Or would 4 or 5 floor suffice?

In December, I would stick with BLT if I had a 2 year old, just to be so near the MK!

I too love BCV and wouldn't be put off by what's said here, but I've been to WDW a lot in December and I've never been there then when swimming has been a major activity!

 

[Best Aunt]

When I waited for the call (2 trips ago), it never came. However, I kept asking at the front desk if the room was ready, and eventually it was. I was so exhausted, I fell asleep in the lobby waiting. It was 4:45 pm, but I had been up since about 2:00 to get my flight. That was at BWV.

Next trip, at BCV I asked for a text instead of a call. I ate a cupcake in that room between the BCV pool and the BCV main elevator, and I got the text.

This year at BCV, we asked for text instead of call. We got a text.

Maybe it was a coincidence, but I'm asking for text rather than a call now. And if I'm desperate for the room, I'll stop by the front desk and ask periodically. (And if I'm not desperate for the room, a cupcake always makes me happy.)

Does anybody know -- does the text/call come from the hotel itself, or from some centralized location?

 

[blondietink]

OP here with an update: Again we waited all day for the phone call that never came. When we got to the front desk this morning to check out, we gave them our cell phone number again(3rd time). We got back from HS after 4 pm and they claimed they had called and left a message. turns out they called our HOME PHONE! So, that miight be the issue for others. They don't seem to get the cell phone vs. home phone number.

YES! Stormalong Bay is fully open today!

Our new room is less than perfect, but it is quiet which is all we ask. We live in a very rural area, so road noise is a major issue for us. We ask for a quiet room wherever we go and have always received one, until last night, that is.

Condition of the room is better, but still some issues with stove not working (I do use it on vacation), refrigerator shelves missing, lights not working, etc. we will take the suggestion to contact maintenance and/or leave a note.

Bell services has been great as has the valet. Front desk still needs work.

We have stayed at BWV, OKW, AKV and BCV (all more than once) in the past and have never had issues like we have had on this visit. we have also stayed at POP, CBR and CSR, never with a problem. We will make the most of this visit, but will book at another resort next time!

 

[blondietink]

One more thing ..... we had requested a pool view and high floor. And we checked in at 12:30 pm. I'm sure that there were other people who checked in after us.

 

[bbluvsdis]

We got the worst room at OKW when we were there in December. We were right next to the entrance to the resort and all of the buses came right by our patio. We couldn't use the patio at all. We just put up with it and I am trying not to let it influence my opinion of the resort as I know many love it. I was envious of those talking about their wonderful golf course views. We had buses on one side and 4 air conditioner units on the other. Oh well, we still had a great time just not as magical as it could have been.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Condition of the room is better, but still some issues with stove not working (I do use it on vacation), refrigerator shelves missing, lights not working, etc. we will take the suggestion to contact maintenance and/or leave a note. ...

Don't leave a note. Your housekeeper may not see it, may not be able to read it, may toss it in the trash as she leaves your room. Call Maintenance for maintenance issues, housekeeping for housekeeping issues.

 

[Sammie]

And let Member Satisfaction know about your stay and concerns.

 

[kirstenb1]

OP, I understand the noise issue. WE too live in a very rural area. One time years ago we were booked into OKW, I think building 29. Before we entered the room, I could hear lots of noise from a road nearby. I went back to thefront desk to request a more quiet room. At first they did want to charge me a room change fee. But I explained we hadn't entered the room, and they were welcome to confirm that. It was in the middle of January, so I'm thinking that helped. We got another room, and were happy. I don't care how close I am to a pool, how many steps I need to lug the stroller etc, I just want a good night's sleep.

 

[PatMcDuck]

So, we checked out of Sheraton Vistana Resort today (very happy here) and go to DTD to do some shopping. Got to BCV's and checked in ...... long lines, even though we did online check-in. Gave them out phone number to call when the room was ready. Well, 4 pm comes and goes and DH goes back to registration. the keys to our villa had been ready for 3 HOURS and nobody called to let us know. Stormalong Bay is so vcrowded you can't get a chair in the part that actually is open. Get to our 1 bedroom villa and it is in the worst part of the resort overlooking the road! Very loud noise all the time with trucks, buses and cars wizzing by along with fumes. Can't even sit out on the balcony and carry on a conversation. So, DH goes back to registration to complain. Thre is no other room available (well, if they had called us when the room was ready instead of 3 hours later, maybe we could have gotten a different room). We can have a different villa tomorrow. So, that means we have to pack up everything tomorrow and move again! YUCK!!!!

I sort of like that room location, by the road, in a way. You can see the fireworks if you look to the right on the balcony, and you can hear the music from that Beatles band. We were on one of the top floors, however. Up there, the traffic noise is not bad at all, I have had that room location twice. On a lower floor, I might feel differently, I don't know.

We are BCV owners, and it is not for everyone. None of the room views are that great, for one thing. Stormalong Bay seems to have part of it closed off on a regular basis, too. And I personally do not like the way the slide at the pool is set up, you have to cross a public sidewalk to get to the stairs for that straight, sort of boring (IMHO) slide. Slide at BWV is much more fun, clown or no clown.

 

[KBoopaloo]

OP here with an update: Again we waited all day for the phone call that never came. When we got to the front desk this morning to check out, we gave them our cell phone number again(3rd time). We got back from HS after 4 pm and they claimed they had called and left a message. turns out they called our HOME PHONE! So, that miight be the issue for others. They don't seem to get the cell phone vs. home phone number.

We stayed at OKW last October and there was a fire in the room next door to us which resulted in a bunch of folks entering our room to be sure all was okay in there. Because the smoke smell was so strong, they moved all of our stuff away from the wall we shared with the other room and left the patio door open to air things out. We got to the room to find all of our belongings moved into one large pile and the patio door open with no note and no message on our in room phone. Our first response was panic and thinking the room had somehow been broken into.

We headed down to the front desk where the manager on duty explained what had happened and INSISTED that she had called us and left a message. None of the three adults in our party had either a missed call or a message from anyone at OKW on our phones. When we returned home, we discovered they did leave a message on our home phone the day AFTER the incident making sure that our new room (where they moved us to get away from the smoke smell) was satisfactory. The resorts do seem to have an issue with the cell versus home phone thing which really shouldn't be that tough.

After returning home, MS was also able to determine that they didn't call us at ANY number to alert us to the original situation despite the insistence of the manager at the front desk that night.

 

[AKLFan3]

Sorry to hear that your experience was less than magical. I stayed in a 1 bedroom at BCV in October 2011. It was the first time I have stayed there and the room just didn't seem that clean. Kind of worn down too and not worth the points spent. The room also faced the street but I didn't notice the traffic. I won't go out of my way to stay at BCV again. In my experience, the newer resorts, AKV and SSR, are clean and up to date without maintenance issues. I haven't stayed at BLT yet so I cannot comment on that one.

 

[mjc2003]

Sorry to hear that your experience was less than magical. I stayed in a 1 bedroom at BCV in October 2011. It was the first time I have stayed there and the room just didn't seem that clean. Kind of worn down too and not worth the points spent. The room also faced the street but I didn't notice the traffic. I won't go out of my way to stay at BCV again. In my experience, the newer resorts, AKV and SSR, are clean and up to date without maintenance issues. I haven't stayed at BLT yet so I cannot comment on that one.

Hmmmm....when we stayed at Jambo there was a significant amount of dried blood running down the front of a toilet and onto the floor. Like, as in, do I call housekeeping or a detective? I detailed this in a TR last August. When we stayed at Kidani in a 2BR one night before switching to a GV, the fridge didn't work and the pullout bed was unusable (same happened at Jambo, at Jambo they got it open after two trips from maintenance). It simply wouldn't open, and they had to bring it out and replace it (didn't do us any good, we were gone the next day).

So in my experience, the newer resorts were less clean (to me blood trumps a worn carpet) and had more maintenance issues than I've ever encountered in 4 stays at BCV and one stay at BWV, both "older" resorts.

I guess what I'm saying is, these experiences shape our mindset going forward. You have a bad taste from BCV, we love it. We ran into issues at AK, most probably don't. There are potential issues to be had everywhere, I think most often everything is fine but there are a few lemons. Some choose to make lemonade, some choose to give themselves a paper cut and squeeze lemon juice in it. I am quite confident I could stay at Jambo again and have no problems, and could very easily return to BCV and run into a room like the one you had. There is always that tinge of doubt, until we walk in the door who knows?

I think it's most important that we all document and follow up on these issues. This will serve to make it better for all, and since we are all have invested a lot of money and precious vacation time, it's worth it for all of us to bring these issues immediately to the attention of the right people.

 

[nunzia]

We're good. The issue of course becomes one persons unacceptable is another's inconvienence. If you need the stove or fridge to work and it doesn't, that's unacceptable to pretty much everyone. But when it's unacceptable to have a tree blocking your view of fireworks...

And what ends up happening is that those that are willing to put up with inconvienent, end up putting up with it every trip...because someone has rejected the room with a broken draw pull or a bad view or is too far from the elevators or not close enough to the pool or because the frying pan is missing.

A stove that doesn't work because you need to plug the burners in is different than a stove that doesn't work or for which the burners have gone missing. I'm not sur which was the case here.

I can sympathize with OP about a damaged unit and be a bit peeved about not getting the room ready text (at VGC they are usually pretty good but there are times it hasn't happened so I've learned to just call if it starts hitting 3pm..one time our room wasn't ready until nearly 6pm and we checked in at 7 am). However, the room thing always bugs me. EVERYBODY wants the perfect room and if someone whines and turns into the squeaky wheel then the person who was assigned that perfect room is now bumped out, which is not fair IMO. Luck of the draw. I've learned that at VGC you need to request a view when you book..I generally get a nice view, but have also had a ground floor and when staying Concierge got a view of the parking lot. Those rooms exist, the resort is full, so someone had to be in them. As long as the room is in good shape I'm fine. (my pet peeve at VGC and the hotel rooms there as well, is they seem to have an issue with the tubs holding water. Nearly everytime I go it won't and here come the fix it guys late at night. I've learned to try and fill the tub the minute I get in the room.)

 

[palhockeymomof2]

So sorry you were not happy with your room....I do think everyone's idea of the "perfect" room is different...we've stayed at BCV many times and enjoy the view you are talking about since as others have pointed out we were able to see fireworks etc.....
I also think sometimes we get too caught up in getting what we consider to be the perfect room.....on our last visit we were assigned a 2 br at BCv that didn't meet any of our requests no other 2brs were available that day...we checked in on a Wednesday...would up loving the room location since we could easily use the stairs to go one flight down and were close to the marketplace ..it was on the 2nd floor with a view of the courtyard between the Boardwalk and BCV

As far as getting notified when the room is ready....as others have noted...I've had no problem getting text messages....haven't asked for a phone call since this option was added

 

[DVCJones]

I checked in to BCV on the 14th.at 11am. I made a request a few months before the trip. Again when I used online Check-in and again when I actually checked in. Guess what... It wasn't available!!! No biggie! It was a request. My room was not available when I checked in...no biggie. I feel like my room is so far away from everything too... No biggie. (Our room backs up to the path that leads to Epcot.) Do I think it is ideal? Hardly! Would I like a different room? Sure! But, I am trying to make the best of my vacation. I am happy that SAB is open!!! The sun is shining, I'm with my family, I'm not working, etc.

Try and make the most of it instead of dwelling on all that is "wrong", and dwell on what is right...

I hope you can enjoy your vacation!

 

[n2mm]

I checked in to BCV on the 14th.at 11am. I made a request a few months before the trip. Again when I used online Check-in and again when I actually checked in. Guess what... It wasn't available!!! No biggie! It was a request. My room was not available when I checked in...no biggie. I feel like my room is so far away from everything too... No biggie. (Our room backs up to the path that leads to Epcot.) Do I think it is ideal? Hardly! Would I like a different room? Sure! But, I am trying to make the best of my vacation. I am happy that SAB is open!!! The sun is shining, I'm with my family, I'm not working, etc.

Try and make the most of it instead of dwelling on all that is "wrong", and dwell on what is right...

I hope you can enjoy your vacation!

Sounds like our last stay at the BCV. We requested pool view and got road view. That was my only request. But we found the things we liked about it. It was a couple of doors away to the ice machine and both elevators were equal distance from our room, so we turned right to go to the parking lot and left to go to the lobby. We are back at the BCV next week and again requested pool view and hoping to get it this time.