OKW - Room Already Occupied

[drudini]

Not sure if this has happened to anyone but we checked in to OKW last Thursday. We arrived at the resort around 3:30pm (knowing that our rooms may not be ready). We had family traveling with us and had reserved a 2 bedroom and a studio. The front desk told us the 2 bedroom was not yet ready which was fine (we were slightly early) but they said the studio was all set. We proceeded to get the passkey for the studio and headed to the room (4010). Upon arriving at the studio, and opening the door, we discovered another family was still in the room!! I consider this a huge security issue both from the standpoint of my family and the other family already in the room. They (the other family) said that they hadn't realized that this was there last day at the resort and were in the process of gathering there stuf to leave....but why on earth would the front desk had told us the room was ready?

The front desk also didn't tell us that having arrived via DME that we had complimentaty bell sevrice to our room so we ended up walking all the way from the main desk to 4010 (which is a good walk with all your luggage).

Should we write/call member services to complain?

Bob Cook
Member since 2003.

 

[MdmMim]

This happened to me at the BCV (walked in on a family in a studio), but I just chalked it up to human error.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The front desk also didn't tell us that having arrived via DME that we had complimentaty bell sevrice to our room so we ended up walking all the way from the main desk to 4010 (which is a good walk with all your luggage).

You don't have "complimentary bell service to your room" except for complimentary inbound luggage delivery of bags to which you attached yellow DME luggage routing tags before you checked those bags at your home airport.

If you don't use the yellow tags and you retrieve your own luggage at MCO, then you can still use the OKW bell service, but, as usual, it's customary to tip the bellman.

If you use DME as designed, then Disney pays the gratuity for inbound luggage delivery. If you brought your luggage under the DME coach, then you are reponsible for tips to the DME driver and the bellman.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

human error yes, I would not be happy that the family was still in the room at 3:30!! Did they just not realize they had to leave, or did they have a late flight and were pushing the envelope to see how long they could stay at the resort??? But why would you have not thought that you could use bell service???? OKW isn't Motel 6? These are deluxe home away from homes, they all have bell service, they take you in a white van and take you to your room. It is customary to tip the driver as he/she will help you to your rooms with your bags.

 

[Suzylynne]

I think that you should tell someone in charge about this. I don't think that I would make a huge deal out of it, but if they are giving out keys to rooms already occupied, someone should know. Good luck

 

[Chuck S]

On our last trip we had a family try to open our studio door at midnight. I am in the habit of always throwing the lock whenever we are in the room, so their keys wouldn't work. I sure surprised them when I opened the door. This was mid-stay, not a check-out day.

The front desk apologized and bought us breakfast at Olivia's. They said it was human error. I am concerned about resort computers that will allow keys to be issued to an already occupied room without some sort of password over-ride request popping up on the screen.

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the CM only checked the housekeeping logs to see which rooms had been serviced (it was a housekeeping day), not which rooms were occupied. But still, if there are active keys to the room, the computer should be programmed to not issue new keys without an over-ride code. Of course, in our case, it is also possible that the keys were issued correctly and the CM simply transposed room numbers and verbally told them the wrong number.

 

[AFMom]

I'll bet it was the people in the room hanging out till their late flight..... But I'd still let management know! I think calling the front desk while you were there - as soon as you got in the room might have been a good idea - you have to wonder about the cleaning your room got before you were assigned to it if the last people were still hanging out in it!

 

[littlestar]

Maybe the people's keys still worked for the studio and they came back after housekeeping cleaned it and used it again. I wouldn't put it past somebody to do that - people can be truly rude and inconsiderate if it suits their purposes.

 

[Mickmse2002]

I would think the housekeeping folks would have noticed a family still in the room when they had supposedly cleaned it. Seems rather odd all the way around.

 

[jaysue]

Maybe HK missed the room entirely or did not challenge a do not disturb sign or something that was on the door

Given that there is a limited consensus that HK at OKW has some challenges lately it would not surprise me if HK missed the room totally

All the scenarios above are possible

Bob, so what happened next? Did they leave promptly? Did HK come promptly to actually clean the room? Whilst a 3:30pm arrival in theory is early, the rooms are all (like your 2BR) supposed to be ready at 4pm

Cheers
jaysue

 

[dianeschlicht]

WE had something similar happen our first DVC trip as members back in '97. We were assigned a 2 bedroom, and when we got there, the kitchen towel was used and sitting on the little stand by the front door. When we went into the bedroom, there was a half packed suitcase on the bed. We imediately went back to the front desk. They were surprised, because the room HAD been done up, but the previous occupant had asked to stay past the 11 AM check out. Obviously, housekeeping had allowed him to do that, but this was 6 PM when we got to the room, and the front desk seemed to be aware that he had wanted to stay, because they said "He was supposed to be out by noon". They did send us to a different unit and were charging him with an extra night as we left.

 

[Nanajo1]

This happened to us at BWV. We had arrived early in the day knowing our room would not be ready until 4pm. When we started at 4pm to request our room we were repeatedly told it was not ready. When finally at 5:15 we were told it was ready we went to the room to find another family. By now we had to get a manager involved to meet our meager requests of n/s, near elevator.
I think it is a security issue.

 

[Simba's Girl]

Bob's wife here...

RE: Bell services...Checkin folks didn't offer bell services or storage of carryon items, heck didn't even point out where the Bell Service desk was. I think DH is getting DME confusion... I do think that they should've said something, its not like everyone there is on points and people forget these things, especially when travelling in a large group. Not huge deal but after a long flight, makes a difference, especially when travelling with the ILs who aren't spring chickens anymore. *I* know its not complimentary and a tipped position, but its one of those things. I'll tell him something and it goes into one ear and out the other (like when he tells me about computers ). We'll have to try and not get confused with the "Motel 6" next time, as I wasn't too impressed with the OKW, but that's my personal opinon...

As far as what happened "after"...MIL & I walked back to the HH (one of the HK staff was gracious enough to give us a lift halfway, we were at Turtle Pond, which is a bit of a hike). I was mainly concerned about the security issue, not to mention I wanted to be sure that the room was serviced. I spoke with the MGR and informed him of our concerns. I was nice about it but got the point accross. They were a mess that day. There was a "protein" spill by one of the pools that hadn't been cleaned up in a looooooong time and the mother of the kid who was sick had to call 3 people about it (we overheard this as we were at the desk)-yuck! Offered a different Studio in a different building, which we declined, we wanted our rooms close. Then he gave us a lift back and the room was cleaned and the previous occupants gone. Again, no big deal all was resolved...

I think my main concern here is-I wonder how often this happens? Can they enforce checkout rules? Seems to me like people are trying to stretch the envelope-alot. I'm surprised to see so many people have had similar experiences. I would just like to inform MS that this happened, just a "just so you are aware, this happened..." letter and leave it at that....

Heather

 

[ornurse]

Human error.... So what, don't let it distroy the vest of your vacation.....

 

[rocketriter]

I love the notion that the other family didn't realize this was their check-out day! Hmm, darling, what month was our plane flight home?

A few years ago I flew into Steamboat, Colorado to join my wife who was already there attending a conference. The bell desk gave me a room key. I moved in, saw what looked like my wife's suitcases, unpacked myself into drawers and closet, then stripped and climbed into shower. I'll let you imagine the rest...

 

[dis-happy]

I guess I'm the only one outraged....why wasn't that trespassing family not read the riot act and charged a late check-out fee???? AS IF they had no idea they were supposed to check out that day, and that check out time is 10:00 am. If anyone is to blame for this problem, they are the guilty party in my mind....

 

[Chuck S]

I guess I'm the only one outraged....why wasn't that trespassing family not read the riot act and charged a late check-out fee???? AS IF they had no idea they were supposed to check out that day, and that check out time is 10:00 am. If anyone is to blame for this problem, they are the guilty party in my mind....

Isn't check-out time 11am, or did it change?

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

They may not have been flying home. Probably had their car with them and decided to stay as late as possible before heading out. Who knows! Bottomline -- all rooms should be cleared by housekeeping and the previous guest's key de-activated before the room is assigned to someone else. I would probably have a heart attack if I walked in on another family still in the room, whether human error or not.

 

[dianeschlicht]

As far as what happened "after"...MIL & I walked back to the HH (one of the HK staff was gracious enough to give us a lift halfway, we were at Turtle Pond, which is a bit of a hike).

Walking back to HH is never required, since ANY bus will stop there before it exits the resort. As for how often it happens...I suspect occationally, and it is usually the fault of the previous occupant. Like I said, we had it happen our first DVC trip, but hasn't happened since in 20+ trips. That time I KNOW the previous occupant was charged, because I saw them pulling up the information on the computer and adding in the charge.

I think they should do that same thing when there is a smoking issue in a non-smoking room....charge about $200 extra!

 

[jarestel]

I don't know if I'd be so quick to simply say "oh well, things happen, no big deal, guess I'll just put on my big ole Disney grin and get happy". It sounds like this happens with some degree of regularity and could very well be a security issue and a potentially serious situation at worst.

Does anyone know how those key card locks work? Is housekeeping supposed to reset the lock after they clean the room, so the previous occupants keys no longer work?

Since they can supposedly tell who entered a room by the key code and at what time, maybe DVC should automatically charge an extra night's points to anyone who enters their room after their checkout time has expired. This might discourage folks from lingering longer than they should.