All GV's @ HH are now N/S

[DownNeckBoy]

I received a phone call from my wife today who told me that we had receivved a message from HH advising that my request for a smoking permitted GV could not be accommodated as GV's are now all N/S! However, I was further advised that I would be permitted to smoke on the balcony and they would even provide me with the ashtrays!

I called MS and also spoke to Sheri, who is the guest relations manager at HH. I was advised that they were receiving only one request a year for a smoking permitted GV, so the manager decided to unilaterally make them all N/S.

While I realize that there are many of you who are very pleased with this development, I think that you must agree that the manner in which it was decided seems a bit autocratic. It also places one in the ethically dubious position of knowingly breaking a rule, albeit with the blessing of management.

As I have played by the rules, making my reservation at the eleven month mark and looking forward to a cigar by the fireplace, I am not happy!

Am I wrong in feeling this way?

 

[RobDoc]

Interesting!

Do you know if they changed those entire buildings (#27, 28) to non-smoking, or just the GV in each building? If so, that would be quite a departure from the usual pattern at HH and at OKW.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

If you're a smoker and DVC assigns you to a non-smoking villa because a smoking villa is not available for any reason, please, please don't smoke in the room -- even if someone from DVC provides you with an ashtray. I'm sure it's an inconvenience to go outside or somewhere else to smoke, but please consider the next guest.

No matter how good a job housekeeping does cleaning the room, smoke lingers in fabrics and on surfaces for a long time. (And I don't think housekeeping should have to shampoo the carpet, wash the walls and ceiling, and replace the drapes and bedspreads if a smoker ignores the non-smoking status.)

Thank you in advance. I appreciate that I won't have to see my daughter suffer with physical symptoms when we occupy the villa after you. And I appreciate that my wife, other daughter, and I won't have the quality of our stay severely diminished by an odorous room.

Once, at OKW, my wife and I were assigned to a unit whose non-smoking status obviously had been ignored by the previous occupants. When I reported this to housekeeping, they asked us to leave the room for a few hours so that they could re-clean, spray, and set up an ozone machine. When we returned in the evening, the room was better, but the smell was still there, and it lingered for our entire 4-night stay. What an inconvenience and annoyance for us, and what an expense for DVC housekeeping!

I'm glad most smokers are courteous and respect the rules.

 

[Pa@okw95]

With only one request per year for a smoking GV thye had no choice but to change it to a NS. I am not going to say much here about smoking but I really think that smokers do not realize how horrible they stink up the place, they really don't.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

I smoke and I notice the smell right when I walk into a room or car that someone has been smoking in. Both DH & I always request non-smoking rooms and we DO NOT smoke in the room. The only thing I request is an ashtray outside or an outside trash barrell in the general area (I don't throw butts on the ground either).

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Yes, I believe (as I have said before) the writing is on the wall for a non-smoking DVC. Bit by bit, and piece by piece we are heading in that direction.

On my recent visit to VB I requested a non smoking beach cottage, and the front desk informed me that all cottages were non-smoking.

AKL concierge non-smoking are primarily savannah view, while smoking has primarily a pool view.

 

[keenercam]

Horace--
I have to agree with you. We were at the CBR in February 2000 with our DS5, DD10 and our babysitter. I requested a non-smoking room for medical reasons (I am severely allergic to cigarette smoke). The room smelled horribly of cigarettes, and we asked to move to another room. There was some kind of cheerleading/dance competition going at WDW and no adjoining rooms available for us to move. Housekeeping assured us they could clean it and we wouldn't be able to tell, since it was non-smoking and there shouldn't be that much to clean. Needless to say, even with their cleaning, within 24 hours I was very very ill and spent the entirety of the remainder of our vacation in bed, while my DH and babysitter took the kids to the parks. The day we checked out, I laid by the pool with 4 beach towels over me with a sweatshirt on, waiting to go the airport. By the time I arrived home, I had a fever of nearly 103. It was the worst vacation of my life.

 

[ncligs]

Now only if DVC and WDW speed things up and makes all of there resorts "SMOKE FREE", including balconys.
If they can do it in restraunts and bars in California and N.Y. they can do it in Florida also.

 

[DownNeckBoy]

Doc:

Just the GV's were changed to N/S.

For the other Disers, I did not post this to have this degenerate into a smoking v. non-smoking thread. I can see that coming and it is not what I want to happen.

My problem is that it was done without really considering all of the membership. It just seems autocratic to me. Would you all be congratulating DVC if, for example, it was pool hopping that was eliminated? I think not.

Keep that in mind when you post.

 

[Dean]

I have no problem with smoking people having a smoking room and non smoking having non smoking rooms. The trouble is when non smokers are put in smoking rooms, smokers smoke in non smoking rooms or smokers smoke on the balcony or out front of non smoking areas. There is no excuse for those behaviors that I can think of. There is and never was the promise of smoking rooms just like there is no promise of non smokings rooms. If they get 1 request per year for a smoking GV, they are obligated to make them all non smoking. Otherwise you have some 50 familes hurt for the good of one, and I use the word good loosely. As for doing it unilaterally, how else would they do so. It is not an item that requires Board input necessarily and seems a reasonable choice from the information you yourself have supplied. They are certainly not going to ask for a vote of the members. I can understand your frustration at being on the losing side of this issue but it seems the right thing to do under the circumstances.

 

[lovesdisney]

I think they should go the whole way, ban alcohol, fast food, in fact anything that I don't agree with.

Come on guys, what has happened to freedom of choice. If all rooms were made non- smoking, I bet there would be a lot of smokers breaking the rules. It makes more sense to restrict them to smoking rooms, specified areas in the parks etc.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by DownNeckBoy

I was advised that they were receiving only one request a year for a smoking permitted GV, so the manager decided to unilaterally make them all N/S.

While I realize that there are many of you who are very pleased with this development, I think that you must agree that the manner in which it was decided seems a bit autocratic. It also places one in the ethically dubious position of knowingly breaking a rule, albeit with the blessing of management.

I think that DVCers were given a chance to voice their opinion, and did it in a very obvious way, by only requesting one smoking G/V each year. Personally, I think this shows that management is trying to be responsive to the needs of the owners. I know you can't please everyone, but this decision probably just made 51 out of 52 members VERY happy (using the scale of a 1 week stay/member). JMHO.

 

[DownNeckBoy]

HookdonWDW:

As long as you think that DVC is being responsive to the needs of its members by doing it this way, then I must assume that you endorse the "smoking on the balcony option" offered by them.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by DownNeckBoy
As long as you think that DVC is being responsive to the needs of its members by doing it this way, then I must assume that you endorse the "smoking on the balcony option" offered by them.

Do I endorse it? Nope - I'm asthmatic, and would rather people didn't smoke on the balcony.

Do I think that Management is being responsive to the needs of the owners? Yes - again, you can't please everyone, but you need a way to compensate the smokers. who now can't smoke in the GVs. Again, JMHO

 

[sumessefui]

I have mixed feelings on this issue. We do not smoke and always request non-smoking. We were given a smoking GV once and lost a whole afternoon's use of it while they cleaned it up. It was OK after that, but not great.
That said, I feel if they offer smoking rooms and want to then make them non-smoking, there should be a year's notice before doing so. JMO.